The Reading / Listening - Rip-off Restaurant - Level 3

Four Japanese tourists are very angry after a restaurant in Venice, Italy charged them €1,100 ($1,350) for a dinner of steak, fish and water. In fact, the four tourists say they were ripped off (overcharged) for their meal. The four diners are students and study in the city of Bologna. They were on a day trip to Venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the world-famous St Mark's Square on Friday. As well as the police looking into this incident, the mayor of Venice has promised he would also take action. The mayor said: "If this disgraceful episode is confirmed, we'll do all we can to punish those responsible. We are for justice - always."

It is common for tourists to be overcharged anywhere in the world. Tourism groups in Venice are worried about the Japanese tourists saying they were ripped off. This is because there have been many similar cases recently of rip-off prices in Venice. One tourism group tweeted: "Whoever puts the good name of Venice at risk, harms all Venetians." The restaurant has a very low 1.5 (out of 5) rating on the website TripAdvisor.com. A huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a "Terrible" rating. One TripAdvisor user complained that: "The food was very average....They added almost €50 in taxes and a tip - these are the hidden fees that they don't tell you about. And the service wasn't that good. I feel scammed."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Rip-off Restaurant - Level 0,  Rip-off Restaurant - Level 1   or  Rip-off Restaurant - Level 2

Sources
  • http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-restaurant-bill-charge-meal-tourists-police-osteria-da-luca-st-marks-square-a8172426.html
  • http://www.euronews.com/2018/01/22/venice-s-mayor-pledges-action-over-1-100-dinner-bill
  • http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/22/students-rang-police-given-1000-bill-restaurant-venice-7250997/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. RIP-OFF PRICES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about rip-off prices. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
       tourists / angry / steak / overcharged / dinner / mayor / disgraceful / punish / justice
       world / ripped off / recently / restaurant / terrible / tip / hidden fees / service / good
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. OVERCHARGING: Students A strongly believe overcharging should be made illegal; Students B strongly believe it shouldn't.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. ANGRY: Why might the service from these things make you angry? What could you do about it? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Why you might get angry

What you could do about it

Restaurants

 

 

School

 

 

Internet

 

 

Railway

 

 

Beauty salon

 

 

Doctor

 

 
MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. DINNER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "dinner". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. RESTAURANTS: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important things for a restaurant at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • extensive menu
  • fresh food
  • reasonable prices
  • taste
  • staff
  • music
  • presentation
  • ambience

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. charged a. An event or happening.
      2. steak b. A thick slice of beef or other high-quality meat or fish.
      3. ripped off c. Asked to pay too much.
      4. overcharged d. Asked to pay money for something you bought.
      5. diners e. Hurt someone because they did something bad.
      6. incident f. Cheated by having to pay an unfair and crazily high price.
      7. punish g. People who eat at restaurants.

    Paragraph 2

      8. common h. A score (e.g. A+, B, 3 out of 10, etc.).
      9. cases i. In danger.
      10. at risk j. Money paid as part of a service.
      11. rating k. Usual and normal.
      12. complained l. Examples of an event or situation.
      13. fees m. Cheated; lost money because of people who tricked you.
      14. scammed n. Said you were unhappy about someone or something.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. Japanese tourists were charged $1,100 for a steak dinner.     T / F
  2. The meal the Japanese tourists had also included fish.     T / F
  3. The police are looking into why the Japanese tourists were overcharged.  T / F
  4. Venice's said people would be punished if this story were true.    T / F
  5. The article said tourists are overcharged all over the world.     T / F
  6. This is the first time tourists have been ripped off in Venice.     T / F
  7. The restaurant in the article got a good rating on a travel website.     T / F
  8. A travel website visitor said the restaurant did not want taxes or tips.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. angry
  2. in fact
  3. incident
  4. promised
  5. justice
  6. common
  7. cases
  8. at risk
  9. rating
  10. fees
  1. happening
  2. examples
  3. vowed
  4. normal
  5. costs
  6. actually
  7. in danger
  8. score
  9. furious
  10. fairness

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. Four Japanese tourists are
  2. charged them €1,100 ($1,350)
  3. they were ripped off
  4. the mayor of Venice has promised he would
  5. we'll do all we can to punish
  6. It is common for tourists
  7. there have been many similar cases
  8. Whoever puts the good
  9. 83 per cent of visitors gave it a
  10. hidden
  1. recently
  2. also take action
  3. fees
  4. (overcharged)
  5. name of Venice at risk
  6. for a dinner of steak
  7. "Terrible" rating
  8. those responsible
  9. to be overcharged
  10. very angry

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
trip
angry
justice
promised
diners
episode
fact
looking

Four Japanese tourists are very (1) ____________ after a restaurant in Venice, Italy charged them €1,100 ($1,350) for a dinner of steak, fish and water. In (2) ____________, the four tourists say they were ripped off (overcharged) for their meal. The four (3) ____________ are students and study in the city of Bologna. They were on a day (4) ____________ to Venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the world-famous St Mark's Square on Friday. As well as the police (5) ____________ into this incident, the mayor of Venice has (6) ____________ he would also take action. The mayor said: "If this disgraceful (7) ____________ is confirmed, we'll do all we can to punish those responsible. We are for (8) ____________ – always."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
cases
common
tip
low
service
worried
ripped
rating

It is (9) ____________ for tourists to be overcharged anywhere in the world. Tourism groups in Venice are (10) ____________ about the Japanese tourists saying they were (11) ____________ off. This is because there have been many similar (12) ____________ recently of rip-off prices in Venice. One tourism group tweeted: "Whoever puts the good name of Venice at risk, harms all Venetians." The restaurant has a very (13) ____________ 1.5 (out of 5) rating on the website TripAdvisor.com. A huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a "Terrible" (14) ____________. One TripAdvisor user complained that: "The food was very average....They added almost €50 in taxes and a (15) ____________ - these are the hidden fees that they don't tell you about. And the (16) ____________ wasn't that good. I feel scammed."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Japanese tourists are very angry after a restaurant in Venice, Italy ______ €1,100
     a.  changed them
     b.  charged them
     c.  chatted them
     d.  charted them
2)  the four tourists say they were ripped off (overcharged) ______ meal
     a.  from their
     b.  for their
     c.  of their
     d.  four their
3)  decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the ______ St Mark's Square
     a.  worldly-famous
     b.  world-famous
     c.  world-famously
     d.  worldly-famously
4)  the mayor of Venice has promised he would also ______
     a.  take action
     b.  taking action
     c.  took action
     d.  takes action
5)  we'll do all we can to punish ______
     a.  those responsible
     b.  them responsible
     c.  these responsible
     d.  whose responsible

6)  It is common for tourists to be overcharged ______ world
     a.  any where in the
     b.  any whereas in the
     c.  anywhere on the
     d.  anywhere in the
7) groups in Venice are worried about the Japanese tourists saying they ______
     a.  there ripped off
     b.  here ripped off
     c.  where ripped off
     d.  were ripped off
8)  This is because there have been many similar cases ______ rip-off prices
     a.  recently off
     b.  recently of
     c.  recent of
     d.  re sentry of
9)  A huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a ______
     a.  "Terrible" rating
     b.  "Terrible" ray thing
     c.  "Terrible" rate in
     d.  "Terrible" rate tin
10)  They added almost €50 in taxes and a tip - these are ______
     a.  then hidden fees
     b.  them hidden fees
     c.  their hidden fees
     d.  the hidden fees

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Four Japanese tourists are (1) ___________________ a restaurant in Venice, Italy charged them €1,100 ($1,350) for a dinner of steak, fish and water. In fact, the four tourists say they (2) ___________________ (overcharged) for their meal. The four diners are students and study in the city of Bologna. They were on a (3) ___________________ Venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the world-famous St Mark's Square on Friday. As well as the police looking (4) ___________________, the mayor of Venice has promised he would (5) ___________________. The mayor said: "If this disgraceful episode is confirmed, we'll do all we (6) ___________________ those responsible. We are for justice – always."

It is (7) ___________________ to be overcharged anywhere in the world. Tourism groups in Venice are worried about the Japanese tourists saying they (8) ___________________. This is because there have been many (9) ___________________ of rip-off prices in Venice. One tourism group tweeted: "Whoever puts the (10) ___________________ Venice at risk, harms all Venetians." The restaurant has a very low 1.5 (out of 5) rating on the website TripAdvisor.com. A huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a "Terrible" rating. One TripAdvisor user complained that: "The food (11) ___________________....They added almost €50 in taxes and a tip - these are the hidden fees that they don't tell you about. And the service wasn't that good. (12) ___________________."

Comprehension questions

  1. What did the tourists eat besides steak?
  2. How long did the tourists stay in Venice?
  3. On what day of the week did the tourists visit Venice?
  4. Who said he would take action?
  5. What did the mayor say he might do to those responsible?
  6. Where is it common for tourists to be overcharged?
  7. Who is worried about the Japanese tourists being ripped off?
  8. What was the restaurant's rating on the website TripAdvisor.com?
  9. What per cent of people gave the restaurant a "Terrible" rating?
  10. How did a visitor feel after visiting the restaurant?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What did the tourists eat besides steak?
a) chips
b) lamb
c) chicken
d) fish
2) How long did the tourists stay in Venice?
a) two days
b) a day
c) a week
d) a month
3) On what day of the week did the tourists visit Venice?
a) Wedneday
b) Thursday
c) Friday
d) Saturday
4) Who said he would take action?
a) Venice's mayor
b) a Japanese student
c) a police officer
d) the restaurant owner
5) What did the mayor say he might do to those responsible?
a) fine them
b) tell them to apologize
c) punish them
d) take them to dinner

6) Where is it common for tourists to be overcharged?
a) London
b) anywhere in the world
c) capital cities
d) the countryside
7) Who is worried about the Japanese tourists being ripped off?
a) Italy's president
b) the police
c) Japan's prime minister
d) a tourism group
8) What was the restaurant's rating on the website TripAdvisor.com?
a) 1.5
b) 2
c) 2.5
d) 3
9) What per cent of people gave the restaurant a "Terrible" rating?
a) 38%
b) 65%
c) 83%
d) 100%
10) How did a visitor feel after visiting the restaurant?
a) spammed
b) scammed
c) shamed
d) slammed

Role play

Role  A – Reasonable Prices
You think reasonable prices is the most important thing for a restaurant. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): extensive menu, music or friendly staff.

Role  B – Extensive Menu
You think an extensive menu is the most important thing for a restaurant. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): reasonable prices, music or friendly staff.

Role  C – Music
You think music is the most important thing for a restaurant. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): extensive menu, reasonable prices or friendly staff.

Role  D – Friendly Staff
You think friendly staff is the most important thing for a restaurant. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why):  extensive menu, music or reasonable prices.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'steak'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'fish'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • Share your findings with your partners.

    • Make questions using the words you found.

    • Ask your partner / group your questions.

    2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

    •Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

    3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

    4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

    5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

    • anywhere
    • because
    • good
    • huge
    • almost
    • feel
    • angry
    • fish
    • diners
    • near
    • looking
    • always

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Japanese tourists call police over rip-off restaurant bill

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'tourist'?
    3. What do you think of the price of the meal?
    4. What do you know about Venice?
    5. What's the most expensive meal you've ever had?
    6. When was the last time you were ripped off?
    7. How does it feel to be ripped off?
    8. What do you think the mayor of Venice will do?
    9. What punishment should the restaurant get?
    10. What advice do you have for the restaurant boss?

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'restaurant'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. Why do tourists get overcharged?
    5. Would you complain if you were overcharged?
    6. Does your town have a good name/image?
    7. What's the best restaurant you've been to?
    8. What's the worst restaurant you've eaten at?
    9. What do you think of having to give a tip at a restaurant?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the tourists?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Four Japanese tourists are very (1) ____ after a restaurant in Venice, Italy charged them €1,100 ($1,350) for a (2) ____ of steak, fish and water. In fact, the four tourists say they were ripped off (3) ____) for their meal. The four diners are students and study in the city of Bologna. They were on a day (4) ____ to Venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the world-famous St Mark's Square on Friday. As (5) ____ as the police looking into this incident, the mayor of Venice has promised he would also take action. The mayor said: "If this disgraceful episode is confirmed, we'll do all we can to (6) ____ those responsible. We are for justice – always."

    It is (7) ____ for tourists to be overcharged anywhere in the world. Tourism groups in Venice are worried about the Japanese tourists saying they were ripped off. This is because there have been many similar (8) ____ recently of rip-off prices in Venice. One tourism group tweeted: "Whoever puts the good (9) ____ of Venice (10) ____ risk, harms all Venetians." The restaurant has a very low 1.5 (out of 5) rating on the website TripAdvisor.com. A huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a "Terrible" rating. One TripAdvisor user complained that: "The food was very average....They added almost €50 (11) ____ taxes and a tip - these are the hidden fees that they don't tell you about. And the service wasn't (12) ____ good. I feel scammed."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     verily     (b)     very     (c)     verity     (d)     veer    
    2. (a)     diner     (b)     dinner     (c)     dined     (d)     dining    
    3. (a)     vvvvv     (b)     undercharged     (c)     recharged     (d)     overcharged    
    4. (a)     tripper     (b)     trip     (c)     trips     (d)     tripping    
    5. (a)     good     (b)     well     (c)     much     (d)     long    
    6. (a)     polish     (b)     relive     (c)     punish     (d)     formula    
    7. (a)     commonly     (b)     commoner     (c)     common     (d)     commons    
    8. (a)     bags     (b)     files     (c)     cases     (d)     boxes    
    9. (a)     logo     (b)     banner     (c)     call     (d)     name    
    10. (a)     to     (b)     by     (c)     on     (d)     at    
    11. (a)     in     (b)     at     (c)     to     (d)     on    
    12. (a)     what     (b)     which     (c)     that     (d)     thus

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. harcegd them €1,100
    2. they were ripped off (aechrrvgoed)
    3. looking into this icidnnet
    4. this gdcrasefiul episode
    5. uinpsh those responsible
    6. We are for tsuijce

    Paragraph 2

    1. It is mocmon for tourists
    2. many iimlsar cases
    3. a very low 1.5 (out of 5) ratign
    4. 83 per cent of itsvrosi
    5. One TripAdvisor user damcnoeilp
    6. these are the iehdnd fees

    Put the text back together

    (   )  It is common for tourists to be overcharged anywhere in the world. Tourism groups in Venice are worried
    (   )  risk, harms all Venetians." The restaurant has a very low 1.5 (out of 5) rating on the website TripAdvisor.com. A huge 83 per cent
    (  1  ) Four Japanese tourists are very angry after a restaurant in Venice, Italy charged them
    (   )  trip to Venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the world-famous St Mark's Square
    (   )  €1,100 ($1,350) for a dinner of steak, fish and water. In fact, the four tourists say they were ripped
    (   )  fees that they don't tell you about. And the service wasn't that good. I feel scammed."
    (   )  of visitors gave it a "Terrible" rating. One TripAdvisor user complained that: "The food was very
    (   )  off prices in Venice. One tourism group tweeted:  "Whoever puts the good name of Venice at
    (   )  off (overcharged) for their meal. The four diners are students and study in the city of Bologna. They were on a day
    (   )  would also take action. The mayor said: "If this disgraceful episode is confirmed, we'll do
    (   )  average....They added almost €50 in taxes and a tip - these are the hidden
    (   )  all we can to punish those responsible. We are for justice - always."
    (   )  about the Japanese tourists saying they were ripped off. This is because there have been many similar cases recently of rip-
    (   )  on Friday. As well as the police looking into this incident, the mayor of Venice has promised he

    Put the words in the right order

    1. in   A   restaurant   Venice   €1,100   .   them   charged
    2. were   tourists   say   The   they   ripped   off   .   four
    3. have   at   They   decided   restaurant   .   to   a   dinner
    4. he   The   Venice   of   has   promised   mayor   would   .
    5. we   those   Do   all   to   responsible   .   punish   can
    6. common   tourists   It   for   is   be   to   overcharged   .
    7. prices   similar   cases   rip-off   Venice   .   in   of   recently   Many
    8. the   Venice   Whoever   good   at   name   puts   risk   .   of
    9. 1.5   low   The   a   very   (1 out of 5)   restaurant   has   rating
    10. added   tip   .   €50   a   almost   and   in   taxes   They

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Four Japanese tourists are very angry / anger after a restaurant in Venice, Italy charged them €1,100 ($1,350) for a diner / dinner of steak, fish and water. In fact, the four tourists say they were ripped on / off (overcharged) for their meal. The four diners are students and study / studies in the city of Bologna. They were on a date / day trip to Venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near / close the world-famous St Mark's Square on Friday. As well as the police looking into / onto this incident, the mayor of Venice has promised / promises he would also take action. The mayor said: "If this disgraceful episode is confirmation / confirmed, we'll do all we can to punish those responsible. We are for justice – always / never."

    It is common / commonly for tourists to be overcharged anywhere in the world. Tourism groups in Venice are worry / worried about the Japanese tourists saying / said they were ripped off. This is because there have been many similar / similarity cases recently of rip-off prices in Venice. One tourism group tweeted:  "Whoever puts the good naming / name of Venice at risk, harms / harmful all Venetians." The restaurant has a very lower / low 1.5 (out of 5) rating on the website TripAdvisor.com. A hugely / huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a "Terrible" rating. One TripAdvisor user complained that: "The food was very averaged / average....They added almost €50 in taxes and a tip - these are the hidden fees that they don't tell you about. And the service wasn't that good. I feel scammed / screamed."

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    F _ _ r J _ p _ n _ s _ t _ _ r _ s t s _ r _ v _ r y _ n g r y _ f t _ r _ r _ s t _ _ r _ n t _ n V _ n _ c _ , I t _ l y c h _ r g _ d t h _ m € 1 , 1 0 0 ( $ 1 , 3 5 0 ) f _ r _ d _ n n _ r _ f s t _ _ k , f _ s h _ n d w _ t _ r . I n f _ c t , t h _ f _ _ r t _ _ r _ s t s s _ y t h _ y w _ r _ r _ p p _ d _ f f ( _ v _ r c h _ r g _ d ) f _ r t h _ _ r m _ _ l . T h _ f _ _ r d _ n _ r s _ r _ s t _ d _ n t s _ n d s t _ d y _ n t h _ c _ t y _ f B _ l _ g n _ . T h _ y w _ r _ _ n _ d _ y t r _ p t _ V _ n _ c _ _ n d d _ c _ d _ d t _ h _ v _ d _ n n _ r _ t _ r _ s t _ _ r _ n t n _ _ r t h _ w _ r l d - f _ m _ _ s S t M _ r k ' s S q _ _ r _ _ n F r _ d _ y . A s w _ l l _ s t h _ p _ l _ c _ l _ _ k _ n g _ n t _ t h _ s _ n c _ d _ n t , t h _ m _ y _ r _ f V _ n _ c _ h _ s p r _ m _ s _ d h _ w _ _ l d _ l s _ t _ k _ _ c t _ _ n . T h _ m _ y _ r s _ _ d : " I f t h _ s d _ s g r _ c _ f _ l _ p _ s _ d _ _ s c _ n f _ r m _ d , w _ ' l l d _ _ l l w _ c _ n t _ p _ n _ s h t h _ s _ r _ s p _ n s _ b l _ . W _ _ r _ f _ r j _ s t _ c _ - _ l w _ y s "
    I t _ s c _ m m _ n f _ r t _ _ r _ s t s t _ b _ _ v _ r c h _ r g _ d _ n y w h _ r _ _ n t h _ w _ r l d . T _ _ r _ s m g r _ _ p s _ n V _ n _ c _ _ r _ w _ r r _ _ d _ b _ _ t t h _ J _ p _ n _ s _ t _ _ r _ s t s s _ y _ n g t h _ y w _ r _ r _ p p _ d _ f f . T h _ s _ s b _ c _ _ s _ t h _ r _ h _ v _ b _ _ n m _ n y s _ m _ l _ r c _ s _ s r _ c _ n t l y _ f r _ p - _ f f p r _ c _ s _ n V _ n _ c _ . O n _ t _ _ r _ s m g r _ _ p t w _ _ t _ d : " W h _ _ v _ r p _ t s t h _ g _ _ d n _ m _ _ f V _ n _ c _ _ t r _ s k , h _ r m s _ l l V _ n _ t _ _ n s . " T h _ r _ s t _ _ r _ n t h _ s _ v _ r y l _ w 1 . 5 ( _ _ t _ f 5 ) r _ t _ n g _ n t h _ w _ b s _ t _ T r _ p A d v _ s _ r . c _ m . A h _ g _ 8 3 p _ r c _ n t _ f v _ s _ t _ r s g _ v _ _ t _ " T _ r r _ b l _ " r _ t _ n g . O n _ T r _ p A d v _ s _ r _ s _ r c _ m p l _ _ n _ d t h _ t : " T h _ f _ _ d w _ s v _ r y _ v _ r _ g _ . . . . T h _ y _ d d _ d _ l m _ s t € 5 0 _ n t _ x _ s _ n d _ t _ p - t h _ s _ _ r _ t h _ h _ d d _ n f _ _ s t h _ t t h _ y d _ n ' t t _ l l y _ _ _ b _ _ t . A n d t h _ s _ r v _ c _ w _ s n ' t t h _ t g _ _ d . I f _ _ l s c _ m m _ d . "

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    four japanese tourists are very angry after a restaurant in venice italy charged them 1100 1350 for a dinner of steak fish and water in fact the four tourists say they were ripped off overcharged for their meal the four diners are students and study in the city of bologna they were on a day trip to venice and decided to have dinner at a restaurant near the worldfamous st marks square on friday as well as the police looking into this incident the mayor of venice has promised he would also take action the mayor said if this disgraceful episode is confirmed well do all we can to punish those responsible we are for justice  always

    it is common for tourists to be overcharged anywhere in the world tourism groups in venice are worried about the japanese tourists saying they were ripped off this is because there have been many similar cases recently of ripoff prices in venice one tourism group tweeted  whoever puts the good name of venice at risk harms all venetians the restaurant has a very low 15 out of 5 rating on the website tripadvisorcom a huge 83 per cent of visitors gave it a terrible rating one tripadvisor user complained that the food was very averagethey added almost 50 in taxes and a tip  these are the hidden fees that they dont tell you about and the service wasnt that good i feel scammed"

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    FourJapanesetouristsareveryangryafterarestaurantinVenice,Italyc
    hargedthem€1,100($1,350)foradinnerofsteak,fishandwater.Infact,
    thefourtouristssaytheywererippedoff(overcharged)fortheirmeal.Th
    efourdinersarestudentsandstudyinthecityofBologna.Theywereonad
    aytriptoVeniceanddecidedtohavedinneratarestaurantneartheworld
    -famousStMark'sSquareonFriday.Aswellasthepolicelookingintothisi
    ncident,themayorofVenicehaspromisedhewouldalsotakeaction.The
    mayorsaid:"Ifthisdisgracefulepisodeisconfirmed,we'lldoallwecanto
    punishthoseresponsible.Weareforjustice-always."Itiscommonforto
    uriststobeoverchargedanywhereintheworld.TourismgroupsinVenic
    eareworriedabouttheJapanesetouristssayingtheywererippedoff.Thi
    sisbecausetherehavebeenmanysimilarcasesrecentlyofrip-offpricesi
    nVenice.Onetourismgrouptweeted:"WhoeverputsthegoodnameofV
    eniceatriskharmsallVenetians."Therestauranthasaverylow1.5(outo
    f5)ratingonthewebsiteTripAdvisor.com.Ahuge83percentofvisitorsg
    aveita"Terrible"rating.OneTripAdvisorusercomplainedthat:"Thefoo
    dwasveryaverage....Theyaddedalmost€50intaxesandatip-thesea
    rethehiddenfeesthattheydon'ttellyouabout.Andtheservicewasn'ttha
    tgood.Ifeelscammed."

    Free writing

    Write about rip-off restaurant for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    The government should close down restaurants that overcharge customers. Discuss.

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    Homework

    1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
    2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. RIP-OFF PRICES: Make a poster about rip-off prices. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. RIPPED OFF: Write a magazine article about places that rip off customers. Argue that they should be shut down Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
    5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on rip-off prices. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your ideas on what to do about places that rip off customers. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

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    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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