The Reading / Listening - Ducks - Level 3

A woman received a big surprise after she bought some duck eggs from a supermarket. Three of the eggs hatched. The woman now has three baby ducks, or ducklings. The woman named the ducklings Beep, Peep and Meep. Charli Lello, 29, bought the eggs from the Waitrose supermarket last month. She was spending all day at home because she was furloughed from her job as an assistant manager in a shop. She decided to use her free time to do things around the house. Ms Lello told reporters that she got the idea for incubating the eggs after seeing a video on Facebook. The video showed how someone hatched quail eggs after buying them from a supermarket.

Lello said the ducklings would live, "a very happy life". She said they would be good company for her pet chickens. She explained why she tried her experiment. She said: "While I was in Waitrose, I saw the duck eggs and thought maybe they would [hatch]. I was so excited for them to hatch, but I still had in the back of my mind that these are supermarket eggs." She said she was surprised when the eggs hatched. She said: "They have been collected, bashed around on a delivery truck, then rattled around on a trolley onto a shelf." She added that it had been an "amazing" experience. She called her ducklings "the cutest little balls of fluff". A duck farm said it is very unusual for ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Ducks - Level 0,  Ducks - Level 1   or  Ducks - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-52838747
  • https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11859262/woman-hatches-ducklings-eggs-waitrose/
  • https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/19/teenage-boy-hatches-duck-egg-bought-waitrose-8669641/


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. DUCKS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about ducks. 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?
       surprise / duck / egg / supermarket / last month / furloughed / free time / reporters /
       happy / chickens / experiment / excited / delivery truck / trolley / fluff / farm / cute
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. CHICKENS: Students A strongly believe chickens came before eggs; Students B strongly believe eggs came before chickens. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. BABIES: What are the babies (or young) of these animals called?* What do you know about them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Name of the Young

What You Know about Them

Kangaroos

 

 

Sheep

 

 

Lions

 

 

Chickens

 

 

Dogs

 

 

Cats

 

 
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. SUPERMARKET: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "supermarket". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. PETS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best pets at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • ducklings
  • goldfish
  • lizard
  • tarantula
  • tortoise
  • beetle
  • horse
  • rabbit

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. received a. A person who helps a person with a higher position in their job.
      2. hatched b. A newborn and young duck.
      3. duckling c. The opening of an egg with the baby bird, fish, snake, tortoise or alligator coming out.
      4. furloughed d. Sitting on an egg or keeping it warm so the young inside can grow and come out.
      5. assistant e. Got.
      6. manager f. Asked by a company not to work for a period of time (a few weeks, months…).
      7. incubating g. A person who controls all or part of a company or similar organization.

    Paragraph 2

      8. company h. Damaged or broken by being hit hard.
      9. experiment i. A long, flat bit of wood, metal or plastic put on a wall to put things on.
      10. mind j. A large metal basket on wheels, used for carrying heavy or large things, like food in a supermarket or bags at an airport.
      11. bashed k. Action that is taken without being sure of what will happen.
      12. trolley l. The very soft things like the fur or feathers of a young animal or bird.
      13. shelf m. Someone or something that is a friend or makes people happy.
      14. fluff n. The part of the brain that makes us think and feel.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. A woman was sad when she bought duck eggs from a supermarket.     T / F
  2. The woman named her ducklings Meep, Peep and Beep.     T / F
  3. The woman is raising the ducklings despite working nine to five.     T / F
  4. The woman got the idea for incubating eggs from a YouTube video.     T / F
  5. The new ducklings will be friends for the woman's pet chickens.     T / F
  6. The woman knew the supermarket eggs would hatch.     T / F
  7. The woman said the eggs had been bashed around on a delivery truck.    T / F
  8. A farm said it was common for supermarket eggs to hatch.     T / F

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

  1. received
  2. named
  3. bought
  4. furloughed
  5. reporters
  6. company
  7. excited
  8. trolley
  9. fluff
  10. unusual
  1. friendship
  2. laid off
  3. fuzz
  4. called
  5. thrilled
  6. journalists
  7. got
  8. uncommon
  9. cart
  10. purchased

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

  1. A woman received
  2. Three of the eggs
  3. She was spending all
  4. she was furloughed from her job as
  5. she got the idea
  6. She said they would
  7. She explained why she
  8. in the back
  9. bashed around
  10. the cutest little balls
  1. of fluff
  2. an assistant manager
  3. of my mind
  4. hatched
  5. be good company
  6. a big surprise
  7. on a delivery truck
  8. day at home
  9. tried her experiment
  10. for incubating the eggs

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
free
last
idea
surprise
them
named
around
job

A woman received a big (1) ____________ after she bought some duck eggs from a supermarket. Three of the eggs hatched. The woman now has three baby ducks, or ducklings. The woman (2) ____________ the ducklings Beep, Peep and Meep. Charli Lello, 29, bought the eggs from the Waitrose supermarket (3) ____________ month. She was spending all day at home because she was furloughed from her (4) ____________ as an assistant manager in a shop. She decided to use her (5) ____________ time to do things (6) ____________ the house. Ms Lello told reporters that she got the (7) ____________ for incubating the eggs after seeing a video on Facebook. The video showed how someone hatched quail eggs after buying (8) ____________ from a supermarket.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
maybe
happy
collected
cutest
mind
pet
shelf
them

Lello said the ducklings would live, "a very (9) ____________ life". She said they would be good company for her (10) ____________ chickens. She explained why she tried her experiment. She said: "While I was in Waitrose, I saw the duck eggs and thought (11) ____________ they would [hatch]. I was so excited for (12) ____________ to hatch, but I still had in the back of my (13) ____________ that these are supermarket eggs." She said she was surprised when the eggs hatched. She said: "They have been (14) ____________, bashed around on a delivery truck, then rattled around on a trolley onto a (15) ____________." She added that it had been an "amazing" experience. She called her ducklings "the (16) ____________ little balls of fluff". A duck farm said it is very unusual for ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) A woman received a big surprise after she ______ eggs
     a.  bought sum duck
     b.  bought same duck
     c.  bought soon duck
     d.  bought some duck
2)  The woman now has three baby ______
     a.  ducks, or duck things
     b.  ducks, or duck dings
     c.  ducks, or ducklings
     d.  ducks, or duck clings
3)  She was spending all day at home because she was ______ job
     a.  furloughed from her
     b.  furrowed from her
     c.  fur lowered from her
     d.  furthered from her
4)  She decided to use her free time to do things ______
     a.  around the house
     b.  abound the house
     c.  astound then house
     d.  around a house
5)  The video showed how someone ______
     a.  batched quail eggs
     b.  hatched quail eggs
     c.  thatched quail eggs
     d.  matched quail eggs

6)  Lello said the ducklings would live, "a ______".
     a.  very happily life
     b.  very hoppy life
     c.  very hopping life
     d.  very happy life
7)  I was so excited for them to hatch, but I still had in the back ______
     a.  off my mind
     b.  of my minds
     c.  of my mind
     d.  off my minds
8)  They have been collected, bashed around on ______
     a.  a delivery track
     b.  a delivery trick
     c.  a delivery truck
     d.  a delivery tack
9)  She added that it had been an ______
     a.  "amaze in" experience
     b.  "a mazing" experience
     c.  "Amazon" experience
     d.  "amazing" experience
10)  She called her ducklings "the cutest little ______"
     a.  balls of gruff
     b.  balls of fluffy
     c.  balls of fluff
     d.  balls of trough

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A woman (1) ___________________ surprise after she bought some duck eggs from a supermarket. Three of (2) ___________________. The woman now has three baby ducks, or ducklings. The woman named the ducklings Beep, Peep and Meep. Charli Lello, 29, bought the eggs from the Waitrose supermarket last month. She (3) ___________________ day at home because she was furloughed from her job (4) ___________________ manager in a shop. She decided to use her free time to do things around the house. Ms Lello told reporters that she (5) ___________________ for incubating the eggs after seeing a video on Facebook. The video showed how (6) ___________________ eggs after buying them from a supermarket.

Lello said the ducklings would live, "a very happy life". She said they would be (7) ___________________ her pet chickens. She explained why she tried her experiment. She said: "While (8) ___________________ Waitrose, I saw the duck eggs and thought maybe they would [hatch]. I was so excited for (9) ___________________, but I still had in the back of my mind that these are supermarket eggs." She said she was surprised when the eggs hatched. She said: "They have been collected, (10) ___________________ a delivery truck, then rattled around on a trolley (11) ___________________." She added that it had been an "amazing" experience. She called her ducklings "the cutest little balls of fluff". A duck farm said it is (12) ___________________ ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs.

Comprehension questions

  1. What did the article say the woman received?
  2. How old is the woman who bought the eggs?
  3. Where has the woman spent most of her days recently?
  4. What is the woman's job?
  5. Where did the woman see a video on incubating eggs?
  6. Who are the ducklings' new friends?
  7. What was in the back of the woman's mind when she bought the eggs?
  8. Where did the woman say the eggs had been bashed around in?
  9. What kind of experience did the woman call incubating the eggs?
  10. What did a duck farm say about hatching supermarket eggs?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What did the article say the woman received?
a) a package
b) An Amazon delivery
c) a surprise
d) bad news
2) How old is the woman who bought the eggs?
a) 29
b) 28
c) 27
d) 26
3) Where has the woman spent most of her days recently?
a) at work
b) at home
c) on a farm
d) in a pet shop
4) What is the woman's job?
a) a pet shop owner
b) a farmer
c) a vet
d) an assistant manager
5) Where did the woman see a video on incubating eggs?
a) on YouTube
b) on TV
c) on Facebook
d) at a train station

6) Who are the ducklings' new friends?
a) some cows
b) the woman's pet chickens
c) the woman's neighbours
d) a horse and a cat
7) What was in the back of the woman's mind when she bought the eggs?
a) the price of eggs
b) her job
c) coronavirus
d) they were supermarket eggs
8) Where did the woman say the eggs had been bashed around in?
a) a farm
b) a delivery truck
c) a supermarket trolley
d) a shelf
9) What kind of experience did the woman call incubating the eggs?
a) an interesting experience
b) an amazing experience
c) a nice experience
d) an educational experience

10) What did a duck farm say about hatching supermarket eggs?
a) it was unusual
b) it was very rare
c) it was unheard of
d) it was normal

Role play

Role  A – Duckling
You think a duckling is the best pet. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their animals. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): goldfish, horse or tarantula.

Role  B – Goldfish
You think a goldfish is the best pet. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their animals. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): duckling, horse or tarantula.

Role  C – Horse
You think a horse is the best pet. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their animals. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): goldfish, duckling or tarantula.

Role  D – Tarantula
You think a tarantula is the best pet. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their animals. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): goldfish, horse or duckling.

After reading / listening

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

'supermarket'

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

    • and 'egg'.

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

    • • 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:

    • surprise
    • named
    • decided
    • idea
    • good
    • after
    • life
    • tried
    • excited
    • delivery
    • balls
    • unusual

    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 - Ducks

    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 'duck'?
    3. What is the biggest surprise you had?
    4. What do you think of ducks?
    5. Would you prefer to eat duck eggs or chicken eggs?
    6. What do you think of the names of the ducklings?
    7. What would you do if you had lots of free time?
    8. What do you know about ducks?
    9. Would you like to keep ducklings?
    10. What three adjectives best describe this story and why?

    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 'egg'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think the best pets are?
    5. Would you like to incubate some duck eggs?
    6. How surprised are you that the ducklings hatched?
    7. How cute do you think ducklings are?
    8. What amazing experiences have you had in your life?
    9. What do you think of eggs?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the lady with the ducklings?

    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)

    A woman received a big surprise (1) ____ she bought some duck eggs from a supermarket. Three of the eggs hatched. The woman now has three baby ducks, or (2) ____. The woman named the ducklings Beep, Peep and Meep. Charli Lello, 29, bought the eggs from the Waitrose supermarket last month. She was spending all day at home because she was (3) ____ from her job as an assistant manager in a shop. She decided to use her free time to do (4) ____ around the house. Ms Lello told reporters that she got the idea for incubating the eggs after (5) ____ a video on Facebook. The video showed how someone hatched quail eggs after buying (6) ____ from a supermarket.

    Lello said the ducklings would live, "a very (7) ____ life". She said they would be good company for her pet chickens. She explained why she (8) ____ her experiment. She said: "While I was in Waitrose, I saw the duck eggs and thought maybe they would [hatch]. I was so excited for them to hatch, but I still had in the back of my (9) ____ that these are supermarket eggs." She said she was surprised when the eggs hatched. She said: "They have been collected, (10) ____ around on a delivery truck, then rattled around on a trolley onto a shelf." She added that it had been an "amazing" experience. She called her ducklings "the cutest little (11) ____ of fluff". A duck farm said it is very unusual (12) ____ ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     then     (b)     further     (c)     post     (d)     after    
    2. (a)     duckings     (b)     duckies     (c)     ducklets     (d)     ducklings    
    3. (a)     furrowed     (b)     furloughed     (c)     furlong     (d)     fried    
    4. (a)     item     (b)     it     (c)     things     (d)     that    
    5. (a)     seen     (b)     sees     (c)     seeing     (d)     saw    
    6. (a)     them     (b)     thus     (c)     then     (d)     through    
    7. (a)     happily     (b)     happy     (c)     hapless     (d)     happen    
    8. (a)     tried     (b)     trial     (c)     tired     (d)     tied    
    9. (a)     mend     (b)     mind     (c)     mine     (d)     meme    
    10. (a)     based     (b)     basted     (c)     bashed     (d)     bolted    
    11. (a)     bats     (b)     pins     (c)     balls     (d)     nets    
    12. (a)     of     (b)     at     (c)     on     (d)     for

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. A woman received a big eiprrssu
    2. three baby ducks, or nckliudgs
    3. she was uferloghud from her job
    4. an tssastnia manager in a shop
    5. gcnntibaui the eggs
    6. how smeoneo hatched quail eggs

    Paragraph 2

    1. why she tried her nrimpextee
    2. I was so exietdc for them to hatch
    3. rattled around on a orellty
    4. it had been an "amazing" nereexpeic
    5. the cutest little balls of ufffl
    6. it is very nualsuu

    Put the text back together

    (...)  Beep, Peep and Meep.  Charli Lello, 29, bought the eggs from the Waitrose supermarket last month. She was spending all
    (...)  day at home because she was furloughed from her job as an assistant manager
    (...)  little balls of fluff". A duck farm said it is very unusual for ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs.
    (...)  reporters that she got the idea for incubating the eggs after seeing a video on Facebook. The video
    (  1  ) A woman received a big surprise after she bought some duck eggs from a supermarket. Three of the
    (...)  the duck eggs and thought maybe they would [hatch]. I was so excited for them to hatch, but I still had in the back of my
    (...)  showed how someone hatched quail eggs after buying them from a supermarket.
    (...)  eggs hatched. The woman now has three baby ducks, or ducklings. The woman named the ducklings
    (...)  chickens. She explained why she tried her experiment. She said: "While I was in Waitrose, I saw
    (...)  Lello said the ducklings would live, "a very happy life". She said they would be good company for her pet
    (...)  mind that these are supermarket eggs." She said she was surprised when the eggs hatched. She said:
    (...)  in a shop. She decided to use her free time to do things around the house. Ms Lello told
    (...)  on a trolley onto a shelf." She added that it had been an "amazing" experience. She called her ducklings "the cutest
    (...)  "They have been collected, bashed around on a delivery truck, then rattled around

    Put the words in the right order

    1. baby   now   The   three   has   woman   ducks   .
    2. at   was   home   .   spending   day   all   She
    3. free   to   her   things   .   time   Use   do
    4. for   got   idea   the   She   incubating   eggs   .   the
    5. someone   video   quail   hatched   The   showed   how   eggs   .
    6. would   live   happy   a   The   very   ducklings   life   .
    7. her   tried   explained   she   why   experiment   .   She
    8. to   them   so   excited   was   I   for   hatch   .
    9. on   a   onto   a   trolley   Rattled   shelf   .   around
    10. to   ducklings   It   very   for   is   hatch   .   unusual

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    A woman received a big surprise after she buying / bought some duck eggs from a supermarket. Three of the eggs hatched. The woman now has thrice / three baby ducks, or ducklings. The woman named / naming the ducklings Beep, Peep and Meep.  Charli Lello, 29, bought the eggs from the Waitrose supermarket last month / monthly. She was spending whole / all day at home because she was thoroughly / furloughed from her job as an assistant manager in / on a shop. She decided to use her freely / free time to do things around the house. Ms Lello told reporters that she got the idea for incubate / incubating the eggs after seeing a video on Facebook. The video showed how someone hatched quail eggs after buying them for / from a supermarket.

    Lello said the ducklings would live, "a very happy / happily life". She said they would be good company for her pat / pet chickens. She explained why she tried her experienced / experiment. She said: "While I was in Waitrose, I saw the duck eggs and thought / though maybe they would [hatch]. I was so excited of / for them to hatch, but I still had in the back of my mind that these are supermarket eggs." She said she was surprising / surprised when the eggs hatched. She said: "They have been collected, bashed / biased around on a deliver / delivery truck, then rattled around on a trolley onto a shelf." She added that it had been an "amazing" experience. She called her ducklings "the cutest little bats / balls of fluff". A duck farm said it is very unusual for ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs / egged.

    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)

    A w_m_n r_c__ v_d _ b_g s_r p r_s_ _f t_r s h_ b__ g h t s_m_ d_c k _g g s f r_m _ s_p_r m_r k_t . T h r__ _f t h_ _g g s h_t c h_d . T h_ w_m_n n_w h_s t h r__ b_b y d_c k s , _r d_c k l_n g s . T h_ w_m_n n_m_d t h_ d_c k l_n g s B__ p , P__ p _n d M__ p . C h_r l_ L_l l_, 2 9 , b__ g h t t h_ _g g s f r_m t h_ W__ t r_s_ s_p_r m_r k_t l_s t m_n t h . S h_ w_s s p_n d_n g _l l d_y _t h_m_ b_c__ s_ s h_ w_s f_r l__ g h_d f r_m h_r j_b _s _n _s s_s t_n t m_n_g_r _n _ s h_p . S h_ d_c_d_d t_ _s_ h_r f r__ t_m_ t_ d_ t h_n g s _r__ n d t h_ h__ s_. M s L_l l_ t_l d r_p_r t_r s t h_t s h_ g_t t h_ _d__ f_r _n c_b_t_n g t h_ _g g s _f t_r s___n g _ v_d__ _n F_c_b__ k . T h_ v_d__ s h_w_d h_w s_m__ n_ h_t c h_d q___l _g g s _f t_r b_y_n g t h_m f r_m _ s_p_r m_r k_t .

    L_l l_ s__ d t h_ d_c k l_n g s w__ l d l_v_, "_ v_r y h_p p y l_f_" . S h_ s__ d t h_y w__ l d b_ g__ d c_m p_n y f_r h_r p_t c h_c k_n s . S h_ _x p l__ n_d w h y s h_ t r__ d h_r _x p_r_m_n t . S h_ s__ d : " W h_l_ I w_s _n W__ t r_s_, I s_w t h_ d_c k _g g s _n d t h__ g h t m_y b_ t h_y w__ l d [ h_t c h ] . I w_s s_ _x c_t_d f_r t h_m t_ h_t c h , b_t I s t_l l h_d _n t h_ b_c k _f m y m_n d t h_t t h_s_ _r_ s_p_r m_r k_t _g g s . " S h_ s__ d s h_ w_s s_r p r_s_d w h_n t h_ _g g s h_t c h_d . S h_ s__ d : " T h_y h_v_ b__ n c_l l_c t_d , b_s h_d _r__ n d _n _ d_l_v_r y t r_c k , t h_n r_t t l_d _r__ n d _n _ t r_l l_y _n t_ _ s h_l f . " S h_ _d d_d t h_t _t h_d b__ n _n "_m_z_n g " _x p_r__ n c_. S h_ c_l l_d h_r d_c k l_n g s " t h_ c_t_s t l_t t l_ b_l l s _f f l_f f " . A d_c k f_r m s__ d _t _s v_r y _n_s__ l f_r d_c k l_n g s t_ h_t c h f r_m s_p_r m_r k_t _g g s .

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    a woman received a big surprise after she bought some duck eggs from a supermarket three of the eggs hatched the woman now has three baby ducks or ducklings the woman named the ducklings beep peep and meep  charli lello 29 bought the eggs from the waitrose supermarket last month she was spending all day at home because she was furloughed from her job as an assistant manager in a shop she decided to use her free time to do things around the house ms lello told reporters that she got the idea for incubating the eggs after seeing a video on facebook the video showed how someone hatched quail eggs after buying them from a supermarket

    lello said the ducklings would live a very happy life she said they would be good company for her pet chickens she explained why she tried her experiment she said while i was in waitrose i saw the duck eggs and thought maybe they would hatch i was so excited for them to hatch but i still had in the back of my mind that these are supermarket eggs she said she was surprised when the eggs hatched she said they have been collected bashed around on a delivery truck then rattled around on a trolley onto a shelf she added that it had been an amazing experience she called her ducklings the cutest little balls of fluff a duck farm said it is very unusual for ducklings to hatch from supermarket eggs

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Awomanreceivedabigsurpriseaftersheboughtsomeduckeggsfromas
    upermarket.Threeoftheeggshatched.Thewomannowhasthreebabyd
    ucks,orducklings.ThewomannamedtheducklingsBeep,PeepandMee
    p.CharliLello,29,boughttheeggsfromtheWaitrosesupermarketlastm
    onth.Shewasspendingalldayathomebecauseshewasfurloughedfrom
    herjobasanassistantmanagerinashop.Shedecidedtouseherfreetime
    todothingsaroundthehouse.MsLellotoldreportersthatshegottheidea
    forincubatingtheeggsafterseeingavideoonFacebook.Thevideoshow
    edhowsomeonehatchedquaileggsafterbuyingthemfromasupermark
    et.Lellosaidtheducklingswouldlive,"averyhappylife".Shesaidtheywo
    uldbegoodcompanyforherpetchickens.Sheexplainedwhyshetriedhe
    rexperiment.Shesaid:"WhileIwasinWaitrose,Isawtheduckeggsandt
    houghtmaybetheywould[hatch].Iwassoexcitedforthemtohatch,butI
    stillhadinthebackofmymindthatthesearesupermarketeggs."Shesaid
    shewassurprisedwhentheeggshatched.Shesaid:"Theyhavebeencoll
    ected,bashedaroundonadeliverytruck,thenrattledaroundonatrolley
    ontoashelf."Sheaddedthatithadbeenan"amazing"experience.Sheca
    lledherducklings"thecutestlittleballsoffluff".Aduckfarmsaiditisveryu
    nusualforducklingstohatchfromsupermarketeggs.

    Free writing

    Write about ducks for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    Academic writing

    Everyone should keep chickens and ducks so they can have eggs. Discuss.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    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. DUCKS: Make a poster about ducks. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. KEEPING DUCKS: Write a magazine article about everybody keeping ducks and chickens at home so they can have fresh eggs. 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 ducks. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions on ducks. 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

    $US 9.99

    Answers

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

    Back to the top

    Help Support This Web Site

    • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

    Sean Banville's Book

    Thank You