The Reading / Listening - Harry and Meghan - Level 3

Reporters are saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have abandoned social media. The Duke (formerly Prince Harry) and his wife Meghan have reportedly said goodbye to their social media accounts. They want to focus on their new life together in the USA. The "Sunday Times" newspaper in the UK wrote that the couple have no plans to use social media for their non-profit organisation or for their personal lives. The newspaper said the couple have become sad and tired of all the "hate" they see online. They both decided to step down as active members of the British royal family last year. Since then, many people have attacked and criticised them on their Instagram account.

Harry and Meghans' main social media account was @sussexroyal on Instagram. They have 10.4 million followers on this account but have not posted any new content since March 2020. A source told the "Sunday Times" that the couple were "very unlikely" to use social media again. Meghan has spoken out about the harm social media can do. She was the subject of many attacks after she married into Britain's royal family. She said she experienced "almost unsurvivable" online abuse and cyberbullying. She added that she was the most trolled person in the world in 2019. This news comes as social media companies are in the spotlight for suspending the accounts of US President Donald Trump.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Harry and Meghan - Level 0,  Harry and Meghan - Level 1   or  Harry and Meghan - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/10/harry-meghan-quit-social-media
  • https://news.sky.com/story/harry-and-meghan-unlikely-to-return-to-social-media-after-abandoning-instagram-account-12183672
  • https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/harry-meghan-sussex-instagram-twitter-facebook-b1784972.html


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. SOCIAL MEDIA: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about social media. 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?
       reporters / social media / goodbye / couple / personal / sad / tired / royal family /
       followers / content / source / harm / attacks / married / abuse / cyberbullying
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. GOOD: Students A strongly believe social media is largely good; Students B strongly believe social media is largely bad. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. WHO IS IT GOOD FOR?: How necessary is social media for these people? Why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

How Necessary Is It?

Why?

Royals

 

 

Famous people

 

 

Companies

 

 

Old people

 

 

Teenagers

 

 

Teachers

 

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

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • WeChat
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. abandoned a. This is what someone said (but might not be true).
      2. formerly b. Totally gave up a course of action, a practice, or a way of thinking.
      3. reportedly c. The center of interest or activity.
      4. focus d. Two people who are married, engaged or together.
      5. couple e. In the past; in earlier times.
      6. royal f. Pointed out the bad things about someone or something.
      7. criticised g. Having the status of a king or queen (or emperor or empress; sultan or sultana, etc.) or a member of their family.

    Paragraph 2

      8. follower h. A person who provides information.
      9. source i. Followed someone on social media and made non-stop negative comments about them.
      10. spoken out j. Someone who joins another person's social media account.
      11. abuse k. Talk honestly about your feelings.
      12. trolled l. The focus or centre of attention.
      13. spotlight m. Terrible and harmful language aimed at someone.
      14. suspending n. Stopping something or someone from continuing or being in force or effect for a (short) length of time.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. The Duke of Sussex was once known as Prince William.     T / F
  2. The Duke and Duchess want to focus on their new life in Canada.     T / F
  3. The couple will continue their non-profit organisation social media site.    T / F
  4. The couple stepped down as members of the UK royal family.     T / F
  5. The couple have over 100 million followers on social media.     T / F
  6. The last time the couple posted on social media was a month ago.     T / F
  7. Meghan said she was the most trolled person in the world.     T / F
  8. Social media is in the spotlight after suspending Donald Trump.     T / F

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

  1. abandoned
  2. goodbye
  3. focus
  4. sad
  5. criticised
  6. posted
  7. harm
  8. abuse
  9. spotlight
  10. suspending
  1. uploaded
  2. condemned
  3. public eye
  4. farewell
  5. damage
  6. depressed
  7. mistreatment
  8. left
  9. putting on hold
  10. concentrate

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

  1. reportedly said
  2. They want to focus
  3. the couple have no plans
  4. the couple have become sad and tired
  5. active members of the
  6. They have 10.4 million
  7. Meghan has spoken out
  8. she married into
  9. almost unsurvivable" online abuse
  10. social media companies are in the
  1. of all the "hate"
  2. Britain's royal family
  3. British royal family
  4. on their new life
  5. spotlight
  6. goodbye
  7. followers on this account
  8. and cyberbullying
  9. to use social media
  10. about the harm

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
focus
lives
abandoned
criticised
plans
members
accounts
hate

Reporters are saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have (1) ___________________ social media. The Duke (formerly Prince Harry) and his wife Meghan have reportedly said goodbye to their social media (2) ____________________. They want to (3) _____________________ on their new life together in the USA. The "Sunday Times" newspaper in the UK wrote that the couple have no (4) _____________________ to use social media for their non-profit organisation or for their personal (5) _____________________. The newspaper said the couple have become sad and tired of all the "(6) _____________________ " they see online. They both decided to step down as active (7) _____________________ of the British royal family last year. Since then, many people have attacked and (8) _____________________ them on their Instagram account.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
subject
followers
unlikely
trolled
abuse
main
spotlight
content

Harry and Meghans' (9) _____________________ social media account was @sussexroyal on Instagram. They have 10.4 million (10) _____________________ on this account but have not posted any new (11) _____________________ since March 2020. A source told the "Sunday Times" that the couple were "very (12) _____________________ " to use social media again. Meghan has spoken out about the harm social media can do. She was the (13) _____________________ of many attacks after she married into Britain's royal family. She said she experienced "almost unsurvivable" online (14) _____________________ and cyberbullying. She added that she was the most (15) _____________________ person in the world in 2019. This news comes as social media companies are in the (16) _____________________ for suspending the accounts of US President Donald Trump.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Reporters are saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have ______
     a.  abandoned social medium
     b.  abandoned social meddling
     c.  abandoned social media
     d.  abandoned social me dear
2)  Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have ______
     a.  reported and said goodbye
     b.  report it re-said goodbye
     c.  rip port teddy said goodbye
     d.  reportedly said goodbye
3)  use social media for their non-profit organisation or for ______
     a.  their personal lives
     b.  their personality lives
     c.  their person all lives
     d.  their personally lives
4)  They both decided to step down as active members of the ______
     a.  British loyal family
     b.  British royal family
     c.  British rival family
     d.  British real family
5)  Since then, many people have attacked ______
     a.  and criticised their
     b.  and criticised there
     c.  and criticised theh
     d.  and criticised them

6)  They have 10.4 million followers on this account but have not posted ______
     a.  any newly content
     b.  any new content
     c.  any newt content
     d.  any knew content
7)  A source told the "Sunday Times" that the couple ______
     a.  were very unliked
     b.  were verily unlikely
     c.  were very unlikely
     d.  were verily not likely
8)  Meghan has spoken out about the harm social ______
     a.  media can do
     b.  media can does
     c.  media can done
     d.  media can doing
9)  She said she experienced almost unsurvivable ______
     a.  online abusive
     b.  online abuser
     c.  online abuse
     d.  online abused
10)  This news comes as social media companies are ______
     a.  in the spot left
     b.  in the spot right
     c.  in the spot lamp
     d.  in the spotlight

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Reporters (1) ____________________ Duke and Duchess of Sussex have abandoned social media. The Duke (formerly Prince Harry) and his wife Meghan have reportedly (2) ____________________ their social media accounts. They want (3) ____________________ their new life together in the USA. The "Sunday Times" newspaper in the UK wrote that the couple (4) ____________________ to use social media for their non-profit organisation or for their personal lives. The newspaper said the couple have become sad and (5) ____________________ the "hate" they see online. They both decided to step down as active members of the British royal family last year. Since then, many people have attacked and criticised (6) ____________________ Instagram account.

Harry and Meghans' main social media account was @sussexroyal on Instagram. They have 10.4 million (7) ____________________ account but have not posted any new content since March 2020. A source told the "Sunday Times" that the couple (8) ____________________ to use social media again. Meghan has spoken out (9) ____________________ social media can do. She was (10) ____________________ many attacks after she married into Britain's royal family. She said she experienced "almost unsurvivable" online abuse and cyberbullying. She added that she was (11) ____________________ person in the world in 2019. This news comes as social media companies are (12) ____________________ for suspending the accounts of US President Donald Trump.

Comprehension questions

  1. What was the Duke of Sussex formerly known as?
  2. What do the couple want to focus on?
  3. What is the name of the newspaper mentioned in this article?
  4. What are the couple sad at seeing online?
  5. When did the couple step down as members of the royal family?
  6. How many followers do the couple have on Instagram?
  7. When was the last time the couple posted content on social media?
  8. What did Meghan experience that was "almost unsurvivable"?
  9. When was Meghan the world's most trolled person?
  10. Whose accounts did social media companies suspend?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What was the Duke of Sussex formerly known as?
a) Prince William
b) Prince Harry
c) King Harry
d) King William
2) What do the couple want to focus on?
a) their business
b) charities
c) love
d) their new life
3) What is the name of the newspaper mentioned in this article?
a) the UK Times
b) the Times
c) the Sunday Times
d) the Tuesday Times
4) What are the couple sad at seeing online?
a) hate
b) poverty
c) coronavirus
d) corruption

5) When did the couple step down as members of the royal family?
a) two years ago
b) last year
c) n 2017
d) in 2018

6) How many followers do the couple have on Instagram?
a) 10.4 million
b) 104 million
c) 14 million
d) 140 million
7) When was the last time the couple posted content on social media?
a) April 2020
b) May 2020
c) March 2020
d) October 2020
8) What did Meghan experience that was "almost unsurvivable"?
a) online abuse
b) a car accident
c) an illness
d) a computer crash
9) When was Meghan the world's most trolled person?
a) 2016
b) 2017
c) 2018
d) 2019
10) Whose accounts did social media companies suspend?
a) big companies
b) many children
c) Donald Trump
d) doctors

Role play

Role  A – Twitter
You think Twitter is the best social media platform. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their platforms. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn.

Role  B – Facebook
You think Facebook is the best social media platform. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their platforms. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): Twitter, YouTube or LinkedIn.

Role  C – YouTube
You think YouTube is the best social media platform. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their platforms. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Role  D – LinkedIn
You think LinkedIn is the best social media platform. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their platforms. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): Facebook, YouTube or Twitter.

After reading / listening

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

'social'

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

    • and 'media'.

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

    • • 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:

    • abandoned
    • focus
    • wrote
    • lives
    • both
    • since
    • followers
    • source
    • unlikely
    • subject
    • most
    • spotlight

    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 - Harry and Meghan

    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 'social'?
    3. What do you think of social media?
    4. How important is social media to you?
    5. What are the good things about social media?
    6. What do you know about Meghan and Harry?
    7. What hate do you see on social media?
    8. What is the best social media platform?
    9. What do you think of Meghan and Harry abandoning social media?
    10. What advice do you have for Meghan and Harry?

    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 'media'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What are the bad things about social media?
    5. How can we reduce online abuse and cyberbullying?
    6. What should happen to Internet trolls?
    7. What do you think of Twitter suspending Donald Trump's account?
    8. What advice do you have for Donald Trump?
    9. What would life be like without social media?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Meghan and Harry?

    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)

    Reporters are saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (1) ____ abandoned social media. The Duke (formerly Prince Harry) and his wife Meghan have reportedly said goodbye (2) ____ their social media accounts. They want to focus (3) ____ their new life together in the USA. The "Sunday Times" newspaper in the UK wrote that the couple have no (4) ____ to use social media for their non-profit organisation or for their personal lives. The newspaper said the couple have become sad and (5) ____ of all the "hate" they see online. They both decided to step down (6) ____ active members of the British royal family last year. Since then, many people have attacked and criticised them on their Instagram account.

    Harry and Meghan's (7) ____ social media account was @sussexroyal on Instagram. They have 10.4 million followers on this account but have not posted any new (8) ____ since March 2020. A source told the "Sunday Times" that the couple were "very unlikely" to use social media again. Meghan has spoken out about the (9) ____ social media can do. She was the subject of many attacks after she married (10) ____ Britain's royal family. She said she experienced "almost unsurvivable" online abuse and cyberbullying. She added that she was the most (11) ____ person in the world in 2019. This news comes as social media companies are in the spotlight for (12) ____ the accounts of US President Donald Trump.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     having     (b)     have     (c)     haves     (d)     has    
    2. (a)     as     (b)     to     (c)     of     (d)     by    
    3. (a)     at     (b)     of     (c)     to     (d)     on    
    4. (a)     plants     (b)     plans     (c)     planes     (d)     planners    
    5. (a)     tiresome     (b)     tired     (c)     tiring     (d)     tire    
    6. (a)     at     (b)     of     (c)     as     (d)     on    
    7. (a)     pain     (b)     gain     (c)     main     (d)     vain    
    8. (a)     contain     (b)     constant     (c)     content     (d)     constraint    
    9. (a)     harmer     (b)     harming     (c)     harmful     (d)     harm    
    10. (a)     into     (b)     up to     (c)     as to     (d)     how to    
    11. (a)     trolled     (b)     toiled     (c)     tailed     (d)     tilled    
    12. (a)     suspension     (b)     suspender     (c)     suspending     (d)     suspends

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. aedonnbad social media
    2. oplrreedty said goodbye
    3. cofus on their new life
    4. the lcpeou have become sad
    5. the British loyar family
    6. attacked and ciirctdsei them

    Paragraph 2

    1. A csureo told the "Sunday Times"
    2. the ebjtsuc of many attacks
    3. online basue
    4. the most dtoelrl person in the world
    5. companies are in the ihttlopsg
    6. dsngesnipu the accounts

    Put the text back together

    (...)  Harry and Meghans' main social media account was @sussexroyal on Instagram. They have 10.4 million
    (  1  ) Reporters are saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have abandoned social media. The Duke
    (...)  then, many people have attacked and criticised them on their Instagram account.
    (...)  that she was the most trolled person in the world in 2019. This news comes as social media
    (...)  followers on this account but have not posted any new content since March 2020. A source told the "Sunday Times" that the couple
    (...)  wrote that the couple have no plans to use social media for their non-profit organisation or for their personal
    (...)  accounts. They want to focus on their new life together in the USA. The "Sunday Times" newspaper in the UK
    (...)  companies are in the spotlight for suspending the accounts of US President Donald Trump.
    (...)  can do. She was the subject of many attacks after she married into Britain's royal
    (...)  were "very unlikely" to use social media again. Meghan has spoken out about the harm social media
    (...)  family. She said she experienced "almost unsurvivable" online abuse and cyberbullying. She added
    (...)  (formerly Prince Harry) and his wife Meghan have reportedly said goodbye to their social media
    (...)  online. They both decided to step down as active members of the British royal family last year. Since
    (...)  lives. The newspaper said the couple have become sad and tired of all the "hate" they see

    Put the words in the right order

    1. want   focus   life   .   They   new   on   to   their
    2. use   social media   couple   no   plans   have   The.   to
    3. couple   said   newspaper   the   become   The   have   sad   .
    4. members   .   decided   They   as   down   step   active   to
    5. many   Since   attacked   people   have   then,   them   .
    6. followers   this   on   have   They   account   .   million   10.4
    7. can   out   the   about   Spoken   harm   do   .   social media
    8. She   of   many   attacks   .   the   subject   was
    9. said   online   she   almost   experienced   abuse   .   She   unsurvivable
    10. the   accounts   .   In   the   for   spotlight   suspending

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Reporters are said / saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have abandoned social media. The Duke (formerly Prince Harry) and his wife Meghan have reported / reportedly said goodbye to their social media accounts. They want to focus in / on their new life together in the USA. The "Sunday Times" newspaper in / on the UK wrote that the couple have no plans to use / used social media for their non-profit organisation or for their personal / personality lives. The newspaper said the couple have become sadly / sad and tired of all the "hate" they see online. They both decided for / to step down as active members / member of the British royal family last year. Since then, many people have attacked and criticised them / they on their Instagram account.

    Harry and Meghans' mainly / main social media account was @sussexroyal on Instagram. They have 10.4 million followers to / on this account but have not posted any new content / index since March 2020. A source / sauce told the "Sunday Times" that the couple were "very unlikely" to use social media again. Meghan has speaking / spoken out about the harm social media can do. She was the subject / subjective of many attacks after she married onto / into Britain's royal family. She said she experienced "almost unsurvivable" online abuse / abusive and cyberbullying. She added that she was the most toiled / trolled person in the world in 2019. This news comes was / as social media companies are in the spotlight for suspending the accounts of US President Donald Trump.

    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)

    R_p_rt_rs  _r_  s_y_ng  th_  D_k_  _nd  D_ch_ss  _f  S_ss_x  h_v_  _b_nd_n_d  s_c__l  m_d__.  Th_  D_k_  (f_rm_rly  Pr_nc_  H_rry)  _nd  h_s  w_f_  M_gh_n  h_v_  r_p_rt_dly  s__d  g__dby_  t_  th__r  s_c__l  m_d__  _cc__nts.  Th_y  w_nt  t_  f_c_s  _n  th__r  n_w  l_f_  t_g_th_r  _n  th_  _S_.  Th_  "S_nd_y  T_m_s"  n_wsp_p_r  _n  th_  _K  wr_t_  th_t  th_  c__pl_  h_v_  n_  pl_ns  t_  _s_  s_c__l  m_d__  f_r  th__r  n_n-pr_f_t  _rg_n_s_t__n  _r  f_r  th__r  p_rs_n_l  l_v_s.  Th_  n_wsp_p_r  s__d  th_  c__pl_  h_v_  b_c_m_  s_d  _nd  t_r_d  _f  _ll  th_  "h_t_"  th_y  s__  _nl_n_.  Th_y  b_th  d_c_d_d  t_  st_p  d_wn  _s  _ct_v_  m_mb_rs  _f  th_  Br_t_sh  r_y_l  f_m_ly  l_st  y__r.  S_nc_  th_n,  m_ny  p__pl_  h_v_  _tt_ck_d  _nd  cr_t_c_s_d  th_m  _n  th__r  _nst_gr_m  _cc__nt.

    H_rry  _nd  M_gh_n's  m__n  s_c__l  m_d__  _cc__nt  w_s  @s_ss_xr_y_l  _n  _nst_gr_m.  Th_y  h_v_  10.4  m_ll__n  f_ll_w_rs  _n  th_s  _cc__nt  b_t  h_v_  n_t  p_st_d  _ny  n_w  c_nt_nt  s_nc_  M_rch  2020.  _  s__rc_  t_ld  th_  "S_nd_y  T_m_s"  th_t  th_  c__pl_  w_r_  "v_ry  _nl_k_ly"  t_  _s_  s_c__l  m_d__  _g__n.  M_gh_n  h_s  sp_k_n  __t  _b__t  th_  h_rm  s_c__l  m_d__  c_n  d_.  Sh_  w_s  th_  s_bj_ct  _f  m_ny  _tt_cks  _ft_r  sh_  m_rr__d  _nt_  Br_t__n's  r_y_l  f_m_ly.  Sh_  s__d  sh_  _xp_r__nc_d  "_lm_st  _ns_rv_v_bl_"  _nl_n_  _b_s_  _nd  cyb_rb_lly_ng.  Sh_  _dd_d  th_t  sh_  w_s  th_  m_st  tr_ll_d  p_rs_n  _n  th_  w_rld  _n  2019.  Th_s  n_ws  c_m_s  _s  s_c__l  m_d__  c_mp_n__s  _r_  _n  th_  sp_tl_ght  f_r  s_sp_nd_ng  th_  _cc__nts  _f  _S  Pr_s_d_nt  D_n_ld  Tr_mp.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    reporters are saying the duke and duchess of sussex have abandoned social media the duke formerly prince harry and his wife meghan have reportedly said goodbye to their social media accounts they want to focus on their new life together in the usa the sunday times newspaper in the uk wrote that the couple have no plans to use social media for their nonprofit organisation or for their personal lives the newspaper said the couple have become sad and tired of all the hate they see online they both decided to step down as active members of the british royal family last year since then many people have attacked and criticised them on their instagram account

    harry and meghans main social media account was sussexroyal on instagram they have 104 million followers on this account but have not posted any new content since march 2020 a source told the sunday times that the couple were very unlikely to use social media again meghan has spoken out about the harm social media can do she was the subject of many attacks after she married into britains royal family she said she experienced almost unsurvivable online abuse and cyberbullying she added that she was the most trolled person in the world in 2019 this news comes as social media companies are in the spotlight for suspending the accounts of us president donald trump

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    ReportersaresayingtheDukeandDuchessofSussexhaveabandoneds
    ocialmedia.TheDuke(formerlyPrinceHarry)andhiswifeMeghanhaver
    eportedlysaidgoodbyetotheirsocialmediaaccounts.Theywanttofocu
    sontheirnewlifetogetherintheUSA.The"SundayTimes"newspaperint
    heUKwrotethatthecouplehavenoplanstousesocialmediafortheirnon-
    profitorganisationorfortheirpersonallives.Thenewspapersaidthecou
    plehavebecomesadandtiredofallthe"hate"theyseeonline.Theybothd
    ecidedtostepdownasactivemembersoftheBritishroyalfamilylastyear
    .Sincethen,manypeoplehaveattackedandcriticisedthemontheirInst
    agramaccount.HarryandMeghans'mainsocialmediaaccountwas@su
    ssexroyalonInstagram.Theyhave10.4millionfollowersonthisaccount
    buthavenotpostedanynewcontentsinceMarch2020.Asourcetoldthe"
    SundayTimes"thatthecouplewere"veryunlikely"tousesocialmediaag
    ain.Meghanhasspokenoutabouttheharmsocialmediacando.Shewast
    hesubjectofmanyattacksaftershemarriedintoBritain'sroyalfamily.S
    hesaidsheexperienced"almostunsurvivable"onlineabuseandcyberb
    ullying.Sheaddedthatshewasthemosttrolledpersonintheworldin201
    9.Thisnewscomesassocialmediacompaniesareinthespotlightforsusp
    endingtheaccountsofUSPresidentDonaldTrump.

    Free writing

    Write about Harry and Meghan for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Social media is a good thing and not a bad thing. 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. SOCIAL MEDIA: Make a poster about social media. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. TROLLING: Write a magazine article about online trolling being a crime for which you can go to prison. 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 social media. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how we can make it better. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    Answers

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

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