The Reading / Listening - Elon Musk - Level 3

Every December, TIME magazine announces its Person of the Year. This year, that award goes to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained why. He wrote: "Person of the Year is a marker of influence. Few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially, life off Earth too." He added: "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world's richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society." Mr Musk is worth more than $255 billion. He is the richest person in history. He is also helping to save our world and our future. He is leading efforts to explore space and get to Mars.

The year 2021 was an amazing one for Elon Musk. He went into space* in his own rocket. It was made by his company SpaceX. This is a pioneer in space tourism. It might enable us to travel to Mars. Mr Musk is also well known for his car company Tesla. This controls two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar electric car market. It is valued at around $1 trillion. Musk is also an engineer, inventor and a trailblazer in many other cutting-edge industries. He first made his name by co-founding the e-payments company PayPal. Today, he is a leading player in robotics, solar technology, crypto-currency, artificial intelligence and super-speed public transport. TIME called him a genius and a visionary.

* ERROR: Elon Musk has never been into space.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Elon Musk - Level 0,  Elon Musk - Level 1   or  Elon Musk - Level 2

Sources
  • https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2021-elon-musk/
  • https://www.npr.org/2021/12/13/1063792887/elon-musk-time-person-of-the-year
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/13/media/slug-time-person-year-elon-musk/index.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. ELON MUSK: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Elon Musk. 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?
       time / magazine / person / award / 2021 / influence / life on Earth / society / space /
       rocket / pioneer / travel / Mars / electric car / engineer / inventor / robotics / genius
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. MARS: Students A strongly believe we should go to Mars; Students B strongly believe we shouldn't. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. ELON MUSK PROJECTS: What do you know about them? (Check the Internet.) How will they change the world? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What I Know

Changing the World

SpaceX

 

 

Tesla

 

 

The Boring Company

 

 

Neuralnk

 

 

Hyperloop

 

 

PayPal

 

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

  • Space travel
  • Electric cars
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Crypto-currency
  • Solar technology
  • Robotics
  • Public transport
  • Tunnel building

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. announce a. With the possibility to develop or happen in the future.
      2. award b. A person who sets up a business or businesses.
      3. entrepreneur c. A prize given for an achievement or winning something.
      4. influence d. Travel through an unfamiliar area to learn about it.
      5. potentially e. Tell people about a fact, happening, or plan.
      6. massive f. The power to have an effect on people or society.
      7. explore g. Very, very, very big.

    Paragraph 2

      8. pioneer h. The latest or most advanced stage in the development of something.
      9. valued i. most important.
      10. inventor j. Start a new company with someone else.
      11. cutting-edge k. Considered to be worth X amount of money.
      12. co-found l. Someone who is very, very intelligent and has creative power or other natural abilities.
      13. leading m. A person who is one of the first to research and develop a new area of knowledge or activity.
      14. genius n. A person who thinks of and makes new things not seen before.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. TIME announces its Person of the Year every November.     T / F
  2. The article says no one has influenced society more than Elon Musk.     T / F
  3. Elon Musk is worth over $250 billion.     T / F
  4. Elon Musk is the richest person in history.     T / F
  5. Elon Musk went into space in one of his own rockets.     T / F
  6. The car company Tesla controls three-quarters of the electric car market. T / F
  7. Elon Musk helped to create the e-payments company PayPal.     T / F
  8. TIME magazine said Elon Musk was a genius.     T / F

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

  1. award
  2. entrepreneur
  3. influence
  4. shift
  5. efforts
  6. amazing
  7. pioneer
  8. valued
  9. player
  10. genius
  1. worth
  2. power
  3. attempts
  4. participant
  5. business person
  6. innovator
  7. mastermind
  8. prize
  9. unbelievable
  10. change

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

  1. Few individuals have had more
  2. life
  3. Mr Musk is worth
  4. He is also helping to save
  5. He is leading efforts
  6. The year 2021 was an amazing
  7. two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar
  8. a trailblazer in many other cutting-
  9. he is a leading
  10. artificial
  1. electric car market
  2. more than $255 billion
  3. intelligence
  4. on Earth
  5. player in robotics
  6. our world
  7. influence than Musk
  8. one for Elon Musk
  9. to explore space
  10. edge industries

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
influence
massive
award
save
life
explore
editor
worth

Every December, TIME magazine announces its Person of the Year. This year, that (1) _____________________ goes to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME's (2) _____________________ -in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained why. He wrote: "Person of the Year is a marker of influence. Few individuals have had more (3) _____________________ than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially, (4) _____________________ off Earth too." He added: "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world's richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of a (5) _____________________ shift in our society." Mr Musk is (6) _____________________ more than $255 billion. He is the richest person in history. He is also helping to (7) _____________________ our world and our future. He is leading efforts to (8) _____________________ space and get to Mars.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
founding
amazing
public
edge
known
solar
pioneer
thirds

The year 2021 was an (9) _____________________ one for Elon Musk. He went into space in his own rocket. It was made by his company SpaceX. This is a (10) _____________________ in space tourism. It might enable us to travel to Mars. Mr Musk is also well (11) _____________________ for his car company Tesla. This controls two-(12) _____________________ of the multi-billion-dollar electric car market. It is valued at around $1 trillion. Musk is also an engineer, inventor and a trailblazer in many other cutting-(13) _____________________ industries. He first made his name by co-(14) _____________________ the e-payments company PayPal. Today, he is a leading player in robotics, (15) _____________________ technology, crypto-currency, artificial intelligence and super-speed (16) _____________________ transport. TIME called him a genius and a visionary.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal ______
     a.  explained what
     b.  explained whey
     c.  explained why
     d.  explained way
2)  Few individuals have had more influence than Musk on ______
     a.  life in Earth
     b.  life on Earth
     c.  life unearth
     d.  life unearthed
3)  the world's richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of ______
     a.  a mass sieve shift
     b.  amass sieve shift
     c.  amass if shift
     d.  a massive shift
4)  He is also helping to save our world ______
     a.  and dour future
     b.  an dour future
     c.  and our future
     d.  end our future
5)  He is leading efforts ______
     a.  too explore space
     b.  to explore space
     c.  two explore space
     d.  tow explore space

6)  He went into space in ______
     a.  his sown rocket
     b.  his own rocket
     c.  his sewn rocket
     d.  his zone rocket
7)  This controls two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar ______
     a.  electric car market
     b.  electric calm market
     c.  electric calm ark it
     d.  electric karma kit
8)  an engineer, inventor and a trailblazer in many other ______
     a.  cut thing edge industries
     b.  cut tin edge industries
     c.  cut tin hedge industries
     d.  cutting-edge industries
9)  crypto-currency, artificial intelligence and super-______
     a.  seed public transport
     b.  speed public transport
     c.  spread public transport
     d.  speared public transport
10)  TIME called him a genius ______
     a.  an dab is on airy
     b.  end of visionary
     c.  and a visionary
     d.  and a vision every

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Every December, TIME magazine announces its Person of the Year. This year, (1) ____________________ to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained why. He wrote: "Person of the Year is a marker of influence. (2) ____________________ had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially, life off Earth too." He added: "In 2021, Musk (3) ____________________ as the world's richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of (4) ____________________ in our society." Mr Musk is worth more than $255 billion. He is the richest (5) ____________________. He is also helping to save our world and our future. He is (6) ____________________ explore space and get to Mars.

The year 2021 was (7) ____________________ for Elon Musk. He went into space in his own rocket. It was made by his company SpaceX. This is a pioneer in space tourism. It might (8) ____________________ travel to Mars. Mr Musk is also well known for his car company Tesla. This controls two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar (9) ____________________. It is valued at around $1 trillion. Musk is also an engineer, (10) ____________________ trailblazer in many other cutting-edge industries. He first made his name by co-founding the e-payments company PayPal. Today, he is (11) ____________________ in robotics, solar technology, crypto-currency, artificial intelligence and super-speed public transport. TIME called (12) ____________________ and a visionary.

Comprehension questions

  1. When does TIME magazine announce its Person of the Year?
  2. What did TIME say the Person of the Year was a marker of?
  3. What did TIME say Elon Musk potentially influenced?
  4. How much money is Elon Musk worth?
  5. Where does Elon Musk want to get to?
  6. What did TIME say was amazing for Elon Musk?
  7. What does the article say Mr Musk is a pioneer of?
  8. How much is Tesla worth?
  9. What company does the article say Mr Musk co-founded?
  10. What did TIME call Mr Musk besides a genius?

Multiple choice quiz

1) When does TIME magazine announce its Person of the Year?
a) in December
b) lunchtime
c) every two years
d) On Xmas Day
2) What did TIME say the Person of the Year was a marker of?
a) whiteboards
b) time
c) influence
d) exams
3) What did TIME say Elon Musk potentially influenced?
a) time itself
b) life off Earth
c) matter
d) space
4) How much money is Elon Musk worth?
a) exactly $255 billion
b) around $255 billion
c) a dollar or two less than $255 billion
d) more than $255 billion
5)  Where does Elon Musk want to get to?
a) Mars
b) number one
c) the top
d) he's not sure

6) What did TIME say was amazing for Elon Musk?
a) the best time
b) 11:32am
c) the twentieth century
d) 2021
7) What does the article say Mr Musk is a pioneer of?
a) music
b) space tourism
c) tissue paper
d) thought
8) How much is Tesla worth?
a) less than $1 trillion
b) more than $1 trillion
c) exactly $1 trillion
d) around $1 trillion
9) What company does the article say Mr Musk co-founded?
a) Netflix
b) Facebook
c) PayPal
d) Spotify
10) What did TIME call Mr Musk besides a genius?
a) Bob
b) a visionary
c) a very nice young man
d) a wizard

Role play

Role  A – Space Travel
You think space travel is the most important industry for the future. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their industries. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): electric cars, Artificial Intelligence or solar technology.

Role  B – Electric Cars
You think electric cars is the most important industry for the future. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their industries. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): space travel, Artificial Intelligence or solar technology.

Role  C – Artificial Intelligence
You think Artificial Intelligence is the most important industry for the future. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their industries. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): electric cars, space travel or solar technology.

Role  D – Solar Technology
You think solar technology is the most important industry for the future. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their industries. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): electric cars, Artificial Intelligence or space travel.

After reading / listening

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

'time'

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

    • and 'person'.

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

    • • 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:

    • award
    • few
    • just
    • worth
    • history
    • leading
    • one
    • tourism
    • thirds
    • cutting
    • player
    • called

    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 - Elon Musk

    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 'time'?
    3. What do you know about Elon Musk?
    4. Who is your person of the year?
    5. How has Elon Musk changed people's lives?
    6. What would it be like to be the world's richest person?
    7. What else can Mr Musk do to help life on Earth?
    8. How can we become as successful as Elon Musk?
    9. Should humans go to Mars?
    10. What advice do you have for Elon Musk?

    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 'person'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What would you like to know about Elon Musk?
    5. Who is your person of the century?
    6. What do you think of the car company Tesla?
    7. What do you think of PayPal?
    8. What three adjectives best describe Elon Musk?
    9. How much of a genius and visionary is Mr Musk?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Elon Musk?

    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)

    Every December, TIME magazine (1) ____ its Person of the Year. This year, that award (2) ____ to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained why. He wrote: "Person of the Year is a marker of influence. (3) ____ individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially, life off Earth too." He added: "In 2021, Musk emerged (4) ____ just as the world's richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society." Mr Musk is (5) ____ more than $255 billion. He is the richest person in history. He is also helping to save our world and our future. He is (6) ____ efforts to explore space and get to Mars.

    The year 2021 was an amazing one (7) ____ Elon Musk. He went into space in his own rocket. It was made by his company SpaceX. This is a pioneer in space tourism. It might (8) ____ us to travel to Mars. Mr Musk is also well known for his car company Tesla. This controls two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar electric car market. It is valued (9) ____ around $1 trillion. Musk is also an engineer, inventor and a trailblazer in many other cutting-edge industries. He first made his (10) ____ by co-founding the e-payments company PayPal. Today, he is a leading player (11) ____ robotics, solar technology, crypto-currency, artificial intelligence and super-speed public transport. TIME called him a (12) ____ and a visionary.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     announce     (b)     announcing     (c)     announces     (d)     announcer    
    2. (a)     goes     (b)     takes     (c)     gives     (d)     does    
    3. (a)     Few     (b)     Numeral     (c)     Variety     (d)     None    
    4. (a)     not     (b)     now     (c)     no     (d)     none    
    5. (a)     priced     (b)     cost     (c)     value     (d)     worth    
    6. (a)     ceding     (b)     beading     (c)     reading     (d)     leading    
    7. (a)     for     (b)     of     (c)     to     (d)     on    
    8. (a)     ability     (b)     capable     (c)     able     (d)     enable    
    9. (a)     at     (b)     to     (c)     of     (d)     on    
    10. (a)     surname     (b)     name     (c)     title     (d)     honorific    
    11. (a)     at     (b)     in     (c)     to     (d)     as     
    12. (a)     genius     (b)     gene     (c)     genie     (d)     genial

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. TIME magazine nanuocnes its Person of the Year
    2. more fulneicne than Musk
    3. and epinttaloly, life off Earth
    4. a assmvie shift in our society
    5. Mr Musk is hrotw more than $255 billion
    6. He is leading efforts to explore space

    Paragraph 2

    1. a inopeer in space tourism
    2. an engineer, nventior and a trailblazer
    3. cutting-edge ndsirtuies
    4. a leading player in brtooics
    5. citiirafal intelligence
    6. TIME called him a genius and a ivoryinsa

    Put the text back together

    (  1  )  Every December, TIME magazine announces its Person of the Year. This year, that award goes
    (...)  market. It is valued at around $1 trillion. Musk is also an engineer, inventor and a trailblazer in many other cutting-
    (...)  to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained
    (...)  edge industries. He first made his name by co-founding the e-payments company PayPal. Today, he is a leading
    (...)  than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially, life off Earth too." He added: "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world's
    (...)  and super-speed public transport. TIME called him a genius and a visionary.
    (...)  why. He wrote: "Person of the Year is a marker of influence. Few individuals have had more influence
    (...)  richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society." Mr Musk is worth
    (...)  more than $255 billion. He is the richest person in history. He is also helping to save our
    (...)  by his company SpaceX. This is a pioneer in space tourism. It might enable us to travel to Mars. Mr Musk is also well
    (...)  player in robotics, solar technology, crypto-currency, artificial intelligence
    (...)  known for his car company Tesla. This controls two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar electric car
    (...)  The year 2021 was an amazing one for Elon Musk. He went into space in his own rocket. It was made
    (...)  world and our future. He is leading efforts to explore space and get to Mars.

    Put the words in the right order

    1. award   goes   entrepreneur   .   the   to   That   groundbreaking
    2. individuals   more   than   have   influence   Musk   .   Few   had
    3. our   of   massive   in   society   .   a   Examples   shift
    4. is   to   He   save   world   .   also   our   helping
    5. He   efforts   leading   space   .   to   explore   is
    6. He   his   into   space   in   went   own   rocket   .
    7. multi-billion-dollar   electric   Two-thirds   car   the   of   market   .
    8. A   other   trailblazer   industries   .   cutting-edge   many   in
    9. He   his   PayPal   .   co-founding   first   name   by   made
    10. leading   Today,   he   in   robotics   .   player   is   a

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

         Every December, TIME magazine announces its Person of the Year. This year, that reward / award goes to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained what / why. He wrote: "Person of the Year is a marker of influence / influential. Few individuals have had more influence than Musk on / in life on Earth, and potentially, life off Earth addition / too." He added: "In 2021, Musk emerged not just was / as the world's richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example / specimen of a massive shift in our society." Mr Musk is worth / value more than $255 billion. He is the richest person in history. He is also helping to keep / save our world and our future. He is leading efforts to / by explore space and get to Mars.

         The year 2021 was an amazed / amazing one for Elon Musk. He went into space in his down / own rocket. It was made by his company SpaceX. This is a pioneer in / on space tourism. It might enable us to travel to Mars. Mr Musk is also well knowing / known for his car company Tesla. This controls two-thirds of the multi-billion-dollar electricity / electric car market. It is valued at around / astound $1 trillion. Musk is also an engineer, inventor and a trailblazer in many other cutting-edge industry /industries. He first made his surname / name by co-founding the e-payments company PayPal. Today, he is a leading player in robotics, solar technology, crypto-currency, artificial intelligence and super-speed public / publicity transport. TIME called him a genie / genius and a visionary.

    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)

         _v_ry  D_c_mb_r,  T_M_  m_g_z_n_  _nn__nc_s  _ts  P_rs_n  _f  th_  Y__r.  Th_s  y__r,  th_t  _w_rd  g__s  t_  th_  gr__ndbr__k_ng  _ntr_pr_n__r  _l_n  M_sk.  T_M_'s  _d_t_r-_n-ch__f  _dw_rd  F_ls_nth_l  _xpl__n_d  why.  H_  wr_t_:  "P_rs_n  _f  th_  Y__r  _s  _  m_rk_r  _f  _nfl__nc_.  F_w  _nd_v_d__ls  h_v_  h_d  m_r_  _nfl__nc_  th_n  M_sk  _n  l_f_  _n  __rth,  _nd  p_t_nt__lly,  l_f_  _ff  __rth  t__."  H_  _dd_d:  "_n  2021,  M_sk  _m_rg_d  n_t  j_st  _s  th_  w_rld's  r_ch_st  p_rs_n,  b_t  _ls_  _s  p_rh_ps  th_  r_ch_st  _x_mpl_  _f  _  m_ss_v_  sh_ft  _n  __r  s_c__ty."  Mr  M_sk  _s  w_rth  m_r_  th_n  $255  b_ll__n.  H_  _s  th_  r_ch_st  p_rs_n  _n  h_st_ry.  H_  _s  _ls_  h_lp_ng  t_  s_v_  __r  w_rld  _nd  __r  f_t_r_.  H_  _s  l__d_ng  _ff_rts  t_  _xpl_r_  sp_c_  _nd  g_t  t_  M_rs. 

         Th_  y__r  2021  w_s  _n  _m_z_ng  _n_  f_r  _l_n  M_sk.  H_  w_nt  _nt_  sp_c_  _n  h_s  _wn  r_ck_t.  _t  w_s  m_d_  by  h_s  c_mp_ny  Sp_c_X.  Th_s  _s  _  p__n__r  _n  sp_c_  t__r_sm.  _t  m_ght  _n_bl_  _s  t_  tr_v_l  t_  M_rs.  Mr  M_sk  _s  _ls_  w_ll  kn_wn  f_r  h_s  c_r  c_mp_ny  T_sl_.  Th_s  c_ntr_ls  tw_-th_rds  _f  th_  m_lt_-b_ll__n-d_ll_r  _l_ctr_c  c_r  m_rk_t.  _t  _s  v_l__d  _t  _r__nd  $1  tr_ll__n.  M_sk  _s  _ls_  _n  _ng_n__r,  _nv_nt_r  _nd  _  tr__lbl_z_r  _n  m_ny  _th_r  c_tt_ng-_dg_  _nd_str__s.  H_  f_rst  m_d_  h_s  n_m_  by  c_-f__nd_ng  th_  _-p_ym_nts  c_mp_ny  P_yP_l.  T_d_y,  h_  _s  _  l__d_ng  pl_y_r  _n  r_b_t_cs,  s_l_r  t_chn_l_gy,  crypt_-c_rr_ncy,  _rt_f_c__l  _nt_ll_g_nc_  _nd  s_p_r-sp__d  p_bl_c  tr_nsp_rt.  T_M_  c_ll_d  h_m  _  g_n__s  _nd  _  v_s__n_ry.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

         every december time magazine announces its person of the year this year that award goes to the groundbreaking entrepreneur elon musk times editorinchief edward felsenthal explained why he wrote person of the year is a marker of influence few individuals have had more influence than musk on life on earth and potentially life off earth too he added in 2021 musk emerged not just as the worlds richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society mr musk is worth more than 255 billion he is the richest person in history he is also helping to save our world and our future he is leading efforts to explore space and get to mars

         the year 2021 was an amazing one for elon musk he went into space in his own rocket it was made by his company spacex this is a pioneer in space tourism it might enable us to travel to mars mr musk is also well known for his car company tesla this controls twothirds of the multibilliondollar electric car market it is valued at around 1 trillion musk is also an engineer inventor and a trailblazer in many other cuttingedge industries he first made his name by cofounding the epayments company paypal today he is a leading player in robotics solar technology cryptocurrency artificial intelligence and superspeed public transport time called him a genius and a visionary

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    EveryDecember,TIMEmagazineannouncesitsPersonoftheYear.Thisy
    ear,thatawardgoestothegroundbreakingentrepreneurElonMusk.TI
    ME'seditor-in-chiefEdwardFelsenthalexplainedwhy.Hewrote:"Per
    sonoftheYearisamarkerofinfluence.Fewindividualshavehadmoreinfl
    uencethanMuskonlifeonEarth,andpotentially,lifeoffEarthtoo."Head
    ded:"In2021,Muskemergednotjustastheworld'srichestperson,butal
    soasperhapstherichestexampleofamassiveshiftinoursociety."MrMu
    skisworthmorethan$255billion.Heistherichestpersoninhistory.Heis
    alsohelpingtosaveourworldandourfuture.Heisleadingeffortstoexplo
    respaceandgettoMars.Theyear2021wasanamazingoneforElonMusk
    .Hewentintospaceinhisownrocket.ItwasmadebyhiscompanySpaceX
    .Thisisapioneerinspacetourism.ItmightenableustotraveltoMars.Mr
    MuskisalsowellknownforhiscarcompanyTesla.Thiscontrolstwo-thir
    dsofthemulti-billion-dollarelectriccarmarket.Itisvaluedataround$1t
    rillion.Muskisalsoanengineer,inventorandatrailblazerinmanyotherc
    utting-edgeindustries.Hefirstmadehisnamebyco-foundingthee-pa
    ymentscompanyPayPal.Today,heisaleadingplayerinrobotics,solarte
    chnology,crypto-currency,artificialintelligenceandsuper-speedpu
    blictransport.TIMEcalledhimageniusandavisionary.

    Free writing

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

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    Academic writing

    It is important to have a person of the year. 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. ELON MUSK: Make a poster about Elon Musk. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. PERSON OF THE YEAR: Write a magazine article about a person of the year being important. 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 Elon Musk. Ask him/her three questions about him. Give him/her three of your opinions on Mr Musk. 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