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Date: April 27, 2005 Listening (1:47 - 210.2 KB - 16kbps) THE ARTICLEThe number of fatalities in the horrific rail crash that has shocked safety conscious Japan has risen to 89. More bodies were being pulled from the wreckage nearly 48 hours after the crash. Rescue workers at the scene in Amagasaki, on the outskirts of Osaka, fear the number of dead will rise as they cut further into the wreck of twisted steel. The first carriage slammed into an underground parking area of an apartment building. The second car wrapped itself around the corner of the building and concertinaed to a fraction of its original width. Japanese police said it is highly unlikely anyone else will be found alive and that twenty people are still reported as missing. Investigators are now sifting through the evidence to ascertain the causes of Japan’s worst rail disaster since 1963. It seems a number of factors contributed to the fatal derailment. Driver error appears to be the main one. It has already been confirmed that the driver lied to control center bosses three minutes before the crash, telling them he had overrun the previous station by eight meters, when in fact it was forty metres. He is believed to have been speeding to make up the lost 90 seconds. The management culture of the rail operator, Japan Railways, is also under scrutiny. It has been revealed by ex-workers that drivers are severely reprimanded and subjected to demeaning punishments for being late. WARM UPS1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about: trains / train safety / Japanese trains / bullet trains / rail crashes / human error… For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 2. BULLET TRAIN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with bullet trains. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them. 3. TRAINS AND MY LIFE: Talk with your partner about how important trains are in your life. Do you worry about safety? Does your country have a good rail network / safety record? Is traveling by train the safest mode of transport? 4. TWO-MINUTE TRAIN DEBATES: Face each other in pairs and engage in the following 2-minute debates. Students A take the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:
PRE-READING IDEAS1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘rail’ and ‘crash’. 2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:
3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING ACTIVITIES1. UNSCRAMBLE: Put the words in the underlined parts of the article back into the correct order: Japan rail death toll at 89The number of fatalities in the horrific rail crash that Japan conscious has shocked safety has risen to 89. More bodies were being pulled from the wreckage nearly 48 hours after the crash. Rescue workers at the scene in Amagasaki, on Osaka outskirts of the, fear the number of dead will rise as they cut further into the wreck of twisted steel. The first carriage slammed into an underground parking area of an apartment building. The second car wrapped itself around the corner of the building and concertinaed to width of a fraction its original. Japanese police said it is highly unlikely anyone else will be found alive and that twenty people are still reported as missing. Investigators are now to evidence the ascertain through sifting the causes of Japan’s worst rail disaster since 1963. It seems a number of factors contributed to the fatal derailment. be one main Driver the error to appears. It has already been confirmed that the driver lied to control center bosses three minutes before the crash, telling them he had overrun the previous station by eight meters, when in fact it was forty metres. He is believed to have been speeding to make up the lost 90 seconds. The management culture of the rail operator, Japan Railways, also is scrutiny under. It has been revealed by ex-workers that drivers are severely reprimanded and subjected to demeaning punishments for being late. 2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise. 3. SYNONYM MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise. 4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise. 5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article. 6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings. POST READING IDEAS1. UNSCRAMBLE: Check your answers to this exercise. 2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share. 3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above. 4. STUDENT TRAIN SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down questions about trains, or on the article. Ask other classmates your questions and report back to your original partner/ group to compare your findings. 5. ‘RAIL’ / ‘CRASH’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1. Ask your partner / group your questions. 6. DISCUSSION:
7. RAIL SAFETY ROLE PLAY: Students A are executives of a rail company that has little money and a poor safety record. To keep your jobs you must improve safety. Students B belong to a commuter’s association. You demand safer trains. Students C are top government rail safety politicians. You could win the next election if transport safety is improved but you own 25% of the rail company and profits are important. Make notes in the following table with your fellow rail executives, commuters or politicians that might help you in the role play.
Students A, B and C come together for a rail safety meeting. You must all agree on three changes that must be implemented to ensure greater safety. HOMEWORK1. 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 information on your country’s railways. Share your findings with your class next lesson. 3. MY IDEAS: Write a list of ideas that could make train travel safer. Share your list with your classmates in your next class. They will evaluate your ideas. 4. LETTER: Write a letter to the bosses of a public transportation company telling them of their duties to the rail traveling public. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
UNSCRAMBLE: Japan rail death toll at 89The number of fatalities in the horrific rail crash that has shocked safety conscious Japan has risen to 89. More bodies were being pulled from the wreckage nearly 48 hours after the crash. Rescue workers at the scene in Amagasaki, on the outskirts of Osaka, fear the number of dead will rise as they cut further into the wreck of twisted steel. The first carriage slammed into an underground parking area of an apartment building. The second car wrapped itself around the corner of the building and concertinaed to a fraction of its original width. Japanese police said it is highly unlikely anyone else will be found alive and that twenty people are still reported as missing. Investigators are now sifting through the evidence to ascertain the causes of Japan’s worst rail disaster since 1963. It seems a number of factors contributed to the fatal derailment. Driver error appears to be the main one. It has already been confirmed that the driver lied to control center bosses three minutes before the crash, telling them he had overrun the previous station by eight meters, when in fact it was forty metres. He is believed to have been speeding to make up the lost 90 seconds. The management culture of the rail operator, Japan Railways, is also under scrutiny. It has been revealed by ex-workers that drivers are severely reprimanded and subjected to demeaning punishments for being late.
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