A daredevil Indian business tycoon has soared into the record books by almost touching the fringes of space. Vijaypat Singhania, 67, set the new altitude record in a hot-air balloon on Saturday by ascending to approximately 21,336 meters above sea level, breaking the previous 17-year-old mark of Swede Per Lindstand. Mr. Singhania joked about his achievement, stating: “It was said that the existing record, which stood the test of time for 17 long years, would never be broken. I suppose it took an Indian”. He exultantly dedicated his near encounter with the heavens to the Indian people and encouraged them to emulate him in striving for success. He said: “We are certainly among the best in the world. This is a proud moment for India. I am proud in achieving an almost impossible feat. So will every Indian.”

Mr. Singhania also gave a message full of inspiration to India’s senior citizens and youth, urging them to continue setting their sights high. He said: “If I can do such a thing at the age of 67, I am sure you can also attain such feats. I also hope that many young boys and girls would like to venture into sports and other activities which would bring them international fame.” He said of his potentially perilous escapade: “It has been a very slow and arduous journey for me. I have been an aviator for 46 years and have achieved some international records. It is for the first time we decided to gamble on hot-air balloons, which have been flown by many prominent balloonists.” An avid flyer, Mr. Singhania won the International Around the World Air Race in 1994. He said he has flying in his blood.

WARM-UPS

1. INDIAN PEOPLE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Indian people. Talk about the stereotypes, the Indians you’ve met and famous Indians. Talk also about Indians of the past and Indians of the future. What role will they play on the world stage?

2. RECORDS: Which of these world records would you like to break and why? Talk about how people might feel after breaking them.

Altitude in a hot-air balloon The 100-meter-sprint Length of time in space Long distance swimming

The number of children in your family Eating hamburgers The number of English words known Sleeping

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Daredevils / India / business tycoons / world records / space / hot-air balloons / success / pride / inspiration / sights / international fame / journeys / flying / blood

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. BALLOON: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “balloon”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. PRIDE: Are you proud of your country? Why? Are there things about your country you aren’t so proud of? Talk about this with your partner(s). Use the things below to help your conversations. Are you proud of your country’s…?

People History President / prime minister Social system Culture

Standing in the world Food National sportsmen, women and teams Transport system Biggest companies

6. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Have the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A take the first argument, students B the second. Change partners often.

1. Breaking world records is great. vs. There are more important things in life.
2. We must all be proud of our country. vs. There’s often no reason to be proud.
3. The 100-meters record is the greatest. vs. The record for the marathon is best.
4. Hot-air balloons are more exciting than bungee jumping. Vs. Other way round.
5. India will not become a superpower. vs. India will become a superpower.
6. Old people should stay at home. vs. Old people should find big, new ambitions.
7. Exploring the fringes of space is most exciting. vs. The ocean is more exciting.
8. We need heroes for inspiration. vs. Inspiration comes from within.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	An Indian is the fastest to have flown across the Atlantic in a balloon.	T / F
b.	An Indian hot-air balloonist broke a 17-year-old world record.	T / F
c.	The balloonist, Mr. Singhania, said he wanted to go to heaven.	T / F
d.	The balloonist said a minority of Indians would be proud of his feat.	T / F
e.	The balloonist urged old people to keep their sights set low.	T / F
f.	Mr. Singhania encouraged young Indians to seek international fame.	T / F
g.	Mr. Singhania took a big risk by deciding to fly hot-air balloons.	T / F
h.	He said he has the spirit of the Atlantic Ocean in his blood.	T / F

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

a.	daredevil	celebrated
b.	fringes	space
c.	the heavens	hazardous
d.	emulate	enthusiastic
e.	feat	copy
f.	attain	adventurer
g.	perilous	achieve
h.	arduous	accomplishment
i.	prominent	edges
j.	avid	hard

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	soared into	such feats
b.	almost touching the	their sights high
c.	stood	fringes of space
d.	encouraged them to emulate him	and arduous journey
e.	I am proud in achieving an	perilous escapade…
f.	continue setting	in striving for success
g.	I am sure you can also attain	almost impossible feat
h.	He said of his potentially	in his blood
i.	a very slow	the test of time
j.	he has flying	the record books

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Indian breaks hot-air balloon record

A daredevil Indian business tycoon has ________ into the record books by almost touching the ________ of space. Vijaypat Singhania, 67, set the new altitude record in a hot-air balloon on Saturday by ________ to approximately 21,336 meters above sea ________, breaking the previous 17-year-old mark of Swede Per Lindstand. Mr. Singhania joked about his achievement, stating: “It was said that the existing record, which ________ the test of time for 17 long years, would never be broken. I suppose it took an Indian”. He ________ dedicated his near encounter with the heavens to the Indian people and encouraged them to emulate him in ________ for success. He said: “We are certainly among the best in the world. This is a proud moment for India. I am proud in achieving an almost impossible ________. So will every Indian.”		ascending striving soared exultantly level feat fringes stood
Mr. Singhania also gave a message ________ of inspiration to India’s senior citizens and youth, urging them to continue setting their ________ high. He said: “If I can do such a thing at the age of 67, I am sure you can also attain such feats. I also hope that many young boys and girls would like to ________ into sports and other activities which would bring them international fame.” He said of his potentially perilous ________: “It has been a very slow and ________ journey for me. I have been an ________ for 46 years and have achieved some international records. It is for the first time we decided to ________ on hot-air balloons, which have been flown by many prominent balloonists.” An avid flyer, Mr. Singhania won the International Around the World Air Race in 1994. He said he has flying in his ________.		gamble aviator sights escapade full blood arduous venture

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Indian breaks hot-air balloon record

A __________ Indian business tycoon has soared into the record books by almost touching the fringes of space. Vijaypat Singhania, 67, set the new altitude record in a hot-air balloon on Saturday by __________ to approximately 21,336 meters above sea level, breaking the previous 17-year-old _____ of Swede Per Lindstand. Mr. Singhania joked about his achievement, stating: “It was said that the existing record, which ______ ___ _____ of time for 17 long years, would never be broken. I suppose it took an Indian”. He exultantly dedicated his near ___________ with the heavens to the Indian people and encouraged them to ___________ him in striving for success. He said: “We are certainly among the best in the world. This is a proud moment for India. I am proud in achieving an almost impossible ____. So will every Indian.”

Mr. Singhania also gave a message full of inspiration to India’s senior citizens and _______, urging them to continue setting their sights high. He said: “If I can do such a thing at the age of 67, I am sure you can also _______ such feats. I also hope that many young boys and girls would like to __________ into sports and other activities which would bring them international fame.” He said of his potentially __________ escapade: “It has been a very slow and __________ journey for me. I have been an aviator for 46 years and have achieved some international records. It is for the first time we decided to gamble on hot-air balloons, which have been flown by many __________ balloonists.” An ______ flyer, Mr. Singhania won the International Around the World Air Race in 1994. He said he has __________ ___ his blood.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘dare’ and ‘devil’.

• 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 gap fill. 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. STUDENT “INSPIRATION” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about inspiration, aiming high, achievements and world records.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

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

soared set level test heavens moment

message sights venture arduous gamble blood

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. Would you like to touch the fringes of space in a hot-air balloon?
3. Is there a daredevil inside you?
4. What world record would you like to break?
5. Where would you like to fly in a hot-air balloon?
6. What does “stood the test of time” mean?
7. Do you think Mr. Singhania is an inspirational figure?
8. Are there any people from your country who you would consider to be similar to Mr. Singhania?
9. Should there be more people like Mr. Singhania in the world?
10. In what ways or areas do you strive for success?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. What message of inspiration would you give to the young people of your country?
4. What is your proudest moment / achievement?
5. Do you think the people from your country are among the best in the world?
6. Do you thing it’s good to encourage youngsters to “venture into sports and other activities which would bring them international fame”?
7. Have you experienced any slow and arduous journeys in life?
8. What gambles have you taken in your life?
9. What is in your blood?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

MR. SINGHANIA: You must prepare for and make a speech. The title is “Success in Life”. Use Mr. Singhania as the inspiration for your speech. In pairs / groups, look at the snippets of information below about Mr. Singhania. Expand on these to create more ideas for your speech. Explain what is important about these snippets. What can we learn? Be inspirational!

SNIPPETS OF INFORMATION	IMPORTANCE	WHAT WE CAN LEARN	ADDED INSPIRATION
Mr. Singhania is a daredevil.
Mr. Singhania jokes about his achievements.
He has pride in his country.
He encourages young and old to aim high.
He persists along slow and arduous journeys.
He takes risks.
He follows what’s in his blood

• Change partners and compare and share your ideas and give each other feedback. How can you help make each other’s ideas more inspirational?
• Give your speeches.
• In pairs / groups, discuss the content and quality of the speeches and vote on the one you thought was best.
• Talk about your successes. Have the speeches changed your aims in life?

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 more information on Vijaypat Singhania and his new world record. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. LETTER: Write a letter to Vijaypat Singhania about his new world record. Ask him about his feelings on breaking the record. Tell him what you think of his words to the people of India.  Read what you wrote to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all have similar ideas?

4. DAREDEVIL ME: You are a daredevil. Write a plan for your next adventure. Write also about what inspiration you think young and old people can take from your adventure. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	daredevil	adventurer
b.	fringes	edges
c.	the heavens	space
d.	emulate	copy
e.	feat	accomplishment
f.	attain	achieve
g.	perilous	hazardous
h.	arduous	hard
i.	prominent	celebrated
j.	avid	enthusiastic

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	soared into	the record books
b.	almost touching the	fringes of space
c.	stood	the test of time
d.	encouraged them to emulate him	in striving for success
e.	I am proud in achieving an	almost impossible feat
f.	continue setting	their sights high
g.	I am sure you can also attain	such feats
h.	He said of his potentially	perilous escapade…
i.	a very slow	and arduous journey
j.	he has flying	in his blood

GAP FILL:

Indian breaks hot-air balloon record

A daredevil Indian business tycoon has soared into the record books by almost touching the fringes of space. Vijaypat Singhania, 67, set the new altitude record in a hot-air balloon on Saturday by ascending to approximately 21,336 meters above sea level, breaking the previous 17-year-old mark of Swede Per Lindstand. Mr. Singhania joked about his achievement, stating: “It was said that the existing record, which stood the test of time for 17 long years, would never be broken. I suppose it took an Indian”. He exultantly dedicated his near encounter with the heavens to the Indian people and encouraged them to emulate him in striving for success. He said: “We are certainly among the best in the world. This is a proud moment for India. I am proud in achieving an almost impossible feat. So will every Indian.”

Mr. Singhania also gave a message full of inspiration to India’s senior citizens and youth, urging them to continue setting their sights high. He said: “If I can do such a thing at the age of 67, I am sure you can also attain such feats. I also hope that many young boys and girls would like to venture into sports and other activities which would bring them international fame.” He said of his potentially perilous escapade: “It has been a very slow and arduous journey for me. I have been an aviator for 46 years and have achieved some international records. It is for the first time we decided to gamble on hot-air balloons, which have been flown by many prominent balloonists.” An avid flyer, Mr. Singhania won the International Around the World Air Race in 1994. He said he has flying in his blood.

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