Brad Pitt has applied to become the father of Angelina Jolie’s two children. He gave his application papers to a court in Los Angeles on Friday. If his request is successful, the two children’s names will change to Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt. Jolie adopted Maddox, aged four, from Cambodia and Zahara, ten months, from Ethiopia. Pitt’s agent confirmed that “Brad Pitt is in the process of becoming the adoptive father of both children”. One media report also says that: “The ink isn’t even dry on the adoption papers, and Brad is literally jumping for joy.”

Pitt, 41, was married to actress Jennifer Anniston until their four-year marriage ended earlier this year. He met Jolie while making the movie Mr and Mrs Smith. Pitt has denied all reports that Jolie was the reason for his divorce. Rumors are now spreading that the adoption is the first step on the road to marriage, although both Jolie and Pitt have constantly denied there is any truth in this. The superstar duo has been a hot item in news stories throughout this year. They have been photographed together around the world, including in earthquake-devastated areas of Pakistan in October.

WARM-UPS

1. CHILDREN: In pairs / groups, talk about children. Do you like them? Do you want any? What are the best and worst things about children at the following ages?

• 6 months old
• 2 years old
• 5 years old
• 10 years old
• 15 years old

2. BOYS OR GIRLS? If you have children, would you prefer boys or girls? What are the biggest differences between boys and girls? Use the words below to help your conversations:

Sports Clothes Behavior and attitude Cuteness

Character Toys and games Topics of conversation Other

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

Brad Pitt / Angelina Jolie / adoption / Los Angeles / children’s names / happiness / ink / jumping for joy / divorce / Ethiopia / Pakistan / superstars / refugees

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

4. COMMENTS ON ADOPTION: What do you think of these comments on adoption? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. Adoption should be encouraged more in my country.
2. There are big risks in adopting children.
3. Children who are adopted have been specially chosen.
4. Parents would not love their adopted children as much as their natural children.
5. People should only adopt children who are the same race and color.
6. It’s wrong for parents to tell a child he or she is adopted.
7. It’s much better to adopt a baby than a young child.
8. Adoption should be encouraged in countries with low birthrates.

5. ADOPTION: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with adoption. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

6. QUICK DEBATE: Have a quick debate with your partner about adoption. Students A think adopting children from poor countries is best, Students B think adopting children from your own country is best.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Brad Pitt has successfully adopted Angelina Jolie’s children.	T / F
b.	The two children will not use Brad Pitt’s family name.	T / F
c.	Angelina Jolie gave birth to her children in Ethiopia and Cambodia.	T / F
d.	Media reports say Brad Pitt is jumping for joy.	T / F
e.	Brad Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Anniston.	T / F
f.	Brad Pitt has said Angelina Jolie was the reason for his divorce.	T / F
g.	Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have announced their weddings plans.	T / F
h.	Pitt and Jolie have been photographed together in Pakistan.	T / F

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

a.	applied	rejected
b.	papers	destroyed
c.	request	finished
d.	confirmed	application
e.	joy	pair
f.	ended	increasing
g.	denied	documents
h.	spreading	requested
i.	duo	okayed
j.	devastated	happiness

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

a.	He gave his application	even dry
b.	If his request is successful,	throughout this year
c.	Brad Pitt is in the process of	the two children’s names will change
d.	The ink isn’t	ended earlier this year
e.	Brad is literally jumping	Jolie was the reason for his divorce
f.	their four-year marriage	papers to a court
g.	Pitt has denied all reports that	to marriage
h.	Rumors are now	becoming the adoptive father
i.	first step on the road	for joy
j.	a hot item in news stories	spreading

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Brad Pitt to adopt Angelina Jolie’s kids

Brad Pitt has __________ to become the father of Angelina Jolie’s two children. He gave his application __________ to a court in Los Angeles on Friday. If his request is __________, the two children’s names will change to Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt. Jolie __________ Maddox, aged four, from Cambodia and Zahara, ten months, from Ethiopia. Pitt’s agent __________ that “Brad Pitt is in the process of becoming the adoptive father of both children”. One media __________ also says that: “The ink isn’t even __________ on the adoption papers, and Brad is literally __________ for joy.”		successful applied dry adopted report papers jumping confirmed
Pitt, 41, was married to actress Jennifer Anniston __________ their four-year marriage ended earlier this year. He met Jolie while __________ the movie Mr and Mrs Smith. Pitt has denied all __________ that Jolie was the reason for his divorce. __________ are now spreading that the adoption is the first step on the road to __________, although both Jolie and Pitt have __________ denied there is any truth in this. The superstar __________ has been a hot item in news stories throughout this year. They have been photographed together around the world, including in earthquake-__________ areas of Pakistan in October.		rumors duo making devastated constantly until reports marriage

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Brad Pitt to adopt Angelina Jolie’s kids

Brad Pitt has ________ to become the father of Angelina Jolie’s two children. He gave his application papers to a court in Los Angeles on Friday. If his ________ is successful, the two children’s names will change to Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt. Jolie adopted Maddox, aged four, from Cambodia and Zahara, ten months, from Ethiopia. Pitt’s agent ________ that “Brad Pitt is in the ________ of becoming the adoptive father of both children”. One ________ report also says that: “The ink isn’t even dry on the adoption papers, and Brad is ________ jumping for joy.”

Pitt, 41, was married to actress Jennifer Anniston ________ their four-year marriage ended ________ this year. He met Jolie while making the movie Mr and Mrs Smith. Pitt has ________ all reports that Jolie was the reason for his divorce. ________ are now spreading that the adoption is the first step on the road to marriage, although both Jolie and Pitt have constantly ________ there is any truth in this. The superstar ________ has been a hot item in news stories throughout this year. They have been photographed together around the world, including in earthquake-________ areas of Pakistan in October.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. STUDENT “ADOPTION” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about adoption, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

• 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:

applied court successful process report ink

actress denied step truth hot together

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. Is adoption common in your country?
3. What do you think of adoption?
4. What do you think of Brad Pitt adopting Angelina Jolie’s children?
5. What happens if the biological parents return and ask for their child back?
6. Do you know anyone who was adopted?
7. What problems are do you think there might be with adoption?
8. Do you think parents who adopt children have the same kind of love for their adopted child as natural parents have for their child?
9. Should people adopt children from the same race?
10. When was the last time you jumped for joy?

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. When should you tell a child he / she was adopted?
4. What checks should adoption agencies make on new parents?
5. Should same-sex couples and single people be allowed to adopt?
6. Would you prefer to adopt a child from your own country or from a very poor country?
7. Do you think adoption could be a useful answer for under-populated countries?
8. What questions do you think a child has when he / she finds out he / she was adopted?
9. Should brothers and sisters be split apart for adoption?
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

ADOPTION RULES: You are you government’s new Adoption Secretary. Your job is to make rules for adoption about the issues below. With the other “Adoption Secretaries” in your group, discuss and make the rules for adoption.

ISSUES	RULES
Age of child	1. 2.
Brothers and sisters	1. 2.
Trial adoption period	1. 2.
Rights of biological parents	1. 2.
Inter-racial adoption	1. 2.
Same-sex-couple adoption	1. 2.

• Change partners and compare and share your ideas.
• Give each other feedback on how to improve your ideas.
• Give presentations on your ideas to other groups / the rest of the class.
• In pairs / groups, discuss the presentations and vote on the one you thought was best.
• Which of the rules you heard do you think should be implemented?

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 Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. ADOPTION: Make a poster explaining the advantages and disadvantages of adoption. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all think of similar things?

4. LETTER TO BRAD: Write a letter to Brad Pitt. Tell him what you think of his plan to be the adoptive father of Angelina Jolie’s children. Give him advice on how to be a good father. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all think of similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. F

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	applied	requested
b.	papers	documents
c.	request	application
d.	confirmed	okayed
e.	joy	happiness
f.	ended	finished
g.	denied	rejected
h.	spreading	increasing
i.	duo	pair
j.	devastated	destroyed

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	He gave his application	papers to a court
b.	If his request is successful,	the two children’s names will change
c.	Brad Pitt is in the process of	becoming the adoptive father
d.	The ink isn’t	even dry
e.	Brad is literally jumping	for joy
f.	their four-year marriage	ended earlier this year
g.	Pitt has denied all reports that	Jolie was the reason for his divorce
h.	Rumors are now	spreading
i.	first step on the road	to marriage
j.	a hot item in news stories	throughout this year

GAP FILL:

Brad Pitt to adopt Angelina Jolie’s kids

Brad Pitt has applied to become the father of Angelina Jolie’s two children. He gave his application papers to a court in Los Angeles on Friday. If his request is successful, the two children’s names will change to Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt. Jolie adopted Maddox, aged four, from Cambodia and Zahara, ten months, from Ethiopia. Pitt’s agent confirmed that “Brad Pitt is in the process of becoming the adoptive father of both children”. One media report also says that: “The ink isn’t even dry on the adoption papers, and Brad is literally jumping for joy.”

Pitt, 41, was married to actress Jennifer Anniston until their four-year marriage ended earlier this year. He met Jolie while making the movie Mr and Mrs Smith. Pitt has denied all reports that Jolie was the reason for his divorce. Rumors are now spreading that the adoption is the first step on the road to marriage, although both Jolie and Pitt have constantly denied there is any truth in this. The superstar duo has been a hot item in news stories throughout this year. They have been photographed together around the world, including in earthquake-devastated areas of Pakistan in October.

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