Breaking News English

Date: May 8, 2007
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WARM-UPS

1. OLYMPICS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about the Olympics. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out.

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

China / capital cities / campaigns / spitting / litter / being tidy / streets / height / spotlights / Beijing / leaflets / etiquette / do’s and don’ts / gold medals

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

3. MY MANNERS: Write down a list of the points in which you are very well behaved. Make another list of areas where your manners need improving. Share these with your partner(s).

4. RUDE PEOPLE: Brainstorm a list of nationalities. With your partner(s), decide how well-behaved these people are. Change partners and share your ideas.

5. TOURISTS: With your partner(s), make a list of the things tourists do in your country which you think are bad mannered. Change partners and share your ideas.

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

7. BAD BEHAVIOUR: In pairs / groups, rank which of these actions are the worst manners in the street - worst at the top.

spitting eating as you walk dropping litter walking slowly

queue jumping listening to a loud Walkman staring at people drinking alcohol

8. QUICK DEBATE: Have this quick debate with your partner(s). Students A think good street manners are important; students B think good street manners are not important. Change partners and topics every two minutes.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	China wants its people well-behaved ahead of the Beijing Olympics.	T / F
b.	More than 5,000 people have been arrested for spitting in public.	T / F
c.	Beijing’s government is trying to “civilize” its citizens.	T / F
d.	Tourists to China have been given bags to keep their litter in.	T / F
e.	The queue jump is a new sport at the Beijing Olympics.	T / F
f.	The eleventh of each month is a day for practicing queuing.	T / F
g.	Officials also want to stop people clearing their throat loudly.	T / F
h.	There will be a gold medal at the Beijing Games for best manners.	T / F

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

a.	ahead of	stop
b.	campaign	distributed
c.	attempts	peak
d.	handed out	focus
e.	height	drive
f.	spotlight	prior to
g.	quoted	shamed
h.	disgraced	behaviour
i.	etiquette	efforts
j.	stamp out	reported

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

a.	clean up its capital city ahead of the	get disgraced
b.	people have been fined in the	be on Beijing
c.	step up	free from litter
d.	keep the city tidy and	wait patiently
e.	spitting and littering are at	2008 Olympic Games
f.	the world spotlight will	its efforts
g.	we don't want to	correct “street etiquette”
h.	educating citizens and tourists on	their height
i.	stand in line and	no-no
j.	another	past week for spitting

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Beijing citizens learn Olympics manners
 

The Chinese government has ________ started to clean up its capital city, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing officials ________ a new campaign recently to make citizens behave better. Over fifty people have been ________ in the past week for spitting in the streets. China’s state ________ reported on Monday that this is part of Beijing’s attempts to step up its ________ to "civilize" its citizens before the Olympics start. Government workers also ________ out more than 10,000 bags to tourists to encourage them to keep the city tidy and free from litter. Special teams ________ the city's tourist sites during China’s week-long Labour Day holiday. This is a time when hundreds of millions of Chinese are on the streets, and spitting and littering are at their ________.		fined height handed already media efforts started patrolled
For a long time now, China has been worried about its ________ as the world spotlight will be on Beijing. A Chinese news agency Xinhua ________ a travel guide as saying: "The Olympics are coming, and we don't want to get disgraced." The China National Tourism Administration has ________ thousands of leaflets educating citizens and tourists on correct “street ________”. Also on the list of do's and don'ts is jumping queues; people are reminded they have to stand in line and wait ________. The eleventh day of every month is now "voluntarily wait in ________ " day in Beijing. Authorities hope this will stamp out pushing and ________. Clearing one’s throat loudly is another ________. The city hopes its citizens will win the gold medal for perfect manners.		shoving etiquette quoted line patiently image no-no printed

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Beijing citizens learn Olympics manners

The Chinese government has already _________________ up its capital city, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing officials started a new campaign recently to make _________________. Over fifty people have been fined in _________________ spitting in the streets. China’s state media reported on Monday that this is part of Beijing’s attempts _________________ to "civilize" its citizens before the Olympics start. Government workers also handed out more than 10,000 bags to tourists to encourage them to keep the city _________________ litter. Special teams patrolled the city's tourist sites during China’s week-long Labour Day holiday. This is a time when hundreds of millions of Chinese are on the streets, and spitting and littering _________________.

For a long time now, China has _________________ its image as the world spotlight will be on Beijing. A Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted a travel guide as saying: "The Olympics are coming, _________________ to get disgraced." The China National Tourism Administration has printed thousands of leaflets educating citizens _________________ “street etiquette”. Also on the list _________________ is jumping queues; people are reminded they have to stand in line and wait patiently. The eleventh day of every month is now "voluntarily wait in line" day in Beijing. Authorities _________________ out pushing and shoving. Clearing one’s throat loudly _________________. The city hopes its citizens will win the gold medal for perfect manners.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 “MANNERS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about manners and behaviour.

• 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:

already fifty media handed teams height

spotlight disgraced leaflets patiently stamp win

DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you read the headline?
2. Do you think what Beijing is doing is a good idea?
3. What are the manners like of people on the streets of your country?
4. What bad manners do you really hate?
5. Are you generally well-mannered or bad-mannered?
6. What things do you do that are bad mannered?
7. What do you think of people spitting in the street?
8. Do you think it’s right that people who spit in public get a fine?
9. Is there a litter problem in your country?
10. What examples of bad manners do you see in tourists to your country?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. Do you think China’s “street etiquette” campaign will work?
3. Do you think China would be disgraced in front of the world is people were seen spitting in the street?
4. Do you ever jump queues?
5. What do you think of having a special day of the month in which to practice good manners?
6. Are people’s manners getting better or worse in your country?
7. Has new technology brought new ways of behaving badly?
8. Do you think there should be a gold medal for good behaviour?
9. What single example of bad manners would you like to see disappear forever?
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

BAD BEHAVIOUR:

You are a bad behaviour counselor / psychiatrist. Decide on the treatment in each of these cases:

Example of bad behaviour	Treatment
Spitting in public
Urinating in public
Using foul language
Non-stop farting and belching
Non-stop insulting people
Being very greedy

Change partners and share your ideas.

Make a presentation to the class about your treatments.

LANGUAGE

CORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article.

Beijing citizens learn Olympics manners

The Chinese government has already started to clean (1) ____ its capital city, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing officials started a new campaign recently to make citizens (2) ____ better. Over fifty people have been fined in the past week for spitting in the streets. China’s state (3) ____ reported on Monday that this is part of Beijing’s attempts to step (4) ____ its efforts to "civilize" its citizens before the Olympics start. Government workers also handed out more than 10,000 bags to tourists to encourage them to keep the city tidy and (5) ____ from litter. Special teams patrolled the city's tourist sites during China’s week-long Labour Day holiday. This is a time when hundreds of millions of Chinese are on the streets, and spitting and littering are at their (6) ____.

For a long time (7) ____, China has been worried about its image as the world spotlight will be on Beijing. A Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted a travel guide (8) ____ saying: "The Olympics are coming, and we don't want to get disgraced." The China National Tourism Administration has printed thousands of leaflets educating citizens and tourists (9) ____ correct “street etiquette”. Also on the list of do's and don'ts (10) ____ jumping queues; people are reminded they have to stand in line and wait patiently. The eleventh day of every month is now "voluntarily wait in line" day in Beijing. Authorities hope this will stamp (11) ____ pushing and shoving. Clearing one’s throat loudly is another (12) ____. The city hopes its citizens will win the gold medal for perfect manners.

1.	(a)	on	(b)	in	(c)	up	(d)	of
2.	(a)	behaviour	(b)	behave	(c)	behaves	(d)	behaving
3.	(a)	medics	(b)	medal	(c)	medium	(d)	media
4.	(a)	up	(b)	in	(c)	out	(d)	under
5.	(a)	free	(b)	freely	(c)	freedom	(d)	frees
6.	(a)	top	(b)	up	(c)	height	(d)	high
7.	(a)	since	(b)	now	(c)	for	(d)	then
8.	(a)	at	(b)	us	(c)	is	(d)	as
9.	(a)	off	(b)	on	(c)	out	(d)	under
10.	(a)	was	(b)	are	(c)	is	(d)	were
11.	(a)	in	(b)	out	(c)	letter	(d)	album
12.	(a)	not	(b)	know	(c)	no	(d)	no-no

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 about the “street etiquette” campaign in Beijing. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MANNERS POSTER: Make a poster about the manners a perfect English student should have in class. Show your poster to your class in the next lesson. Vote on the best one(s).

4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about street manners. In particular, write about your town. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the mayor of Beijing. Ask him/her three questions about the “street etiquette” campaign. Give him/her three pieces of advice about what they should do next to clean up Beijing and people’s manners. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. T

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	ahead of	prior to
b.	campaign	drive
c.	attempts	efforts
d.	handed out	distributed
e.	height	peak
f.	spotlight	focus
g.	quoted	reported
h.	disgraced	shamed
i.	etiquette	behaviour
j.	stamp out	stop

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	clean up its capital city ahead of the	2008 Olympic Games
b.	people have been fined in the	past week for spitting
c.	step up	its efforts
d.	keep the city tidy and	free from litter
e.	spitting and littering are at	their height
f.	the world spotlight will	be on Beijing
g.	we don't want to	get disgraced
h.	educating citizens and tourists on	correct “street etiquette”
i.	stand in line and	wait patiently
j.	another	no-no

GAP FILL:

Beijing citizens learn Olympics manners

The Chinese government has already started to clean up its capital city, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing officials started a new campaign recently to make citizens behave better. Over fifty people have been fined in the past week for spitting in the streets. China’s state media reported on Monday that this is part of Beijing’s attempts to step up its efforts to "civilize" its citizens before the Olympics start. Government workers also handed out more than 10,000 bags to tourists to encourage them to keep the city tidy and free from litter. Special teams patrolled the city's tourist sites during China’s week-long Labour Day holiday. This is a time when hundreds of millions of Chinese are on the streets, and spitting and littering are at their height.

For a long time now, China has been worried about its image as the world spotlight will be on Beijing. A Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted a travel guide as saying: "The Olympics are coming, and we don't want to get disgraced." The China National Tourism Administration has printed thousands of leaflets educating citizens and tourists on correct “street etiquette”. Also on the list of do's and don'ts is jumping queues; people are reminded they have to stand in line and wait patiently. The eleventh day of every month is now "voluntarily wait in line" day in Beijing. Authorities hope this will stamp out pushing and shoving. Clearing one’s throat loudly is another no-no. The city hopes its citizens will win the gold medal for perfect manners.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - c

2 - b

3 - d

4 -a

5 - a

6 -c

7 - b

8 -d

9 -b

10 - c

11 -b

12 - d

 

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