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KFC To Pay $8m In Poisoning Damages (28th April, 2012)

A court in Australia has ordered the fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to pay $8.3m in compensation to the family of a seven-year-old girl. The youngster was left severely brain damaged after eating a KFC Chicken Twister that contained salmonella poisoning. Little Monika Samaan became seriously ill after eating the sandwich at a Sydney restaurant in 2005. She has since been confined to a wheelchair with brain damage and is unable to speak. Monika's father told the court that he and his family all fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister. Monika’s parents and brother all recovered, but she stayed in a coma for six months and was in hospital for seven.

KFC denied it was responsible for Monika’s condition and said it would not pay a single cent in damages. It said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and intends to appeal. The company’s lawyer argued during the trial that the family never bought a Twister. He told the court there was no sales data to prove the family purchased one. He told Mr Samaan: “You did not tell anyone at the hospital…that you had shared a KFC Twister.” Former employees told the court about the unsanitary practices at the eatery. One said: “If the store was particularly busy, then even if chicken dropped on the floor ... it was on some occasions simply put back into the burger station from where it had fallen.”

WARM-UPS

1. KFC: Walk around the class and talk to other students about KFC. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

 

court / compensation / brain damaged / poisoning / seriously ill / in a coma / responsibility / deeply disappointed / appeal / unsanitary / particularly busy / burger

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SANITARY: How can restaurants keep customers safe ? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

 

Dangers

Solutions

The food

 

 

Cutlery

 

 

Air con

 

 

Tables

 

 

Chefs

 

 

Sinks

 

 

4. CLEAN: Students A strongly believe all restaurants will be 100% clean one day; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. RESTAURANTS: What are your favorites? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

  • chicken sandwiches
  • burgers
  • pizzas
  • donuts
  • coffee shops
  • fish and chips
  • Indian snacks
  • tacos

6. FAST FOOD: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘fast food’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.


 
 

BEFORE READING / LISTENING


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

a.

KFC must pay compensation to customers worldwide.

T / F

b.

A little girl was left brain damaged after she ate a KFC product.

T / F

c.

The little girl is so ill she cannot leave her bed.

T / F

d.

The little girl’s family also fell ill after sharing the KFC sandwich.

T / F

e.

KFC has promised it would pay all the money in compensation.

T / F

f.

The company will ask the court to reconsider its decision.

T / F

g.

Ex-workers of the KFC restaurant spoke of uncleanliness there.

T / F

h.

Chicken that dropped on the floor was always thrown away.

T / F

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

1.

ordered

a.

restricted

2.

compensation

b.

unhygienic

3.

severely

c.

damages

4.

confined

d.

plans

5.

recovered

e.

directed

6.

condition

f.

ex-

7.

deeply

g.

badly

8.

intends

h.

got better

9.

former

i.

seriously

10.

unsanitary

j.

illness

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

1.

pay $8.3m

a.

severely brain damaged

2.

The youngster was left

b.

data

3.

She has since been confined

c.

coma for six months

4.

his family all fell

d.

practices

5.

she stayed in a

e.

appeal

6.

KFC denied it

f.

in compensation

7.

intends to

g.

busy

8.

sales

h.

ill

9.

unsanitary

i.

to a wheelchair

10.

If the store was particularly

j.

was responsible



 
 

WHILE READING / LISTENING


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


A court in Australia has (1) ____________ the fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to pay $8.3m in compensation to the family of a seven-year-old girl. The (2) ____________ was left severely brain damaged after eating a KFC Chicken Twister that contained salmonella (3) ____________. Little Monika Samaan became (4) ____________ ill after eating the sandwich at a Sydney restaurant in 2005. She has since been (5) ____________ to a wheelchair with brain damage and is unable to speak. Monika's father told the court that he and his family all (6) ____________ ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister. Monika’s parents and brother all (7) ____________, but she stayed in a (8) ____________ for six months and was in hospital for seven.

 

 

seriously
coma
youngster
recovered
poisoning
ordered
fell
confined

KFC denied it was (9) ____________ for Monika’s condition and said it would not pay a (10) ____________ cent in damages. It said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and (11) ____________ to appeal. The company’s lawyer argued during the trial that the family never bought a Twister. He told the court there was no sales (12) ____________ to prove the family (13) ____________ one. He told Mr Samaan: “You did not tell anyone at the hospital…that you had shared a KFC Twister.” Former employees told the court about the (14) ____________ practices at the eatery. One said: “If the store was particularly (15) ____________, then even if chicken dropped on the floor ... it was on some occasions (16) ____________ put back into the burger station from where it had fallen.”

 

 

intends
busy
single
purchased
responsible
simply
unsanitary
data

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps


A court in Australia has _____________________-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to pay $8.3m in compensation to the family of a seven-year-old girl. The youngster was _____________________ damaged after eating a KFC Chicken Twister that contained _____________________. Little Monika Samaan became seriously ill after eating the sandwich at a Sydney restaurant in 2005. She has _____________________ to a wheelchair with brain damage and is unable to speak. Monika's father told the court that he and his family all _____________________ and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister. Monika’s parents and brother all recovered, but she _____________________ for six months and was in hospital for seven.
KFC _______________________ for Monika’s condition and said it would not pay a single cent in damages. It said it was “_____________________” by the decision and intends to appeal. The company’s lawyer argued during the trial that the family never bought a Twister. He told the court there was no _____________________ the family purchased one. He told Mr Samaan: “You did not tell anyone at the hospital…that you had shared a KFC Twister.” Former employees told the court about the _____________________ at the eatery. One said: “If the store was _____________________, then even if chicken dropped on the floor ... it was on some occasions simply put back into the burger station from _____________________.”


 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING


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

brain

damage
 
 
 

  • 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:

  • ordered
  • severely
  • contained
  • confined
  • fell
  • seven
  • single
  • appeal
  • data
  • anyone
  • eatery
  • simply

KFC SURVEY


Write five GOOD questions about KFC 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.

 

STUDENT 1
_____________

STUDENT 2
_____________

STUDENT 3
_____________

Q.1.
 

 

 

 

Q.2.
 

 

 

 

Q.3.
 

 

 

 

Q.4.
 

 

 

 

Q.5.
 

 

 

 

  • Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
  • Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.


 
 

KFC DISCUSSION

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

a)

What did you think when you read the headline?

b)

What springs to mind when you hear the name ‘KFC’?

c)

What do you think of KFC?

d)

Do you ever wonder how clean fast-food restaurants are?

e)

Are you surprised at the size of the payout to Monika?

f)

Do you think it’s enough?

g)

Have you ever had food poisoning?

h)

Should fast-fod and other restaurants do more to keep their places clean?

i)

Will this decision make you think twice about going to KFC?

j)

What’s the world’s best fast-food restaurant?

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

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

a)

Did you like reading this article?

b)

What do you think of KFC for denying responsibility for the food poisoning?

c)

Do you think restaurants can be easy targets for people wanting compensation?

d)

Was KFC being insensitive when it said it would not pay a single cent to Monika’s family?

e)

If target was no sales data to prove the family bought a Twister. why do you think the court decided against KFC?

f)

What kind of sales data could there be when no one gives their name when buying a chicken sandwich?

g)

How likely is it KFC will win its appeal?

h)

What do you think of restaurant workers who cook food that's been dropped on the floor?

i)

What’s the most unsanitary restaurant you’ve ever been in?

j)

What questions would you like to ask the judge?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE


A court in Australia has ordered the fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to pay $8.3m (1) ____ compensation to the family of a seven-year-old girl. The (2) ____ was left severely brain damaged after eating a KFC Chicken Twister that (3) ____ salmonella poisoning. Little Monika Samaan became seriously ill after eating the sandwich at a Sydney restaurant in 2005. She has (4) ____ been confined to a wheelchair with brain damage and is unable to speak. Monika's father told the court that he and his family all (5) ____ ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister. Monika’s parents and brother all recovered, but she stayed in a (6) ____ for six months and was in hospital for seven.
KFC denied it was responsible for Monika’s condition and said it would not pay a  (7) ____ cent in damages. It said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and intends to (8) ____. The company’s lawyer argued during the trial that the family never bought a Twister. He told the court there was no sales data (9) ____ prove the family purchased one. He told Mr Samaan: “You did not tell anyone at the hospital…that you had shared a KFC Twister.” Former employees told the court about the (10) ____ practices at the eatery. One said: “If the store was particularly busy, then (11) ____ if chicken dropped on the floor ... it was on some occasions (12) ____ put back into the burger station from where it had fallen.”
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.

(a)

on

(b)

by

(c)

at

(d)

in

2.

(a)

youngster

(b)

younger

(c)

young

(d)

youngest

3.

(a)

remained

(b)

retained

(c)

contained

(d)

consumed

4.

(a)

ago

(b)

since

(c)

by

(d)

for

5.

(a)

dropped

(b)

fell

(c)

declined

(d)

sank

6.

(a)

common

(b)

comma

(c)

coma

(d)

commotion

7.

(a)

single

(b)

one

(c)

unit

(d)

dollar

8.

(a)

repeal

(b)

peal

(c)

peel

(d)

appeal

9.

(a)

for

(b)

from

(c)

by

(d)

to

10.

(a)

unitary

(b)

unsanitary

(c)

contrary

(d)

sane

11.

(a)

even

(b)

event

(c)

ever

(d)

odd

12.

(a)

easy

(b)

straightforward

(c)

simply

(d)

basic


 
 

WRITING


Write about KFC for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

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 KFC. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. KFC: Make a poster about KFC. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. POISONED: Write a magazine article about a poisoning in a restaurant. Include imaginary interviews with the person poisoned and the restaurant owner.
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. LETTER: Write a letter to KFC’s boss. Ask him/her three questions about the poisoning. Give him/her three ideas on what to do about it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.


 


 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

F

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.

ordered

a.

directed

2.

compensation

b.

damages

3.

severely

c.

badly

4.

confined

d.

restricted

5.

recovered

e.

got better

6.

condition

f.

illness

7.

deeply

g.

seriously

8.

intends

h.

plans

9.

former

i.

ex-

10.

unsanitary

j.

unhygienic

PHRASE MATCH:

1.

pay $8.3m

a.

in compensation

2.

The youngster was left

b.

severely brain damaged

3.

She has since been confined

c.

to a wheelchair

4.

his family all fell

d.

ill

5.

she stayed in a

e.

coma for six months

6.

KFC denied it

f.

was responsible

7.

intends to

g.

appeal

8.

sales

h.

data

9.

unsanitary

i.

practices

10.

If the store was particularly

j.

busy

GAP FILL:

KFC to pay $8m in poisoning damages

A court in Australia has (1) ordered the fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to pay $8.3m in compensation to the family of a seven-year-old girl. The (2) youngster was left severely brain damaged after eating a KFC Chicken Twister that contained salmonella (3) poisoning. Little Monika Samaan became (4) seriously ill after eating the sandwich at a Sydney restaurant in 2005. She has since been (5) confined to a wheelchair with brain damage and is unable to speak. Monika's father told the court that he and his family all (6) fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister. Monika’s parents and brother all (7) recovered, but she stayed in a (8) coma for six months and was in hospital for seven.
KFC denied it was (9) responsible for Monika’s condition and said it would not pay a (10) single cent in damages. It said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and (11) intends to appeal. The company’s lawyer argued during the trial that the family never bought a Twister. He told the court there was no sales (12) data to prove the family (13) purchased one. He told Mr Samaan: “You did not tell anyone at the hospital…that you had shared a KFC Twister.” Former employees told the court about the (14) unsanitary practices at the eatery. One said: “If the store was particularly (15) busy, then even if chicken dropped on the floor ... it was on some occasions (16) simply put back into the burger station from where it had fallen.”
LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - c

4 - b

5 - b

6 - c

7 - a

8 - d

9 -d

10 - b

11 - a

12 - c

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