Breaking News English

        

1. BEING PREGNANT: Walk around the class and talk to other students about being pregnant. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

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

sensation / expecting a first child / over the moon / privacy / precious time / rumours / whirlwind 18 months / blockbuster / album chart / breakups / vegetable patch

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. OVER THE MOON: What do you do upon hearing happy news? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

News	What to say	What to buy	How to celebrate
Pregnancy
Lottery win
Engagement
New job
Graduation
Medal win

4. SHOWBIZ KIDS: Students A strongly believe children of show business stars grow up normally; Students B strongly believe they don't.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. FIRST CHILD: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the most important things to do at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Decorate the baby's room Arrange a birth party Buy lots of Pampers Decide on a name for the baby

Open an investment account for the baby Decide on schools, universities and careers Buy a baby photo album Start a Facebook page for the baby

6. OVER THE MOON: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the expression 'over the moon'. 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.	Newspapers announced Adele's pregnancy before she did.	T / F
b.	Adele said she feels like going to the moon.	T / F
c.	Adele told people that she is not engaged to be married to the father.	T / F
d.	The singer wants four sons over the next 6 years.	T / F
e.	Adele was injured in a tornado 18 months ago.	T / F
f.	Adele won Best Album of the Year at the Grammy music awards.	T / F
g.	Her album "21" featured songs about breaking up with past boyfriends.	T / F
h.	Adele would like to start growing vegetables.	T / F

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

1.	sensation	a.	won
2.	announced	b.	gossip
3.	over the moon	c.	dizzying
4.	respect	d.	made it known
5.	rumours	e.	former
6.	whirlwind	f.	wonder
7.	picked up	g.	concentrate
8.	past	h.	show consideration for
9.	seems	i.	delighted
10.	focus	j.	appears

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

1.	singing	a.	the time she is 30
2.	I wanted you to hear the news	b.	nice vegetable patch
3.	quashed	c.	on with it
4.	have three sons by	d.	artists in the world
5.	start getting	e.	off a whirlwind 18 months
6.	tops	f.	sensation
7.	one of the biggest selling	g.	on becoming a mother
8.	breakups	h.	rumours
9.	Plant a	i.	direct from me
10.	take time off to focus	j.	with her past boyfriends

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

British singing sensation Adele has (1) ____________ she is expecting her first child. She posted on her website: "I'm          (2) ____________ to announce that Simon and I are                (3) ____________ our first child together. I wanted you to hear the news direct from me. Obviously we're over the moon and very excited, but please (4) ____________ our privacy at this          (5) ____________ time." The 24-year-old star has been dating boyfriend Simon Konecki, 36, since last summer. Adele has already (6) ____________ rumours the couple are engaged. Adele recently told Britain's "People" magazine that she "really wants to be a mum". She said it was her (7) ____________ to have three sons by the time she is 30 and joked that she had "better start (8) ____________ on with it".		quashed expecting goal respect announced getting delighted precious
Adele's happy news (9) ____________ off a whirlwind 18 months for the young, multi-award-winning superstar. In that time she has (10) ____________ to become one of the biggest selling artists in the world. She picked up six Grammy                       (11) ____________ in February, including Best Album for her blockbuster release "21" and Record of the Year for her           (12) ____________ "Rolling In The Deep." The album is still in the top 10 of the USA's album (13) ____________ over a year after its release. Adele sang about (14) ____________ with her past boyfriends on "21". In an interview with Vogue magazine earlier this year, she said she wanted to "Get married. Have some kids. Plant a nice vegetable (15) ____________." It seems Adele will take time off to (16) ____________ on becoming a mother.		chart risen single focus tops patch awards breakups

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

British singing sensation Adele has announced ____________________ her first child. She posted on her website: "I'm ____________________ that Simon and I are expecting our first child together. I wanted you to hear the news direct from me. Obviously we're ____________________ and very excited, but please respect our ______________________ time." The 24-year-old star has been dating boyfriend Simon Konecki, 36, since last summer. Adele has already ____________________ couple are engaged. Adele recently told Britain's "People" magazine that she "really wants to be a mum". She said it was her goal to have three sons by the time she is 30 and joked that she had "better ____________________ it".

Adele's happy news tops ____________________ 18 months for the young, multi-award-winning superstar. In that time ____________________ become one of the biggest selling artists in the world. She picked up six Grammy awards in February, including Best Album for ____________________ "21" and Record of the Year for her single "Rolling In The Deep." The album is still in the top 10 of the USA's album chart over a year ____________________. Adele sang about breakups with her past boyfriends on "21". In an interview with Vogue magazine earlier this year, she said she wanted to "Get married. Have some kids. Plant a ____________________." It seems Adele will take ____________________ on becoming a mother.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'first' and 'child'.

first

child

• 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:

announced wanted please dating couple getting

young six single chart vegetable focus

BEING PREGNANT SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about being pregnant 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.

 
 

BEING PREGNANT 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 word 'pregnant'?
c)	What message do you have for Adele and her partner?
d)	What kind of life do you think Adele's baby will have?
e)	How would you announce the news of a pregnancy?
f)	What's the first thing you would do if you found out you (your partner) were (was) pregnant?
g)	Is there any kind of pregnancy celebration in your culture?
h)	What would you like to know about pregnancy that you don't know?
i)	How many children would you like?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think Adele's life could get any better – stardom, awards, and now being pregnant?
c)	What plans should she start making now for her baby?
d)	Would you want to know the sex of your child before it is born?
e)	What changes should a pregnant woman make to her life?
f)	Do you think advances in science will mean men can become pregnant in the future?
g)	How difficult (do you think it is) / (is it) to be pregnant?
h)	(Are you) / (Would you be) a good parent?
i)	What questions would you like to ask Adele?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

British singing sensation Adele has announced she is (1) ____ her first child. She posted on her website: "I'm delighted to announce that Simon and I are expecting our first child together. I wanted you to hear the news (2) ____ from me. Obviously we're over the (3) ____ and very excited, but please respect our (4) ____ at this precious time." The 24-year-old star has been dating boyfriend Simon Konecki, 36, since last summer. Adele has already (5) ____ rumours the couple are engaged. Adele recently told Britain's "People" magazine that she "really wants to be a mum". She said it was her goal to have three sons by the time she is 30 and joked that she had "better start (6) ____ on with it".

Adele's happy news tops off a (7) ____ 18 months for the young, multi-award-winning superstar. In that time she has (8) ____ to become one of the biggest selling artists in the world. She picked up six Grammy awards in February, including Best Album for her (9) ____ release "21" and Record of the Year for her single "Rolling In The Deep." The album is still in the top 10 of the USA's album (10) ____ over a year after its release. Adele sang about breakups with her past boyfriends on "21". In an interview with Vogue magazine earlier this year, she said she wanted to "Get married. Have some kids. Plant a nice vegetable (11) ____." It seems Adele will take time off to (12) ____ on becoming a mother.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	expectant	(b)	expected	(c)	expectation	(d)	expecting
2.	(a)	direction	(b)	directed	(c)	direct	(d)	directive
3.	(a)	sun	(b)	moon	(c)	planet	(d)	Earth
4.	(a)	privacy	(b)	relation	(c)	pregnancy	(d)	celebrity
5.	(a)	quacked	(b)	quavered	(c)	quashed	(d)	quarreled
6.	(a)	got	(b)	gets	(c)	go-getter	(d)	getting
7.	(a)	twister	(b)	whirlwind	(c)	hurricane	(d)	typhoon
8.	(a)	risen	(b)	increased	(c)	upped	(d)	heightened
9.	(a)	bulletproof	(b)	blockbuster	(c)	bootleg	(d)	boomtown
10.	(a)	label	(b)	spreadsheet	(c)	chart	(d)	list
11.	(a)	patch	(b)	pitch	(c)	hotchpotch	(d)	hatch
12.	(a)	fracas	(b)	faces	(c)	fleeces	(d)	focus

 
 

WRITING

Write about being pregnant 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 Adele. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. BEING PREGNANT: Make a poster about being pregnant. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. POP STAR KIDS: Write a magazine article about the children of pop stars. Include an imaginary interview with a pop star's child.

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 a pop star mum. Ask her three questions about being her life as a mother. Give her three pieces of advice about her child(ren). Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

F

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	sensation	a.	wonder
2.	announced	b.	made it known
3.	over the moon	c.	delighted
4.	respect	d.	show consideration for
5.	rumours	e.	gossip
6.	whirlwind	f.	dizzying
7.	picked up	g.	won
8.	past	h.	former
9.	seems	i.	appears
10.	focus	j.	concentrate

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	singing	a.	sensation
2.	I wanted you to hear the news	b.	direct from me
3.	quashed	c.	rumours
4.	have three sons by	d.	the time she is 30
5.	start getting	e.	on with it
6.	tops	f.	off a whirlwind 18 months
7.	one of the biggest selling	g.	artists in the world
8.	breakups	h.	with her past boyfriends
9.	Plant a	i.	nice vegetable patch
10.	take time off to focus	j.	on becoming a mother

GAP FILL:

British singer Adele is pregnant

British singing sensation Adele has (1) announced she is expecting her first child. She posted on her website: "I'm (2) delighted to announce that Simon and I are (3) expecting our first child together. I wanted you to hear the news direct from me. Obviously we're over the moon and very excited, but please (4) respect our privacy at this (5) precious time." The 24-year-old star has been dating boyfriend Simon Konecki, 36, since last summer. Adele has already (6) quashed rumours the couple are engaged. Adele recently told Britain's "People" magazine that she "really wants to be a mum". She said it was her (7) goal to have three sons by the time she is 30 and joked that she had "better start (8) getting on with it".

Adele's happy news (9) tops off a whirlwind 18 months for the young, multi-award-winning superstar. In that time she has (10) risen to become one of the biggest selling artists in the world. She picked up six Grammy (11) awards in February, including Best Album for her blockbuster release "21" and Record of the Year for her (12) single "Rolling In The Deep." The album is still in the top 10 of the USA's album (13) chart over a year after its release. Adele sang about (14) breakups with her past boyfriends on "21". In an interview with Vogue magazine earlier this year, she said she wanted to "Get married. Have some kids. Plant a nice vegetable (15) patch." It seems Adele will take time off to (16) focus on becoming a mother.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 -c

11 - a

12 - d

Back to the top