My
1,000 Ideas e-Book |
Breaking News EnglishHOME | HELP MY SITE | 000s MORE FREE LESSONS |
|
Date: Jun 30, 2005
Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (1:52 - 219.2 KB - 16kbps) THE ARTICLERumors of diamonds being washed ashore on an Indian beach have resulted in the deaths of four fortune hunters. Three people drowned while searching the water close to the shore, while a teenage boy was crushed in a stampede. Police in the Indian city of Mumbai have repeatedly tried to quash reports that the city’s Juhu Beach is awash with real diamonds. They have publicly announced the “gems” were just glass and have little intrinsic value. This has not deterred thousands of people from descending on the beach at all hours in the hope of finding their fortune. Many scour the beach at night by torchlight for the stones, which are reportedly strewn across the sand. A small cottage industry has developed with the hunters passing off their fake diamonds as the real thing. Gullible tourists are being taken in by the “bargain basement” prices and are snapping up the gems like there’s no tomorrow. The “precious stones” have fetched up to $30 each as beggars and street kids have turned themselves overnight into expert jewelers. Ravi, a 13-year-old shoeshine boy, said he has made a small fortune finding and selling the stones. He told reporters: “I like this diamond business. It’s a lot more lucrative than my day job.” He added his best friend had found and sold hundreds of the stones and had made “big money” in the process. WARM-UPS1. DIAMONDS vs. GOLD: Students A think diamonds are the greatest things on earth; students B thing gold is the most precious commodity. Students A and B face each other. Try to convince each other why you think diamonds are better than gold, or vice versa. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 3. DIAMOND: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with diamonds. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 4. GULLIBILITY: How gullible are you? Do you believe everything anyone says? In pairs / groups, talk about how much you trust these people (10 = absolute, total trust; 1 = no trust at all):
5. FAKE THINGS: In pairs / groups, talk about which of these things would you buy even though you knew it was fake or copied.
BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the correct spaces. Four dead in Indian “diamond” hunt
AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘fortune’ and ‘hunter’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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 DIAMONDS SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about diamonds and other precious stones and metals.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
SPEAKING1. THE HARD SELL: You are expert con artists. You are so good, you could sell sand in the desert. In pairs, take two of your personal belongings. Decide on a price and a sales spiel to “sell” these items to your gullible classmates. Make sure you think of all the amazing uses and functions of the items and the reasons your “customers” must buy them. Change partners often. Take turns at being customers and sellers. Return to your original partners and compare reports on your efforts at selling. What resistance did you meet from “customers”? 2. INVESTMENTS: You have $100,000 to invest. In pairs / groups, rank the following investments. Agree on the order of which is most lucrative as long-term investments.
3. A SMALL FORTUNE: In pairs / groups, think of the best way to make a small fortune. You have $10,000 to help you buy what you need to start up your enterprise. Lay out your plans on how to make it a success. After you have finished, change partners and tell each other your plans. Provide each other with advice and feedback on your plans. Return to your original partner(s) and use the advice and feedback you received to “fine tune” your plans and make them better. Ideas for businesses:
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. Four dead in Indian “diamond” huntRumors of diamonds _____ ______ ______ on an Indian beach have _________ __ ___ ______ of four fortune hunters. Three people drowned while searching the water close to the shore, while a teenage boy was A small cottage industry has developed with the hunters ______ ___ ____ ____ diamonds as the real thing. ________ ________ are being taken in by the “bargain basement” prices and are ________ __ ___ _____ like there’s no tomorrow. The “precious stones” have fetched up to $30 each as beggars and street kids have ______ __________ _________ into expert jewelers. Ravi, a 13-year-old shoeshine boy, said he has made __ _____ _______ finding and selling the stones. He told reporters: “I like this diamond business. It’s HOMEWORK1. 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 the diamond hunting in Mumbai. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. 3. DIAMONDS: Create a fact sheet about diamonds. Where they come from, how they are created, how they are turned into jewelry, etc. Show fact sheets to your classmates in your next lesson. 4. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: Imagine you are a reporter on Juhu Beach in Mumbai. Write an article about what you saw. Include interviews from some of the people on the beach looking for or selling diamonds. You might also want to interview a policeman and some tourists. Read your article to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Four dead in Indian “diamond” huntRumors of diamonds being washed ashore on an Indian beach have resulted in the deaths of four fortune hunters. Three people drowned while searching the water close to the shore, while a teenage boy was crushed in a stampede. Police in the Indian city of Mumbai have repeatedly tried to quash reports that the city’s Juhu Beach is awash with real diamonds. They have publicly announced the “gems” were just glass and have little intrinsic value. This has not deterred thousands of people from descending on the beach at all hours in the hope of finding their fortune. Many scour the beach at night by torchlight for the stones, which are reportedly strewn across the sand. A small cottage industry has developed with the hunters passing off their fake diamonds as the real thing. Gullible tourists are being taken in by the “bargain basement” prices and are snapping up the gems like there’s no tomorrow. The “precious stones” have fetched up to $30 each as beggars and street kids have turned themselves overnight into expert jewelers. Ravi, a 13-year-old shoeshine boy, said he has made a small fortune finding and selling the stones. He told reporters: “I like this diamond business. It’s a lot more lucrative than my day job.” He added his best friend had found and sold hundreds of the stones and had made “big money” in the process.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2004-2019 by Sean Banville | Links | About | Privacy Policy
|