The British supermodel Kate Moss is in trouble because of reports that she recently used cocaine. Moss earns as much as $15 million a year from lucrative deals with companies including Burberry, Chanel and Christian Dior. She is now the subject of hundreds of columns in British tabloids. They have become obsessed with her and her. Reporters are writing pages and pages of stories about Moss’s drug use and sex life. The latest story is that police will investigate claims that she took cocaine.

Moss, 31, has already been fired by fashion giants H&M, Chanel and Burberry. H&M’s decision reversed an earlier statement from the company that forgave Moss and gave her a second chance. However, she was axed following hundreds of phone calls from angry customers and a lot of negative publicity. The company could not allow a drug user to model its clothes. Shoppers were furious that as a mother, Moss decided to use hard drugs. Many believe Moss has a responsibility to act as a role model for young people.

WARM-UPS

1. SUPERMODEL ME: You are now a supermodel. You are very rich. Walk around the class and talk to the other “supermodels” about your lifestyle, friends, modeling, etc. What are the best and worst parts of being a supermodel?

2. DRUGS: What do you think of the following drugs? Should they all be banned? In pairs / groups, discuss the following:

1. Alcohol causes domestic violence. It kills thousands of people in traffic accidents every year. It should be made illegal.
2. Nicotine is one of the world’s biggest killers. Hospitals have to use a lot of money because of smokers. Cigarettes and other tobacco products should be banned.
3. Marijuana is much less addictive and dangerous than alcohol. It doesn’t make people violent. It should be made legal.
4. Cocaine and heroin are deadly killers. Anyone caught selling or using them should go to prison for 25 years.

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

Kate Moss / cocaine / supermodels / Chanel / Burberry / tabloids / gossip / drug use / sex life / second chances / negative publicity / being furious / mothers

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

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

5. SEX ‘N’ DRUGS ‘N’ ROCK ‘N’ ROLL: Supermodel Kate Moss is in the headlines for her sex life, drug use and being with heroin-addicted rock stars. What do you think about her lifestyle? Do you like scandal about superstars such as Kate Moss, Michael Jackson, David Beckham, etc? Talk about scandals from your country.

6. KATE MOSS OPINIONS: Do you agree with these opinions on Kate Moss? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. Kate Moss is being very unfairly attacked. The media should leave her alone.
2. She should go to prison for using cocaine.
3. Supermodels influence young people. They have a responsibility to avoid drugs.
4. The world has real problems. Kate Moss should not be headline news.
5. Why the fuss? Hundreds of celebrities, sports stars and politicians take drugs.
6. Newspaper reports of Kate Moss will encourage more people to try cocaine.
7. Moss has done nothing for the world. The media should focus on useful people.
8. I really don’t care about her. The whole story is boring.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	A supermodel has had her head cut off for using cocaine.	T / F
b.	The model earns $15 million a year	T / F
c.	British tabloids have become obsessed with the model.	T / F
d.	Police are not interested in photos of the model using cocaine.	T / F
e.	Three fashion houses have dropped the model as their cover girl.	T / F
f.	Hundreds of shoppers are angry because the model was fired.	T / F
g.	Shoppers are angry that the model disrespected her mother.	T / F
h.	The model has a responsibility to be a role model for young people.	T / F

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

a.	earns	previous
b.	lucrative	duty
c.	obsessed	probe
d.	reporters	makes
e.	investigate	angry
f.	fired	hooked
g.	earlier	bad
h.	negative	journalists
i.	furious	axed
j.	responsibility	high-income

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

a.	Kate Moss is	in British tabloids
b.	$15 million a year from lucrative	drugs
c.	hundreds of columns	claims that she took cocaine
d.	They have become obsessed	chance
e.	police will investigate	deals with companies
f.	fired	model for young people
g.	gave her a second	publicity
h.	a lot of negative	in trouble
i.	hard	with her and her lifestyle
j.	a responsibility to act as a role	by fashion giants H&M

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Kate Moss axed over drug scandal

The British supermodel Kate Moss is in _______ because of reports that she recently used cocaine. Moss _______ as much as $15 million a year from lucrative _______ with companies including Burberry, Chanel and Christian Dior. She is now the _______ of hundreds of columns in British _______. They have become _______ with her and her lifestyle. Reporters are writing pages and pages of _______ about Moss’s drug use and sex life. The latest story is that police will investigate _______ that she took cocaine.		subject claims deals trouble tabloids stories earns obsessed
Moss, 31, has already been _______ by fashion giants H&M, Chanel and Burberry. H&M’s _______ reversed an earlier statement from the company that _______ Moss and gave her a _______ chance. However, she was axed following hundreds of phone calls from angry customers and a lot of negative _______. The company could not allow a drug user to _______ its clothes. Shoppers were furious that as a mother, Moss decided to use _______ drugs. Many believe Moss has a responsibility to _______ as a role model for young people.		publicity forgave hard fired act model decision second

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 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 “DRUGS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about drugs and the responsibility celebrities have to set good examples.

• 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:

trouble lucrative columns obsessed pages police

giants second axed allow furious role

DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you first read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What adjectives describe your feelings about Kate Moss?
4. Should supermodels receive such lucrative salaries?
5. Should newspapers use so much space reporting the bad behavior of a model?
6. Should fashion companies use a model who has a history of drug abuse?
7. Don’t you think people must be very bored to be so interested in Kate Moss?
8. Do you think more young people will take drugs because of newspapers reporting Kate Moss’s story?
9. What responsibilities do supermodels have to be role models?
10. What punishment should Kate Moss receive?

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. Do you like Chanel, Burberry and Christian Dior?
4. Do you think H&M should have given Moss a second chance?
5. Kate Moss has a two-year-old child. What do you think of a mother taking cocaine?
6. Do you care whether a model who takes drugs is being used to advertise products you buy?
7. Is drug abuse a big problem in your country?
8. Have you ever taken or wanted to take drugs?
9. Have you ever been given a second chance?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

DRUGS: You have the job of making a new drugs policy in your country. Write down the dangers of the drugs below. Decide whether the dangers are big enough to make the drug illegal. Decide on a punishment for people caught using the drug.

DRUG	DANGERS	ILLEGAL?	PUNISHMENT
Cocaine
Caffeine
Nicotine
Alcohol
Marijuana
Other

Change partners and tell each other your decisions. Together, join your policies to make a new one.

Discuss whether or not people in your country would accept your decisions.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Kate Moss axed over drug scandal

The British supermodel Kate Moss is ___ ________ because of reports that she recently used cocaine. Moss earns ___ _____ ___ $15 million a year from lucrative deals with companies including Burberry, Chanel and Christian Dior. She is now the ________ of hundreds of columns in British tabloids. They have become obsessed with her and her lifestyle. Reporters are writing pages and ______ ___ stories about Moss’s drug use and sex life. The latest story is that police will investigate claims that she ______ cocaine.

Moss, 31, has already been ______ ___ fashion giants H&M, Chanel and Burberry. H&M’s decision reversed an earlier statement from the company that forgave Moss and _____ ____ __ second chance. However, she was axed following hundreds of phone calls from angry customers and a lot of negative __________. The company could not allow a drug user to model its clothes. Shoppers were furious that as a mother, Moss decided to use _____ drugs. Many believe Moss has a responsibility to ____ ___ __ role model for young people.

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 Kate Moss. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. DRUGS: Make a poster describing a drug that is illegal in your country. Explain where the drug comes from, its effects on humans and its dangers. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to British supermodel Kate Moss. Tell her what you think of her actions and the media attention currently being focused on her. Read your letter to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	earns	makes
b.	lucrative	high-income
c.	obsessed	hooked
d.	reporters	journalists
e.	investigate	probe
f.	fired	axed
g.	earlier	previous
h.	negative	bad
i.	furious	angry
j.	responsibility	duty

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	Kate Moss is	in trouble
b.	$15 million a year from lucrative	deals with companies
c.	hundreds of columns	in British tabloids
d.	They have become obsessed	with her and her lifestyle
e.	police will investigate	claims that she took cocaine
f.	fired	by fashion giants H&M
g.	gave her a second	chance
h.	a lot of negative	publicity
i.	hard	drugs
j.	a responsibility to act as a role	model for young people

GAP FILL:

Kate Moss axed over drug scandal

The British supermodel Kate Moss is in trouble because of reports that she recently used cocaine. Moss earns as much as $15 million a year from lucrative deals with companies including Burberry, Chanel and Christian Dior. She is now the subject of hundreds of columns in British tabloids. They have become obsessed with her and her lifestyle. Reporters are writing pages and pages of stories about Moss’s drug use and sex life. The latest story is that police will investigate claims that she took cocaine.

Moss, 31, has already been fired by fashion giants H&M, Chanel and Burberry. H&M’s decision reversed an earlier statement from the company that forgave Moss and gave her a second chance. However, she was axed following hundreds of phone calls from angry customers and a lot of negative publicity. The company could not allow a drug user to model its clothes. Shoppers were furious that as a mother, Moss decided to use hard drugs. Many believe Moss has a responsibility to act as a role model for young people.

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