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Date: Jan 4, 2008
THE ARTICLEOil prices hit $100 a barrelOil finally reached the record $100-a-barrel mark for a short time yesterday. Prices dropped to $99.76 at the close of trading, but analysts believe they will soon go over the hundred-dollar level again. Some experts warned that oil prices could soon be as much as $110 a barrel. The main reasons for the rise are the weak US dollar, high demand and tensions around the world. Violence in the past few days in Nigeria, Algeria and Pakistan has made the markets nervous. Another factor leading to higher prices is America’s refusal to sell its emergency supplies. The White House said it would not open up the country's reserves to bring down prices. Meanwhile, OPEC, the international organization of oil producing countries, said it cannot control prices, although an official said it might increase production from February.
The rising oil prices have lead to fears that inflation may start increasing across the world. Analysts predict many countries will suffer economic problems as prices spiral out of control. The huge demand for energy in emerging economies such as China and India means demand is far greater than supply. Economists say Chinese and Indian growth will mean an even greater demand for the black stuff in 2008 and more oil needs to be produced. However, Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation said this would not happen: “OPEC's production is already close to maximum capacity and the organization can do nothing to curb prices,” he said. The oil price rise has led to a drop in share prices and an increase in gold prices as investors move their money to safer options. WARM-UPS1. OIL: Walk around the class and talk to other students about oil. 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.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. LIFE WITHOUT OIL: How would we survive? Discuss with your partner(s) what you / we would do without these oil-based products.
4. OIL HEADLINES: With your partner(s), discuss these headlines about oil. Could they come true? What would happen if they did?
5. DOLLAR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘dollar’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 6. QUICK ROLE PLAY: Student A strongly believes oil prices will come back down to the $50-a-barrel level; Student B strongly believes they’ll stay at over $100. Change partners again and talk about your roles and conversations. 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 into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.Oil finally reached the record $100-a-barrel mark ________________ yesterday. Prices dropped to $99.76 at ________________, but analysts believe they will soon go over the hundred-dollar level again. Some experts warned that oil prices could soon ________________ $110 a barrel. The main reasons for the rise are the weak US dollar, high demand and tensions around the world. Violence ________________ days in Nigeria, Algeria and Pakistan has made the markets nervous. Another factor leading to higher prices is America’s ________________ emergency supplies. The White House said it would not open up the country's reserves ________________ prices. Meanwhile, OPEC, the international organization of oil producing countries, ______________________ prices, although an official said it might increase production from February. The rising oil prices ________________ that inflation may start increasing across the world. Analysts predict many countries will suffer economic problems as prices ________________ control. The huge demand for energy in emerging economies such as China and India means ________________ than supply. Economists say Chinese and Indian growth ________________ greater demand for the black stuff in 2008 and more oil needs to be produced. However, Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation said _____________________: “OPEC's production is already close to maximum capacity and the organization can ________________ prices,” he said. The oil price rise ________________ in share prices and an increase in gold prices as investors move their money ________________. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘oil’ and ‘price’.
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 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 exactly how these were used in the text:
STUDENT OIL SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about oil 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.
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
-------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGECORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article. Oil finally reached the record $100-a-barrel (1) ____ for a short time yesterday. Prices dropped to $99.76 at the (2) ____ of trading, but analysts believe they will soon go over the hundred-dollar level again. Some experts warned that oil prices could soon be as much as $110 a barrel. The main reasons (3) ____ the rise are the weak US dollar, high demand and tensions around the world. Violence in the (4) ____ few days in Nigeria, Algeria and Pakistan has made the markets nervous. Another factor leading to higher prices is America’s (5) ____ to sell its emergency supplies. The White House said it would not open up the country's reserves to bring down prices. Meanwhile, OPEC, the international organization of oil (6) ____ countries, said it cannot control prices, although an official said it might increase production from February. The rising oil prices have led to fears (7) ____ inflation may start increasing across the world. Analysts predict many countries will suffer economic problems as prices spiral (8) ____ of control. The huge demand for energy in emerging economies such as China and India means demand is (9) ____ greater than supply. Economists say Chinese and Indian growth will mean an even greater demand for the black stuff in 2008 and more oil needs to be produced. However, Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation said this would not happen: “OPEC's production is already close (10) ____ maximum capacity and the organization can do nothing to curb prices,” he said. The oil price rise has led to a (11) ____ in share prices and an increase in gold prices as (12) ____ move their money to safer options.
WRITING:Write about oil prices for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 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 about OPEC and the different oil producing countries. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. ENVIRONMENT: Make a poster about the harm oil does to the environment. Include what oil companies say they do to protect the environment. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things? 4. OIL: Write a magazine article about how oil affects different people’s lives. Include imaginary interviews with the CEO of an oil company and a gas station attendant. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down new words and expressions. 5. LETTER: Write a letter to the CEO of an oil company. Ask him/her three questions about oil and the environment. Give him/her three suggestions on what he/she should do to better protect our planet. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Oil prices hit $100 a barrelOil finally reached the record $100-a-barrel mark for a short time yesterday. Prices dropped to $99.76 at the close of trading, but analysts believe they will soon go over the hundred-dollar level again. Some experts warned that oil prices could soon be as much as $110 a barrel. The main reasons for the rise are the weak US dollar, high demand and tensions around the world. Violence in the past few days in Nigeria, Algeria and Pakistan has made the markets nervous. Another factor leading to higher prices is America’s refusal to sell its emergency supplies. The White House said it would not open up the country's reserves to bring down prices. Meanwhile, OPEC, the international organization of oil producing countries, said it cannot control prices, although an official said it might increase production from February. The rising oil prices have led to fears that inflation may start increasing across the world. Analysts predict many countries will suffer economic problems as prices spiral out of control. The huge demand for energy in emerging economies such as China and India means demand is far greater than supply. Economists say Chinese and Indian growth will mean an even greater demand for the black stuff in 2008 and more oil needs to be produced. However, Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation said this would not happen: “OPEC's production is already close to maximum capacity and the organization can do nothing to curb prices,” he said. The oil price rise has led to a drop in share prices and an increase in gold prices as investors move their money to safer options. LANGUAGE WORK
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