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WARM-UPS

1. BEAUTY QUEENS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about beauty queens. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your 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.

police / gangsters / weapons / gangs / bullets / tip-offs / drug trafficking / courts / arrested / promising career / beauty pageants / handcuffs / the media / nicknames

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

3. NICKNAMES: With your partner(s), give these people a nickname. Share what you wrote with other students for more ideas. Decide as a class who has the best nicknames.

Person	Nickname	Why?
A nation’s leader
Your nation’s leader
A singer
An actor
A sports star
Your English teacher

4. PAGEANTS: Students A strongly believe beauty pageants do not help women; Students B strongly believe beauty pageants help women. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

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

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 Mexican beauty queen was arrested for cheating in a beauty contest.	T / F
b.	The people she was arrested with had half-a-million dollars in cash.	T / F
c.	Police arrested the beauty queen in a Mexican airport.	T / F
d.	She could appear in court on charges of dealing in drugs.	T / F
e.	Her boyfriend is one of Mexico’s biggest drug barons.	T / F
f.	The woman won the Miss Mexico title in July.	T / F
g.	It is not yet clear if she is actually part of a drug-running gang.	T / F
h.	Mexico’s news agencies have nicknamed her “Miss Pistols”.	T / F

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

1.	raid	a.	friends
2	truck	b.	bright
3.	ammunition	c.	sporting
4.	companions	d.	ammo
5.	possession	e.	guns
6.	boyfriend	f.	search
7.	long	g.	ownership
8.	promising	h.	lover
9.	wearing	i.	lorry
10.	pistols	j.	lengthy

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

1.	a raid on	a.	to Guadalajara
2	a lot of weapons and over	b.	drug trafficking
3.	The police received a	c.	“Miss Pistols”
4.	they were all immediately transported	d.	ahead of her
5.	appear in court on charges of	e.	some gangsters
6.	one of Mexico’s biggest	f.	involving drugs
7.	a long history of activities	g.	tip-off
8.	The beauty queen had a promising career	h.	gang bosses
9.	how deeply she is involved	i.	$50,000 in cash
10.	media has given Zuniga the nickname	j.	in the drugs gang

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Mexican police arrested a beauty queen on Monday night as __________ of a raid on some gangsters. Laura Zuniga, 23, was travelling in a truck with seven __________ members, a lot of weapons and over $50,000 in cash. The weapons included high-tech __________ rifles and powerful handguns. There were also a lot of __________ and other ammunition. Special officers followed the truck and arrested Ms Zuniga and her seven __________ companions. The police received a tip-off that an __________ gang was travelling near the Mexican city of Guadalajara. After their arrest, they were all immediately transported to Guadalajara International Airport and put on a plane to Mexico City. They will soon __________ in court on charges of drug trafficking and possession of __________ weapons.		bullets appear army deadly part male gang armed
One of the __________ men was Angel Orlando Garcia Urquiza, 29, who is Zuniga's boyfriend. He is the brother of one of Mexico’s biggest gang __________. Zuniga is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which has a long history of activities __________ drugs and gangs. She was crowned Miss Sinaloa in July. The beauty queen had a promising __________ ahead of her. Following her win in the Sinaloa beauty pageant, she also won the Hispano-American Queen __________ in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in October. No one yet knows __________ deeply she is involved in the drugs gang. She has already appeared on Mexican TV wearing __________. The CNN news agency reported that the Mexican media has given Zuniga the __________ “Miss Pistols”.		title bosses nickname involving how arrested handcuffs career

LISTENING:  Listen and fill in the spaces.

Mexican police arrested a beauty queen on Monday night _______________ on some gangsters. Laura Zuniga, 23, was travelling in a truck with seven gang members, _______________ and over $50,000 in cash. The weapons included high-tech army rifles and powerful handguns. There were also a lot __________________ ammunition. Special officers followed the truck and arrested Ms Zuniga and her seven male companions. The police received a tip-off that an armed gang was travelling near the Mexican city of Guadalajara. After their arrest, _______________ immediately transported to Guadalajara International Airport and put on a plane to Mexico City. They will soon _________________ charges of drug trafficking and possession of deadly weapons.

One __________________ was Angel Orlando Garcia Urquiza, 29, who is Zuniga's boyfriend. He is the brother of one of Mexico’s biggest gang bosses. Zuniga is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, _______________ history of activities involving drugs and gangs. She was crowned Miss Sinaloa in July. The beauty queen had a promising career _______________. Following her win in the Sinaloa beauty pageant, she also won the Hispano-American Queen title in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in October. No __________________ deeply she is involved in the drugs gang. She has already appeared on Mexican TV _______________. The CNN news agency reported that the Mexican media has given Zuniga _______________ “Miss Pistols”.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

beauty

queen

• 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:

raid seven cash tip-off plane deadly

29 biggest crowned win deeply media

STUDENT BEAUTY QUEEN SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about beauty queens 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.

BEAUTY QUEEN 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 term ‘beauty queen’?
c)	Do you think Laura Zuniga has an interesting life?
d)	What do you think of this story?
e)	Do you think being a police officer arresting drugs gangs would be scary?
f)	Do celebrities in your country fall on the wrong side of the law?
g)	What punishment should the beauty queen receive?
h)	Do you think beauty pageants are good?
i)	What kind of life do you think a beauty queen has?
j)	Why are we more interested in beauty queens than ‘beauty kings’?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think Laura Zuniga knew her boyfriend’s brother was a powerful drug baron?
c)	Do you think Laura Zuniga is foolish?
d)	Do you think Laura Zuniga’s arrest might be a good thing for her career?
e)	Do you have a promising career ahead of you?
f)	Are there drug gangs in your country? Do you know anyone involved in them?
g)	Do you think Laura Zuniga should be stripped of her titles?
h)	Which is better, Miss World or Miss Universe?
i)	What nicknames have you had?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Laura Zuniga?

LANGUAGE

Mexican police arrested a beauty queen on Monday night as part of a (1) ____ on some gangsters. Laura Zuniga, 23, was travelling in a truck with seven gang members, a (2) ____ of weapons and over $50,000 in cash. The weapons included high-tech army rifles and powerful handguns. There were also a lot of bullets and  (3) ____ ammunition. Special officers followed the truck and arrested Ms Zuniga and her seven male companions. The police received a tip-off that an (4) ____ gang was travelling near the Mexican city of Guadalajara. After their arrest, they were (5) ____ immediately transported to Guadalajara International Airport and put on a plane to Mexico City. They will soon appear in court on charges (6) ____ drug trafficking and possession of deadly weapons.

One of the (7) ____ men was Angel Orlando Garcia Urquiza, 29, who is Zuniga's boyfriend. He is the brother of one of Mexico’s biggest gang bosses. Zuniga is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which has a (8) ____ history of activities involving drugs and gangs. She was crowned Miss Sinaloa in July. The beauty queen had a (9) ____ career ahead of her. Following her (10) ____ in the Sinaloa beauty pageant, she also won the Hispano-American Queen title in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in October. No one yet knows how (11) ____ she is involved in the drugs gang. She has already appeared on Mexican TV (12) ____ handcuffs. The CNN news agency reported that the Mexican media has given Zuniga the nickname “Miss Pistols”.

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

1.	(a)	laid	(b)	raid	(c)	maid	(d)	aid
2.	(a)	loads	(b)	lots	(c)	lot	(d)	loaded
3.	(a)	other	(b)	others	(c)	another	(d)	the others
4.	(a)	handed	(b)	footed	(c)	eyed	(d)	armed
5.	(a)	the lot	(b)	everyone	(c)	all	(d)	totally
6.	(a)	of	(b)	on	(c)	or	(d)	oh
7.	(a)	arrests	(b)	arresting	(c)	arrest	(d)	arrested
8.	(a)	tall	(b)	long	(c)	wide	(d)	high
9.	(a)	promised	(b)	promise	(c)	promises	(d)	promising
10.	(a)	winner	(b)	winnings	(c)	win	(d)	won
11.	(a)	deeps	(b)	deeply	(c)	deepest	(d)	depth
12.	(a)	wearing	(b)	putting	(c)	dressing	(d)	handing

WRITING: 

Write about beauty contests for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 Laura Zuniga. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. BEAUTY CONTESTS: Make a poster about the different beauty contests you know of. What are the differences between them? Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. MS HISTORY: Write a magazine article about the most beautiful woman in history. Include imaginary interviews with that woman and one person she knew.

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 Laura Zuniga. Ask her three questions about the raid by the Mexican police. Give her three suggestions on what she can do to get her promising career back on track. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

6. DIARY / JOURNAL: You are a special police officer who trails drug gangs every day. Write about one day on the job. What are the dangers? Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	raid	a.	search
2	truck	b.	lorry
3.	ammunition	c.	ammo
4.	companions	d.	friends
5.	possession	e.	ownership
6.	boyfriend	f.	lover
7.	long	g.	lengthy
8.	promising	h.	bright
9.	wearing	i.	sporting
10.	pistols	j.	guns

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	a raid on	a.	some gangsters
2	a lot of weapons and over	b.	$50,000 in cash
3.	The police received a	c.	tip-off
4.	they were all immediately transported	d.	to Guadalajara
5.	appear in court on charges of	e.	drug trafficking
6.	one of Mexico’s biggest	f.	gang bosses
7.	a long history of activities	g.	involving drugs
8.	The beauty queen had a promising career	h.	ahead of her
9.	how deeply she is involved	i.	in the drugs gang
10.	media has given Zuniga the nickname	j.	“Miss Pistols”

GAP FILL:

Mexican beauty queen arrested

Mexican police arrested a beauty queen on Monday night as part of a raid on some gangsters. Laura Zuniga, 23, was travelling in a truck with seven gang members, a lot of weapons and over $50,000 in cash. The weapons included high-tech army rifles and powerful handguns. There were also a lot of bullets and other ammunition. Special officers followed the truck and arrested Ms Zuniga and her seven male companions. The police received a tip-off that an armed gang was travelling near the Mexican city of Guadalajara. After their arrest, they were all immediately transported to Guadalajara International Airport and put on a plane to Mexico City. They will soon appear in court on charges of drug trafficking and possession of deadly weapons.

One of the arrested men was Angel Orlando Garcia Urquiza, 29, who is Zuniga's boyfriend. He is the brother of one of Mexico’s biggest gang bosses. Zuniga is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which has a long history of activities involving drugs and gangs. She was crowned Miss Sinaloa in July. The beauty queen had a promising career ahead of her. Following her win in the Sinaloa beauty pageant, she also won the Hispano-American Queen title in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in October. No one yet knows how deeply she is involved in the drugs gang. She has already appeared on Mexican TV wearing handcuffs. The CNN news agency reported that the Mexican media has given Zuniga the nickname “Miss Pistols”.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - b

2 - c

3 - a

4 - d

5 - c

6 - a

7 - d

8 - b

9 - d

10 - c

11 - b

12 - a

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