Breaking News English

        

1. GAMES: Walk around the class and talk to other students about games. Change partners often. Sit with your first 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.

Angry Birds / apps / downloads / gaming / spokesperson / wreak havoc / delighted / latest version / iPhone / heavily marketed / shipped worldwide / retail stores / brands

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

3. ANGRY BIRDS: How could the app be more successful? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

The Angry Birds…	The product?	Marketing strategies?
cook book
mall
theme park
English school
peace prize
perfume

4. APPS: Students A strongly believe apps are one of the greatest inventions ever; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. GAMES: What are your favourite? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

app games video arcade games board games runaround games

card games mind games sports games children’s games

6. GAMING: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘gaming’. 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.	The Angry Birds game is the best-selling game in history.	T / F
b.	The world spends 300 million minutes a day playing Angry Birds.	T / F
c.	The total time spent playing Angry Birds amounts to 200,000 years.	T / F
d.	The Angry Birds makers said they weren’t happy with their success.	T / F
e.	There are four versions of Angry Birds in the iPhone App Store’s top 20	T / F
f.	The maker of Angry Birds has plans for another 10 million editions.	T / F
g.	A movie version of Angry Birds is coming soon.	T / F
h.	Angry Birds is the second most-counterfeited product in China.	T / F

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

1.	ever	a.	shops
2	addictive	b.	representative
3.	spokesperson	c.	edition
4.	havoc	d.	sent
5.	delighted	e.	compulsive
6.	version	f.	forged
7.	spot	g.	in history
8.	shipped	h.	place
9.	stores	i.	chaos
10.	counterfeited	j.	happy

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

1.	the most downloaded	a.	the top twelve
2	the most played games	b.	achievement for us
3.	wreak	c.	on the game’s popularity
4.	a fantastic landmark	d.	quality
5.	exceptional	e.	in gaming history
6.	costs just $0.99 for	f.	retail stores
7.	two more editions are in	g.	game ever
8.	Other plans include opening	h.	brand
9.	cash in	i.	their havoc
10.	the most counterfeited	j.	the latest version

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

The Angry Birds app has (1) ____________ been downloaded 500 million times, which makes it the most downloaded game ever. The (2) ____________ app, created two years ago by Finnish company Rovio, is also one of the most played games in gaming (3) ____________. A Rovio spokesperson said gamers average about 300 million minutes of (4) ____________ time every day. That works out to around 200,000 years of Angry Birds playing time in (5) ____________. More than 400 billion angry birds have been created to wreak their (6) ____________. Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, said: "This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted.…We (7) ____________ committed to creating more fun experiences and bringing (8) ____________ quality to Angry Birds fans everywhere."		remain playing addictive exceptional total now history havoc
Angry Birds costs just $0.99 for the (9) ____________ version and is number two on the iPhone App Store. The free version   (10) ____________ the number 20 spot in the store, while two more editions are in the top twelve. Rovio has also heavily       (11) ____________ Angry Birds products, including 10 million (12) ____________ toys, books and clothing shipped worldwide. The company recently bought an animation studio and will soon start (13) ____________ Angry Birds cartoons, including a movie version. Other plans include opening retail stores in Finland and China. Rovio hopes to (14) ____________ in on the game’s popularity in China, where it has become the most counterfeited (15) ____________ in the country. The company is creating merchandise products including a Chinese-language Angry Birds (16) ____________ book.		cash soft cook latest releasing holds marketed brand

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The Angry Birds ____________________ downloaded 500 million times, which makes it the most downloaded game ever. ____________________, created two years ago by Finnish company Rovio, is also one of the most played ____________________ history. A Rovio spokesperson said gamers average about 300 million minutes of playing time every day. That works ____________________ 200,000 years of Angry Birds playing time in total. More than 400 billion angry birds have been created ____________________. Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, said: "This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted.…We remain ____________________ more fun experiences and bringing exceptional quality to Angry Birds fans everywhere."

Angry Birds costs just $0.99 for the latest version and is number two on the iPhone App Store. The ____________________ number 20 spot in the store, while two more editions are in the top twelve. Rovio has ____________________ Angry Birds products, including 10 million soft toys, books and clothing shipped worldwide. The company recently bought ____________________ and will soon start releasing Angry Birds cartoons, including a movie version. Other plans include ____________________ in Finland and China. Rovio hopes to cash in on the game’s popularity in China, where it has become the ______________________ in the country. The company ____________________ products including a Chinese-language Angry Birds cook book.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

angry

bird

• 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:

times history 300 400 fantastic everywhere

latest spot 10 million soon cash cook

STUDENT GAMES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about games 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.

GAMES 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 ‘gaming’?
c)	What do you think of gaming?
d)	What do you know about Angry Birds?
e)	What are the best things you have downloaded?
f)	What do you think of the stats in the article?
g)	Do you prefer video games or physical (non-video) games?
h)	Are games like Angry Birds good for us? Why (not)?
i)	What did people do before gaming and downloads?
j)	What is exceptional quality when you think about a video game?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What three adjectives best describe this article (and why)?
c)	What do you think of the $0.99 price for the latest version of Angry Birds?
d)	What makes games like Angry Birds so addictive?
e)	Would you like to see Angry Birds – the movie?
f)	Do you ever get fed up with the non-stop merchandising of products?
g)	What do you think of Angry Birds being the most counterfeited brand in China?
h)	What do you think of the name “Angry Birds”?
i)	What kind of recipes will the Angry Birds cook book have?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The Angry Birds app has now been downloaded 500 million times, which (1) ____ it the most downloaded game ever. The (2) ____ app, created two years ago by Finnish company Rovio, is also one of the most played games in gaming history. A Rovio spokesperson said gamers (3) ____ about 300 million minutes of playing time every day. That works out to around 200,000 years of Angry Birds playing time (4) ____ total. More than 400 billion angry birds have been created to wreak their havoc. Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, said: "This is a fantastic (5) ____ achievement for us, and we're (6) ____ delighted.…We remain committed to creating more fun experiences and bringing exceptional quality to Angry Birds fans everywhere."

Angry Birds costs just $0.99 for the latest version and is number two on the iPhone App Store. The free version (7) ____ the number 20 spot in the store, while two more editions are in the top twelve. Rovio has also (8) ____ marketed Angry Birds products, including 10 million soft toys, books and clothing (9) ____ worldwide. The company recently bought an animation studio and will soon start releasing Angry Birds cartoons, including a movie version. Other plans include opening retail stores in Finland and China. Rovio hopes to cash (10) ____ on the game’s popularity in China, where it has become the most (11) ____ brand in the country. The company is creating merchandise products (12) ____ a Chinese-language Angry Birds cook book.

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

1.	(a)	deals	(b)	is	(c)	does	(d)	makes
2.	(a)	addition	(b)	addictive	(c)	additive	(d)	addicts
3.	(a)	average	(b)	avenge	(c)	eviction	(d)	coverage
4.	(a)	up	(b)	on	(c)	in	(d)	of
5.	(a)	landlord	(b)	landing	(c)	landmark	(d)	land
6.	(a)	extreme	(b)	extremely	(c)	extremity	(d)	e
7.	(a)	holds	(b)	held	(c)	holding	(d)	holder
8.	(a)	heaved	(b)	heavenly	(c)	heathen	(d)	heavily
9.	(a)	slipped	(b)	shipped	(c)	snipped	(d)	stripped
10.	(a)	off	(b)	of	(c)	on	(d)	in
11.	(a)	counterfeit	(b)	counterfeiter	(c)	counterfeited	(d)	counterfeiting
12.	(a)	including	(b)	inclusive	(c)	included	(d)	inclusion

 
 

WRITING

Write about games 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 downloading games. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. GAMES: Make a poster about games. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. APPS: Write a magazine article about apps. Include imaginary interviews with app designers.

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 the boss of Angry Birds. Ask him three questions about games. Give him three of your opinions on apps. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

T

d.

F

e.

T

f.

F

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	ever	a.	in history
2	addictive	b.	compulsive
3.	spokesperson	c.	representative
4.	havoc	d.	chaos
5.	delighted	e.	happy
6.	version	f.	edition
7.	spot	g.	place
8.	shipped	h.	sent
9.	stores	i.	shops
10.	counterfeited	j.	forged

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	the most downloaded	a.	game ever
2	the most played games	b.	in gaming history
3.	wreak	c.	their havoc
4.	a fantastic landmark	d.	achievement for us
5.	exceptional	e.	quality
6.	costs just $0.99 for	f.	the latest version
7.	two more editions are in	g.	the top twelve
8.	Other plans include opening	h.	retail stores
9.	cash in	i.	on the game’s popularity
10.	the most counterfeited	j.	brand

GAP FILL:

Angry Birds downloads hit half a billion

The Angry Birds app has (1) now been downloaded 500 million times, which makes it the most downloaded game ever. The (2) addictive app, created two years ago by Finnish company Rovio, is also one of the most played games in gaming (3) history. A Rovio spokesperson said gamers average about 300 million minutes of (4) playing time every day. That works out to around 200,000 years of Angry Birds playing time in (5) total. More than 400 billion angry birds have been created to wreak their (6) havoc. Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, said: "This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted.…We (7) remain committed to creating more fun experiences and bringing (8) exceptional quality to Angry Birds fans everywhere."

Angry Birds costs just $0.99 for the (9) latest version and is number two on the iPhone App Store. The free version (10) holds the number 20 spot in the store, while two more editions are in the top twelve. Rovio has also heavily (11) marketed Angry Birds products, including 10 million (12) soft toys, books and clothing shipped worldwide. The company recently bought an animation studio and will soon start (13) releasing Angry Birds cartoons, including a movie version. Other plans include opening retail stores in Finland and China. Rovio hopes to (14) cash in on the game’s popularity in China, where it has become the most counterfeited (15) brand in the country. The company is creating merchandise products including a Chinese-language Angry Birds (16) cook book.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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