Breaking News English

        

1. AIR RAGE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about air rage. 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.

grandmother / banned / national carrier / jail sentence / anti-social behavior / flights / got drunk / verbal abuse / stitches / rage / appalling / provocation / concerning

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

3. RAGE: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Kinds of rage	What is it?	Why does it happen?	How do we stop it?
Air rage
Road rage
Office rage
Desk rage
Trolley rage
Classroom rage

4. BANNED: Students A strongly believe passengers guilty of air rage should be banned from flying for life; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. PASSENGERS: What bothers you most about other passengers (on airplanes, trains, Buses, etc.? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the worst things at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

their existence taking up too much space wanting to chat the sound from music players

falling asleep on your shoulder their smell their mannerisms food and/or drink

6. GRANDMOTHER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'grandmother'. 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 world's airlines have stopped a woman from flying for 10 years.	T / F
b.	The woman got drunk on an airplane and punched a male passenger.	T / F
c.	The airplane she was one had to return to turn around and go back.	T / F
d.	It is not the first time the granny has behaved badly on an airplane.	T / F
e.	The woman was herself a former flight attendant.	T / F
f.	The woman took her anger out on a seat headrest.	T / F
g.	A man did not need any treatment after the woman hit his face.	T / F
h.	The judge said the woman might have reacted to the man's actions.	T / F

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

1.	banned	a.	insulting
2.	ordered	b.	happening
3.	suspended	c.	needed
4.	incident	d.	commanded
5.	bad	e.	terrible
6.	abusing	f.	put off
7.	rage	g.	prohibited
8.	required	h.	cause
9.	appalling	i.	foul
10.	provocation	j.	tantrum

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

1.	banned from flying with Australia's	a.	for two years
2.	a 4-month jail sentence suspended	b.	the seat in front of her
3.	a history of	c.	nurse
4.	found	d.	up in prison
5.	she will end	e.	national carrier
6.	a former	f.	any provocation
7.	verbally	g.	anti-social behaviour
8.	headbutting	h.	abusing other passengers
9.	flew into	i.	guilty
10.	without	j.	a rage

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

A 58-year-old grandmother has been banned (1) ____________ flying with Australia's national carrier Qantas after she got drunk and punched a man in the face on a (2) ____________ from Australia to New Zealand. Courts also ordered the granny (Mrs M) to pay the airline nearly US$18,000 for (3) ____________ to return to Melbourne Airport. She also received a 4-month jail sentence (4) ____________ for two years. Mrs M had a            (5) ____________ of anti-social behaviour on airplanes. She was involved in an incident on a Virgin Airlines flight last year and was (6) ____________ for using bad language and smoking on the flight. If she is found (7) ____________ again of such behaviour, she will (8) ____________ up in prison. Qantas has banned her from its flights for at least ten years.		fined suspended end flight guilty from history having
Mrs M, a (9) ____________ nurse, was flying to New Zealand to see her children. She got drunk on the flight and began           (10) ____________ abusing other passengers and the flight attendants. She then started (11) ____________ and headbutting the seat in front of her. A male passenger then asked her to be quiet. At this, she stood up, (12) ____________ into a rage and punched him hard in the face. He required                        (13) ____________ on his 6cm cut. Court judge Luisa Bazzani said Mrs M's behaviour was "(14) ____________". She said: "Those passengers affected by your…behaviour were unable to (15) ____________ themselves from the situation." She added: "The assault by you of a (16) ____________ passenger without any provocation is particularly concerning."		appalling flew verbally remove former fellow punching stitches

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A 58-year-old grandmother has been banned from flying with Australia's _____________________ Qantas after she got drunk and punched a man _______________________ from Australia to New Zealand. Courts also ordered the granny (Mrs M) to pay the airline nearly US$18,000 _____________________ to Melbourne Airport. She also received a 4-month jail sentence suspended for two years. Mrs M _____________________-social behaviour on airplanes. She was involved in an incident on a Virgin Airlines flight last year and _____________________ language and smoking on the flight. If she is found guilty again of such behaviour, she _____________________. Qantas has banned her from its flights for at least ten years.

Mrs M, _____________________, was flying to New Zealand to see her children. She got drunk on the flight and _______________________ other passengers and the flight attendants. She then started punching and headbutting the _____________________. A male passenger then asked her to be quiet. At this, she stood up, _____________________ punched him hard in the face. He _____________________ his 6cm cut. Court judge Luisa Bazzani said Mrs M's behaviour was "appalling". She said: "Those passengers affected by your…behaviour were unable to remove themselves from the situation." She added: "The assault by you of a fellow passenger _______________________ is particularly concerning."

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'air' and 'rage'.

air

rage

• 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:

national ordered suspended anti- bad end

former began male required remove fellow

AIR RAGE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about air rage 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.

 
 

AIR RAGE 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 'air rage'?
c)	Have you ever experienced air rage (or road rage)?
d)	What do you think about Mrs M's behaviour?
e)	Do you think Qantas' ten-year ban is fair?
f)	Do you think the jail sentence should have been suspended?
g)	What's your experience of badly-behaved passengers (on airplanes, buses, trains....)?
h)	Would you ask a loud passenger to be quiet?
i)	What do you think causes air rage?
j)	What anti-social behavior do you see in your country?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Should airlines do more to stop people getting drunk on airplanes?
c)	Should airports ban alcohol?
d)	What would you do if a passenger started verbally abusing you?
e)	What do you think of the male passenger who asked Mrs M to be quiet?
f)	What advice do you think the male passenger might have for Mrs M?
g)	What would you do if another passenger punched you?
h)	Should airlines make a list of passengers who commit air rage and ban them from flying altogether?
i)	Was the pilot right to turn the plane around and return to Melbourne or should she/he have continued to New Zealand?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Mrs M?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A 58-year-old grandmother has been banned (1) ____ flying with Australia's national (2) ____ Qantas after she got drunk and punched a man in the face on a flight from Australia to New Zealand. Courts also ordered the granny (Mrs M) to pay the airline nearly US$18,000 for (3) ____ to return to Melbourne Airport. She also received a 4-month jail sentence suspended for two years. Mrs M had a history of (4) ____-social behaviour on airplanes. She was involved (5) ____ an incident on a Virgin Airlines flight last year and was fined for using bad language and smoking on the flight. If she is found guilty again of such behaviour, she will end (6) ____ in prison. Qantas has banned her from its flights for at least ten years.

Mrs M, a former nurse, was flying to New Zealand to see her children. She got drunk on the flight and began (7) ____ abusing other passengers and the flight attendants. She then started punching and headbutting the seat in front of her. A male passenger then asked her to be quiet. (8) ____ this, she stood up, (9) ____ into a rage and punched him hard in the face. He required (10) ____ on his 6cm cut. Court judge Luisa Bazzani said Mrs M's behaviour was "appalling". She said: "Those passengers affected (11) ____ your…behaviour were unable to remove themselves from the situation." She added: "The assault by you of a fellow passenger (12) ____ any provocation is particularly concerning."

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

1.	(a)	by	(b)	for	(c)	through	(d)	from
2.	(a)	poster	(b)	jetsetter	(c)	carrier	(d)	aviator
3.	(a)	had	(b)	having	(c)	has to	(d)	have
4.	(a)	anti	(b)	post	(c)	pre	(d)	non
5.	(a)	on	(b)	at	(c)	in	(d)	by
6.	(a)	down	(b)	along	(c)	over	(d)	up
7.	(a)	speaking	(b)	verbally	(c)	oral	(d)	conversation
8.	(a)	At	(b)	By	(c)	When	(d)	As
9.	(a)	ran	(b)	flew	(c)	jetted	(d)	sprinted
10.	(a)	embroidery	(b)	knitting	(c)	stitches	(d)	thread
11.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	on	(d)	as
12.	(a)	passing	(b)	via	(c)	took	(d)	without

WRITINGl

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

3. AIR RAGE: Make a poster about air rage. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. RAGE: Write a magazine article about the attack on the Melbourne to New Zealand flight. Include imaginary interviews with the granny and the passenger she punched.

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 head of an airline. Ask him/her three questions about air rage. Give him/her three opinions on how to control it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

F

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	banned	a.	prohibited
2.	ordered	b.	commanded
3.	suspended	c.	put off
4.	incident	d.	happening
5.	bad	e.	foul
6.	abusing	f.	insulting
7.	rage	g.	tantrum
8.	required	h.	needed
9.	appalling	i.	terrible
10.	provocation	j.	cause

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	banned from flying with Australia's	a.	national carrier
2.	a 4-month jail sentence suspended	b.	for two years
3.	a history of	c.	anti-social behaviour
4.	found	d.	guilty
5.	she will end	e.	up in prison
6.	a former	f.	nurse
7.	verbally	g.	abusing other passengers
8.	headbutting	h.	the seat in front of her
9.	flew into	i.	a rage
10.	without	j.	any provocation

GAP FILL:

Air-rage granny gets 10-year flight ban

A 58-year-old grandmother has been banned (1) from flying with Australia's national carrier Qantas after she got drunk and punched a man in the face on a (2) flight from Australia to New Zealand. Courts also ordered the granny (Mrs M) to pay the airline nearly US$18,000 for (3) having to return to Melbourne Airport. She also received a 4-month jail sentence (4) suspended for two years. Mrs M had a (5) history of anti-social behaviour on airplanes. She was involved in an incident on a Virgin Airlines flight last year and was (6) fined for using bad language and smoking on the flight. If she is found (7) guilty again of such behaviour, she will (8) end up in prison. Qantas has banned her from its flights for at least ten years.

Mrs M, a (9) former nurse, was flying to New Zealand to see her children. She got drunk on the flight and began (10) verbally abusing other passengers and the flight attendants. She then started (11) punching and headbutting the seat in front of her. A male passenger then asked her to be quiet. At this, she stood up, (12) flew into a rage and punched him hard in the face. He required (13) stitches on his 6cm cut. Court judge Luisa Bazzani said Mrs M's behaviour was "(14) appalling". She said: "Those passengers affected by your…behaviour were unable to (15) remove themselves from the situation." She added: "The assault by you of a (16) fellow passenger without any provocation is particularly concerning."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 -c

11 - a

12 - d

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