Breaking News English

        

1. OLYMPICS SECURITY: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Olympics security. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

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

CEO / providing security / humiliating / shambles / regrets / personnel / British Army / politicians / unacceptable / incompetent / amateurish / astonishing / fiasco / venue

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

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

	How to make it better	Would organizers do this?
Security
Opening ceremony
Advertising
Ticket prices
Sponsors
Events

4. SECURITY: Students A strongly believe armies and police forces should look after security at high profile events; Students B strongly believe private security companies can do this job.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. GAMES: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

athletics judo gymnastics swimming

archery marathon cycling weightlifting

6. SECURITY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'security'. 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 Olympics security company cannot provide security for its CEO.	T / F
b.	The CEO has no regrets about his company accepting the contract.	T / F
c.	The security company has failed to find over half the staff it promised.	T / F
d.	The British government has to pay for the Army to step in.	T / F
e.	British politicians suggested the company was a bunch of amateurs.	T / F
f.	The company said it should keep the management fee for the Games.	T / F
g.	The security CEO said he would not resign.	T / F
h.	Most of the security staff showed up for work at a cycling venue.	T / F

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

1.	providing	a.	mess
2.	humiliating	b.	amazing
3.	shambles	c.	cover
4.	revealed	d.	unprofessional
5.	fill in	e.	supplying
6.	angry	f.	made it known
7.	amateurish	g.	keep
8.	retain	h.	embarrassing
9.	astonishing	i.	weakened
10.	compromised	j.	furious

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

1.	providing security	a.	just over a week
2.	nothing but a	b.	resigning
3.	4,200 security personnel	c.	up for work
4.	the company has	d.	"humiliating shambles"
5.	fill in the very large	e.	be compromised
6.	unacceptable, incompetent	f.	for the London Olympics
7.	exclusive management	g.	and amateurish
8.	Buckles added that he wouldn't be	h.	focus on this contract
9.	30 out of 200 staff showed	i.	gaps left by G4S
10.	the Olympics will not	j.	of the 10,200 promised

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

The CEO of the company that is (1) ____________ security for the London Olympics has agreed the current situation is nothing but a "(2) ____________ shambles". Chief executive Nick Buckles of G4S went on to say he (3) ____________ his company ever accepted the $444 million Olympics contract. G4S was given years to prepare for the Olympics. However, it was  (4) ____________ to the British Government last week that there were only 4,200 security personnel of the 10,200 promised "working on the (5) ____________". G4S said it would find another 3,000 people before the Olympics begin – the company has just over a week. The British Army and police officers have had to (6) ____________ in the very large (7) ____________ left by G4S, with the company promising to (8) ____________ the costs.		ground regrets gaps providing pay humiliating fill revealed
British politicians are angry that G4S plans to (9) ____________ its $90 million management fee. They described the company's performance as "unacceptable, (10) ____________ and amateurish". Buckles said G4S would "deliver a significant      (11) ____________ of staff," thus it would retain the fee. He added there had been "exclusive management                      (12) ____________ on this contract for two years". MP Keith Vaz said: "I find that astonishing." Buckles added that he wouldn't be (13) ____________ from his $1.3-million-a-year position. The (14) ____________ surrounding G4S security continued yesterday when only 30 out of 200 staff showed up for work at a cycling (15) ____________ outside London. Meanwhile, the British government has said security at the Olympics will not be (16) ____________.		amount compromised focus fiasco keep venue incompetent resigning

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The CEO of the company (1) ______________________ security for the London Olympics has (2) ______________________ situation is nothing but a "humiliating shambles". Chief executive Nick Buckles of G4S                  (3) ______________________ regrets his company ever accepted the $444 million Olympics contract. G4S was given years to prepare for the Olympics. However, (4) ______________________ British Government last week that there were only 4,200 (5) ______________________ 10,200 promised "working on the ground". G4S said it would find another 3,000 people before the Olympics begin – the company has just over a week. The British Army and police officers have had to (6) ______________________ gaps left by G4S, with the company promising to pay the costs.

British politicians are angry that G4S (7) ______________________ $90 million management fee. They described the company's performance as "unacceptable, (8) ______________________". Buckles said G4S would "(9) ______________________ amount of staff," thus it would retain the fee. He added there had been "exclusive (10) ______________________ this contract for two years". MP Keith Vaz said: "I find that astonishing." Buckles added that he (11) ______________________ from his $1.3-million-a-year position. The fiasco surrounding G4S security continued yesterday when only 30 out of 200 staff showed up for work at a cycling venue outside London. Meanwhile, the British government has said security at the Olympics will (12) ______________________.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

current

situation

• 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:

agreed regrets prepare promised week pay

angry described deliver focus added showed

OLYMPICS SECURITY SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Olympics security 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.

 
 

OLYMPICS SECURITY DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What images enter your head when you hear the word 'security'?
c)	What do you think of the company supposedly providing security for the London Olympics?
d)	What do you think of G4S' boss saying he regrets his company took on the Olympics contract? What does this say about his company?
e)	How could G4S get everything so wrong after years of preparation?
f)	Why do you think the British government did not keep better tracks on the situation?
g)	Would the British Army and police do a better job than the security company?
h)	Should the company now pay lots of compensation to the government?
i)	What kind of security can 3,000 people found and trained in a week provide?
j)	Do you think the Olympics is now at an increased risk of security threats?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What can British politician do apart from be angry?
c)	Should G4S get its $90 million management fee?
d)	How badly will this shambles/fiasco damage G4S' reputation?
e)	Do you think G4S CEO Nick Buckles should resign?
f)	What do you think international competitors think of the security situation?
g)	Does G4S have bigger problems when the staff it has found do not turn up for work?
h)	What should G4S do to apologize?
i)	What questions would you like to ask G4S CEO Nick Buckles?
j)	What do you think his answers would be?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The CEO of the company that is providing security (1) ____ the London Olympics has agreed the current situation is nothing (2) ____ a "humiliating shambles". Chief executive Nick Buckles of G4S went on to say he (3) ____ his company ever accepted the $444 million Olympics contract. G4S was given years to prepare for the Olympics. However, it was (4) ____ to the British Government last week that there were only 4,200 security personnel of the 10,200 promised "working on the (5) ____". G4S said it would find another 3,000 people before the Olympics begin – the company has just over a week. The British Army and police officers have had to fill in the very large gaps (6) ____ by G4S, with the company promising to pay the costs.

British politicians are angry that G4S plans to keep its $90 million management fee. They described the company's performance (7) ____ "unacceptable, incompetent and amateurish". Buckles said G4S would "(8) ____ a significant amount of staff," thus it would retain the fee. He added there had been "exclusive management focus (9) ____ this contract for two years". MP Keith Vaz said: "I (10) ____ that astonishing." Buckles added that he wouldn't be resigning from his $1.3-million-a-year position. The fiasco (11) ____ G4S security continued yesterday when only 30 out of 200 staff showed up for work at a cycling venue outside London. Meanwhile, the British government has said security at the Olympics will not be (12) ____.

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

1.	(a)	by	(b)	from	(c)	for	(d)	with
2.	(a)	however	(b)	but	(c)	then	(d)	than
3.	(a)	regrets	(b)	refrains	(c)	remains	(d)	returns
4.	(a)	reveals	(b)	revealing	(c)	revelation	(d)	revealed
5.	(a)	mud	(b)	earth	(c)	ground	(d)	floor
6.	(a)	remain	(b)	right	(c)	left	(d)	stayed
7.	(a)	was	(b)	as	(c)	has	(d)	is
8.	(a)	deliver	(b)	export	(c)	ship	(d)	mail
9.	(a)	in	(b)	on	(c)	of	(d)	at
10.	(a)	find	(b)	search	(c)	investigate	(d)	lose
11.	(a)	surrounds	(b)	surrounded	(c)	surrendered	(d)	surrounding
12.	(a)	compromises	(b)	compromising	(c)	compromise	(d)	compromised

 
 

WRITING

Write about Olympics security 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 the security problems for the London Olympics. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. OLYMPICS SECURITY: Make a poster about Olympics security in past Olympics. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SAFE: Write a magazine article about the London Olympics. Include imaginary interviews with people who think security will be fine and those who think it won't.

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 Britain's Olympics committee. Ask him/her three questions about security for the London Olympics. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to beef it up. 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.

T

d.

F

e.

T

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	providing	a.	supplying
2.	humiliating	b.	embarrassing
3.	shambles	c.	mess
4.	revealed	d.	made it known
5.	fill in	e.	cover
6.	angry	f.	furious
7.	amateurish	g.	unprofessional
8.	retain	h.	keep
9.	astonishing	i.	amazing
10.	compromised	j.	weakened

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	providing security	a.	for the London Olympics
2.	nothing but a	b.	"humiliating shambles"
3.	4,200 security personnel	c.	of the 10,200 promised
4.	the company has	d.	just over a week
5.	fill in the very large	e.	gaps left by G4S
6.	unacceptable, incompetent	f.	and amateurish
7.	exclusive management	g.	focus on this contract
8.	Buckles added that he wouldn't be	h.	resigning
9.	30 out of 200 staff showed	i.	up for work
10.	the Olympics will not	j.	be compromised

GAP FILL:

Olympic security CEO admits "shambles"

The CEO of the company that is (1) providing security for the London Olympics has agreed the current situation is nothing but a "(2) humiliating shambles". Chief executive Nick Buckles of G4S went on to say he (3) regrets his company ever accepted the $444 million Olympics contract. G4S was given years to prepare for the Olympics. However, it was (4) revealed to the British Government last week that there were only 4,200 security personnel of the 10,200 promised "working on the (5) ground". G4S said it would find another 3,000 people before the Olympics begin – the company has just over a week. The British Army and police officers have had to (6) fill in the very large (7) gaps left by G4S, with the company promising to (8) pay the costs.

British politicians are angry that G4S plans to (9) keep its $90 million management fee. They described the company's performance as "unacceptable, (10) incompetent and amateurish". Buckles said G4S would "deliver a significant (11) amount of staff," thus it would retain the fee. He added there had been "exclusive management (12) focus on this contract for two years". MP Keith Vaz said: "I find that astonishing." Buckles added that he wouldn't be (13) resigning from his $1.3-million-a-year position. The (14) fiasco surrounding G4S security continued yesterday when only 30 out of 200 staff showed up for work at a cycling (15) venue outside London. Meanwhile, the British government has said security at the Olympics will not be (16) compromised.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - c

2 - b

3 - a

4 - d

5 - c

6 - c

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 - a

11 - d

12 - d

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