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The world's strangest hotel complaints (15th May, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

An international travel site conducted a survey on hotel complaints around the world and found some unusual things. The travel website Skyscanner.net surveyed 400 international hotel staff in 39 different countries. It asked them about the strangest things guests had asked for or complained about. The site said that most of the unusual complaints were about food. Other weird requests were related to the room. Not every hotel room or the services on offer are to everybody's taste, but the complaints in the Skyscanner survey were so strange it makes you wonder how the hotel staff responded. It would be impossible for any hotel in the world to make some of the complaining guests happy.

The food-related complaints were very weird. One guest asked for 16 cucumbers a day, while another requested only the right legs of a chicken. The staff had no idea why just the right leg, or whether the left leg of a chicken didn't taste as nice as the right leg. One guest asked for something not normally found on the room service menu – crocodile soup. Other complaints were crazy enough to make staff wonder about the mental age of the guests. A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not have a sea view. The nearest beach to London is about 75 km away. Other guests wanted the toilet filled with mineral water, a bath full of honey and a discount because his girlfriend snored.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.skyscanner.net/news/worlds-weirdest-hotel-requests-and-complaints
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/strangest-hotel-requests-15-cucumbers-per-day-one-dead-mouse-1448422

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. HOTELS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about hotels. Change partners often 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.

travel / survey / complaints / hotel staff / strangest things / responded / impossible / weird / cucumbers / no idea / chicken / room service / mental age / beach / discount

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

3. COMPLAINTS: What are your big(gest) complaints? Complete this table and share what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners often.

About…	What?	Why?
hotels
English
your country
the Internet
your city
people

4. HOTEL STAFF: Students A strongly believe working in a hotel would be very interesting; Students B strongly believe it would be very boring. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. HOTEL ROOM: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important things at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• a room with a view

• big

• free wi-fi

• a good shower

• quiet

• a safe

• a mini-bar

• free gifts

6. TRAVEL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "travel". 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.	A nationwide website did a survey on hotel guests' complaints.	T / F
b.	The site asked 400 staff from international hotels in 39 countries.	T / F
c.	Most of the unusual requests were about the shower and bathroom.	T / F
d.	The article said it's impossible to keep all hotel guests happy.	T / F
e.	One guest wanted the hotel to give him/her 16 cucumbers a day.	T / F
f.	Another guest wanted only the right leg of chickens.	T / F
g.	A man at a London hotel complained he could see the sea.	T / F
h.	A woman wanted a discount because her boyfriend snored.	T / F

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

1.	conducted	a.	questioned
2.	unusual	b.	think
3.	surveyed	c.	were about
4.	related to	d.	requested
5.	taste	e.	closest
6.	asked for	f.	carried out
7.	normally	g.	price reduction
8.	wonder	h.	liking
9.	nearest	i.	strange
10.	discount	j.	usually

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

1.	conducted	a.	hotel
2.	weird	b.	guests happy
3.	to everybody's	c.	16 cucumbers a day
4.	it makes	d.	taste
5.	make some of the complaining	e.	snored
6.	One guest asked for	f.	a survey
7.	The staff had no	g.	requests
8.	something not normally found on	h.	idea why
9.	luxury	i.	you wonder
10.	his girlfriend	j.	the room service menu

GAP FILL

An international travel site (1) ____________ a survey on hotel complaints around the world and found some (2) ____________ things. The travel website Skyscanner.net (3) ____________ 400 international hotel staff in 39 different countries. It asked them about the strangest things guests had asked for or (4) ____________ about. The site said that most of the unusual complaints were about food. Other weird (5) ____________ were related to the room. Not every hotel room or the services on offer are to everybody's (6) ____________, but the complaints in the Skyscanner survey were so strange it makes you (7) ____________ how the hotel staff responded. It would be impossible for any hotel in the world to make some of the complaining (8) ____________ happy.

taste
unusual
complained
guests
conducted
surveyed
wonder
requests

The food-related complaints were very (9) ____________. One guest asked for 16 cucumbers a day, while another requested only the right legs of a chicken. The staff had no (10) ____________ why just the right leg, or whether the left leg of a chicken didn't (11) ____________ as nice as the right leg. One guest asked for something not normally found on the room (12) ____________ menu – crocodile soup. Other complaints were crazy enough to make staff wonder about the (13) ____________ age of the guests. A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not have a sea (14) ____________. The nearest beach to London is about 75 km away. Other guests wanted the toilet (15) ____________ with mineral water, a bath full of honey and a discount because his girlfriend (16) ____________.

filled
taste
mental
weird
snored
view
idea
service

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	An international travel site conducted a survey on ______
	a. hotel complainants b. hotel complacency c. hotel complacent d. hotel complaints
2)	The travel website Skyscanner.net surveyed 400 ______
	a. international hotel stuff b. international hotel staff c. international hotel starve d. international hotel staffers
3)	Not every hotel room or the services on offer are ______
	a. to everybody's taste b. to everybody's tasty c. to everybody's taster d. to everybody's tasted
4)	so strange it makes you wonder how the hotel ______
	a. staff respond it b. staff responded c. staff respond add d. staff respond and
5)	It would be impossible for any hotel in the world to make some of the ______
	a. complaining guests happy b. complaining guests happier c. complaining guests happiest d. complaining guests happiness
6)	The food-related complaints ______
	a. were very wired b. were very weir id c. were very weird d. were very word
7)	…or whether the left leg of a chicken didn't ______
	a. tasty as nice b. taste as rice c. taste as nice d. tasted as nice
8)	One guest asked for something not normally found on the ______
	a. room services menu b. room service menu c. roomy service menu d. roomy services menu
9)	A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not ______
	a. have a see view b. have a seen view c. have a scene view d. have a sea view
10)	a bath full of honey and a discount because ______
	a. his girlfriend snored b. his girlfriend snared c. his girlfriend snoring d. his girlfriend snare it

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

An international travel site (1) ___________________ hotel complaints around the world and found (2) ___________________. The travel website Skyscanner.net surveyed 400 international hotel staff in 39 different countries. It asked them about the strangest things (3) ___________________ or complained about. The site said that most of the unusual complaints were about food. Other (4) ___________________ related to the room. Not every hotel room or the services on offer are to everybody's taste, (5) ___________________ in the Skyscanner survey were so strange it makes you wonder how the hotel staff responded. It would be impossible for any hotel in the world (6) ___________________ the complaining guests happy.

The food-related complaints (7) ___________________. One guest asked for 16 cucumbers a day, while another requested only the right legs of a chicken. The (8) ___________________ why just the right leg, or whether the left leg of a chicken didn't taste as nice as the right leg. One guest asked for something (9) ___________________ on the room service menu – crocodile soup. Other complaints were crazy enough to make staff wonder about the (10) ___________________ guests. A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not (11) ___________________. The nearest beach to London is about 75 km away. Other guests wanted the toilet filled with mineral water, a bath full of (12) ___________________ because his girlfriend snored.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	How many hotel staff did the website talk to?
2.	What were most of the unusual complaints about?
3.	What other thing did the weird requests relate to?
4.	What did the article say about every hotel room?
5.	What did the article say was impossible?
6.	How many cucumbers did one guest request?
7.	Which part of a chicken did another guest ask for?
8.	What did someone order that wasn't on the room service menu?
9.	What did a man in London want to see from his room?
10.	Why did a guest ask for a discount?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	How many hotel staff did the website talk to?	6.	How many cucumbers did one guest request?
	a) 200 b) 300 c) 400 d) 500		a) 60 b) 16 c) 66 d) 660
2.	What were most of the unusual complaints about?	7.	Which part of a chicken did another guest ask for?
	a) food b) the shower c) checkout times d) the view		a) the right leg b) the breast c) the left wing d) the neck
3.	What other thing did the weird requests relate to?	8.	What did someone order that wasn't on the room service menu?
	a) the room b) the bed c) the staff d) noise		a) ostrich burger b) banana omelette c) crocodile soup d) chocolate curry
4.	What did the article say about what every hotel room?	9.	What did a man in London want to see from his room?
	a) they all looked the same b) not all are to everyone's taste c) they are all too small d) guests cannot choose the room		a) sunshine b) a soccer game c) the Queen d) the sea
5.	What did the article say was impossible?	10.	Why did a guest ask for a discount?
	a) having six in a room b) giving discounts c) allowing goats to stay in rooms d) keeping all guests happy		a) his girlfriend snored b) it was his 10,000th night at the hotel c) a sheet on his bed was creased d) the walls were white

ROLE PLAY

Role A – A room with a view

You think a view is the most important thing in a hotel room. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): free wi-fi, a good shower or a safe.

Role B – Free wi-fi

You think free wi-fi is the most important thing in a hotel room. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): a view, a good shower or a safe.

Role C – A good shower

You think a good shower is the most important thing in a hotel room. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): free wi-fi, a view or a safe.

Role D – A safe

You think a safe is the most important thing in a hotel room. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): free wi-fi, a good shower or a view.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

hotel

room

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:

around
39
most
every
makes
happy

16
idea
normally
soup
luxury
75

HOTELS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about hotels 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.

HOTELS 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 'complain'?
c)	What things do you complain about?
d)	Is it better to complain or just forget about it and move on?
e)	What complaints have you had about hotels?
f)	Why do people complain about hotels?
g)	Are you good at dealing with people who complain?
h)	What do you think of websites where you can complain about hotels?
i)	What complaints about life do you have right now?
j)	What should a hotel do if a guest complains?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	Why might someone want 16 cucumbers a day in a hotel?
c)	Is it possible for the right leg of a chicken to be tastier than the left leg?
d)	Have you complained about food in a hotel or restaurant?
e)	How can somebody staying in London complain about having no sea view?
f)	What do people complain to you about?
g)	What should staff say to someone who wants a honey bath?
h)	Has anyone ever complained about you?
i)	Why might someone want a toilet full of mineral water?
j)	What questions would you like to ask a hotel manager?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

An international travel site (1) ____ a survey on hotel complaints around the world and found some unusual things. The travel website Skyscanner.net (2) ____ 400 international hotel staff in 39 different countries. It asked them about the strangest things guests had asked for or complained (3) ____. The site said that most of the unusual complaints were about food. Other weird requests were related to the room. Not every hotel room or the services on offer are to everybody's (4) ____, but the complaints in the Skyscanner survey were so strange it makes you (5) ____ how the hotel staff responded. It would be impossible for any hotel in the world to make some of the (6) ____ guests happy.

The food-related complaints were very (7) ____. One guest asked for 16 cucumbers a day, while another requested only the right legs of a chicken. The staff had no (8) ____ why just the right leg, or whether the left leg of a chicken didn't taste as nice as the right leg. One guest asked for something not (9) ____ found on the room service menu – crocodile soup. Other complaints were crazy enough to make staff wonder about the mental (10) ____ of the guests. A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not have a sea (11) ____. The nearest beach to London is about 75 km away. Other guests wanted the toilet filled with mineral water, a bath full of honey and a (12) ____ because his girlfriend snored.

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

1.	(a)	contracted	(b)	conducted	(c)	condemned	(d)	conned
2.	(a)	survey	(b)	surveyed	(c)	surveying	(d)	surveys
3.	(a)	of	(b)	on	(c)	from	(d)	about
4.	(a)	love	(b)	taste	(c)	want	(d)	liked
5.	(a)	wander	(b)	winder	(c)	widen	(d)	wonder
6.	(a)	complainant	(b)	complained	(c)	complaining	(d)	complaints
7.	(a)	weird	(b)	wired	(c)	weir	(d)	wire
8.	(a)	reason	(b)	thought	(c)	idea	(d)	rationale
9.	(a)	occasionally	(b)	regularity	(c)	usual	(d)	normally
10.	(a)	age	(b)	old	(c)	years	(d)	date
11.	(a)	view	(b)	scene	(c)	see	(d)	scenery
12.	(a)	discount	(b)	tip	(c)	bonus	(d)	deposit

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	conducted a yrsvue
2.	most of the unusual cmslpainto
3.	Other weird uqeertss
4.	treedla to the room
5.	how the hotel staff nrdseeodp
6.	It would be isemlbiops
Paragraph 2
7.	16 ebrmcucsu a day
8.	legs of a khnicec
9.	something not lnormlya found
10.	a yrxuul hotel
11.	eiarnml water
12.	his girlfriend nrsdoe

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	whether the left leg of a chicken didn't taste as nice as the right leg. One guest asked for something not normally
( )	offer are to everybody's taste, but the complaints in the Skyscanner survey were so
( 1 )	An international travel site conducted a survey on hotel complaints around the world and found
( )	found on the room service menu – crocodile soup. Other complaints were crazy enough to make staff
( )	complaints were about food. Other weird requests were related to the room. Not every hotel room or the services on
( )	some unusual things. The travel website Skyscanner.net surveyed 400 international hotel staff in 39 different
( )	The food-related complaints were very weird. One guest asked for 16 cucumbers
( )	a day, while another requested only the right legs of a chicken. The staff had no idea why just the right leg, or
( )	wonder about the mental age of the guests. A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not have a sea
( )	filled with mineral water, a bath full of honey and a discount because his girlfriend snored.
( )	any hotel in the world to make some of the complaining guests happy.
( )	countries. It asked them about the strangest things guests had asked for or complained about. The site said that most of the unusual
( )	strange it makes you wonder how the hotel staff responded. It would be impossible for
( )	view. The nearest beach to London is about 75 km away. Other guests wanted the toilet

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	complaints A around survey the on world hotel .
2.	39 in staff hotel International countries different .
3.	for asked had guests things strangest The .
4.	about the food unusual complaints Most were of .
5.	happy guests complaining the of some Make .
6.	weird related complaints The were food very - .
7.	only legs chicken requested right a Another the of .
8.	normally the menu not on service Something found room .
9.	view Complained that his room did not have a sea .
10.	And snored girlfriend his because discount a .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

An international travel site / sight conducted a survey on hotel complaints around the world and found some unusually / unusual things. The travel website Skyscanner.net surveyed / survey 400 international hotel stuff / staff in 39 different countries. It asked them about the strangest things guests had asked for or complained around / about. The site said that most of the unusual complaints were about food. Other weird / weirdo requests were related / relative to the room. Not every hotel room or the services on offer are to everybody's tasty / taste, but the complaints in the Skyscanner survey were so strange it makes you wonder how the hotel staff responses / responded. It would be impossible for any hotel in the world to make some of the complaining / complaint guests happy.

The food-related complains / complaints were very weird. One guest asked for 16 cucumbers a day, while another / other requested only the right legs of a chicken. The staff had no / not idea why just the right leg, or whether / weather the left leg of a chicken didn't taste as nice as the right leg. One guest asked for something not normal / normally found on the room service menu – crocodile soup. Other complaints were crazy / crazily enough to make staff wonder about the mental old / age of the guests. A man at a luxury hotel in London complained that his room did not have a sea view. The nearest / farthest beach to London is about 75 km away. Other guests wanted the toilet filled / fill with mineral water, a bath full of honey and a discount because his girlfriend snored / snoring.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

_n _nt_rn_t__n_l tr_v_l s_t_ c_nd_ct_d _ s_rv_y _n h_t_l c_mpl__nts _r__nd th_ w_rld _nd f__nd s_m_ _n_s__l th_ngs. Th_ tr_v_l w_bs_t_ Skysc_nn_r.n_t s_rv_y_d 400 _nt_rn_t__n_l h_t_l st_ff _n 39 d_ff_r_nt c__ntr__s. _t _sk_d th_m _b__t th_ str_ng_st th_ngs g__sts h_d _sk_d f_r _r c_mpl__n_d _b__t. Th_ s_t_ s__d th_t m_st _f th_ _n_s__l c_mpl__nts w_r_ _b__t f__d. _th_r w__rd r_q__sts w_r_ r_l_t_d t_ th_ r__m. N_t _v_ry h_t_l r__m _r th_ s_rv_c_s _n _ff_r _r_ t_ _v_ryb_dy's t_st_, b_t th_ c_mpl__nts _n th_ Skysc_nn_r s_rv_y w_r_ s_ str_ng_ _t m_k_s y__ w_nd_r h_w th_ h_t_l st_ff r_sp_nd_d. _t w__ld b_ _mp_ss_bl_ f_r _ny h_t_l _n th_ w_rld t_ m_k_ s_m_ _f th_ c_mpl__n_ng g__sts h_ppy.

Th_ f__d-r_l_t_d c_mpl__nts w_r_ v_ry w__rd. _n_ g__st _sk_d f_r 16 c_c_mb_rs _ d_y, wh_l_ _n_th_r r_q__st_d _nly th_ r_ght l_gs _f _ ch_ck_n. Th_ st_ff h_d n_ _d__ why j_st th_ r_ght l_g, _r wh_th_r th_ l_ft l_g _f _ ch_ck_n d_dn't t_st_ _s n_c_ _s th_ r_ght l_g. _n_ g__st _sk_d f_r s_m_th_ng n_t n_rm_lly f__nd _n th_ r__m s_rv_c_ m_n_ – cr_c_d_l_ s__p. _th_r c_mpl__nts w_r_ cr_zy _n__gh t_ m_k_ st_ff w_nd_r _b__t th_ m_nt_l _g_ _f th_ g__sts. _ m_n _t _ l_x_ry h_t_l _n L_nd_n c_mpl__n_d th_t h_s r__m d_d n_t h_v_ _ s__ v__w. Th_ n__r_st b__ch t_ L_nd_n _s _b__t 75 km _w_y. _th_r g__sts w_nt_d th_ t__l_t f_ll_d w_th m_n_r_l w_t_r, _ b_th f_ll _f h_n_y _nd _ d_sc__nt b_c__s_ h_s g_rlfr__nd sn_r_d.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

an international travel site conducted a survey on hotel complaints around the world and found some unusual things the travel website skyscannernet surveyed 400 international hotel staff in 39 different countries it asked them about the strangest things guests had asked for or complained about the site said that most of the unusual complaints were about food other weird requests were related to the room not every hotel room or the services on offer are to everybody's taste but the complaints in the skyscanner survey were so strange it makes you wonder how the hotel staff responded it would be impossible for any hotel in the world to make some of the complaining guests happy

the food-related complaints were very weird one guest asked for 16 cucumbers a day while another requested only the right legs of a chicken the staff had no idea why just the right leg or whether the left leg of a chicken didn't taste as nice as the right leg one guest asked for something not normally found on the room service menu – crocodile soup other complaints were crazy enough to make staff wonder about the mental age of the guests a man at a luxury hotel in london complained that his room did not have a sea view the nearest beach to london is about 75 km away other guests wanted the toilet filled with mineral water a bath full of honey and a discount because his girlfriend snored

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Aninternationaltravelsiteconductedasurveyonhotelcomplaintsaro
undtheworldandfoundsomeunusualthings.ThetravelwebsiteSkys
canner.netsurveyed400internationalhotelstaffin39differentcount
ries.Itaskedthemaboutthestrangestthingsguestshadaskedfororc
omplainedabout.Thesitesaidthatmostoftheunusualcomplaintswer
eaboutfood.Otherweirdrequestswererelatedtotheroom.Notevery
hotelroomortheservicesonofferaretoeverybody'staste,butthecom
plaintsintheSkyscannersurveyweresostrangeitmakesyouwonder
howthehotelstaffresponded.Itwouldbeimpossibleforanyhotelinth
eworldtomakesomeofthecomplainingguestshappy.Thefood-relat
edcomplaintswereveryweird.Oneguestaskedfor16cucumbersada
y,whileanotherrequestedonlytherightlegsofachicken.Thestaffhad
noideawhyjusttherightleg,orwhethertheleftlegofachickendidn'tta
steasniceastherightleg.Oneguestaskedforsomethingnotnormallyf
oundontheroomservicemenu–crocodilesoup.Othercomplaintswer
ecrazyenoughtomakestaffwonderaboutthementalageoftheguests
.AmanataluxuryhotelinLondoncomplainedthathisroomdidnothav
easeaview.ThenearestbeachtoLondonisabout75kmaway.Othergu
estswantedthetoiletfilledwithmineralwater,abathfullofhoneyanda
discountbecausehisgirlfriendsnored.

FREE WRITING

Write about hotels for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

What are the good and bad points of staying in a hotel and staying in a tent? Which is better? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

4. COMPLAINTS: Write a magazine article about hotel complaints. Include imaginary interviews with unhappy guests and hotel managers.

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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on hotels. Ask him/her three questions about hotels. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to make hotel stays better. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

F

d

T

e

T

f

T

g

F

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	conducted	a.	carried out
2.	unusual	b.	strange
3.	surveyed	c.	questioned
4.	related to	d.	were about
5.	taste	e.	liking
6.	asked for	f.	requested
7.	normally	g.	usually
8.	wonder	h.	think
9.	nearest	i.	closest
10.	discount	j.	price reduction

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	400
2.	Food
3.	The room
4.	Not all are to everyone's taste
5.	Keeping all guests happy
6.	16
7.	The right leg
8.	Crocodile soup
9.	The sea
10.	His girlfriend snored

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

a

4.

b

5.

d

6.

b

7.

a

8.

c

9.

d

10.

a

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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The world's strangest hotel complaints (15th May, 2014)

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