Saturday November 20, 200
Pre-Intermediate +

THE ARTICLE

Britain’s Prince William, second in line to the throne (after his father, Prince Charles) hinted in an interview with the BBC on Friday that he is considering a career in the British Army. This is nothing new for a royal as all male princes are expected to serve their country. William’s uncle, Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982, and stayed with the Royal Navy until 2001. His other uncle, Prince Edward, had a less distinguished career, failing to finish his Royal Marines training because it was too tough!

Asked about an army career, William said it’s at the back of his mind at the moment. He said study (his Geography degree) comes first, “Then I'll take a bit of time off, do a bit of travelling and get some work done and then see which course I take.” He wasn’t wholly enthusiastic about the idea of the military and said he will see how his “guinea pig” younger brother Harry likes it before making any decisions. If he did join the Army, he said he would do his best, “the last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool, … I'd want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did.”

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about Prince William, Queen Elizabeth, Royal families, military service, being a prince….

2. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept: Princes shouldn’t fight in war vs. Yes they should, William should try the army first, not his younger brother vs, nothing wrong with little bros going first, monarchies should be banned vs. monarchies are cool, the British Royal family is world class vs. the British Royal Family is a joke …

3. ‘PRINCE FOR A DAY’: Students imagine they are a prince, or princess, for a day and talk about what they’ll do tomorrow.

4. SERVICES BRAINSTORM: Brainstorm the different areas of the armed, naval and air services, including the SAS, Green Berets, Foreign Legion, and any other ‘crack’ units around the world. Students talk about these.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. HOW SURE?: Look at the following lexical items and discuss how sure the speaker is:
(a) - he hinted in an interview …
(b)- he is considering a career in …
(c)- princes are expected to serve their country
(d)- it’s at the back of his mind at the moment
(e)- and then see …
(f)- not wholly enthusiastic about the idea of
 
Now replace the words in italics with the following expressions without changing the overall meaning:
(i) - is only a little interested in
(ii) - decide later
(iii) - something not so important
(iv) - suggested
(v) - should
(vi) - thinking about

2. TRUE/FALSE: Students predict whether they believe the following statements are true or false:
(a)  William is next in line to become King of England.  T / F
(b)  All British princes join the Army, navy or Air Force  T / F
(c)  Prince Andrew (the Queen’s second son) served in the Falklands  T / F
(d)  Prince Edward (the Queen’s youngest son) got top honours in Britain’s tough Royal Marines.  T / F
(e)  Prince William definitely wants to join the Army. T / F
(f)  Younger brother Prince Harry is a guinea pig.  T / F
(g)  Prince William wants to be wrapped up in cotton wool. T / F
(h)  Prince William would want to do the same things as other soldiers.  T / F

3. WORD MATCH: Students match the following words taken from the text:

	in line	nothing new
	considering	career
	this is	to the throne
	distinguished	best
	study comes	off
	take time	a career
	do his	did
	do what they	first

4. MINI-DISCUSSION: Students talk about the following article-based issues in pairs / groups:
a. I would like to be in line to the British throne.
b. I would consider a career fighting for my country.
c. All members of a royal family should join their military services, including princesses.
d. It’s good to take some time off and travel before deciding on a career.
e. I was never mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool.
f. I would be a very brave soldier.
g. The king should also fight in a war..

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

Prince William and the Army

Britain’s Prince William, second in line to the ________ (after his father, Prince Charles) hinted in an interview with the BBC on Friday that he is considering a career in the British Army. This is nothing new for a royal as all male princes are expected to ________ their country. William’s uncle, Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982, and stayed with the Royal Navy until 2001. His other uncle, Prince Edward, had a less ________ career, failing to finish his Royal Marines training because it was too ________!		serve throne tough distinguished
Asked about an army career, William said it’s at the back of his ________ at the moment. He said study (his Geography degree) comes first, “Then I'll take a bit of time off, do a bit of travelling and get some work done and then see which ________ I take.” He wasn’t wholly enthusiastic about the idea of the military and said he will see how his “guinea pig” younger brother Harry likes it before making any ________. If he did join the Army, he said he would do his best, “the last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped up in ________ wool, … I'd want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did.”		decisions mind cotton course

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. WORD MATCH: Students check their answers to the word match exercise.

4. FANTASTIC IDEA / TERRIBLE IDEA: Students circle anything in the text they view as a fantastic idea, and underline anything they view as a terrible idea.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. FANTASTIC IDEA / TERRIBLE IDEA:  Students tell and ask each other about the things they circled and/or underlined.

5. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.
6. WHY HAVE A MONARCHY?: Students talk in pairs/groups about the following opinions on monarchy:

(a) "It’s an essential part of a country’s culture and tradition"
(b) "It provides people with a role model on how to live their lives"
(c) "A royal family gives a wonderful image to people of other countries"
(d) “A waste of taxpayers money”
(e) “This is the 21^st Century. Royal families belong in the 11^th Century. Enough said”
(f) “Great for tourism”
(g) “The American system is best – merit, not birth”
(h) “If there were no royal families, the tabloid newspapers would have no news”
(i) “Sell the castles, crowns and coaches and give the money to feed starving African children… Oh, and make the kings and queens make the soup”
(j) “Monarchs are generally good, but they should be more like real people”

7. INTERVIEW PRINCE WILLIAM: In pairs write down 6 questions you would ask Prince William in an interview. Your teacher will check your questions as you write. With your partner take turns in role playing the BBC reporter and the Prince. Once finished, change pairs and ‘report’ on what the Prince said to you as reporter.

8. REASONS WHY (NOT): Write down 6 reasons why you would love / hate to be in Prince (or Princess) William’s shoes. Discuss your reasons with your partner. Partner will try to change your mind

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Homo floresiensis. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. PROFILE: Visit these links and make a profile of Prince William.

4. KING / QUEEN: You are the newly-crowned monarch of your country. Create a list of things you hope to achieve in your first year.

ANSWERS

HOW SURE?:
(a) - (iv)
(b) - (vi)
(c) - (v)
(d) - (iii)
(e) - (ii)
(f) – (i)

WORD MATCH: Students match the following words taken from the text:

	in line	to the throne
	considering	a career
	this is	nothing new
	distinguished	career
	study comes	first
	take time	off
	do his	best
	do what they	did

GAP FILL:

Prince William and the Army

Britain’s Prince William, second in line to the throne (after his father, Prince Charles) hinted in an interview with the BBC on Friday that he is considering a career in the British Army. This is nothing new for a royal as all male princes are expected to serve their country. William’s uncle, Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982, and stayed with the Royal Navy until 2001. His other uncle, Prince Edward, had a less distinguished career, failing to finish his Royal Marines training because it was too tough!

Asked about an army career, William said it’s at the back of his mind at the moment. He said study (his Geography degree) comes first, “Then I'll take a bit of time off, do a bit of travelling and get some work done and then see which course I take.” He wasn’t wholly enthusiastic about the idea of the military and said he will see how his “guinea pig” younger brother Harry likes it before making any decisions. If he did join the Army, he said he would do his best, “the last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool, … I'd want to go where my men went and I'd want to do what they did.”