Date: April 1, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

Crown Prince Albert of Monaco has officially taken over the royal duties of the Mediterranean principality. It is not yet a formal succession: Prince Albert is in charge because his father is no longer able to perform his role as sovereign. This seems to be in preparation for the imminent death of his seriously ailing father, Prince Rainier, 81,who was hospitalized on March 7 and has been in intensive care for a week. The aged Prince is being treated for heart, lung and kidney problems and is in a fragile condition. A statement from Monaco’s royal palace announced that “From now, the regency is assured by His Serene Highness Prince Albert.”

Prince Rainier Grimaldi III is Europe's longest reigning monarch. His family has run Monaco for over 700 years. He came to power in 1949 following the death of his grandfather Prince Louis II. His mother, Princess Charlotte, renounced her claim to the throne to allow her son to reign. After WWII, Rainier turned his tiny land (smaller than New York’s Central Park) into a tax haven and playground for the rich and famous. He brought Hollywood to Monaco when in 1956 he married the American movie star Grace Kelly, who was killed in a car crash on one of Monaco’s mountain roads in 1982. Prince Albert, their only son, is unmarried and is said to be one of the world’s most eligible bachelors.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about Monaco / casinos / Formula One / Prince Albert / New York’s Central Park / Grace Kelly / being a prince or princess / the world’s most eligible bachelors and spinsters / …

To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to increase conversation.

2. MONACO BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Monaco. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. BEING A MONARCH: Would being the monarch of Monaco be interesting? Write down some ideas about what you would do if you became sovereign of Monaco. Share what you have written with your partner / group. Decide between you who would be the best monarch.

4. MONACO FACTS OPINIONS: Read these facts about Monaco and express your opinion.

1. Monaco is less than one square mile in size but competes at the Olympics.
2. Monaco’s citizens number about 6,000 (population is 32,000).
3. Monaco is thought by many to be one of Europe’s most fascinating countries.
4. Monaco holds a Formula One motor race through its streets every May, even though it has a total of 50 km of roads.
5. There is no income tax in Monaco.
6. Although smaller than New York’s Central Park, Monaco is a country.
7. The International Athletics Amateur Federation (IAAF) has its headquarters in Monaco.
8. Prince Albert competed in five Olympic games in the bobsled competition.
9. The adjective for Monaco is Monegasque and there is a Monegasque language.
10. Monaco is planning to build an underground railway.
11. The Monegasque constitution was changed because Prince Albert is unmarried and childless. Power will pass to his sisters.
12. The birth rate in Monaco is 0.44%.
13. Monaco became independent in 1419.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘royal’ and ‘duty’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. Monaco is a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea.  T / F
2. Prince Albert is the new monarch of Monaco.  T / F
3. Prince Albert’s father, Prince Rainier, is seriously ill in hospital.  T / F
4. Prince Albert will soon become King Albert.  T / F
5. Prince Rainier is Europe's longest reigning monarch.  T / F
6. Monaco is smaller than New York’s Central Park.  T / F
7. Prince Rainier married a Hollywood movie actress.  T / F
8. Prince Albert is married with four daughters.  T / F

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

(a)	officially	ruling
(b)	succession	ill
(c)	sovereign	fast-approaching
(d)	imminent	sovereign
(e)	ailing	takeover
(f)	reigning	formally
(g)	monarch	desirable
(h)	renounced	shelter
(i)	haven	eschewed
(j)	eligible	monarch

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	officially taken	death of
(b)	royal	duties
(c)	Prince Albert is	reigning monarch
(d)	the imminent	claim to the throne
(e)	in a fragile	haven
(f)	Europe's longest	over
(g)	He came to	condition
(h)	renounced her	in charge
(i)	tax	eligible bachelors
(j)	one of the world’s most	power in 1949

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

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

Prince Albert takes charge of Monaco

Crown Prince Albert of Monaco has __________ taken over the royal duties of the Mediterranean principality. It is not yet a __________ succession: Prince Albert is in __________ because his father is no longer able to perform his role as sovereign. This seems to be in preparation for the imminent death of his seriously __________ father, Prince Rainier, 81,who was hospitalized on March 7 and has been in intensive care for a week. The aged Prince is being treated for heart, lung and kidney problems and is in a __________ condition. A statement from Monaco’s royal palace announced that “From now, the regency is assured by His Serene Highness Prince Albert.”		ailing charge officially fragile formal
Prince Rainier Grimaldi III is Europe's longest reigning __________. His family has run Monaco for over 700 years. He came to __________ in 1949 following the death of his grandfather Prince Louis II. His mother, Princess Charlotte, renounced her claim to the __________ to allow her son to reign. After WWII, Rainier turned his tiny land (smaller than New York’s Central Park) into a tax haven and __________ for the rich and famous. He brought Hollywood to Monaco when in 1956 he married the American movie star Grace Kelly, who was killed in a car crash on one of Monaco’s mountain roads in 1982. Prince Albert, their only son, is unmarried and is said to be one of the world’s most eligible __________.		throne power bachelors monarch playground

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

3. SYNONYMS: Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

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 discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

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

4. 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.

5. ‘ROYAL’ / ‘DUTY’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What was interesting in this article?
2. Were you surprised by anything in this article?
3. What do you know about Monaco?
4. Is Monaco Europe’s most fascinating country?
5. Would you like to live in Monaco?
6. What is your image of Monaco’s royal family?
7. Why has 47-year-old Prince Albert never married?
8. Do you know anything about Prince Albert’s sisters, Princesses Caroline and Stephanie?
9. Have you seen any of Grace Kelly’s movies?
10. Would you like to gamble in Monaco’s casinos?
11. Should Monaco be a real country: it has only 6,000 citizens?
12. What do you think of the idea of no income tax?
13. Would you like to be / marry Prince Albert?
14. Of which country would you choose to become prince or princess?
15. If you were prince or princess, what title would you choose?
16. If you were prince or princess, what would you have for breakfast every day?
17. Where is your playground?
18. Who are the world’s most eligible unmarried men and women?
19. Did you like this discussion?
20. Teacher / Student additional questions.

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 information on Monaco. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. MONARCH ME: Write the daily schedule of your life as monarch of country X. Tell the other 'monarchs' about your schedule in your next class.

4. MY KINGDOM (OR ‘QUEENDOM’): You are the ruler of your land. You have been given power to change five things about your country. Write down some brief notes explaining these changes to your people. In your next class your 'subjects' (classmates) will vote on whether to accept your plans.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. Monaco is a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea.  F
2. Prince Albert is the new monarch of Monaco.  F
3. Prince Albert’s father, Prince Rainier, is seriously ill in hospital.  T
4. Prince Albert will soon become King Albert.  F (Monaco, like Wales, is a principality, not a kingdom, and therefore has a prince, not a king.)
5. Prince Rainier is Europe's longest reigning monarch.  T
6. Monaco is smaller than New York’s Central Park.  T
7. Prince Rainier married a Hollywood movie actress.  T
8. Prince Albert is married with four daughters.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	officially	formally
(b)	succession	takeover
(c)	sovereign	monarch
(d)	imminent	fast-approaching
(e)	ailing	ill
(f)	reigning	ruling
(g)	monarch	sovereign
(h)	renounced	eschewed
(i)	haven	shelter
(j)	eligible	desirable

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	officially taken	over
(b)	royal	duties
(c)	Prince Albert is	in charge
(d)	the imminent	death of
(e)	in a fragile	condition
(f)	Europe's longest	reigning monarch
(g)	He came to	power in 1949
(h)	renounced her	claim to the throne
(i)	tax	haven
(j)	one of the world’s most	eligible bachelors

GAP FILL:

Prince Albert takes charge of Monaco

Crown Prince Albert of Monaco has officially taken over the royal duties of the Mediterranean principality. It is not yet a formal succession: Prince Albert is in charge because his father is no longer able to perform his role as sovereign. This seems to be in preparation for the imminent death of his seriously ailing father, Prince Rainier, 81,who was hospitalized on March 7 and has been in intensive care for a week. The aged Prince is being treated for heart, lung and kidney problems and is in a fragile condition. A statement from Monaco’s royal palace announced that “From now, the regency is assured by His Serene Highness Prince Albert.”

Prince Rainier Grimaldi III is Europe's longest reigning monarch. His family has run Monaco for over 700 years. He came to power in 1949 following the death of his grandfather Prince Louis II. His mother, Princess Charlotte, renounced her claim to the throne to allow her son to reign. After WWII, Rainier turned his tiny land (smaller than New York’s Central Park) into a tax haven and playground for the rich and famous. He brought Hollywood to Monaco when in 1956 he married the American movie star Grace Kelly, who was killed in a car crash on one of Monaco’s mountain roads in 1982. Prince Albert, their only son, is unmarried and is said to be one of the world’s most eligible bachelors.