Date: April 9, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

Police in California have searched the home of a woman who allegedly found part of a human finger in her meal bought from a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. Anna Ayala, 39, claims she was eating a bowl of chili con carne at Wendy’s on March 22 when she suddenly realized she was chewing on a foreign object. It turned out to be a one-and-a-half centimeter long tip of a human finger. The big question is how it got into the chili. Wendy’s has questioned all of its employees and none of them has reported any accidents involving lost fingertips. The restaurant chain has offered a $50,000 reward for anyone providing verifiable information leading to the origin of the fingertip. A spokesman said he is confident it did not originate from the restaurant.

The search of Ms. Ayala’s home is part of an ongoing investigation into the case. There is now a suggestion that it is all a hoax and that Ayala planted the fingertip to get Wendy’s to pay her compensation. Her son intimated that the police search was because the fingertip may have come from his mother’s dead aunt. Ayala is deeply upset by the seven-hour search of her home: “I’ve been dragged through the mud. We’ve been treated like animals.” She has accused police of “destroying” her home and of pointing a gun at her head. Medical examiners are conducting DNA tests on the fingertip to determine the race and gender of its former owner. The latest report is that Ayala has hired a lawyer.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about: fingers / Wendy’s / fast food / chili con carne / big questions / hoaxes / mud / hiring lawyers.

For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. FINGER BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “finger”. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. URBAN LEGENDS: An urban legend is a crazy, made-up story that quickly spreads in the media and is believed by many people. In pairs / groups, talk about any urban legends that exist in your cultures / countries. Change partners and share what you heard.

4. FOOD SAFETY: Are you always entirely satisfied that the food you eat in restaurants is safe to eat? Have you ever found a dead insect, hair or other foreign object in your food? Have you been to a restaurant full of rats or cockroaches? Have you ever had food poisoning? In pairs / groups, talk about any experiences you have had or heard about involving food or restaurants that were not so safe.

5. OPINIONS: Talk about the following opinions based on the news article.

1. McDonald’s is the best fast food restaurant.
2. Chili con carne is the tastiest option on the fast food menu.
3. The tip of your thumb is more useful than the tip of your index finger.
4. Some people would sell their own grandmothers to get money.
5. Fast food restaurants’ kitchens are cleaner than those of expensive restaurants.
6. We don’t really need fingernails.
7. The police never treat people like animals.
8. The media never drag people through the mud.
9. Lawyers are important.
10. DNA testing is a wonderful thing.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘human’ and ‘finger’.

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

1. A fingertip was left on the table of an American fast food restaurant.  T / F
2. The fingertip was from a foreigner.  T / F
3. The restaurant employees questioned all of the customers.  T / F
4. The restaurant is offering a $50,000 reward for information on the fingertip.  T / F
5. The fingertip in the restaurant may be a hoax.  T / F
6. The fingertip may be from someone’s dead aunt.  T / F
7. The lady who found the fingertip is now covered in mud.  T / F
8. Police pointed a gun at the head of the lady who found the fingertip.  T / F

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

(a)	allegedly	unmistakable
(b)	chewing	ascertain
(c)	foreign	continuing
(d)	verifiable	sex
(e)	originate	hinted
(f)	ongoing	continuing
(g)	hoax	supposedly
(h)	intimated	alien
(i)	determine	trick
(j)	gender	emanate

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

(a)	a woman who allegedly	object
(b)	suddenly	investigation
(c)	foreign	question
(d)	big	hoax
(e)	verifiable	found part of a human finger
(f)	ongoing	through the mud
(g)	it is all a	like animals
(h)	dragged	realized
(i)	treated	examiners
(j)	medical	information

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL: Fill the gaps with the words in the column on the right.

Fast food fingertip mystery

Police in California have __________ the home of a woman who allegedly found part of a human finger in her meal bought from a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. Anna Ayala, 39, __________ she was eating a bowl of chili con carne at Wendy’s on March 22 when she suddenly realized she was chewing on a __________ object. It turned out to be a one-and-a-half centimeter long tip of a human finger. The big question is how it got into the chili. Wendy’s has questioned all of its employees and none of them has __________ any accidents involving lost fingertips. The restaurant chain has offered a $50,000 reward for anyone providing verifiable information leading to the origin of the fingertip. A spokesman said he is __________ it did not originate from the restaurant.		claims confident foreign searched reported
The search of Ms. Ayala’s home is part of an __________ investigation into the case. There is now a suggestion that it is all a __________ and that Ayala planted the fingertip to get Wendy’s to pay her __________. Her son intimated that the police search was because the fingertip may have come from his mother’s dead aunt. Ayala is deeply upset by the seven-hour search of her home: “I’ve been dragged through the mud. We’ve been treated like __________.” She has accused police of “destroying” her home and of pointing a gun at her head. Medical examiners are conducting DNA tests on the fingertip to determine the race and gender of its __________ owner. The latest report is that Ayala has hired a lawyer.		former compensation hoax animals ongoing

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS: Check your answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

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

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share.

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

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Each student surveys class members independently and reports back to their original partner/  group to compare their findings.

5. ‘HUMAN’ / ‘FINGER’: Make questions based on your 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. Were you suspicious about anything in this article?
4. What do you think of Ayala’s story?
5. Do you think anyone will claim the $50,000 reward?
6. Do you like chili con carne?
7. Do you know any scary restaurant stories?
8. Why do you think the police searched Ayala’s home?
9. What reasons can you think of for the fingertip being found in the chili?
10. Do you know of any hoaxes?
11. Have you ever complained in a restaurant?
12. Do you have any big questions in your head?
13. How long / How many times do you chew your food before swallowing?
14. Have you ever injured your hands / fingers?
15. Have you ever claimed or received compensation?
16. Has your name ever been unfairly dragged through the mud?
17. Have you ever been treated like an animal?
18. What do you think will be the conclusion of the fingertip mystery?
19. Did you like this discussion?
20. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. ‘THE BIG QUESTION’: Write down the biggest “big question” you have about life or fingertips. Walk around the classroom asking your big question to other students.

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 urban legends. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. WENDY’S LAWYER: Imagine you are a lawyer defending Wendy’s. Write down at least five questions you want to ask Ms. Ayala about her allegations of fingertips in Wendy’s food. Ask the questions in a court case role play in your next class.

4. FINGERTIPS: Write a short article titled “Ten uses for fingertips”. Talk about your article in your next class

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. A fingertip was left on the table of an American fast food restaurant.  F
2. The fingertip was from a foreigner.  F
3. The restaurant employees questioned all of the customers.  F
4. The restaurant is offering a $50,000 reward for information on the fingertip.  T
5. The fingertip in the restaurant may be a hoax.  T
6. The fingertip may be from someone’s dead aunt.  T
7. The lady who found the fingertip is now covered in mud.  F
8. Police pointed a gun at the head of the lady who found the fingertip.  T

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	allegedly	supposedly
(b)	chewing	chomping
(c)	foreign	alien
(d)	verifiable	unmistakable
(e)	originate	emanate
(f)	ongoing	continuing
(g)	hoax	trick
(h)	intimated	hinted
(i)	determine	ascertain
(j)	gender	sex

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	a woman who allegedly	found part of a human finger
(b)	suddenly	realized
(c)	foreign	object
(d)	big	question
(e)	verifiable	information
(f)	ongoing	investigation
(g)	it is all a	hoax
(h)	dragged	through the mud
(i)	treated	like animals
(j)	medical	examiners

GAP FILL:

Fast food fingertip mystery

Police in California have searched the home of a woman who allegedly found part of a human finger in her meal bought from a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. Anna Ayala, 39, claims she was eating a bowl of chili con carne at Wendy’s on March 22 when she suddenly realized she was chewing on a foreign object. It turned out to be a one-and-a-half centimeter long tip of a human finger. The big question is how it got into the chili. Wendy’s has questioned all of its employees and none of them has reported any accidents involving lost fingertips. The restaurant chain has offered a $50,000 reward for anyone providing verifiable information leading to the origin of the fingertip. A spokesman said he is confident it did not originate from the restaurant.

The search of Ms. Ayala’s home is part of an ongoing investigation into the case. There is now a suggestion that it is all a hoax and that Ayala planted the fingertip to get Wendy’s to pay her compensation. Her son intimated that the police search was because the fingertip may have come from his mother’s dead aunt. Ayala is deeply upset by the seven-hour search of her home: “I’ve been dragged through the mud. We’ve been treated like animals.” She has accused police of “destroying” her home and of pointing a gun at her head. Medical examiners are conducting DNA tests on the fingertip to determine the race and gender of its former owner. The latest report is that Ayala has hired a lawyer.