Date: April 11, 2005
Level: Easier (Try the harder lesson.)
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

Listening (1:35 - 187.6 KB - 16kbps)

THE ARTICLE

The traditional sport of camel racing, which is very popular in the Middle East, is going to change next year. New technology will be used to replace child jockeys with robots. Boys under the age of sixteen usually sit on top of the camels and race them through the desert. However, on April 10^th, new robot jockeys were tested in the United Arab Emirates. The high-tech robo-jockeys were carefully watched by many camel racing fans, including the UAE President, Prime Minister and royal family.

Engineers have been designing the robotic jockeys since 2002. Their challenge was to make a strong but light robot. It also had to be remote controlled. Many human rights groups have tried for many years to stop children working as camel jockeys. Camel races are very tough and often dangerous. There may be as many as 40,000 children racing camels in the Arabian Gulf. A UAE spokesman, Shaikh Sultan, was very happy with the first generation of robots. He said the UAE could now follow international camel racing laws and keep the traditional character of camel races.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about: high tech / camels / camel racing / child labor / robots / the Arabian Gulf countries / the desert / local heritage.

For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

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

3. ROBOTS IN SPORT:

1. What do you think of the idea of using robots in sport? Would it be more exciting? Do we still need humans? Are there some sports that would be better with robots?
2. In pairs / groups, talk about the good and bad points about robots in sport. Change partners and explain what you talked about with your previous partner / group.
3. Talk about the following ideas with your new partner(s):
   - robo-goalkeepers in soccer or hockey
   - robo-bowlers/batters in cricket or robo-pitchers/hitters in baseball
   - robo-golf players to challenge Tiger Woods
   - robo-drivers to beat Michael Schumacher every time
   - robo-boxers
   - robo-jockeys to ride horses and camels
   - robo-sumo wrestlers
   - robo-table tennis players
   - Other?

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

1. Sport is for humans only.
2. Robots would make things much faster and more exciting.
3. I think having humans play against robots is interesting.
4. Athletics is not a good sport to have robots.
5. Robot jockeys would mean the camels ride faster and have more injuries.
6. Racing animals is cruel. I think it should be banned.
7. Robots should not be used in traditional sport.
8. I don’t like the idea. Soon sports stars will be Sony or Apple, not Ronaldo or Tiger Woods.

PRE-READING IDEAS

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

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

1. Camel racing is very popular in the Middle East.  T / F
2. Camel racing jockeys are usually over forty years old.  T / F
3. Soon robots will become the camel jockeys.  T / F
4. The new robot jockeys will be remote controlled.  T / F
5. Camel racing is a very gentle sport.  T / F
6. There may be as many as 40,000 children racing camels.  T / F

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

(a)	traditional	take over from
(b)	replace	regulations
(c)	jockeys	enthusiasts
(d)	fans	satisfied
(e)	make	historic
(f)	stop	ban
(g)	happy	racers
(h)	laws	produce

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

(a)	traditional	the age of sixteen
(b)	going to	designing the robotic jockeys
(c)	boys under	character
(d)	new robot jockeys were	many as 40,000 children
(e)	Engineers have been	sport
(f)	human	change next year
(g)	There may be as	tested
(h)	keep the traditional	rights groups

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

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

High-tech camel racing

The __________ sport of camel racing, which is very popular in the Middle East, is going to change next year. New technology will be used to __________ child jockeys with robots. Boys under the age of sixteen usually sit on top of the camels and race them through the desert. However, on April 10th, new robot jockeys were tested in the United Arab Emirates. The high-tech robo-jockeys were carefully watched by many camel racing __________, including the UAE President, Prime Minister and royal family. Engineers have been designing the robotic jockeys since 2002. Their __________ was to make a strong but light robot. It also had to be remote controlled. Many human rights groups have tried for many years to stop children working as camel jockeys. Camel races are very __________ and often dangerous. There may be as many as 40,000 children racing camels in the Arabian Gulf. A UAE spokesman, Shaikh Sultan, was very happy with the first generation of robots. He said the UAE could now follow international camel racing __________ and keep the traditional character of camel races.

fans tough replace laws challenge traditional

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. ‘AGE’ / ‘OLD’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What was interesting about this article?
2. Did anything in this article surprise you?
3. Do you want to know more about anything in this article?
4. Do you like camels?
5. What do you think of camel racing?
6. Do you agree with any other kinds of animal racing?
7. How do you feel about robots in sport?
8. Have you ever ridden a camel?
9. What should be the minimum legal age for children to work?
10. Would you like to see a camel race in the desert?
11. Would you like to go to the United Arab Emirates?
12. Do you ever bet / gamble on horse racing, dog racing camel racing etc?
13. Should animals be used in sport?
14. In which sports is it OK to use animals?
15. Did you like this discussion?
16. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. ROLE PLAY: Use the following role play cards in a discussion between who are affected by camel racing. Team up with partners to discuss your roles and “strategy” before the role play begins. After the role play, discuss whether you really believed what you were saying.Teacher / Student additional questions.

THE ROLES:

Student A
You are a 14-year old jockey. You need the money from your job to send to your poor family.

Student B
You love traditional camel racing. You hate the idea of robots replacing jockeys. Your heroes are the boy racers.

Student C
You are president of the company that makes the robots. You will be a millionaire if the robot jockeys are successful.

Student D
You are the parent of a 10-year-old boy. Your son was kidnapped many years ago by camel racers. You want the robots to be used so your son can return home.

Student E
You are a camel. You want to be free and walk all day in the desert. You hate people sitting on your back. You hate racing.

Student F
You are a member of the royal family. You think robot jockeys will give your country a good image.

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 the UAE. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3.  CHILD RACER: Imagine you are a child camel racer. Write a letter to the UAE president to explain why you disagree with the robots. Tell him it will make your life worse.

4. ROBOTS IN SPORT: Write a short article about the pros or cons of using robots in sport. Talk about your article in your next class.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. Camel racing is very popular in the Middle East.  T
2. Camel racing jockeys are usually over forty years old.  F
3. Soon robots will become the camel jockeys.  T
4. The new robot jockeys will be remote controlled.  F
5. Camel racing is a very gentle sport.  F
6. There may be as many as 40,000 children racing camels.  T

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	traditional	historic
(b)	replace	take over from
(c)	jockeys	racers
(d)	fans	enthusiasts
(e)	make	produce
(f)	stop	ban
(g)	happy	satisfied
(h)	laws	regulations

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	traditional	sport
(b)	going to	change next year
(c)	boys under	the age of sixteen
(d)	new robot jockeys were	tested
(e)	Engineers have been	designing the robotic jockeys
(f)	human	rights groups
(g)	There may be as	many as 40,000 children
(h)	keep the traditional	character

GAP FILL:

High-tech camel racing

The traditional sport of camel racing, which is very popular in the Middle East, is going to change next year. New technology will be used to replace child jockeys with robots. Boys under the age of sixteen usually sit on top of the camels and race them through the desert. However, on April 10^th, new robot jockeys were tested in the United Arab Emirates. The high-tech robo-jockeys were carefully watched by many camel racing fans, including the UAE President, Prime Minister and royal family.

Engineers have been designing the robotic jockeys since 2002. Their challenge was to make a strong but light robot. It also had to be remote controlled. Many human rights groups have tried for many years to stop children working as camel jockeys. Camel races are very tough and often dangerous. There may be as many as 40,000 children racing camels in the Arabian Gulf. A UAE spokesman, Shaikh Sultan, was very happy with the first generation of robots. He said the UAE could now follow international camel racing laws and keep the traditional character of camel races.