Britain’s finance minister Gordon Brown has asked the world’s oil-producing nations to increase the supply of oil. He also wants more investment in new oil refineries. In Britain, high oil prices are causing panic buying. Internationally, there are signs that record high prices are slowing global economic growth. Mr. Brown stressed the need for a number of urgent measures to deal with the problem: “The first action we must take is to tackle the cause of the problem…to bring down world oil prices and stabilize the market for the long term.”

Mr. Brown also stressed the need for alternative sources of energy. He said this was essential “to ensure both the maintenance of economic growth and for tackling climate change”. He warned that oil-producing countries have too much power over the world’s economy. He requested OPEC to be more open and honest about the amount of the world’s reserves. He asked for additional new investment in oil production facilities. He also pleaded for Third World countries to be protected against high oil prices.

WARM-UPS

1. SEARCH FOR OIL: Speak to as many students as you can, collecting information about oil and OPEC. Join a partner / group and share your information. Make mini presentations to other groups. Vote on the best presentation

2. ENERGY: Talk with your partner / group about energy sources. How important is oil? What happens when the world’s oil runs out? What are the alternatives?

Talk about the pros and cons of these energy sources:

Oil Nuclear energy Wind farms Wave power Oil from sugar cane

Solar power Hydrogen Coal Thermal energy Something new

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

OPEC / oil / oil prices / panic buying / motorists / economic growth / urgent measures / global action / world economy / increasing supply / Third World countries

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. OIL PRICES: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with oil prices. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. OILY OPINIONS: Do you agree with these opinions? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. The price of oil is too high.
2. There is no answer to world demand for oil being greater than supply.
3. More should be done to find other energy sources.
4. There will be a huge global economic crisis soon because of record oil prices.
5. Oil-producing countries have too much power.
6. Oil is the most important of earth’s resources.
7. Oil companies make too much money.
8. Hurricane Katrina shows how fragile the oil industry is.

6. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think oil prices will come down and stabilize. Students B think oil prices will continue to rise and cause global economic chaos. Change partners often.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
 

a.	Oil producing countries have been asked to increase their supply.	T / F
b.	Record high oil prices are causing British car drivers to panic.	T / F
c.	Record-level oil prices have not affected global economic growth.	T / F
d.	A finance minister wants action to bring down oil prices.	T / F
e.	The minister stressed the need for alternative sources of energy.	T / F
f.	Oil-producing countries have too much power in the global economy.	T / F
g.	The finance minister said OPEC should be more honest.	T / F
h.	Developing countries are defenseless against high oil prices.	T / F

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

a.	asked	actions
b.	nations	supplies
c.	causing	countries
d.	measures	continuation
e.	stabilize	requested
f.	alternative	steady
g.	maintenance	guarded
h.	reserves	extra
i.	additional	leading to
j.	protected	other

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

a.	finance	panic buying
b.	the world’s oil-producing	oil prices
c.	high oil prices are causing	sources of energy
d.	record high prices are slowing	for the long term
e.	stabilize the market	and honest
f.	alternative	minister
g.	tackling climate	global economic growth
h.	be more open	production facilities
i.	additional new investment in oil	nations
j.	protected against high	change

WHILE READING / LISTENING

WORD ORDER: Put the underlined words back into the correct order.

OPEC urged to increase oil production

Britain’s finance minister Gordon Brown has asked the world’s oil-producing nations supply to oil the increase of. He also wants more investment in new oil refineries. In Britain, causing prices are high oil panic buying. Internationally, there are signs that record high prices are economic global growth slowing. Mr. Brown stressed the need for a number of urgent measures to deal with the problem: “The first action we must take is the tackle of cause to the problem…to bring down world oil prices and stabilize the market for the long term.”

Mr. Brown also for need the stressed alternative sources of energy. He said this was essential “to ensure both the maintenance of economic growth and for tackling climate change”. He warned that oil-producing countries have power too over much the world’s economy. He requested OPEC to be honest about more open and the amount of the world’s reserves. He asked for additional new investment in oil production facilities. He also pleaded for Third World countries to be against prices high protected oil.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘oil’ and ‘supply’.

• 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. WORD ORDER: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers.

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

5. STUDENT “OPEC” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about OPEC, oil prices, and supply and demand.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

finance minister investment panic slowing deal with stabilize

alternative tackling power honest additional pleaded

DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you first read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What do you know about OPEC?
4. Have rising oil prices affected you?
5. What do you think about oil prices doubling in a year?
6. Where does your country get its energy resources?
7. Do you think oil companies are too greedy?
8. What would happen to the world if oil supplies suddenly dried up?
9. What urgent measures should be taken to tackle rising oil prices?
10. How high will prices rise?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Do you think the world will find enough alternative sources of energy?
4. Do you think global economic growth and tackling climate change go together?
5. Do you think oil-producing countries have too much power?
6. Do you think OPEC is too secretive?
7. Do you think there is enough oil to meet increased demand from China and India?
8. What do you think of oil companies?
9. Will rising oil prices hurt developing countries?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

OIL ROLE PLAY: The world must decide on just one resource for the future. There are four choices for the resource. A $10 billion contract goes to the winner of this role play.
Team up with classmates who have the same role. Develop your roles and discuss ideas and “strategies”.

Introduce yourself to the other role players before the role play begins.

Role A – OIL You believe oil will never, ever, ever run out. There are many more oil reserves to find. New technology will make oil last longer. It will be too expensive for the world to switch to other energy sources. You believe solar, wave and nuclear power are not good sources of energy. THINK OF MORE REASONS WHY OIL IS THE BEST SOURCE.

Role B – SOLAR ENERGY The sun will never disappear. Technology can use the Sun’s nonstop energy and change it into clean, environmentally friendly and cheap power. Small communities can use it. It is the only energy of the future. You believe oil, and wave and nuclear power are not good sources of energy. THINK OF REASONS WHY SOLAR ENERGY IS THE BEST SOURCE.

Role C – WAVE POWER The oceans’ waves are an endless source of energy. Wave power can be used 24 hours a day. There is no damage to the environment. Most of the world’s countries can have their own wave power facilities. You believe oil, and solar and nuclear power are not good sources of energy. THINK OF REASONS WHY WAVE POWER IS THE BEST SOURCE.

Role D – NUCLEAR POWER Your technology is the cheapest of all the sources of energy. It is safer than ever. It produces amazing amounts of energy. It causes little environmental damage. Many countries already use it. You believe oil, and solar and wave power are not good sources of energy. THINK OF REASONS WHY NUCLEAR POWER IS THE BEST SOURCE.

Change roles and repeat the role play.

Comment in groups about the differences between the two role plays. Discuss which of the energy sources you believe is the best for the future.

Decide which team wins the $10 billion.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

OPEC urged to increase oil production

Britain’s finance minister Gordon Brown has _____ the world’s oil-producing nations to increase the ________ of oil. He also wants more investment in new oil refineries. In Britain, high oil prices are ________ panic buying. Internationally, there are signs that record high prices are ________ global economic growth. Mr. Brown ________ the need for a number of urgent ________ to deal with the problem: “The first action we must take is to tackle the cause of the problem…to bring down world oil prices and ________ the market for the long term.”

Mr. Brown also ________ the need for alternative sources of energy. He said this was ________ “to ensure both the maintenance of economic growth and for tackling ________ change”. He warned that oil-producing countries have too much power over the world’s economy. He requested OPEC ___ ___ ______ open and honest about the amount of the world’s _________. He asked for additional new investment in oil production facilities. He also pleaded for Third World countries to be protected ________ high oil prices.

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 more information on OPEC. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. OIL PRICES: Make a poster showing how oil prices have risen over the past year. Highlight the different events that have made prices rise. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. ENERGY RECORD: Keep a record of what kinds of energy you use in one day. Write down ways in which you can reduce your energy use and whether you can do so. Show your findings to your classmates in your next lesson. Who needs to cut down most on energy use?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. T

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	asked	requested
b.	nations	countries
c.	causing	leading to
d.	measures	actions
e.	stabilize	steady
f.	alternative	other
g.	maintenance	continuation
h.	reserves	supplies
i.	additional	extra
j.	protected	guarded

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	finance	minister
b.	the world’s oil-producing	nations
c.	high oil prices are causing	panic buying
d.	record high prices are slowing	global economic growth
e.	stabilize the market	for the long term
f.	alternative	sources of energy
g.	tackling climate	change
h.	be more open	and honest
i.	additional new investment in oil	production facilities
j.	protected against high	oil prices

WORD ORDER:

OPEC urged to increase oil production

Britain’s finance minister Gordon Brown has asked the world’s oil-producing nations to increase the supply of oil. He also wants more investment in new oil refineries. In Britain, high oil prices are causing panic buying. Internationally, there are signs that record high prices are slowing global economic growth. Mr. Brown stressed the need for a number of urgent measures to deal with the problem: “The first action we must take is to tackle the cause of the problem…to bring down world oil prices and stabilize the market for the long term.”

Mr. Brown also stressed the need for alternative sources of energy. He said this was essential “to ensure both the maintenance of economic growth and for tackling climate change”. He warned that oil-producing countries have too much power over the world’s economy. He requested OPEC to be more open and honest about the amount of the world’s reserves. He asked for additional new investment in oil production facilities. He also pleaded for Third World countries to be protected against high oil prices.

TOP