Former Argentinian football star Diego Maradona was arrested yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport. Police questioned the soccer legend for several hours after he broke down an airport door in the VIP lounge. He was late for check-in. When airport staff told him he could not board the flight because it was ready for take-off, he became angry and started to “destroy” whatever was near him. Argentine president Nestor Kirchner ordered diplomats in Brazil to arrange his release. His travel companion Alejandro Mancuso said Maradona’s rage was “logical” because staff “shut the door in our faces”.

Maradona has had cocaine and alcohol problems since retiring from professional football in 1997. Mr. Mancuso denied reports in the Brazilian press saying Maradona’s anger was because he was drunk. He has also been arrested for gun shootings near his home. Maradona is one of the best, if not the best, players of all time. He is loved and is a hero in much of Latin America. He includes presidents Castro of Cuba and Chavez of Venezuela as his close friends. He took part in protests against U.S. President George W. Bush at a summit in Argentina in November. Maradona has offered to pay for the damage to the airport door.

WARM-UPS

1. MARADONA SEARCH: Talk to as many other students as you can to find out what they know about Maradona. After you have talked to lots of students, sit down with your partner(s) and share your information. Tell each other what you thought was interesting or surprising. Would you like to meet Maradona?

2. AIRPORTS: What are the things you least like about airports and flying? Talk about the things below with your partner(s). How could they be better?

Checking in Passport control Airplane food In-flight movies and games

Departure lounges Airport shopping Boarding procedures Airport design

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

Diego Maradona / Rio de Janeiro / airports / legends / VIP lounges / boarding flights / being angry / cocaine / World Cup / heroes / Fidel Castro / Argentina / damages

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

4. STAY CALM: In pairs / groups, put the following in order of the best thing to do to when you are angry with a company employee. Is your order different from what you would do first (or second, third…)? Have you done any of the things below?

___ Kick down a door ___ Ask to see the manager ___ Scream: “I’m a good customer.” ___ Glare at the person angrily

___ Tell the person fired they’ll be fired ___ Smile ___ Walk away angry ___ Complain that the company is bad

5. GETTING ANGRY: In pairs / groups, discuss how the situations below might make you angry. What are your experiences of getting angry in these situations?

1. At airports or on airplanes
2. Shopping
3. Waiting in line to buy a ticket
4. Taking the train
5. Your favorite sports team loses
6. Staying at a hotel
7. Speaking English
8. Being in another country

6. ANGRY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “angry”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Maradona is in jail for breaking a door at a Brazilian airport.	T / F
b.	He got angry after he was not allowed to board his flight.	T / F
c.	The Argentine president asked diplomats to get Maradona released.	T / F
d.	Maradona’s travel companion said the star’s behavior was “illogical”.	T / F
e.	Maradona has had drink and drug problems since retiring from soccer.	T / F
f.	His travel companion said Maradona got angry because he was drunk.	T / F
g.	Maradona has Cuba’s and Venezuela’s presidents among his friends.	T / F
h.	Maradona is refusing to pay for the damage to the airport door.	T / F

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

a.	former	get on
b.	questioned	conference
c.	board	stories
d.	companion	anger
e.	rage	ex
f.	retiring from	ever
g.	reports	quitting
h.	of all time	quizzed
i.	summit	breakages
j.	damage	friend

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

a.	Police questioned the soccer	in our faces
b.	airport staff told him he could not	the best, players of all time
c.	started to “destroy”	cocaine and alcohol problems
d.	Kirchner ordered diplomats in	legend for several hours
e.	staff shut the door	board the flight
f.	Maradona has had	against U.S. President George W. Bush
g.	Maradona’s anger was	to pay for the damage
h.	Maradona is one of the best, if not	Brazil to arrange his release
i.	He took part in protests	whatever was near him
j.	Maradona has offered	because he was drunk

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Maradona breaks airport door in anger

Former Argentinian football star Diego Maradona was ________ yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport. Police ________ the soccer legend for several hours after he ________ down an airport door in the VIP lounge. He was late for ________. When airport staff told him he could not board the flight because it was ready for take-off, he became angry and started to “________” whatever was near him. Argentine president Nestor Kirchner ordered ________ in Brazil to arrange his release. His ________ companion Alejandro Mancuso said Maradona’s rage was “________” because staff “shut the door in our faces”.		questioned logical arrested destroy broke travel check-in diplomats
Maradona has had cocaine and alcohol ________ since retiring from professional football in 1997. Mr. Mancuso ________ reports in the Brazilian press saying Maradona’s anger was because he was ________. He has also been arrested for gun shootings near his home. Maradona is one of the best, if not the ________, players of all time. He is loved and is a ________ in much of Latin America. He ________ presidents Castro of Cuba and Chavez of Venezuela as his close friends. He took part in protests against U.S. President George W. Bush at a ________ in Argentina in November. Maradona has ________ to pay for the damage to the airport door.		hero drunk includes summit problems best offered denied

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Maradona breaks airport door in anger

Former Argentinian football star Diego Maradona was _________ yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport. Police questioned the soccer _______ for several hours after he broke down an airport door in the VIP lounge. He was late for _______. When airport staff told him he could not board the flight because it was ready for take-off, he became angry and started to “________” whatever was near him. Argentine president Nestor Kirchner ordered diplomats in Brazil to ________ his release. His travel companion Alejandro Mancuso said Maradona’s rage was “________” because staff “shut the door in our faces”.

Maradona has had cocaine and ________ problems since retiring from professional football in 1997. Mr. Mancuso ________ reports in the Brazilian ________ saying Maradona’s anger was because he was drunk. He has also been arrested for gun shootings near his home. Maradona is one of the best, if not the best, players of ____ ______. He is loved and is a hero in much of Latin America. He includes presidents Castro of Cuba and Chavez of Venezuela as his _______ friends. He took part in protests against U.S. President George W. Bush at a summit in Argentina in November. Maradona has __________ to pay for the damage to the airport door.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

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

5. STUDENT “ANGER” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about being angry and being at airports or other transport centers.

• 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:

airport hours board near release logical

problems drunk best close protests pay

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you know about Diego Maradona – on and off the soccer field?
3. Do you think the airport police should have kept Maradona for longer?
4. Do you think it’s right that Argentina’s president arranged to get Maradona release?
5. Do you think the airport staff should have let Maradona board the flight?
6. Do you agree with Alejandro Mancuso that Maradona’s behavior was “logical”?
7. Do you think Maradona is or could be a role model?
8. What question would you like to ask Maradona?
9. What do you think his answer might be?
10. Do you think Maradona is the greatest football player ever?

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 there’s one law for superstars and another law for ordinary people?
4. Have you ever missed a flight?
5. Do you get angry at airports?
6. Have you ever been so angry that you attacked a door?
7. Would you like to sometimes attack a door?
8. Do you think Maradona could be Argentina’s president one day?
9. Which sports stars enjoy cult status in your country?
10. Did you like this discussion?

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

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

THINGS THAT MAKE ME ANGRY: In pairs / groups, talk about how angry these situations make you. Put one of these numbers in the appropriate boxes:

5 = Door-breaking angry

4 = Ranting and raving angry

3 = Fist-clenching angry

2 = Tut to myself angry

1 = Think, “Oh well, never mind” angry

The person behind you in the supermarket hits the back of your ankles with his shopping cart.
The elevator stops on every floor and nobody gets on.
There’s a dog in the neighborhood that barks at EVERYTHING.
You can never put anything back in a box the way it came.
You wash your clothes with a tissue in the pocket of your shirt, and your entire laundry comes out covered with white fluff.
The car in front of you is driving at 10 kph below the speed limit.
You set your alarm clock for 7pm instead of 7am.
The radio station doesn't tell you who sang that song.
You rub on hand cream and can't turn the bathroom doorknob to get out.
People behind you in a supermarket line dash ahead of you to a newly opening counter.
You can't look up the correct spelling of a word in the dictionary because you don't know how to spell it.
You have to tell five different sales people in the same store that you're just looking.
You had that pen in your hand only a second ago and now you can't find it.
You reach under the table to pick something off the floor and smash your head on the way up.

Change partners and tell you new partner(s) the interesting or funny things your old partner(s) said.

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 Diego Maradona. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. ANGER: Write a short essay about an incident in your life that made you very, very angry. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

4. EYEWITNESS: Imagine you were in the VIP lounge when Maradona flew into a rage. Write an eyewitness account of what you saw. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	former	ex
b.	questioned	quizzed
c.	board	get on
d.	companion	friend
e.	rage	anger
f.	retiring from	quitting
g.	reports	stories
h.	of all time	ever
i.	summit	conference
j.	damage	breakages

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	Police questioned the soccer	legend for several hours
b.	airport staff told him he could not	board the flight
c.	started to “destroy”	whatever was near him
d.	Kirchner ordered diplomats in	Brazil to arrange his release
e.	staff shut the door	in our faces
f.	Maradona has had	cocaine and alcohol problems
g.	Maradona’s anger was	because he was drunk
h.	Maradona is one of the best, if not	the best, players of all time
i.	He took part in protests	against U.S. President George W. Bush
j.	Maradona has offered	to pay for the damage

GAP FILL:

Maradona breaks airport door in anger

Former Argentinian football star Diego Maradona was arrested yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport. Police questioned the soccer legend for several hours after he broke down an airport door in the VIP lounge. He was late for check-in. When airport staff told him he could not board the flight because it was ready for take-off, he became angry and started to “destroy” whatever was near him. Argentine president Nestor Kirchner ordered diplomats in Brazil to arrange his release. His travel companion Alejandro Mancuso said Maradona’s rage was “logical” because staff “shut the door in our faces”.

Maradona has had cocaine and alcohol problems since retiring from professional football in 1997. Mr. Mancuso denied reports in the Brazilian press saying Maradona’s anger was because he was drunk. He has also been arrested for gun shootings near his home. Maradona is one of the best, if not the best, players of all time. He is loved and is a hero in much of Latin America. He includes presidents Castro of Cuba and Chavez of Venezuela as his close friends. He took part in protests against U.S. President George W. Bush at a summit in Argentina in November. Maradona has offered to pay for the damage to the airport door.