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2005 was a second longer than usualDate: Jan 1, 2006Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (1:57 - 229.5 KB - 16kbps)
THE ARTICLEThe year 2005 was officially one second longer than usual years. On December 31st, the world’s timekeepers added a leap second to atomic clocks housed in specially sealed vaults at 80 timekeeping laboratories around the world. These special timepieces record seconds, milliseconds and nanoseconds with mind-boggling precision to ensure the world doesn’t lose track of time. They are certified and monitored by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris to make sure our lives run like clockwork and we don’t lose even a split second. Just before midnight GMT on New Year’s Eve, one second was added to this official record, which is called Coordinated Universal Time. It accounts for the fact that the earth’s rotation is slowing down, albeit infinitesimally. So what did the world do with its extra second? Did anyone notice? Keen time watchers amongst us did observe and experience the extra second. Members of the Leap Second Association met in London with their cellphones and a stopwatch. At precisely 11.59 pm according to their cellphones, the group started their stopwatches, which they then stopped when the mobiles said it was midnight. As proof that the leap second existed, their stopwatches showed that 61 seconds had elapsed in the final minute of the year. However, not everyone was happy. There were complaints from communication engineers about the time correction. They argue that it is an unnecessary hassle to update and coordinate the world’s communication and navigation systems, as the Earth’s rotation is too unpredictable. WARM-UPS1. NEW YEAR’S EVE: Talk with your partners about what you did on New Year’s Eve. Do you do similar things every year? Do you like New Year’s Eve? 2. RESOLUTIONS: Do you have any New Year resolutions? Are they the same every year? Do you manage to keep them or do you break them within the first week of the year? Talk about these resolutions with your partner(s):
3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 4. TIME: In pairs/groups, talk about how far you agree with these statements:
5. MY LEAP SECOND: In pairs / groups, brainstorm all of the different things you could do with an extra second of time. Change partners and share your ideas. Talk about how useful the things you thought of are. 6. WHAT A YEAR: In pairs / groups, talk about the year 2005. What were the best, worst and most memorable moments in your life, your town, your country, the world, and your English classes? Did everyone agree on the key world events of 2005? 7. 2005: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the year 2005. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. *This is colloquial. Of course, for exams and tests it is better to use “worst”. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text. 2005 was a second longer than usual
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. 2005 was a second longer than usualThe year 2005 was __________ one second longer than usual years. On December 31st, the world’s timekeepers added a leap second to atomic clocks housed in specially _______ vaults at 80 timekeeping laboratories around the world. These special timepieces record seconds, milliseconds and ____________ with mind-_________ precision to ensure the world doesn’t lose track of time. They are certified and monitored by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris to make sure our lives run like clockwork and we don’t lose even a _______ second. Just before midnight GMT on New Year’s Eve, one second was added to this official record, which is called Coordinated Universal Time. It accounts for the fact that the earth’s rotation is slowing down, ________ infinitesimally. So what did the world do with its extra second? Did anyone ________? ________ time watchers amongst us did observe and experience the extra second. Members of the Leap Second Association met in London with their cellphones and a stopwatch. At ________ 11.59 pm according to their cellphones, the group started their stopwatches, which they then stopped when the ________ said it was midnight. As ________ that the leap second existed, their stopwatches showed that 61 seconds had ________ in the final minute of the year. However, not everyone was happy. There were complaints from communication engineers about the time correction. They argue that it is an unnecessary ________ to update and coordinate the world’s communication and navigation systems, as the Earth’s ________ is too unpredictable. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘nano’ and ‘second’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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 “2005” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about the year 2005.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
SPEAKING2005: In pairs / groups, discuss the best and worst things to happen in 2005:
HOMEWORK1. 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 Coordinated Universal Time. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things? 3. MY 2005: Write an essay about your life in the year 2005. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Who had the most interesting year? 4. 2006: Make six predictions concerning the world in 2006. Show your predictions to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone think of similar things? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: 2005 was a second longer than usualThe year 2005 was officially one second longer than usual years. On December 31st, the world’s timekeepers added a leap second to atomic clocks housed in specially sealed vaults at 80 timekeeping laboratories around the world. These special timepieces record seconds, milliseconds and nanoseconds with mind-boggling precision to ensure the world doesn’t lose track of time. They are certified and monitored by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris to make sure our lives run like clockwork and we don’t lose even a split second. Just before midnight GMT on New Year’s Eve, one second was added to this official record, which is called Coordinated Universal Time. It accounts for the fact that the earth’s rotation is slowing down, albeit infinitesimally. So what did the world do with its extra second? Did anyone notice? Keen time watchers amongst us did observe and experience the extra second. Members of the Leap Second Association met in London with their cellphones and a stopwatch. At precisely 11.59 pm according to their cellphones, the group started their stopwatches, which they then stopped when the mobiles said it was midnight. As proof that the leap second existed, their stopwatches showed that 61 seconds had elapsed in the final minute of the year. However, not everyone was happy. There were complaints from communication engineers about the time correction. They argue that it is an unnecessary hassle to update and coordinate the world’s communication and navigation systems, as the Earth’s rotation is too unpredictable.
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