Michael Jackson seems to be settling in to life in the Persian Gulf and away from the celebrity goldfish bowl of Los Angeles. After surviving his emotion-draining and grueling child molestation court battle last year, he now appears to have regained some semblance of a normal life. He has invested in property, buying a new luxury pad in Bahrain - his newfound home - and regularly engages in one of life’s more mundane chores – shopping - albeit at glitzy boutiques. His latest venture into resurrecting his life from the aftermath of the court case is to apply for a regular job. He is currently negotiating to secure a position as an entertainment consultant with a Bahrain-based company connected with the Bahraini royal family.

Mr. Jackson is in talks with AAJ Holdings, a company that has designs to establish theme parks and music academies in the Middle East. CEO Ahmed Abu Bakr Janahi believes Jackson could play a pivotal role in securing the success of his ambitious venture to make Bahrain one of the world’s leading entertainment and leisure hubs. A company press release suggests Jackson’s talent and creativity would be invaluable in adding the necessary spice to his venture. It says: “Stagnant architectural structures need content in the form of entertainment to revive them and that's where Michael Jackson will play an integral role.” Jackson is also still sticking to his singing roots by recording a Hurricane Katrina relief song, to be released on a Bahraini record label.

WARM-UPS

1. MICHAEL JACKSON: Talk to as many other students as you can to find out what they know about Michael Jackson. 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. What else would you like to know?

2. CELEBRITY JOBS: With your partner(s), decide on new jobs for the following people. Do you think they’d be good at the jobs?

Michael Jackson Brad Pitt Kofi Annan Mariah Carey Venus Williams

Pervez Musharraf Condoleezza Rice Fidel Castro Ronaldo Kate Moss

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

Settling in / Persian Gulf / goldfish bowls / Los Angeles / court battles / luxury / glitz / negotiating / consultants / theme parks / ambitions / spice / entertainment

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

4. SPECULATE: In pairs / groups, speculate on the story in the article. Use the words in the “Chat” section to help you. Change partners and compare your stories. Try to agree on how each of the above words relate to the story in the article.

5. SENTENCE STARTERS: In pairs / groups, agree on endings to the following sentence starters. Change partners and talk about your sentences.

1. Michael Jackson is _________________________________________________.
2. Michael Jackson should _____________________________________________.
3. Michael Jackson promotes ___________________________________________.
4. Michael Jackson did ________________________________________________.
5. Michael Jackson must ______________________________________________.
6. Michael Jackson can’t ______________________________________________.

6. ENTERTAINMENT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “entertainment”. 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.	Michael Jackson is conducting job interviews to find his successor.	T / F
b.	Los Angeles can be like living in a goldfish bowl for celebrities.	T / F
c.	Michael Jackson never goes shopping.	T / F
d.	Jackson may team up as a consultant for a Bahrain-based company.	T / F
e.	The company wants to open a Michael Jackson museum in Bahrain.	T / F
f.	The company plans to make Bahrain an entertainment hub.	T / F
g.	Michael Jackson will design new architectural structures in Bahrain.	T / F
h.	Michael Jackson is currently recording a Hurricane Katrina relief song.	T / F

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

a.	settling in	centers
b.	grueling	home
c.	semblance	intentions
d.	pad	draining
e.	aftermath	static
f.	designs	appearance
g.	pivotal	beginnings
h.	hubs	adjusting
i.	stagnant	crucial
j.	roots	wake

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

a.	settling in	spice to his venture
b.	away from the celebrity	an integral role
c.	regained some semblance	goldfish bowl of Los Angeles
d.	He has invested in property,	to establish theme parks…
e.	into resurrecting his life from	on a Bahraini record label
f.	a company that has designs	buying a new luxury pad
g.	play a pivotal	to life in the Persian Gulf
h.	invaluable in adding the necessary	the aftermath of the court case
i.	Michael Jackson will play	role in securing the success
j.	to be released	of a normal life

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Michael Jackson in job interview

Michael Jackson seems to be settling in to life in the Persian Gulf bowl away from the celebrity and goldfish of Los Angeles. After surviving his emotion-draining and grueling child molestation court battle last year, he now appears to have some life of a regained normal semblance. He has invested in property, buying a new luxury pad in Bahrain - his newfound home - and regularly engages in life’s chores of more mundane one – shopping - albeit at glitzy boutiques. His latest venture into resurrecting his life from case the court of the aftermath is to apply for a regular job. He is currently secure to a negotiating position as an entertainment consultant with a Bahrain-based company connected with the Bahraini royal family.

Mr. Jackson is in talks with AAJ Holdings, a company that parks establish designs has to theme and music academies in the Middle East. CEO Ahmed Abu Bakr Janahi believes Jackson could role in securing a pivotal play the success of his ambitious venture to make Bahrain one of the world’s leading entertainment and leisure hubs. A company press release suggests Jackson’s talent and creativity would be necessary invaluable spice in the adding to his venture. It says: “Stagnant architectural structures need content in entertainment to revive the form of them and that's where Michael Jackson will play an integral role.” Jackson is also still to roots sticking his singing by recording a Hurricane Katrina relief song, to be released on a Bahraini record label.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Michael Jackson in job interview

Michael Jackson seems to be _________ in to life in the Persian Gulf and away from the celebrity goldfish bowl of Los Angeles. After surviving his emotion-_________ and grueling child molestation court battle last year, he now appears to have regained some _________ of a normal life. He has invested in property, buying a new luxury pad in Bahrain - his newfound home - and regularly engages in one of life’s more _________ chores – shopping - albeit at glitzy boutiques. His latest venture into resurrecting his life from the _________ of the court case is to apply for a regular job. He is currently negotiating to secure a position as an entertainment consultant with a Bahrain-based company connected with the _________ royal family.

Mr. Jackson is in talks with AAJ Holdings, a company that has _________ to establish theme parks and music academies in the Middle East. CEO Ahmed Abu Bakr Janahi believes Jackson could play a _________ role in securing the success of his ambitious venture to make Bahrain one of the world’s leading entertainment and leisure _________. A company press release suggests Jackson’s talent and creativity would be invaluable in adding the necessary _________ to his venture. It says: “Stagnant architectural structures need content in the form of entertainment to revive them and that's where Michael Jackson will play an _________ role.” Jackson is also still sticking to his singing _________ by recording a Hurricane Katrina relief song, to be released on a Bahraini record label.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 “NEW LIFE” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about starting a new life in another country.

• 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:

away grueling pad albeit venture secure

designs pivotal hubs spice stagnant roots

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. Do you like to know what’s going on in Michael Jackson’s life?
3. What do you think life as Michael Jackson would be like?
4. Do you think he made a good decision by relocating to Bahrain?
5. Do you think it’s possible for Michael Jackson, or any superstar, to have a normal life?
6. What things do you think superstars miss about not being able to live lives like the rest of us?
7. Do you think you would miss those same things?
8. How do you think Michael Jackson would do in a 9-to-5 consultancy job?
9. Are you looking forward to hearing Michael Jackson’s new song?
10. Have you ever been an integral or pivotal part of something?

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 like Michael Jackson?
4. Would you like to see him make a musical comeback?
5. Would you like to move overseas and start a new life?
6. What do you think of the idea of Bahrain rivaling Hollywood or Bollywood as an entertainment hub?
7. Do you think Michael Jackson is a good choice to add “spice” to the AAJ Holdings business venture?
8. What questions would you like to ask Michael Jackson?
9. What do you think his answers would be?
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

FAMOUS CAREERS: You are a famous person career adviser. It is your job to put famous people into new careers. Discuss which career would suit the people below (or those of your own choosing). Decide on their strengths in doing the job and the things they are likely to achieve.

FAMOUS PERSON	CAREER	STRENGTHS	ACHIEVEMENTS
Bono (U2 singer)
Kate Moss (supermodel)
Fidel Castro
Kofi Annan
Condoleezza Rice

Change partners and talk about your career guidance choices. Give each other feedback on your choices. Decide which of the careers you chose for the famous people is best.

Return to your original partner(s) and talk about what you discussed with your other partner(s).

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 Michael Jackson’s job hunting. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. NEW LIFE: Write an essay about the new life you would like to have in a new country. Show your essay to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

4. A DAY IN THE LIFE: You are Michael Jackson. Write an account of one day in your life. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone have similar days?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	settling in	adjusting
b.	grueling	draining
c.	semblance	appearance
d.	pad	home
e.	aftermath	wake
f.	designs	intentions
g.	pivotal	crucial
h.	hubs	centers
i.	stagnant	static
j.	roots	beginnings

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	settling in	to life in the Persian Gulf
b.	away from the celebrity	goldfish bowl of Los Angeles
c.	regained some semblance	of a normal life
d.	He has invested in property,	buying a new luxury pad
e.	into resurrecting his life from	the aftermath of the court case
f.	a company that has designs	to establish theme parks…
g.	play a pivotal	role in securing the success
h.	invaluable in adding the necessary	spice to his venture
i.	Michael Jackson will play	an integral role
j.	to be released	on a Bahraini record label

WORD ORDER:

Michael Jackson in job interview

Michael Jackson seems to be settling in to life in the Persian Gulf and away from the celebrity goldfish bowl of Los Angeles. After surviving his emotion-draining and grueling child molestation court battle last year, he now appears to have regained some semblance of a normal life. He has invested in property, buying a new luxury pad in Bahrain - his newfound home - and regularly engages in one of life’s more mundane chores – shopping - albeit at glitzy boutiques. His latest venture into resurrecting his life from the aftermath of the court case is to apply for a regular job. He is currently negotiating to secure a position as an entertainment consultant with a Bahrain-based company connected with the Bahraini royal family.

Mr. Jackson is in talks with AAJ Holdings, a company that has designs to establish theme parks and music academies in the Middle East. CEO Ahmed Abu Bakr Janahi believes Jackson could play a pivotal role in securing the success of his ambitious venture to make Bahrain one of the world’s leading entertainment and leisure hubs. A company press release suggests Jackson’s talent and creativity would be invaluable in adding the necessary spice to his venture. It says: “Stagnant architectural structures need content in the form of entertainment to revive them and that's where Michael Jackson will play an integral role.” Jackson is also still sticking to his singing roots by recording a Hurricane Katrina relief song, to be released on a Bahraini record label.

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