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Date: April 20, 2007
THE ARTICLETunnel planned between Russia and USARussian officials have announced there are plans to build an amazing new tunnel between Russia and the USA. The proposed link would cost $60 billion and take 15 years to complete. The ambitious project would go under the Bering Strait, which is a thin waterway between Russia’s Far East and Alaska in the USA. Russian businessmen are very eager for the scheme to go ahead. They say it would greatly increase the amount of trade between Asia and North America and would cut travel costs between the two continents. Representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "It is planned to call on the governments of Russia, the United States and Canada to sign an agreement to study and go ahead with the project." The idea to build a tunnel across the 85-kilometre Bering Strait is not new. People discussed it first more than 100 years ago, but it was forgotten about during the Soviet era. However, since the end of the Cold War, the plan has come back into politicians' minds and it is now a serious possibility. Naturally, there are people who think the project is a bad idea. Reuters news agency reports a Russian official who expressed concern over the link, saying: "To be honest, anyone who looks at a map will realize that the project is too hard to do." Alternatively, many others see a transport link that could connect New York City in the USA with Shanghai in China. This would become the world’s greatest train journey. The tunnel could also pipe much-needed energy from Russia to North America. WARM-UPS1. RUSSIA-USA: Walk around the class and talk to other students about what they know about relations and the history between Russia and the USA. When you have finished, sit with your original partner(s) and share your findings. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 3. TRANSPORT HEADLINES: Look at these newspaper headlines about transport projects. Would they be good for you? Do you think they are possible?
4. RELATIONS: What are relations / links like between your country and the USA and Russia? Talk about these areas:
5. QUICK DEBATE: Have this quick debate with your partner(s). Students A think road/rail tunnels should link all continents; students B think the world is already too connected. Change partners and topics every two minutes. 6. TUNNEL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “tunnel”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 7. NEW YORK-SHANGHAI: You are on the very first New York to Shanghai Express. Talk to the other train passengers in your class about your journey and reasons for taking it. 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 into the gaps in the text. Tunnel planned between Russia and USA
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Russian officials have ________ there are plans to build an ________ new tunnel between Russia and the USA. The proposed link would cost $60 billion and take 15 years to complete. The ________ project would go under the Bering Strait, which is a thin ________ between Russia’s Far East and Alaska in the USA. Russian businessmen are very eager for the scheme to go ahead. They say it would ________ increase the amount of trade between Asia and North America and would ________ travel costs between the two continents. Representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "It is planned to ________ on the governments of Russia, the United States and Canada to sign an agreement to study and go ________ with the project."
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ambitious |
The ________ to build a tunnel across the 85-kilometre Bering Strait is not new. People discussed it first more than 100 years ago, but it was forgotten about ________ the Soviet era. However, since the end of the Cold War, the plan has come back into politicians' ________ and it is now a serious possibility. ________, there are people who think the project is a bad idea. Reuter’s news agency reports a Russian official who ________ concern over the link, saying: "To be honest, anyone who looks at a map will ________ that the project is too hard to do." Alternatively, many others see a transport link that could ________ New York City in the USA with Shanghai in China. This would become the world’s greatest train journey. The tunnel could also pipe much-________ energy from Russia to North America. |
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connect |
Listen and fill in the spaces.
Russian officials have announced there ______________ build an amazing new tunnel between Russia and the USA. The proposed link would cost $60 billion ______________ years to complete. The ambitious project would go under the Bering Strait, which is a thin waterway between Russia’s Far East and Alaska in the USA. Russian businessmen __________________ the scheme to go ahead. They say it would greatly increase ______________ trade between Asia and North America and would cut travel costs between the two continents. Representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "It is planned ______________ governments of Russia, the United States and Canada to sign an agreement to study ________________ the project."
________________ tunnel across the 85-kilometre Bering Strait is not new. People discussed it first more than 100 years ago, ________________ about during the Soviet era. However, since ________________ Cold War, the plan has come back into politicians' minds and it is now a serious possibility. Naturally, ___________________ think the project is a bad idea. Reuter’s news agency reports a Russian official who expressed ___________________ link, saying: "To be honest, anyone who looks at a map will realize that the project is too hard to do." Alternatively, many others see a transport ___________________ New York City in the USA with Shanghai in China. This would become the world’s greatest train journey. The tunnel could ___________________ energy from Russia to North America.
1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘go’ and ‘ahead’.
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 “TUNNEL” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about tunnels and linking different continents.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
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STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
CORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from ad below in the article.
Russian officials have announced there are plans to build an amazing new tunnel between Russia and the USA. The (1) ____ link would cost $60 billion and take 15 years to complete. The ambitious project would go under the Bering Strait, (2) ____ is a thin waterway between Russia’s Far East and Alaska in the USA. Russian businessmen are very eager (3) ____ the scheme to go ahead. They say it would (4) ____ increase the amount of trade between Asia and North America and would (5) ____ travel costs between the two continents. Representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "It is planned to (6) ____ on the governments of Russia, the United States and Canada to sign an agreement to study and go ahead with the project."
The idea to build a tunnel across the 85-kilometre Bering Strait is not new. People discussed it (7) ____ more than 100 years ago, but it was forgotten about (8) ____ the Soviet era. However, since the end of the Cold War, the plan has come (9) ____ into politicians' minds and it is now a serious possibility. Naturally, there are people who think the project is a bad idea. Reuter’s news agency reports a Russian official who expressed concern over the link, saying: "To be (10) ____, anyone who looks at a map will realize that the project is too hard to do." (11) ____, many others see a transport link that could connect New York City in the USA with Shanghai in China. This would become the world’s greatest train journey. The tunnel could also pipe (12) ____ -needed energy from Russia to North America.
1. |
(a) |
proposition |
(b) |
prosperous |
(c) |
proposed |
(d) |
proposal |
2. |
(a) |
which |
(b) |
what |
(c) |
where |
(d) |
whichever |
3. |
(a) |
so |
(b) |
by |
(c) |
with |
(d) |
for |
4. |
(a) |
great |
(b) |
greatly |
(c) |
greatness |
(d) |
greatest |
5. |
(a) |
cutting |
(b) |
cuts |
(c) |
cut |
(d) |
price cut |
6. |
(a) |
message |
(b) |
ring |
(c) |
phone |
(d) |
call |
7. |
(a) |
first |
(b) |
initial |
(c) |
prime |
(d) |
one |
8. |
(a) |
while |
(b) |
during |
(c) |
via |
(d) |
for |
9. |
(a) |
backing |
(b) |
backer |
(c) |
back |
(d) |
backward |
10. |
(a) |
honest |
(b) |
dishonest |
(c) |
honestly |
(d) |
truth |
11. |
(a) |
altogether |
(b) |
altar |
(c) |
alternate |
(d) |
alternatively |
12. |
(a) |
lots |
(b) |
many |
(c) |
much |
(d) |
loads |
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 about the Bering Strait tunnel. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. TUNNEL POSTER: Make a poster about different tunnels around the world. How are they different? Show your poster to your class in the next lesson. Vote on the best one(s).
4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about different tunnels around the world. In particular, write about the ones that link different countries and the costs and benefits of the tunnels. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?
5. LETTER: Write a letter to the Russian officials. Ask them three questions about the tunnel project. Give them three pieces of advice about the link. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.
TRUE / FALSE:
a. T |
b. F |
c. F |
d. T |
e. F |
f. T |
g. F |
h. T |
SYNONYM MATCH:
a. |
officials |
bureaucrats |
b. |
proposed |
suggested |
c. |
ambitious |
challenging |
d. |
eager |
keen |
e. |
call on |
ask |
f. |
era |
period |
g. |
concern |
worry |
h. |
alternatively |
on the other hand |
i. |
connect |
link |
j. |
pipe |
transport |
PHRASE MATCH:
a. |
there are plans to build |
an amazing new tunnel |
b. |
The ambitious project would go |
under the Bering Strait |
c. |
businessmen are very eager |
for the scheme to go ahead |
d. |
cut travel costs |
from Russia to North America |
e. |
go |
ahead with the project |
f. |
People discussed it |
first more than 100 years ago |
g. |
the plan has come back |
into politicians' minds |
h. |
a Russian official who expressed |
concern over the link |
i. |
the project is too |
hard to do |
j. |
pipe much-needed energy |
between the two continents |
GAP FILL:
Russian officials have announced there are plans to build an amazing new tunnel between Russia and the USA. The proposed link would cost $60 billion and take 15 years to complete. The ambitious project would go under the Bering Strait, which is a thin waterway between Russia’s Far East and Alaska in the USA. Russian businessmen are very eager for the scheme to go ahead. They say it would greatly increase the amount of trade between Asia and North America and would cut travel costs between the two continents. Representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "It is planned to call on the governments of Russia, the United States and Canada to sign an agreement to study and go ahead with the project."
The idea to build a tunnel across the 85-kilometre Bering Strait is not new. People discussed it first more than 100 years ago, but it was forgotten about during the Soviet era. However, since the end of the Cold War, the plan has come back into politicians' minds and it is now a serious possibility. Naturally, there are people who think the project is a bad idea. Reuter’s news agency reports a Russian official who expressed concern over the link, saying: "To be honest, anyone who looks at a map will realize that the project is too hard to do." Alternatively, many others see a transport link that could connect New York City in the USA with Shanghai in China. This would become the world’s greatest train journey. The tunnel could also pipe much-needed energy from Russia to North America.
LANGUAGE WORK
1 - c |
2 - a |
3 - d |
4 -b |
5 - c |
6 -d |
7 - a |
8 -b |
9 -c |
10 - a |
11 -d |
12 - c |
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