Breaking News English

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WARM-UPS

1. BREAKING RECORDS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about breaking records. Change partners often. Sit with your first 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.

youngest person / previous / records / continents / Antarctica / summits / blog / goals / climbing / training / achieving dreams / hikes / complain / inspiring young people

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. DREAMS: What are yours? Complete this table. Share what you wrote you’re your partner(s). Change partners and share again.

	Why?	How to make it come true
My dream job
My dream holiday
My dream house
My dream car
My dream partner
My dream dream

4. 13: Students A strongly believe 13 is too young to be climbing Mt. Everest; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. RECORDS: Which is the best? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Change partners and share your rankings.

youngest to climb Mt Everest eating the most hot-dogs running the fastest 100 metres having the highest IQ

being the richest person knowing the most English words being the tallest person having the kindest heart

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A 13-year-old becomes the youngest person ever to climb Mt. Everest.	T / F
b.	The boy wants to climb the highest peaks on six continents.	T / F
c.	He called his mother once he reached the top of Mt. Everest.	T / F
d.	The boy’s family are backing their son to reach his goal.	T / F
e.	The boy decided to climb the world’s highest peaks when he was four.	T / F
f.	His first hike was a happy occasion full of laughter.	T / F
g.	The boy wanted to give up climbing after going on a 6-mile hike.	T / F
h.	The boy climbed Everest to encourage kids to lode weight.	T / F

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

1.	previous	a.	objective
2	scaled	b.	back
3.	summit	c.	climbed
4.	goal	d.	complained
5.	lucky	e.	earlier
6.	decided	f.	encourage
7.	achieve	g.	chose
8.	moaned	h.	fortunate
9.	support	i.	top
10.	inspire	j.	pull off

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	Romero broke the	a.	dream
2	the highest peaks	b.	did on the summit
3.	The first thing Jordan	c.	programme
4.	I'm calling from the	d.	step of the way
5.	supporting me every	e.	more young people
6.	they started a training	f.	on six continents
7.	achieve his	g.	obesity
8.	her son moaned,	h.	previous record
9.	He wanted to inspire	i.	top of the world
10.	reduce	j.	complained and cried

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A 13-year-old boy has ____________ the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Jordan Romero broke the ____________ record set by Nepal’s 15-year-old Ming Kipa in 2003. Jordan has now climbed the highest ____________ on six continents. His first ____________ climb came when he scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when he was just nine. He plans to climb the Vinson Massif in Antarctica in December. This will make him the youngest person to climb the tallest mountains on all seven continents. The first thing Jordan did on the ____________ of Everest was call his mother. "I'm calling from the top of the world," he told her. Jordan wrote about his climbing on his ____________: "It's my dream…I know it's a big goal, and ____________ for me my family is supporting me every ____________ of the way."		lucky peaks blog record become step previous summit
Jordan decided he wanted to climb the world’s ____________ peaks when he was in fourth grade. He told his mother and father and they started a training programme for Jordan to ____________ his dream. His mother, Leigh Anne Drake, ____________ the first time they took Jordan on a serious hike. She said it was a six-mile ____________ near their home in Big Bear, California. Drake says her son moaned, ____________ and cried most of the way, but when he got home, he wanted to continue training. "I decided we were going to follow Jordan's ____________," Leigh Anne said. "If he wants to try it, we're going to support it." Romero said he climbed Everest for a special reason. He wanted to ____________ more young people to get outdoors and ____________ obesity in America’s teenagers.		trek inspire achieve complained recalled reduce tallest lead

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A 13-year-old boy has become the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Jordan Romero _____________________ record set by Nepal’s 15-year-old Ming Kipa in 2003. Jordan has now climbed _____________________ six continents. His first record climb came _____________________ Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when he was just nine. He plans to climb the Vinson Massif in Antarctica in December. This will make him the youngest person to climb the tallest mountains on _____________________. The first thing Jordan did on the summit of Everest was call his mother. "I'm calling from the top of the world," he told her. Jordan wrote about his climbing on his blog: "It's my dream…I know it's a _____________________ for me my family is supporting me _____________________ way."

Jordan decided he wanted to climb the world’s tallest peaks when he was in fourth grade. He told his mother and father and they started a training programme for Jordan _____________________. His mother, Leigh Anne Drake, recalled the first time they took Jordan _____________________. She said it was a six-mile trek near their home in Big Bear, California. Drake says her son _____________________ cried most of the way, but when he got home, he wanted to continue training. "I decided we were going to follow Jordan's lead," Leigh Anne said. "If he wants to try it, _____________________ it." Romero said he climbed Everest for a special reason. _____________________ more young people to get outdoors _____________________ America’s teenagers.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

break

record

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

become set six nine seven step

fourth dream serious follow special reduce

STUDENT BREAKING RECORDS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about breaking records in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘record’?
c)	What world record would you like to break and why?
d)	What do you think of a 13-year-old being the youngest to climb Mt. Everest?
e)	What was your greatest achievement when you were 13?
f)	Would you like to climb Mt. Everest?
g)	What’s your dream?
h)	What do you need to do to realize your dream? Will this happen?
i)	Would you like a son like Jordan?
j)	What should Jordan do after climbing the tallest peaks on seven continents?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What were your dreams when you were ten?
c)	What would you say to your son or daughter if they really wanted to climb Mt. Everest?
d)	Looking back on your life, are their things you could/should have achieved that you didn’t?
e)	What’s the biggest support you’ve received from your family?
f)	What career do you think Jordan will do in the future?
g)	Who’s the most inspiring teenager you know?
h)	What three adjectives describe Jordan and why?
i)	Do you think Jordan will inspire young people to get outdoors?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Jordan?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A 13-year-old boy has become the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Jordan Romero broke the (1) ____ record set by Nepal’s 15-year-old Ming Kipa in 2003. Jordan has now climbed the highest peaks on six continents. His first record climb came when he (2) ____ Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when he was just nine. He plans to climb the Vinson Massif in Antarctica in December. This will (3) ____ him the youngest person to climb the tallest mountains on (4) ____ seven continents. The first thing Jordan did on the summit of Everest was call his mother. "I'm calling from the top of the (5) ____," he told her. Jordan wrote about his climbing on his blog: "It's my dream…I know it's a big goal, and lucky for me my family is supporting me every (6) ____ of the way."

Jordan decided he wanted to climb the world’s tallest peaks when he was in fourth grade. He told his mother and father and they started a training programme for Jordan (7) ____ achieve his dream. His mother, Leigh Anne Drake, (8) ____ the first time they took Jordan on a serious hike. She said it was a six-mile trek near their home in Big Bear, California. Drake says her son (9) ____, complained and cried most of the way, but when he got home, he wanted to continue training. "I decided we were going to follow Jordan's (10) ____," Leigh Anne said. "If he wants to try it, we're going to support it." Romero said he climbed Everest for a special reason. He wanted to (11) ____ more young people to get outdoors and reduce obesity (12) ____ America’s teenagers.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	previously	(b)	preview	(c)	previews	(d)	previous
2.	(a)	scaled	(b)	escalated	(c)	skated	(d)	slated
3.	(a)	do	(b)	be	(c)	make	(d)	take
4.	(a)	each	(b)	all	(c)	every	(d)	whole
5.	(a)	Earth	(b)	world	(c)	sky	(d)	atmosphere
6.	(a)	steps	(b)	ladder	(c)	step	(d)	stair
7.	(a)	to	(b)	at	(c)	in	(d)	on
8.	(a)	called	(b)	calling	(c)	recalling	(d)	recalled
9.	(a)	meant	(b)	moaning	(c)	mean	(d)	moaned
10.	(a)	bead	(b)	lead	(c)	read	(d)	dead
11.	(a)	inspire	(b)	conspire	(c)	perspire	(d)	transpire
12.	(a)	into	(b)	inside	(c)	in	(d)	inner

WRITING

Write about breaking records for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 out more about Jordan Romero. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. BREAKING RECORDS: Make a poster about breaking records. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. EVEREST: Write a magazine article about climbing Everest. Include imaginary interviews with Jordan and a top climber.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Jordan. Ask him/her three questions about climbing Nt. Everest. Give him three ideas on the records he could break next. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	previous	a.	earlier
2	scaled	b.	climbed
3.	summit	c.	top
4.	goal	d.	objective
5.	lucky	e.	fortunate
6.	decided	f.	chose
7.	achieve	g.	pull off
8.	moaned	h.	complained
9.	support	i.	back
10.	inspire	j.	encourage

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	Romero broke the	a.	previous record
2	the highest peaks	b.	on six continents
3.	The first thing Jordan	c.	did on the summit
4.	I'm calling from the	d.	top of the world
5.	supporting me every	e.	step of the way
6.	they started a training	f.	programme
7.	achieve his	g.	dream
8.	her son moaned,	h.	complained and cried
9.	He wanted to inspire	i.	more young people
10.	reduce	j.	obesity

GAP FILL:

13-year-old climbs Everest

A 13-year-old boy has become the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Jordan Romero broke the previous record set by Nepal’s 15-year-old Ming Kipa in 2003. Jordan has now climbed the highest peaks on six continents. His first record climb came when he scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when he was just nine. He plans to climb the Vinson Massif in Antarctica in December. This will make him the youngest person to climb the tallest mountains on all seven continents. The first thing Jordan did on the summit of Everest was call his mother. "I'm calling from the top of the world," he told her. Jordan wrote about his climbing on his blog: "It's my dream…I know it's a big goal, and lucky for me my family is supporting me every step of the way."

Jordan decided he wanted to climb the world’s tallest peaks when he was in fourth grade. He told his mother and father and they started a training programme for Jordan to achieve his dream. His mother, Leigh Anne Drake, recalled the first time they took Jordan on a serious hike. She said it was a six-mile trek near their home in Big Bear, California. Drake says her son moaned, complained and cried most of the way, but when he got home, he wanted to continue training. "I decided we were going to follow Jordan's lead," Leigh Anne said. "If he wants to try it, we're going to support it." Romero said he climbed Everest for a special reason. He wanted to inspire more young people to get outdoors and reduce obesity in America’s teenagers.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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