Breaking News English

        

1. APPLE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Apple. 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.

Apple / Google / top 100 / estimated / global brand / stock market / tablets / gadgets / ranking / calculates / loyalty / iconic products / desirability / reliability / quality

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

3. BRANDS: What do you think of these? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Brand	What makes it popular?	How to make it better?
Apple
Google
Coca Cola
McDonald’s
Chanel
Toyota

4. APPLE: Students A strongly believe Apple is an absolutely fantastic company; Students B strongly believe it isn’t.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. PRODUCTS: What’s most important for you when buying something new? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

price brand name colour reputation

functions packaging advertising brand loyalty

6. BRAND: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘brand’. 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.	Google was the number one brand until Apple overtook it.	T / F
b.	An analyst put Apple top of a list of 1,000 companies.	T / F
c.	Apple was number one for the four years before Google was.	T / F
d.	Apple is also the top-valued tech company on the stock exchange.	T / F
e.	The company Brandz only analyses technology companies.	T / F
f.	Brandz looks at how loyal customers are when it makes its lists.	T / F
g.	Apple’s brand value has grown over 800% since 2006.	T / F
h.	Brandz said Apple had become desirable due to lowering its price.	T / F

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

1.	analysts	a.	because of
2	compile	b.	trustworthiness
3.	occupied	c.	works out
4.	consolidates	d.	potential
5.	due to	e.	filled
6.	ranking	f.	raising
7.	calculates	g.	make
8.	prospects	h.	backs up
9.	increasing	i.	experts
10.	reliability	j.	listing

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

1.	the most valuable	a.	ranking
2	compile their annual Top 100	b.	in the past decade
3.	knocked Google off the	c.	on the planet
4.	the popularity of its pioneering and	d.	more desirable
5.	one of the most popular gadgets	e.	across the world
6.	The Brandz ranking covers companies	f.	brand in the world
7.	It calculates its brand value by analyzing	g.	number one position
8.	Apple has grown remarkably	h.	by 859 per cent
9.	Its brand value has increased	i.	market-leading products
10.	making its products	j.	several factors

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Apple has (1) ____________ Google to become the most valuable brand in the world. This is (2) ____________ to the analysts Brandz, who (3) ____________ their annual Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands. Apple’s brand is                    (4) ____________ to be worth more than $153 billion. The tech company knocked Google off the number one (5) ____________. Google had occupied the top spot for the previous four years. Apple’s new ranking consolidates its position as the             top-(6) ____________ technology company on the stock market. Apple’s success is due to the (7) ____________ of its pioneering and market-leading products. It released its iPad in 2008 and the tablet has become one of the most popular (8) ____________ on the planet.		valued estimated according gadgets overtaken position compile popularity
The Brandz ranking (9) ____________ companies across the world, making everything from baby food to power plants, as well as (10) ____________ services and telecommunications. It calculates its brand value by analyzing several factors, including the (11) ____________ of a company’s balance sheet, the      (12) ____________ of customers, and prospects for future      (13) ____________. Apple has grown remarkably in the past decade with a series of hugely (14) ____________ and popular products. Its brand value has increased by 859 per cent since 2006. Peter Walsh, a director at Brandz, said Apple’s success was due to the (15) ____________ of its products. He said Apple had succeeded in becoming a luxury goods brand, making its products more desirable by increasing quality, (16) ____________ and price.		reliability financial loyalty desirability covers growth value iconic

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Apple ______________________ to become the most valuable brand in the world. This is according to the analysts Brandz, ______________________ Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands. Apple’s brand is ______________________ more than $153 billion. The tech company knocked Google off the number one position. Google had occupied the top ______________________ four years. Apple’s new ranking consolidates its position as the top-valued technology company on the stock market. Apple’s success is ______________________ of its pioneering and market-leading products. It released its iPad in 2008 and the tablet has become one of the ______________________ the planet.

The Brandz ranking covers companies across the world, making everything from baby ______________________, as well as financial services and telecommunications. It calculates its brand value by analyzing several factors, ______________________ of a company’s balance sheet, the loyalty of customers, and ______________________ growth. Apple has grown remarkably in the past decade with a ______________________ and popular products. Its brand value has increased by 859 per cent since 2006. Peter Walsh, a director at Brandz, said Apple’s success was due to the ______________________ products. He said Apple had succeeded in becoming a luxury goods brand, making its ______________________ by increasing quality, reliability and price.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

stock

market

• 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:

overtaken estimated number previous pioneering planet

covers plants balance hugely since price

STUDENT APPLE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Apple 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.

APPLE 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 ‘Apple’?
c)	What do you think are the world’s top brands?
d)	What do you think of the Apple brand?
e)	Are you surprised Apple is the number one brand?
f)	What do you know about Apple?
g)	Which of Apple’s products would you like to receive as a gift? Why?
h)	Do you think Apple is a cool brand? Why (not)?
i)	What does it take to be the number one brand?
j)	Would we have mp3 players and iPads if Apple never existed?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What’s your favourite company?
c)	Are you loyal to any companies?
d)	What do you think of the word ‘apple’ as the name of a tech company?
e)	Who are Apple’s main rivals and how much of a threat are they to Apple?
f)	Where do you think Apple will be in 10 or 20 years from now?
g)	Why are Apple’s products so desirable?
h)	How is Apple better or worse than its competitors?
i)	Is Apple a luxury goods brand?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Apple’s CEO?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Apple has (1) ____ Google to become the most valuable brand in the world. This is according to the analysts Brandz, who (2) ____ their annual Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands. Apple’s brand is estimated to be worth more than $153 billion. The tech company knocked Google (3) ____ the number one position. Google had occupied the top spot for the previous four years. Apple’s new ranking consolidates its position (4) ____ the top-valued technology company on the stock market. Apple’s success is due (5) ____ the popularity of its pioneering and market-leading products. It released its iPad in 2008 and the tablet has become one of the most popular (6) ____ on the planet.

The Brandz ranking (7) ____ companies across the world, making everything from baby food to power plants, as well as financial services and telecommunications. It calculates its brand value (8) ____ analyzing several factors, including the value of a company’s balance sheet, the loyalty of customers, and prospects (9) ____ future growth. Apple has grown (10) ____ in the past decade with a series of hugely iconic and popular products. Its brand value has increased by 859 per cent since 2006. Peter Walsh, a director at Brandz, said Apple’s success was due to the     (11) ____ of its products. He said Apple had succeeded in becoming a luxury goods brand, (12) ____ its products more desirable by increasing quality, reliability and price.

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

1.	(a)	overtook	(b)	overtake	(c)	overtaking	(d)	overtaken
2.	(a)	compost	(b)	compile	(c)	compute	(d)	complain
3.	(a)	off	(b)	over	(c)	above	(d)	through
4.	(a)	was	(b)	has	(c)	as	(d)	ease
5.	(a)	of	(b)	at	(c)	to	(d)	on
6.	(a)	widgets	(b)	gadgets	(c)	apps	(d)	add-ons
7.	(a)	covers	(b)	removes	(c)	copies	(d)	wraps
8.	(a)	at	(b)	to	(c)	for	(d)	by
9.	(a)	to	(b)	for	(c)	at	(d)	from
10.	(a)	remarks	(b)	remarked	(c)	remarking	(d)	remarkably
11.	(a)	desire	(b)	desired	(c)	desirability	(d)	desires
12.	(a)	making	(b)	marking	(c)	remarking	(d)	remaking

 
 

WRITING

Write about Apple 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 the Brandz Top 100 rankings. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. APPLE: Make a poster about Apple’s products. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. APPLE CEO: Write a magazine article about the CEO of Apple. Include imaginary interviews with people who work for him and with Apple customers.

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 the Apple CEO. Ask him three questions about Apple. Give him three ideas on how to stay #1. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

F

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	analysts	a.	experts
2	compile	b.	make
3.	occupied	c.	filled
4.	consolidates	d.	backs up
5.	due to	e.	because of
6.	ranking	f.	listing
7.	calculates	g.	works out
8.	prospects	h.	potential
9.	increasing	i.	raising
10.	reliability	j.	trustworthiness

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	the most valuable	a.	brand in the world
2	compile their annual Top 100	b.	ranking
3.	knocked Google off the	c.	number one position
4.	the popularity of its pioneering and	d.	market-leading products
5.	one of the most popular gadgets	e.	on the planet
6.	The Brandz ranking covers companies	f.	across the world
7.	It calculates its brand value by analyzing	g.	several factors
8.	Apple has grown remarkably	h.	in the past decade
9.	Its brand value has increased	i.	by 859 per cent
10.	making its products	j.	more desirable

GAP FILL:

Apple now world’s most valuable brand

Apple has (1) overtaken Google to become the most valuable brand in the world. This is (2) according to the analysts Brandz, who (3) compile their annual Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands. Apple’s brand is (4) estimated to be worth more than $153 billion. The tech company knocked Google off the number one (5) position Google had occupied the top spot for the previous four years. Apple’s new ranking consolidates its position as the top-(6) valued technology company on the stock market. Apple’s success is due to the (7) popularity of its pioneering and market-leading products. It released its iPad in 2008 and the tablet has become one of the most popular (8) gadgets on the planet.

The Brandz ranking (9) covers companies across the world, making everything from baby food to power plants, as well as (10) financial services and telecommunications. It calculates its brand value by analyzing several factors, including the (11) value of a company’s balance sheet, the (12) loyalty of customers, and prospects for future (13) growth. Apple has grown remarkably in the past decade with a series of hugely (14) iconic and popular products. Its brand value has increased by 859 per cent since 2006. Peter Walsh, a director at Brandz, said Apple’s success was due to the (15) desirability of its products. He said Apple had succeeded in becoming a luxury goods brand, making its products more desirable by increasing quality, (16) reliability and price.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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