Breaking News English

        

1. HAIR: Walk around the class and talk to other students about hair. 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.

global trade / e-commerce / popularity / supplement / celebrity / extensions / stylist / searches / international buyers / social media / industry / demand / triple / texture

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. CELEBRITY CULTURE: Good or bad? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Celebrities as…	Good	Bad
role models for kids
fashion leaders
agents of change
entertainers
talented people
being newsworthy

4. IMPORTANT: Students A strongly believe hair is important; Students B strongly believe it isn’t.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. CHANGE: What would you like to change about yourself? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the most important at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

your hair your marital status your IQ your stomach size

your nationality your nose your ability to deal with stress your bank balance

6. TRADE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘trade’. 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.	The market for human hair has become extremely big.	T / F
b.	Rock stars and footballers take supplements to improve their hair.	T / F
c.	The article says Brazilian hair is the world’s biggest seller.	T / F
d.	Selling hair in India is having positive effects on the economy.	T / F
e.	The three biggest hair buyers are all from different continents.	T / F
f.	A hair stylist said social media is partly behind the human hair trade.	T / F
g.	The cost of human hair has increased manyfold in the past decade.	T / F
h.	Straight black hair is the most in-demand all over the world.	T / F

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

1.	soaring	a.	increase
2.	supplement	b.	factor
3.	sporting	c.	recolored
4.	upswing	d.	enhance
5.	get rid of	e.	skyrocketing
6.	reason	f.	feel
7.	glamorous	g.	harmonize with
8.	match	h.	wearing
9.	dyed	i.	beautiful
10.	texture	j.	dispose of

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

1.	becoming a major	a.	their own
2.	using real hair to supplement	b.	tripled
3.	sporting new and more voluminous	c.	in hair
4.	There's been a huge upswing	d.	media websites
5.	get rid	e.	locks
6.	a 160 per cent increase in searches	f.	industry
7.	the rise of social	g.	glamorous
8.	Women want to be more and more	h.	of their hair
9.	doubled and	i.	biggest-selling texture
10.	wavy is the	j.	for “human hair”

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

The global trade in human hair is (1) ____________ and becoming a major industry, according to e-commerce website alibaba.com. Celebrities are increasing the (2) ____________ of using real hair to supplement their own. In recent months singer Beyonce, footballer Wayne Rooney and actor Sarah Jessica Parker have all been seen (3) ____________ new and more voluminous locks. Alibaba spokeswoman Linda Kozlowski said: “There's been a (4) ____________ upswing in hair. The celebrity                      (5) ____________ has made hair extensions more popular, and everyone wants hair from India.” Hair (6) ____________ Lucinda Ellery explains why: “There is a big religious reason in India for people to get (7) ____________ of their hair. They get it cut off and give it to monks. Now it's…an economic (8) ____________ for the country," she said.		culture resource soaring huge rid popularity sporting stylist
The alibaba.com website reports a 160 per cent increase in        (9) ____________ for “human hair” in the past year. The USA, China and Britain are the three largest international                (10) ____________. Ms Ellery said the rise of social media websites is one reason (11) ____________ the success of the industry, saying: "It's really driven by things like Facebook and Twitter, (12) ____________ and magazines. Women want to be more and more glamorous, as a result of this big celebrity culture." She added that the (13) ____________ of human hair is also rising with its demand: "In the last 10 years, it's tripled,    (14) ____________ and tripled again." Alibaba says blonde is the most popular color because it can be easily (15) ____________ to match the customer’s own natural color. It says wavy is the biggest-selling (16) ____________, recently overtaking straight hair.		cost behind dyed texture searches tabloids buyers doubled

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The global trade in human hair is _____________________ a major industry, according to e-commerce website alibaba.com. Celebrities are _____________________ of using real hair to supplement their own. In recent months singer Beyonce, footballer Wayne Rooney and actor Sarah Jessica Parker have all _____________________ new and more voluminous locks. Alibaba spokeswoman Linda Kozlowski said: “There's been a huge upswing in hair. The _____________________ made hair extensions more popular, and everyone wants hair from India.” Hair stylist Lucinda Ellery explains why: “There is a big religious reason in India for _____________________ their hair. They get it cut off and give it to monks. Now it's…an _____________________ the country," she said.
The alibaba.com website reports a 160 per cent _____________________ “human hair” in the past year. The USA, China and Britain are the three largest international buyers. Ms Ellery said the _____________________ websites is one reason behind the success of the industry, saying: "It's really driven by things like Facebook and Twitter, tabloids and magazines. Women want to be more _____________________, as a result of this big celebrity culture." She added that the cost of human hair is also rising with its demand: "In the last 10 years, it's tripled, _____________________ again." Alibaba says blonde is the most popular color because _____________________ to match the customer’s own natural color. It says wavy is _____________________, recently overtaking straight hair.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

human

hair

• 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:

soaring using seen culture religious resource

searches largest success cost dyed straight

STUDENT HAIR SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about hair 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.

 
 

HAIR 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 ‘hair’?
c)	What do you like and dislike about your hair?
d)	Is hair important?
e)	How much do you spend on your hair every month?
f)	Would you like human hair extensions?
g)	Why do people copy celebrities?
h)	What do you think of there being a trade in human hair?
i)	Do you think India could become a nation of short-haired people?
j)	How much would you sell your hair for?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Wouldn’t it be easier for everyone to be bald or shave their head?
c)	Why do you think human hair preferred to synthetic hair?
d)	What do you think of celebrity culture?
e)	What colour hair is best?
f)	Do you ever have bad hair days?
g)	What’s the most you’d spend to get your hair done?
h)	What do you think of wigs?
i)	Straight, wavy, curly – which is the best hair texture?
j)	What questions would you like to ask a hair trade expert?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The global trade in human hair is (1) ____ and becoming a major industry, according to e-commerce website alibaba.com. Celebrities are increasing the popularity of using real hair to (2) ____ their own. In recent months singer Beyonce, footballer Wayne Rooney and actor Sarah Jessica Parker have all been seen (3) ____ new and more voluminous locks. Alibaba spokeswoman Linda Kozlowski said: “There's been a huge upswing in hair. The celebrity (4) ____ has made hair extensions more popular, and everyone wants hair from India.” Hair stylist Lucinda Ellery explains why: “There is a big religious reason in India for people to get rid (5) ____ their hair. They (6) ____ it cut off and give it to monks. Now it's…an economic resource for the country," she said.
The alibaba.com website reports a 160 per cent increase in (7) ____ for “human hair” in the past year. The USA, China and Britain are the three largest international buyers. Ms Ellery said the rise of social media websites is one reason (8) ____ the success of the industry, saying: "It's really (9) ____ by things like Facebook and Twitter, tabloids and magazines. Women want to be more and more glamorous, as a result (10) ____ this big celebrity culture." She added that the cost of human hair is also rising with its demand: "In the last 10 years, it's tripled, doubled and tripled again." Alibaba says blonde is the most popular color because it can (11) ____ easily dyed to match the customer’s own natural color. It says wavy is the biggest-selling (12) ____, recently overtaking straight hair.
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	sawing	(b)	searing	(c)	thawing	(d)	soaring
2.	(a)	supplant	(b)	supplement	(c)	cement	(d)	sample
3.	(a)	sporting	(b)	gaming	(c)	playing	(d)	exercising
4.	(a)	cultural	(b)	cultured	(c)	culture	(d)	cultures
5.	(a)	from	(b)	for	(c)	of	(d)	by
6.	(a)	let	(b)	get	(c)	wet	(d)	net
7.	(a)	searches	(b)	looks	(c)	finds	(d)	hunts
8.	(a)	next to	(b)	opposite	(c)	in front of	(d)	behind
9.	(a)	cycled	(b)	driven	(c)	flown	(d)	rowed
10.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	so	(d)	of
11.	(a)	been	(b)	is	(c)	be	(d)	done
12.	(a)	texture	(b)	mixture	(c)	puncture	(d)	couture

 
 

WRITING

Write about hair for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

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 hair trade. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. HAIR: Make a poster about hair. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. BOOMING: Write a magazine article about the human hair industry. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.
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 a hair expert. Ask him/her three questions about hair. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. 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.	soaring	a.	skyrocketing
2.	supplement	b.	enhance
3.	sporting	c.	wearing
4.	upswing	d.	increase
5.	get rid of	e.	dispose of
6.	reason	f.	factor
7.	glamorous	g.	beautiful
8.	match	h.	harmonize with
9.	dyed	i.	recolored
10.	texture	j.	feel

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	becoming a major	a.	industry
2.	using real hair to supplement	b.	their own
3.	sporting new and more voluminous	c.	locks
4.	There's been a huge upswing	d.	in hair
5.	get rid	e.	of their hair
6.	a 160 per cent increase in searches	f.	for “human hair”
7.	the rise of social	g.	media websites
8.	Women want to be more and more	h.	glamorous
9.	doubled and	i.	tripled
10.	wavy is the	j.	biggest-selling texture

GAP FILL:

Trade in human hair booming

The global trade in human hair is (1) soaring and becoming a major industry, according to e-commerce website alibaba.com. Celebrities are increasing the (2) popularity of using real hair to supplement their own. In recent months singer Beyonce, footballer Wayne Rooney and actor Sarah Jessica Parker have all been seen (3) sporting new and more voluminous locks. Alibaba spokeswoman Linda Kozlowski said: “There's been a (4) huge upswing in hair. The celebrity (5) culture has made hair extensions more popular, and everyone wants hair from India.” Hair (6) stylist Lucinda Ellery explains why: “There is a big religious reason in India for people to get (7) rid of their hair. They get it cut off and give it to monks. Now it's…an economic (8) resource for the country," she said.
The alibaba.com website reports a 160 per cent increase in (9) searches for “human hair” in the past year. The USA, China and Britain are the three largest international (10) buyers. Ms Ellery said the rise of social media websites is one reason (11) behind the success of the industry, saying: "It's really driven by things like Facebook and Twitter, (12) tabloids and magazines. Women want to be more and more glamorous, as a result of this big celebrity culture." She added that the (13) cost of human hair is also rising with its demand: "In the last 10 years, it's tripled, (14) doubled and tripled again." Alibaba says blonde is the most popular color because it can be easily (15) dyed to match the customer’s own natural color. It says wavy is the biggest-selling (16) texture, recently overtaking straight hair.
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

Back to the top