Breaking News English

        

1. MONARCHY: Walk around the class and talk to other students about monarchies. 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.

prime minister / break away / republic / inauguration / independent / audience / circle / head of state / political support / colonial power / opposition / representative

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

3. BEING QUEEN: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Being Queen	Good things	Bad things
Family
Public duties
Shopping
Travel
Holidays
Fame

4. MONARCHY: Students A strongly believe a monarchy is of no use in the 21^st century; Students B strongly believe monarchies are still important.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. MY COUNTRY: What’s most important? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner. Put the most important at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

independence raw materials a clean natural environment civil tights

cheap prices fair courts no crime good schools

6. QUEEN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘queen’. 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.	Jamaica no longer wants to be a republic.	T / F
b.	Jamaica’s prime minister said many nice things about Britain’s queen.	T / F
c.	Jamaica’s leader said now was not a good time to break away.	T / F
d.	Jamaica gained independence rom Britain sixty years ago.	T / F
e.	Ms Miller is not the first person to suggest breaking from Britain.	T / F
f.	Jamaicans must vote to decide if they want to be a republic.	T / F
g.	Britain’s Queen is the head of state in Jamaica.	T / F
h.	Prince Harry said he is embarrassed about the whole situation.	T / F

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

1.	announced	a.	wish
2	break away	b.	suggest
3.	desire	c.	commemorating
4.	truly	d.	matter
5.	celebrating	e.	result in
6.	propose	f.	made known
7.	former	g.	really
8.	issue	h.	providing
9.	as long as	i.	separate
10.	lead to	j.	ex-

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

1.	her country will break away	a.	speech
2	She paid tribute to	b.	in full agreement
3.	inauguration	c.	political support
4.	I think the time	d.	the British Queen
5.	we now need to complete	e.	state
6.	head of	f.	situation
7.	wider	g.	has come
8.	vote in a	h.	from Great Britain
9.	opposition parties are	i.	the circle
10.	an embarrassing diplomatic	j.	referendum

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Jamaica’s new Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced her country will (1) ____________ away from Great Britain and become a republic. She (2) ____________ tribute to the British Queen during her inauguration (3) ____________ on Thursday but expressed her country’s desire to become (4) ____________ independent. She said: “I love the Queen. She is a beautiful lady, and (5) ____________ from being a beautiful lady, a wise lady and a wonderful lady.” She then added: “But I think the time has come.” She told her (6) ____________ that now was a good time to break away as Jamaica was celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence from Britain. Ms Miller said: "As we (7) ____________ our achievements as an independent nation, we now need to complete the (8) ____________ of independence.”		apart paid circle truly break audience speech celebrate
Mrs Miller is not the first Jamaican leader to (9) ____________ replacing the Queen as head of state. The difference this (10) ____________ round is that there is wider political support for (11) ____________ breaking away from the country’s former colonial power. There may not even be a need for Jamaica’s people to (12) ____________ in a referendum on the issue. The changes to the constitution could be made through parliament as (13) ____________ as opposition parties are in full agreement. In the meantime, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state and Jamaica’s prime minister is formally appointed (14) ____________ the Queen’s representative in Jamaica. Prince Harry will (15) ____________ Jamaica later this year, which may lead to an embarrassing diplomatic (16) ____________.		vote visit time by propose situation fully long

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Jamaica’s new Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced her _____________________ from Great Britain and become a republic. She paid tribute to the British Queen during _____________________ on Thursday _____________________ country’s desire to become truly independent. She said: “I love the Queen. She is a beautiful lady, and apart from being a beautiful lady, a wise lady and a wonderful lady.” She then added: “But I think _____________________.” She told her audience that now was a good time to break away as Jamaica was celebrating its _____________________ independence from Britain. Ms Miller said: "As we celebrate our achievements as an independent nation, we now need to complete the _____________________.”

Mrs Miller is not the first Jamaican _____________________ replacing the Queen as head of state. The difference _____________________ is that there is wider political support for fully breaking away from the country’s former colonial power. There may not even be a need for Jamaica’s people to vote in a referendum _____________________. The changes to the constitution could be made through parliament as long as opposition parties are _____________________. In the meantime, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state and Jamaica’s prime minister _____________________ by the Queen’s representative in Jamaica. Prince Harry will visit Jamaica later this year, _____________________ an embarrassing diplomatic situation.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

break

away

• 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:

announced during love come 50 audience

propose wider former long head embarrassing

QUEENS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about queens 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.

REPUBLIC 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 ‘republic’?
c)	What do you think of what you read?
d)	What are the differences between a monarchy and republic?
e)	Is it better to be a monarchy or republic?
f)	What do you think of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth?
g)	Why do you think Jamaica wants to break away?
h)	What do you know about your country’s independence?
i)	How should a country celebrate 50 years of independence?
j)	What do you know about Jamaica?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think the idea of a monarchy is good?
c)	What do you know about colonies and colonial power?
d)	Do you think the people should vote about the issue of becoming a republic?
e)	Do you think the British people will ever vote to become a republic?
f)	Are monarchies outdated in today’s modern age?
g)	What’s the point of having a monarchy?
h)	Why might Prince Harry’s visit to Jamaica be embarrassing?
i)	What do you think the Queens’s feelings are about Jamaica wanting to break away?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Portia Simpson Miller?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Jamaica’s new Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced her country will break (1) ____ from Great Britain and become a republic. She (2) ____ tribute to the British Queen during her inauguration speech on Thursday but expressed her country’s desire to become (3) ____ independent. She said: “I love the Queen. She is a beautiful lady, and apart from being a beautiful lady, a wise lady and a wonderful lady.” She then added: “But I think the time has come.” She told her   (4) ____ that now was a good time to break away as Jamaica was celebrating its 50th anniversary (5) ____ independence from Britain. Ms Miller said: "As we celebrate our achievements as an independent nation, we now need to complete the (6) ____ of independence.”

Mrs Miller is not the first Jamaican leader to (7) ____ replacing the Queen as head of state. The difference this time round is that there is (8) ____ political support for fully breaking away from the country’s former colonial power. There may not even be a need for Jamaica’s people to vote in a referendum (9) ____ the issue. The changes to the constitution could be made through parliament as (10) ____ as opposition parties are in full agreement. In the meantime, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is still the (11) ____ of state and Jamaica’s prime minister is formally appointed by the Queen’s representative in Jamaica. Prince Harry will visit Jamaica later this year, which may lead to an embarrassing (12) ____ situation.

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

1.	(a)	away	(b)	up	(c)	over	(d)	in
2.	(a)	said	(b)	laid	(c)	paid	(d)	maid
3.	(a)	truthfully	(b)	truth	(c)	truism	(d)	truly
4.	(a)	spectators	(b)	audience	(c)	congregation	(d)	onlookers
5.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	for	(d)	of
6.	(a)	round	(b)	orb	(c)	circle	(d)	sphere
7.	(a)	proposition	(b)	propose	(c)	proposal	(d)	proposing
8.	(a)	wider	(b)	longer	(c)	width	(d)	length
9.	(a)	on	(b)	as	(c)	in	(d)	under
10.	(a)	short	(b)	wide	(c)	long	(d)	deep
11.	(a)	foot	(b)	body	(c)	brain	(d)	head
12.	(a)	diploma	(b)	diplomatic	(c)	diplomacy	(d)	diplomatically

 
 

WRITING

Write about queens 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 kings and queens. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. REPUBLIC: Make a poster about republics. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. JAMAICAN: Write a magazine article about Jamaica’s plans to break free from the British monarchy. Include imaginary interviews with a Jamaican and the British Queen.

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 British Queen. Ask her three questions about being a queen. Give her three pieces of advice on how she can better serve her people. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

F

d.

F

e.

T

f.

F

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	announced	a.	made known
2	break away	b.	separate
3.	desire	c.	wish
4.	truly	d.	really
5.	celebrating	e.	commemorating
6.	propose	f.	suggest
7.	former	g.	ex-
8.	issue	h.	matter
9.	as long as	i.	providing
10.	lead to	j.	result in

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	her country will break away	a.	from Great Britain
2	She paid tribute to	b.	the British Queen
3.	inauguration	c.	speech
4.	I think the time	d.	has come
5.	we now need to complete	e.	the circle
6.	head of	f.	state
7.	wider	g.	political support
8.	vote in a	h.	referendum
9.	opposition parties are	i.	in full agreement
10.	an embarrassing diplomatic	j.	situation

GAP FILL:

Jamaica plans to break from Britain

Jamaica’s new Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced her country will (1) break away from Great Britain and become a republic. She (2) paid tribute to the British Queen during her inauguration (3) speech on Thursday but expressed her country’s desire to become (4) truly independent. She said: “I love the Queen. She is a beautiful lady, and (5) apart from being a beautiful lady, a wise lady and a wonderful lady.” She then added: “But I think the time has come.” She told her (6) audience that now was a good time to break away as Jamaica was celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence from Britain. Ms Miller said: "As we (7) celebrate our achievements as an independent nation, we now need to complete the (8) circle of independence.”

Mrs Miller is not the first Jamaican leader to (9) propose replacing the Queen as head of state. The difference this (10) time round is that there is wider political support for (11) fully breaking away from the country’s former colonial power. There may not even be a need for Jamaica’s people to (12) vote in a referendum on the issue. The changes to the constitution could be made through parliament as (13) long as opposition parties are in full agreement. In the meantime, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state and Jamaica’s prime minister is formally appointed (14) by the Queen’s representative in Jamaica. Prince Harry will (15) visit Jamaica later this year, which may lead to an embarrassing diplomatic (16) situation.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - d

4 - b

5 - d

6 - c

7 - b

8 - a

9 -a

10 - c

11 - d

12 - b

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