Breaking News English

        

1. BAILOUTS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about bailouts. 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.

politician / pour money into something / collapsing / severe consequences / promises / unsympathetic / suffering / tax evaders / collectively / village / help / insulting

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

3. WHO NEEDS THE MONEY?: Where should the IMF's billions go? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

Who?	Why?
Greece
Poor children
Cancer research
Disaster victims
The Arts
Clean water projects

4. BAILOUT: Students A strongly believe Europe should keep bailing Greece out; Students B strongly believe they shouldn't.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. AUSTERITY: What could you do without? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the things you need most at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

mobile phone snacks and sweets restaurants books

games music clothes movies

6. MONEY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'money'. 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 German politician said Germany will no longer give Greece money.	T / F
b.	Germany has given more money to help Greece than any other nation.	T / F
c.	A Greek bankruptcy would have no effect on countries outside Europe.	T / F
d.	The German politician suggested Greece is not keeping its promises.	T / F
e.	The IMF's chief said she had no sympathy for Greece.	T / F
f.	The IMF chief suggested Greeks should stop avoiding paying taxes.	T / F
g.	The chief said she cared more about the education of poor African kids.	T / F
h.	A Greek socialist politician agreed with the IMF chief's words.	T / F

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

1.	afloat	a.	avoid
2.	contributor	b.	universal
3.	widespread	c.	actions
4.	severe	d.	uncaring
5.	measures	e.	above water
6.	unsympathetic	f.	offending
7.	suffering	g.	as one
8.	escape	h.	terrible
9.	collectively	i.	donor
10.	insulting	j.	hardship

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

1.	keep it	a.	consequences
2.	Germany has been the main	b.	collectively
3.	… which could have severe	c.	bottomless pit
4.	austerity	d.	to Greece's situation
5.	pour money into a	e.	the Greek people
6.	Christine Lagarde was unsympathetic	f.	afloat
7.	a nation of tax	g.	mind all the time
8.	they should also help themselves	h.	measures
9.	I have them in my	i.	contributor
10.	insulting	j.	evaders

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

A German politician has ____________ Greece his country will not continue to pour money into Greece to keep it ____________. Germany has been the main contributor in providing funds to keep Greece's economy from collapsing. It has twice contributed to ____________, multi-billion-dollar bailouts to help the Greek economy. ____________ are widespread that Greece will go bankrupt, which could have severe consequences for the rest of the Eurozone and ____________ turmoil on world financial markets. Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters that he was happy for Germany to help Greece as long as it keeps its ____________ regarding austerity measures. He said: "We're not ____________ to pour money into a bottomless ____________."		promises fears afloat willing warned pit huge cause
IMF chief Christine Lagarde was unsympathetic to Greece's situation when compared to ____________ in the rest of the world. She angered many Greeks when she ____________ they were a nation of tax ____________. She told reporters: "As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are trying to ____________ tax all the time.…I think they should also help themselves ____________." She added: "I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get two hours of teaching a day….I have them in my ____________ all the time because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens." Greece's socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos ____________ Ms Lagarde of "____________ the Greek people".		evaders accused suggested collectively insulting suffering escape mind

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A German politician has warned Greece his country will not _______________________ money into Greece to keep it afloat. Germany has been the main contributor in _______________________ Greece's economy from collapsing. It has twice contributed to huge, multi-billion-_______________________ the Greek economy. Fears are widespread that Greece will go bankrupt, which could have _______________________ for the rest of the Eurozone _______________________ world financial markets. Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters that he was happy for Germany to help Greece as long as it keeps its promises regarding _______________________. He said: "We're not willing to pour money into a bottomless pit."

IMF chief Christine Lagarde was unsympathetic to Greece's situation when _______________________ in the rest of the world. She angered many Greeks when she suggested they were a _______________________. She told reporters: "As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are _______________________ tax all the time.…I think they should also help _______________________." She added: "I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get two hours of teaching a day….I have _______________________ all the time because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens." Greece's socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos accused Ms Lagarde of "_______________________ people".

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'pour' and 'money'.

pour

money

• 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:

continue twice fears severe happy pit

chief nation escape little mind help

BAILOUTS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about bailouts 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.

 
 

BAILOUTS 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 'bailout'?
c)	How interested are you in news of Greece's economic woes?
d)	How did Greece get into such a mess?
e)	What are the economics of the whole situation?
f)	Do you agree with the German politician?
g)	What happens if Greece goes bankrupt?
h)	Should it be up to Germany to lend so much money to Greece?
i)	Why is Greece finding it so hard to implement its austerity measures?
j)	Is the Euro a good idea?

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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 Eurozone has been a success?
c)	What do you think of Christine Lagarde's relative lack of sympathy?
d)	Do you think the billions should go to educate poor children instead of bailing Greece out?
e)	How much of a problem is tax evasion in your country?
f)	How is the state of your country's economy?
g)	Should countries be left to go bankrupt and then rebuild themselves?
h)	Whose fault is it that the Greek economy is in such a mess?
i)	Do you think Christine LaGarde's comments insulted the Greeks?
j)	What questions would you like to ask IMF chief Christine Lagarde?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A German politician has warned Greece his country will not continue to pour money (1) ____ Greece to keep it afloat. Germany has been the (2) ____ contributor in providing funds to keep Greece's economy from collapsing. It has twice contributed to huge, multi-billion-dollar bailouts to help the Greek economy. (3) ____ are widespread that Greece will go bankrupt, which could have (4) ____ consequences for the rest of the Eurozone and (5) ____ turmoil on world financial markets. Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters that he was happy for Germany to help Greece as long as it keeps its promises regarding austerity measures. He said: "We're not (6) ____ to pour money into a bottomless pit."

IMF chief Christine Lagarde was (7) ____ to Greece's situation when compared to suffering in the rest of the world. She (8) ____ many Greeks when she suggested they were a nation of tax evaders. She told reporters: "As far as Athens is (9) ____, I also think about all those people who are trying to escape tax all the time.…I think they should also help (10) ____ collectively." She added: "I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get two hours of teaching a day….I have them in my (11) ____ all the time because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens." Greece's socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos accused Ms Lagarde of "(12) ____ the Greek people".

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

1.	(a)	over	(b)	on	(c)	down	(d)	into
2.	(a)	importance	(b)	minor	(c)	main	(d)	supreme
3.	(a)	Afraid	(b)	Fears	(c)	Phobias	(d)	Dread
4.	(a)	severe	(b)	numeracy	(c)	lenient	(d)	cut
5.	(a)	have	(b)	take	(c)	cause	(d)	provide
6.	(a)	wilting	(b)	withering	(c)	wallowing	(d)	willing
7.	(a)	sympathy	(b)	unsympathetic	(c)	symphony	(d)	symptomatic
8.	(a)	angered	(b)	angry	(c)	angers	(d)	anger
9.	(a)	concentrated	(b)	concerned	(c)	concertinaed	(d)	contained
10.	(a)	nationals	(b)	these	(c)	themselves	(d)	selfishness
11.	(a)	mind	(b)	intellect	(c)	wits	(d)	reason
12.	(a)	insults	(b)	insult	(c)	insulted	(d)	insulting

 
 

WRITING

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

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

4. GREECE: Write a magazine article about Greece's economic woes. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against more bailouts.

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 IMF chief Christine Lagarde. Ask her three questions about the bailouts to Greece. Give her three of your opinions on them. 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.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	afloat	a.	above water
2.	contributor	b.	donor
3.	widespread	c.	universal
4.	severe	d.	terrible
5.	measures	e.	actions
6.	unsympathetic	f.	uncaring
7.	suffering	g.	hardship
8.	escape	h.	avoid
9.	collectively	i.	as one
10.	insulting	j.	offending

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	keep it	a.	afloat
2.	Germany has been the main	b.	contributor
3.	… which could have severe	c.	consequences
4.	austerity	d.	measures
5.	pour money into a	e.	bottomless pit
6.	Christine Lagarde was unsympathetic	f.	to Greece's situation
7.	a nation of tax	g.	evaders
8.	they should also help themselves	h.	collectively
9.	I have them in my	i.	mind all the time
10.	insulting	j.	the Greek people

GAP FILL:

German help for Greece waning

A German politician has warned Greece his country will not continue to pour money into Greece to keep it afloat. Germany has been the main contributor in providing funds to keep Greece's economy from collapsing. It has twice contributed to huge, multi-billion-dollar bailouts to help the Greek economy. Fears are widespread that Greece will go bankrupt, which could have severe consequences for the rest of the Eurozone and cause turmoil on world financial markets. Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters that he was happy for Germany to help Greece as long as it keeps its promises regarding austerity measures. He said: "We're not willing to pour money into a bottomless pit."

IMF chief Christine Lagarde was unsympathetic to Greece's situation when compared to suffering in the rest of the world. She angered many Greeks when she suggested they were a nation of tax evaders. She told reporters: "As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are trying to escape tax all the time.…I think they should also help themselves collectively." She added: "I think more of the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger who get two hours of teaching a day….I have them in my mind all the time because I think they need even more help than the people in Athens." Greece's socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos accused Ms Lagarde of "insulting the Greek people".

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 -c

11 - a

12 - d

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