Breaking News English

Letter of the alphabet for 'the' invented (11th July, 2013)

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.	a new letter	a.	from iTunes
2.	a capital "T"	b.	to change the world
3.	people will	c.	of the alphabet
4.	download it	d.	be useful
5.	He spent $35,000	e.	and a small "h"
6.	Apple isn't	f.	on his app
7.	going	g.	so interested
8.	something that might	h.	like his idea

PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.	it replaces the most	a.	most common word
2.	people will save	b.	one key
3.	they only need	c.	time typing
4.	other words have	d.	on characters
5.	the fifth	e.	common English word
6.	there is a limit	f.	systems
7.	Not everyone	g.	their own letter
8.	operating	h.	agrees

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

An Australian businessman (1) ___________________ letter of the alphabet. It is (2) ___________________ "the". It looks like a capital "T" and a (3) ___________________. However, it looks like a letter from the Serbian language. The man, Paul Mathis, believes people will like his idea. People can (4) ___________________ iTunes. Mr Mathis hopes mobile phone, tablet and computer makers will put the letter (5) ___________________. He spent $35,000 on his app, but Apple isn't so interested. He said: "Is this going to change the world? Not really. But (6) ___________________ might be useful for people? I think so."

Mr Mathis thinks the new letter is useful (7) ___________________ the most common English word – "the". He said people will          (8) ___________________ because they only (9) ___________________ of the three needed for the word "the". He said other words have their own letter. He showed that the word "and" ((10) ___________________ word) has its own symbol - the ampersand (&). Mathis thinks his new letter will help with Twitter or texting, where there is a (11) ___________________. Not everyone agrees with Mathis. Computer experts don't think companies will change their keyboards (12) ___________________.

PUT A SLASH ( / )WHERE THE SPACES ARE

AnAustralianbusinessmanhascreatedanewletterofthealphabet.Itisa
symbolfortheword"the".Itlookslikeacapital"T"andasmall"h"joinedto
gether.However,itlookslikealetterfromtheSerbianlanguage.Thema
n,PaulMathis,believespeoplewilllikehisidea.Peoplecannowdownload
fromiTunes.MrMathishopesmobilephone,tabletandcomputermaker
swillputtheletterontheirkeyboards.Hespent$35,000onhisapp,butAp
pleisn'tsointerested.Hesaid:"Isthisgoingtochangetheworld?Notreall
y.Butisitsomethingthatmightbeusefulforpeople?Ithinkso."MrMathis
thinksthenewletterisusefulbecauseitreplacesthemostcommonEngli
shword–"the".Hesaidpeoplewillsavetimetypingbecausetheyonly
needonekeyinsteadofthethreeneededfortheword"the".Hesaidother
wordshavetheirownletter.Heshowedthattheword"and"(thefifthmos
tcommonword)hasitsownsymboltheampersand(&).Mathisthinkshis
newletterwillhelpwithTwitterortexting,wherethereisalimitoncharact
ers.NoteveryoneagreeswithMathis.Computerexpertsdon'tthinkcom
panieswillchangetheirkeyboardsoroperatingsystems.

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

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

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

WRITING

Write about the alphabet for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Back to the top