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Travel company ends 'unethical' animal tours (19th May, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

One of the world's top travel companies is ending its tours to many of the planet's top animal attractions. STA Travel, which provides holidays, flights and accommodation for 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no longer organize tours to places where animals are not free. This means it will not arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, as well as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were good to animals. Many STA customers complained about the tours to some places, so it started to review its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to feedback from animal welfare experts."

SeaWorld was disappointed with STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the high standards of animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA make this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the safety of our employees and guests and the welfare of our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very much at the beginning of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the issues are and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at theme parks.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/16/sta-travel-ends-unethical-animal-trips-elephants-seaworld
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2014/05/16/47997/sta-travel-drops-animal-attractions.html
http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/seaworld-disappointed-after-sta-places-animal-attractions-tours-under-review/4691451.article

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. ANIMALS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about animals. Change partners often 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.

travel company / animals / attractions / tours / elephant rides / customers / experts / disappointed / high standards / decision / journey / animal rights / theme parks

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

3. NOT WILD: What do you think of these situations where animals are not wild? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Good / Bad?	Why?	How would you change this?
Zoos
SeaWorld
Aquariums
Homes (as pets)
Police dogs / horses
Racing (horses / dogs)

4. FREE: Students A strongly believe animals should be free; Students B strongly believe pets, zoos and work animals are OK. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. ATTRACTIONS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• SeaWorld

• Disneyland

• Pyramids

• Louvre

• Mt. Everest

• Safari Park

• Great Wall of China

• Taj Mahal

6. TOUR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "tour". 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.	Three travel companies are ending tours to animal attractions.	T / F
b.	STA Travel sells tours to around 2.5 million students a year.	T / F
c.	STA will still organize tours to SeaWorld in the USA.	T / F
d.	Customers complained about the tours to animal attractions.	T / F
e.	SeaWorld totally understood and agreed with STA's decision.	T / F
f.	SeaWorld said animal welfare is more important than staff welfare.	T / F
g.	STA said it is just beginning of the process of making changes.	T / F
h.	An animal rights said dolphins suffer at all theme parks.	T / F

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

1.	ending	a.	choice
2.	top	b.	specialists
3.	arrange	c.	start
4.	review	d.	leading
5.	experts	e.	problems
6.	standards	f.	organise
7.	decision	g.	finishing
8.	welfare	h.	levels
9.	beginning	i.	reconsider
10.	issues	j.	well-being

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

1.	One of the world's	a.	groups
2.	holidays, flights	b.	are not free
3.	places where animals	c.	of animal care
4.	places it knew	d.	to feedback
5.	listen carefully	e.	the issues are
6.	high standards	f.	top travel companies
7.	animal rights	g.	were good to animals
8.	higher	h.	parks
9.	understand what	i.	and accommodation
10.	theme	j.	priority

GAP FILL

One of the world's top travel companies is ending its tours to many of the planet's top animal (1) ____________. STA Travel, which provides holidays, flights and (2) ____________ for 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no longer organize tours to places where animals are not (3) ____________. This means it will not arrange elephant (4) ____________ or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, as well as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were (5) ____________ to animals. Many STA customers complained about the tours to some places, so it started to (6) ____________ its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this (7) ____________ and listen carefully to feedback from animal welfare (8) ____________."

good
seriously
free
review
attractions
experts
accommodation
rides

SeaWorld was disappointed with STA's (9) ____________. It wanted STA to see the high standards of animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said (10) ____________ by animal rights groups may have made STA make this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no (11) ____________ priority for SeaWorld than the (12) ____________ of our employees and guests and the (13) ____________ of our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very much at the (14) ____________ of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the (15) ____________ are and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at (16) ____________ parks.

beginning
higher
decision
issues
welfare
activities
theme
safety

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	One of the world's top travel companies is ______
	a. ending its tours b. end in its tours c. end in its towards d. ending its towards
2)	provides holidays, flights ______
	a. an accommodation b. and accommodation c. and a commendation d. and a comma day shun
3)	it will no longer organize tours to places where ______
	a. animals are not free b. animals are not free c. animals are not free d. animals are not free
4)	Many STA ______
	a. customer's complained b. customers' complained c. customer as complained d. customers complained
5)	listen carefully to feedback from ______
	a. animal welfare experts b. animal welfare exports c. animal welfare expats d. animal welfare ex-ports
6)	SeaWorld was disappointed ______
	a. for STA's decision b. at STA's decision c. with STA's decision d. this STA's decision
7)	It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA ______
	a. fake this decision b. bake this decision c. rake this decision d. make this decision
8)	We are very much at the beginning ______
	a. of these journey b. of this journey c. of those journey d. of that journey
9)	work with organisations that really ______
	a. understand though this sues b. understand those tissues c. understand those issued d. understand those issues
10)	PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer ______
	a. at them parks b. at theme parks c. at thee parks d. at these parks

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

One of the world's top travel companies (1) ___________________ to many of the planet's top animal attractions. STA Travel, which provides holidays, flights (2) ___________________ 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no longer organize tours to places where (3) ___________________. This means it will not arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, (4) ___________________ SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were good to animals. Many STA (5) ___________________ the tours to some places, so it started to review its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to feedback from (6) ___________________."

SeaWorld was disappointed with STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the (7) ___________________ animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA make this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is (8) ___________________ for SeaWorld than the safety of our employees and guests and (9) ___________________ animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very (10) ___________________ of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand (11) ___________________ and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins (12) ___________________ parks.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What's the name of the travel company?
2.	How many students use the travel company's services each year?
3.	What is the name of the attraction in Florida and California?
4.	Who complained to the travel company?
5.	What does the company listen carefully to?
6.	What is SeaWorld disappointed with?
7.	Who does SeaWorld blame for the travel company's decision?
8.	What does SeaWorld care about the welfare of?
9.	What is it important for the travel company to understand?
10.	Where does the company say dolphins suffer?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What's the name of the travel company?	6.	What is SeaWorld disappointed with?
	a) StarWorld b) STA c) Star d) STA World		a) dolphins b) STA c) profits d) itself
2.	How many students use the travel company's services each year?	7.	Who does SeaWorld blame for the travel company's decision?
	a) 2.5 billion b) 25 million c) 2,500,000 d) 250,000		a) the dolphins b) its directors c) employees d) animal rights groups
3.	What is the name of the attraction in Florida and California?	8.	What does SeaWorld care about the welfare of?
	a) World Of Sea b) WorldSea c) See The World d) SeaWorld		a) its boss b) its customers c) its animals d) its staff
4.	Who complained to the travel company?	9.	What is it important for the travel company to understand?
	a) marine biologists b) customers c) children d) dolphin owners		a) the Earth b) Spanish c) dolphin language d) issues
5.	What does the company listen carefully to?	10.	Where does the company say dolphins suffer?
	a) feedback b) the weather forecast c) the dolphins d) noises in the water		a) in the Atlantic Ocean b) theme parks c) in cold water d) aquariums

ROLE PLAY

Role A – SeaWorld

You think Seaworld is the best attraction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so interesting about their attractions. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): the Louvre, Mount Everest or Disneyland.

Role B – The Louvre

You think the Louvre is the best attraction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so interesting about their attractions. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): Seaworld, Mount Everest or Disneyland.

Role C – Mount Everest

You think Mount Everest is the best attraction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so interesting about their attractions. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): the Louvre, Seaworld or Disneyland.

Role D – Disneyland

You think Disneyland is the best attraction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so interesting about their attractions. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): the Louvre, Mount Everest or Seaworld.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

animal

attraction

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:

top
2.5
rides
go
started
feedback

high
higher
look
beginning
time
theme

ANIMALS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about animals 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.

ANIMALS 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 term 'animal rights'?
c)	What kind of tours do you like going on?
d)	What do you think of the STA's decision?
e)	Do you think it's wrong that animals are kept in theme parks?
f)	Do you think dolphins like being kept at SeaWorld?
g)	What do you think of companies that operate elephant tours?
h)	What do you think people complained to the STA about?
i)	What do you think when you see animals in theme parks?
j)	Should all zoos and animal theme parks be banned?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	What do you think SeaWorld's "high standards" are?
c)	Is it OK to keep animals at attractions even if standards are high?
d)	What more do you think STA could do?
e)	Is it unfair to keep animals as pets?
f)	What are the issues about animal rights?
g)	Do you think animals will still be in cages or parks in 50 years?
h)	What decisions would you make about animals in theme parks?
i)	How important is animal rights?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the SeaWorld boss?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

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

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

One of the world's (1) ____ travel companies is ending its tours to many of the planet's top animal attractions. STA Travel, which (2) ____ holidays, flights and accommodation for 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no longer organize tours to places where animals are not (3) ____. This means it will not arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, (4) ____ well as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were (5) ____ to animals. Many STA customers complained about the tours to some places, so it started to review its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to (6) ____ from animal welfare experts."

SeaWorld was disappointed (7) ____ STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the high standards of animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA (8) ____ this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no (9) ____ priority for SeaWorld than the safety of our employees and guests and the welfare of our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very (10) ____ at the beginning of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the issues (11) ____ and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at (12) ____ parks.

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

1.	(a)	high	(b)	top	(c)	lead	(d)	increase
2.	(a)	providing	(b)	provides	(c)	provide	(d)	provisions
3.	(a)	freedom	(b)	freely	(c)	frees	(d)	free
4.	(a)	has	(b)	as	(c)	ease	(d)	was
5.	(a)	well	(b)	good	(c)	nicely	(d)	jolly
6.	(a)	feed	(b)	feeds	(c)	feedback	(d)	fed up
7.	(a)	on	(b)	from	(c)	with	(d)	as
8.	(a)	do	(b)	have	(c)	make	(d)	be
9.	(a)	height	(b)	up there	(c)	topping	(d)	higher
10.	(a)	much	(b)	many	(c)	most	(d)	more
11.	(a)	are	(b)	be	(c)	been	(d)	being
12.	(a)	them	(b)	thyme	(c)	theme	(d)	thermal

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	top animal snittacorta
2.	it will no longer rzoeiagn (USA) / sgeiaonr (UK) tours
3.	it will not rrngaae elephant rides
4.	Many STA customers mdanplcieo
5.	viwree its animal tours
6.	animal welfare psexret
Paragraph 2
7.	disappointed with STA's ondcieis
8.	high naasddrts of animal care
9.	saciiitvte by animal rights groups
10.	no higher ytiripro
11.	the beginning of this oejrynu
12.	mteeh parks

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	review its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to feedback from animal welfare experts."
( )	good to animals. Many STA customers complained about the tours to some places, so it started to
( )	are and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal
( )	care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA make
( )	animal attractions. STA Travel, which provides holidays, flights and accommodation
( )	SeaWorld was disappointed with STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the high standards of animal
( 1 )	One of the world's top travel companies is ending its tours to many of the planet's top
( )	as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were
( )	this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the safety of our
( )	much at the beginning of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the issues
( )	free. This means it will not arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, as well
( )	employees and guests and the welfare of our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very
( )	rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at theme parks.
( )	for 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no longer organize tours to places where animals are not

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	to the animal Tours of top many planet's attractions.
2.	arrange will means not elephant . it This rides
3.	knew were good to animals Only go to places it.
4.	animal its review to started It tours.
5.	carefully welfare to experts feedback from Listen animal.
6.	standards care SeaWorlds high animal both The of at.
7.	It at that look places animals would more have.
8.	journey very the this are at of We much beginning.
9.	really Work understand with those organisations issues that.
10.	dolphins at as suffer parks such all theme Animals.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

One of the world's top travel companies is ended / ending its tours to many of the planet's top animal attractions. STA Travel, which provisions / provides holidays, flights and accommodation for 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no / not longer organize tours to places where animals are not freely / free. This means it will not arrangement / arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, as / has well as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knowing / knew were good to animals. Many STA customers complained about / around the tours to some places, so it started to review / reviews its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to feedback to / from animal welfare experts."

SeaWorld was disappointed with / from STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the high / highly standards of animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities on / by animal rights groups may have made STA fake / make this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no / not higher priority for SeaWorld than the safety of / by our employees and guests and the welfare of / to our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very many / much at the beginning of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the issues are and work with organisations that really understand them / those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at theme / them parks.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

_n_ _f th_ w_rld's t_p tr_v_l c_mp_n__s _s _nd_ng _ts t__rs t_ m_ny _f th_ pl_n_t's t_p _n_m_l _ttr_ct__ns. ST_ Tr_v_l, wh_ch pr_v_d_s h_l_d_ys, fl_ghts _nd _cc_mm_d_t__n f_r 2.5 m_ll__n st_d_nts _ y__r, h_s d_c_d_d _t w_ll n_ l_ng_r _rg_n_z_ t__rs t_ pl_c_s wh_r_ _n_m_ls _r_ n_t fr__. Th_s m__ns _t w_ll n_t _rr_ng_ _l_ph_nt r_d_s _r tr_ps t_ th_ T_g_r T_mpl_ _n Th__l_nd, _s w_ll _s t__rs t_ S__W_rld _n Fl_r_d_ _nd C_l_f_rn__. Th_ c_mp_ny s__d _t w__ld _nly g_ t_ pl_c_s _t kn_w w_r_ g__d t_ _n_m_ls. M_ny ST_ c_st_m_rs c_mpl__n_d _b__t th_ t__rs t_ s_m_ pl_c_s, s_ _t st_rt_d t_ r_v__w _ts _n_m_l t__rs. _ c_mp_ny sp_k_sw_m_n s__d: "W_ t_k_ th_s s_r___sly _nd l_st_n c_r_f_lly t_ f__db_ck fr_m _n_m_l w_lf_r_ _xp_rts."

S__W_rld w_s d_s_pp__nt_d w_th ST_'s d_c_s__n. _t w_nt_d ST_ t_ s__ th_ h_gh st_nd_rds _f _n_m_l c_r_ _t b_th S__W_rlds. _t _ls_ s__d _ct_v_t__s by _n_m_l r_ghts gr__ps m_y h_v_ m_d_ ST_ m_k_ th_s d_c_s__n. _ S__W_rld sp_k_sp_rs_n s__d: "Th_r_ _s n_ h_gh_r pr__r_ty f_r S__W_rld th_n th_ s_f_ty _f __r _mpl_y__s _nd g__sts _nd th_ w_lf_r_ _f __r _n_m_ls." ST_ s__d _t w__ld l__k _t m_r_ pl_c_s th_t h_v_ _n_m_ls. _t s__d: "W_ _r_ v_ry m_ch _t th_ b_g_nn_ng _f th_s j__rn_y. _t _s r__lly _mp_rt_nt w_ d_ _t _v_r t_m_, _nd_rst_nd wh_t th_ _ss__s _r_ _nd w_rk w_th _rg_n_s_t__ns th_t r__lly _nd_rst_nd th_s_ _ss__s." Th_ _n_m_l r_ghts gr__p P_T_ s_ys _n_m_ls s_ch _s d_lph_ns _ll s_ff_r _t th_m_ p_rks.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

One of the world's top travel companies is ending its tours to many of the planet's top animal attractions. STA Travel, which provides holidays, flights and accommodation for 2.5 million students a year, has decided it will no longer organize tours to places where animals are not free. This means it will not arrange elephant rides or trips to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, as well as tours to SeaWorld in Florida and California. The company said it would only go to places it knew were good to animals. Many STA customers complained about the tours to some places, so it started to review its animal tours. A company spokeswoman said: "We take this seriously and listen carefully to feedback from animal welfare experts."

SeaWorld was disappointed with STA's decision. It wanted STA to see the high standards of animal care at both SeaWorlds. It also said activities by animal rights groups may have made STA make this decision. A SeaWorld spokesperson said: "There is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the safety of our employees and guests and the welfare of our animals." STA said it would look at more places that have animals. It said: "We are very much at the beginning of this journey. It is really important we do it over time, understand what the issues are and work with organisations that really understand those issues." The animal rights group PETA says animals such as dolphins all suffer at theme parks.

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Oneoftheworld'stoptravelcompaniesisendingitstourstomanyofth
eplanet'stopanimalattractions.STATravel,whichprovidesholiday
s,flightsandaccommodationfor2.5millionstudentsayear,hasdeci
deditwillnolongerorganizetourstoplaceswhereanimalsarenotfree
.ThismeansitwillnotarrangeelephantridesortripstotheTigerTempl
einThailand,aswellastourstoSeaWorldinFloridaandCalifornia.The
companysaiditwouldonlygotoplacesitknewweregoodtoanimals.
ManySTAcustomerscomplainedaboutthetourstosomeplaces,soit
startedtoreviewitsanimaltours.Acompanyspokeswomansaid:"W
etakethisseriouslyandlistencarefullytofeedbackfromanimalwelfa
reexperts."SeaWorldwasdisappointedwithSTA'sdecision.Itwante
dSTAtoseethehighstandardsofanimalcareatbothSeaWorlds.Itals
osaidactivitiesbyanimalrightsgroupsmayhavemadeSTAmakethis
decision.ASeaWorldspokespersonsaid:"Thereisnohigherpriorityf
orSeaWorldthanthesafetyofouremployeesandguestsandthewelf
areofouranimals."STAsaiditwouldlookatmoreplacesthathaveani
mals.Itsaid:"Weareverymuchatthebeginningofthisjourney.Itisre
allyimportantwedoitovertime,understandwhattheissuesareand
workwithorganisationsthatreallyunderstandthoseissues."Theani
malrightsgroupPETAsaysanimalssuchasdolphinsallsufferatthem
eparks.

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

It is wrong to keep animals in theme parks. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 STA Travel's decision. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. ANIMAL RIGHTS: Make a poster about animal rights. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. THEME PARKS: Write a magazine article about animals in theme parks. 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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on animals. Ask him/her three questions about animals in theme parks. Give him/her three of your ideas. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

F

d

T

e

F

f

F

g

T

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	ending	a.	finishing
2.	top	b.	leading
3.	arrange	c.	organise
4.	review	d.	reconsider
5.	experts	e.	specialists
6.	standards	f.	levels
7.	decision	g.	choice
8.	welfare	h.	well-being
9.	beginning	i.	start
10.	issues	j.	problems

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	STA
2.	2.5 million
3.	SeaWorld
4.	Customers
5.	Feedback
6.	STA's decision
7.	Animal rights groups
8.	Its animals
9.	Issues
10.	Theme parks

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

c

3.

d

4.

b

5.

a

6.

a

7.

d

8.

c

9.

d

10.

b

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Travel company ends 'unethical' animal tours (19th May, 2014)

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