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Zzzzz (22nd July, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

A court in the USA has ordered the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in damages. Cynthia Robinson filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and fought for six years for compensation. Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two decades of smoking. He started smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company was negligent in not informing her husband that nicotine is addictive and that smoking can lead to lung cancer. She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially lethal and should have been more active in telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died."

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the compensation was disproportionate. He said: "The damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' aggressive marketing, particularly campaigns aimed at young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that the jury's decision was "courageous".

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/19/us/florida-tobacco-verdict/
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/20/usa-tobacco-award-idINL2N0PV00D20140720
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fla-jury-slams-rj-reynolds-with-236b-in-damages/2014/07/19/c3b1d54e-0fa3-11e4-b0dd-edc009ac1f9d_story.html

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. SMOKING: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about smoking. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

court / damages / lawsuit / compensation / smoking / negligent / addictive / quit / lawyer / excessive / verdict / fairness / marketing / campaigns / public / courageous

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

3. ADDICTIONS: How bad are these addictions and how can we help people? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

Addiction	How bad?	How to help?
Smoking
Heroin
Gaming
Shopping
Alcohol
Fast food

4. ILLEGAL: Students A strongly believe smoking should be made illegal; Students B strongly believe it shouldn't. 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. COURT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "court". 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 court case took place in the USA.	T / F
b.	The court case was first filed in 2008.	T / F
c.	A woman's husband died after more than 30 years of smoking.	T / F
d.	Tobacco companies didn't know smoking could kill until the 1960s.	T / F
e.	The tobacco company is the second-largest in the USA.	T / F
f.	The tobacco company's lawyers said the damages award is too high.	T / F
g.	Jurors looked at marketing campaigns aimed at children.	T / F
h.	A lawyer said smokers lied to the tobacco company.	T / F

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

1.	ordered	a.	irresponsible
2.	lawsuit	b.	forceful
3.	negligent	c.	give up
4.	lethal	d.	given
5.	quit	e.	instructed
6.	disproportionate	f.	area
7.	awarded	g.	brave
8.	realm	h.	legal action
9.	aggressive	i.	unequal
10.	courageous	j.	deadly

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

1.	pay a woman $23.6 billion	a.	addictive
2.	fought for six years	b.	aimed at young people
3.	nicotine is	c.	the day he died
4.	smoking was potentially	d.	disproportionate
5.	He was smoking	e.	are grossly excessive
6.	the compensation was	f.	in damages
7.	damages awarded in this case	g.	was "courageous"
8.	beyond the realm	h.	lethal
9.	campaigns	i.	of reasonableness
10.	the jury's decision	j.	for compensation

GAP FILL

A court in the USA has ordered the tobacco (1) ____________ R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in (2) ____________. Cynthia Robinson filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and (3) ____________ for six years for compensation. Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two (4) ____________ of smoking. He started smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company was (5) ____________ in not informing her husband that nicotine is (6) ____________ and that smoking can lead to lung cancer. She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially (7) ____________ and should have been more active in telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't (8) ____________. He was smoking the day he died."

addictive
fought
giant
lethal
decades
quit
damages
negligent

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the (9) ____________ was disproportionate. He said: "The damages awarded in this case are (10) ____________ excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This (11) ____________ goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the (12) ____________ presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said (13) ____________ looked at R.J. Reynolds' (14) ____________ marketing, particularly campaigns aimed at young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to (15) ____________ the smoker." He added that the jury's (16) ____________ was "courageous".

jurors
decision
grossly
aggressive
compensation
evidence
blame
verdict

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	ordered the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion ______
	a. in damages b. in damage is c. in damaged d. in dam ages
2)	filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and fought for six ______
	a. years from compensation b. years via compensation c. years of compensation d. years for compensation
3)	Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two ______
	a. decade of smoking b. decades for smoking c. decades of smoking d. decade for smoking
4)	Mrs Robinson argued that the company ______
	a. was negligence b. was negligent c. was negligee d. was negligently
5)	She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking ______
	a. was potentially legal b. was potentially lethal c. was potentially teeth all d. was potentially lease all
6)	He said: "The damages awarded in this case ______"
	a. are grossly excessively b. are grossly excess if c. are grossly accessible d. are grossly expressive
7)	He added: "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness ______"
	a. and fair best b. and fare nest c. and fearless d. and fairness
8)	completely inconsistent with the ______
	a. evidence presented b. evident presented c. evidential presented d. evidenced presented
9)	Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' ______
	a. aggressively marketing b. aggressiveness marketing c. aggressive market in d. aggressive marketing
10)	He added that the jury's decision ______
	a. was "courageous" b. were "courageous" c. is "courageous" d. are "courageous"

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A court in the USA has (1) ___________________ giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in damages. Cynthia Robinson filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 (2) ___________________ years for compensation. Her husband Michael (3) ___________________ in 1996 after two decades of smoking. He started smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company (4) ___________________ informing her husband that nicotine is addictive and that smoking can lead to lung cancer. She said tobacco (5) ___________________ 1950s that smoking was potentially lethal and should have (6) ___________________ telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died."

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the compensation (7) ___________________. He said: "The damages awarded in this case (8) ___________________ and impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness (9) ___________________ completely inconsistent with the (10) ___________________." Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' aggressive marketing, particularly (11) ___________________ young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that (12) ___________________ "courageous".

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Exactly how much was the woman awarded?
2.	When did Cynthia Robinson first file her law case?
3.	How old was Mrs Robinson's husband when he died?
4.	What did tobacco companies know about smoking in the 1950s?
5.	Until when did Michael Robinson continue to smoke?
6.	How large is R.J. Reynolds?
7.	What did R.J. Reynolds lawyers say was "grossly excessive"?
8.	What did lawyers say the damages are inconsistent with?
9.	Who were the marketing campaigns jurors looked at aimed at?
10.	What did Mrs Robinson's lawyer call the jury's decision?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	Exactly how much was the woman awarded?	6.	How large is R.J. Reynolds?
	a) $23.8 billion b) $23.6 billion c) $23.4 billion d) $23.3 billion		a) the second-largest tobacco company in the USA b) the world's biggest tobacco company c) the second-largest tobacco company in the world d) the USA's biggest tobacco company
2.	When did Cynthia Robinson first file her law case?	7.	What did R.J. Reynolds lawyers say was "grossly excessive"?
	a) 2006 b) 2007 c) 2008 d) 2009		a) marketing campaigns b) the number of people who smoke c) smoking-related deaths d) the damages
3.	How old was Mrs Robinson's husband when he died?	8.	What did lawyers say the damages are inconsistent with?
	a) 33 b) 34 c) 35 d) 36		a) morality b) consistency c) evidence d) international law
4.	What did tobacco companies know about smoking in the 1950s?	9.	Who were the marketing campaigns jurors looked at aimed at?
	a) governments liked it b) it was potentially lethal c) it would end one day d) it was cheap		a) smokers b) Mr Robinson c) poorer countries d) children
5.	Until when did Michael Robinson continue to smoke?	10.	What did Mrs Robinson's lawyer call the jury's decision?
	a) the day he died b) the week before he died c) a year before he died d) 1993		a) insufficient b) courageous c) half-hearted d) ridiculous

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Smoking

You think smoking is the worst addiction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why the other addictions aren't so bad. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): alcohol, gaming or fast food.

Role B – Alcohol

You think alcohol is the worst addiction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why the other addictions aren't so bad. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): smoking, gaming or fast food.

Role C – Gaming

You think gaming is the worst addiction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why the other addictions aren't so bad. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): alcohol, smoking or fast food.

Role D – Fast food

You think fast food is the worst addiction. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why the other addictions aren't so bad. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): alcohol, gaming or smoking.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

tobacco

company

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:

ordered
filed
1996
addictive
1950s
day

second
case
goes
looked
young
decision

SMOKING SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about smoking 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.

SMOKING 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 'cigarette'?
c)	What do you think of the compensation award?
d)	Should R.J. Reynolds pay the damages?
e)	What does this award tell the tobacco industry?
f)	Why do you think the award was so high?
g)	Do you think other people will get awarded this much?
h)	Should R.J. Reynolds have told people smoking could be lethal?
i)	How do you think tobacco company executives feel knowing their product kills?
j)	Should governments do more to discourage smoking?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	Should companies be allowed to sell things that are addictive?
c)	Do you think cigarettes will always be for sale?
d)	Do tobacco companies have a duty to help addicts?
e)	Do governments leave tobacco companies alone because they get a lot of tax from cigarette sales?
f)	How does a court put a value on someone's life?
g)	Are there enough warnings on cigarette packets?
h)	Do you think tobacco companies lie? What about? Why?
i)	What was "courageous" about the jury's decision?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the CEO of R.J. Reynolds?

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

A court in the USA has ordered the tobacco (1) ____ R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in damages. Cynthia Robinson (2) ____ a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and fought for six years for compensation. Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two (3) ____ of smoking. He started smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company was negligent in not informing her husband that nicotine is (4) ____ and that smoking can lead to lung cancer. She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially (5) ____ and should have been more active (6) ____ telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died."

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the (7) ____ was disproportionate. He said: "The damages awarded in this (8) ____ are grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This verdict goes far (9) ____ the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' (10) ____ marketing, particularly campaigns aimed (11) ____ young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that the jury's (12) ____ was "courageous".

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

1.	(a)	giants	(b)	giant	(c)	monster	(d)	ogre
2.	(a)	flied	(b)	filed	(c)	flew	(d)	fired
3.	(a)	debates	(b)	debacles	(c)	decadence	(d)	decades
4.	(a)	addicts	(b)	addictive	(c)	addiction	(d)	addictively
5.	(a)	legal	(b)	lethal	(c)	lethally	(d)	legalise
6.	(a)	on	(b)	of	(c)	in	(d)	to
7.	(a)	recompense	(b)	condensation	(c)	compensation	(d)	competition
8.	(a)	brief	(b)	bag	(c)	case	(d)	container
9.	(a)	beneath	(b)	before	(c)	behind	(d)	beyond
10.	(a)	harmfully	(b)	threatening	(c)	violent	(d)	aggressive
11.	(a)	at	(b)	of	(c)	by	(d)	on
12.	(a)	decisive	(b)	decider	(c)	decision	(d)	deciding

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	$23.6 billion in madeasg
2.	fought for six years for centnomoaips
3.	two daecsed of smoking
4.	the company was ningelegt
5.	nicotine is acdtdieiv
6.	etioaplynlt lethal
Paragraph 2
7.	A erlayw for R. J. Reynolds
8.	grossly icxveesse
9.	beyond the elram of reasonableness
10.	cnnitnetssoi with the evidence presented
11.	grieasgvse marketing
12.	the jury's decision was aursoeugco

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	at young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied
( )	damages. Cynthia Robinson filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and fought for six years
( )	to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that the jury's decision was "courageous".
( )	smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company
( )	disproportionate. He said: "The damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive and
( )	was negligent in not informing her husband that nicotine is addictive and that smoking can lead
( )	Chris Chestnut said jurors looked at R.J. Reynolds' aggressive marketing, particularly campaigns aimed
( )	for compensation. Her husband Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two decades of smoking. He started
( )	and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer
( )	A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the compensation was
( 1 )	A court in the USA has ordered the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in
( )	to lung cancer. She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially lethal and should
( )	have been more active in telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died."
( )	impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	Robinson filed a lawsuit in 2008 and fought for six years.
2.	Michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two decades.
3.	The company was negligent in not informing her husband.
4.	She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s.
5.	Should have been more active in telling people.
6.	A lawyer America's second-largest tobacco company.
7.	Damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive.
8.	This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness.
9.	Jurors looked at Reynolds' aggressive marketing.
10.	He added that the jury's decision was "courageous".

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

A court in the USA has ordered / arranged the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds to pay a woman $23.6 billion in / on damages. Cynthia Robinson filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds in 2008 and fought for six years of / for compensation. Her husband Michael died by / of lung cancer in 1996 after two decades of smoking. He started smoking when he was 13 and death / died when he was 36. Mrs Robinson argued that the company was negligent / negligence in not informing her husband that nicotine is addiction / addictive and that smoking can lead to lung / long cancer. She said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially lethal and should have been more active on / in telling people. Johnson's lawyer said: "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day / days he died."

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest tobacco company, said the compensation was / were disproportionate. He said: "The damages awarded on / in this case are grossly excessive / excessively and impermissible under state and constitutional law." He added: "This viaduct / verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent / consistent with the evidence presented." Mrs Robinson's lawyer Chris Chestnut said jurors / jailers looked at R.J. Reynolds' aggressive / aggression marketing, particularly campaigns armed / aimed at young people. He said: "[R.J. Reynolds] lied to Congress, they lied to the private / public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker." He added that the jury's decision was "courageous" / "courage".

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)

_ c__rt _n th_ _S_ h_s _rd_r_d th_ t_b_cc_ g__nt R.J. R_yn_lds t_ p_y _ w_m_n $23.6 b_ll__n _n d_m_g_s. Cynth__ R_b_ns_n f_l_d _ l_ws__t _g__nst R.J. R_yn_lds _n 2008 _nd f__ght f_r s_x y__rs f_r c_mp_ns_t__n. H_r h_sb_nd M_ch__l d__d _f l_ng c_nc_r _n 1996 _ft_r tw_ d_c_d_s _f sm_k_ng. H_ st_rt_d sm_k_ng wh_n h_ w_s 13 _nd d__d wh_n h_ w_s 36. Mrs R_b_ns_n _rg__d th_t th_ c_mp_ny w_s n_gl_g_nt _n n_t _nf_rm_ng h_r h_sb_nd th_t n_c_t_n_ _s _dd_ct_v_ _nd th_t sm_k_ng c_n l__d t_ l_ng c_nc_r. Sh_ s__d t_b_cc_ c_mp_n__s kn_w _n th_ 1950s th_t sm_k_ng w_s p_t_nt__lly l_th_l _nd sh__ld h_v_ b__n m_r_ _ct_v_ _n t_ll_ng p__pl_. J_hns_n's l_wy_r s__d: "H_ c__ldn't q__t. H_ w_s sm_k_ng th_ d_y h_ d__d."

_ l_wy_r f_r R.J. R_yn_lds, _m_r_c_'s s_c_nd-l_rg_st t_b_cc_ c_mp_ny, s__d th_ c_mp_ns_t__n w_s d_spr_p_rt__n_t_. H_ s__d: "Th_ d_m_g_s _w_rd_d _n th_s c_s_ _r_ gr_ssly _xc_ss_v_ _nd _mp_rm_ss_bl_ _nd_r st_t_ _nd c_nst_t_t__n_l l_w." H_ _dd_d: "Th_s v_rd_ct g__s f_r b_y_nd th_ r__lm _f r__s_n_bl_n_ss _nd f__rn_ss _nd _s c_mpl_t_ly _nc_ns_st_nt w_th th_ _v_d_nc_ pr_s_nt_d." Mrs R_b_ns_n's l_wy_r Chr_s Ch_stn_t s__d j_r_rs l__k_d _t R.J. R_yn_lds' _ggr_ss_v_ m_rk_t_ng, p_rt_c_l_rly c_mp__gns __m_d _t y__ng p__pl_. H_ s__d: "[R.J. R_yn_lds] l__d t_ C_ngr_ss, th_y l__d t_ th_ p_bl_c, th_y l__d t_ sm_k_rs _nd tr__d t_ bl_m_ th_ sm_k_r." H_ _dd_d th_t th_ j_ry's d_c_s__n w_s "c__r_g___s".

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

a court in the usa has ordered the tobacco giant rj reynolds to pay a woman $236 billion in damages cynthia robinson filed a lawsuit against rj reynolds in 2008 and fought for six years for compensation her husband michael died of lung cancer in 1996 after two decades of smoking he started smoking when he was 13 and died when he was 36 mrs robinson argued that the company was negligent in not informing her husband that nicotine is addictive and that smoking can lead to lung cancer she said tobacco companies knew in the 1950s that smoking was potentially lethal and should have been more active in telling people johnson's lawyer said "he couldn't quit he was smoking the day he died"

a lawyer for rj reynolds america's second-largest tobacco company said the compensation was disproportionate he said "the damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law" he added "this verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented" mrs robinson's lawyer chris chestnut said jurors looked at rj reynolds' aggressive marketing particularly campaigns aimed at young people he said "[rj reynolds] lied to congress they lied to the public they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker" he added that the jury's decision was "courageous"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

AcourtintheUSAhasorderedthetobaccogiantR.J.Reynoldstopaya
woman$23.6billionindamages.CynthiaRobinsonfiledalawsuitaga
instR.J.Reynoldsin2008andfoughtforsixyearsforcompensation.H
erhusbandMichaeldiedoflungcancerin1996aftertwodecadesofsm
oking.Hestartedsmokingwhenhewas13anddiedwhenhewas36.M
rsRobinsonarguedthatthecompanywasnegligentinnotinformingh
erhusbandthatnicotineisaddictiveandthatsmokingcanleadtolung
cancer.Shesaidtobaccocompaniesknewinthe1950sthatsmoking
waspotentiallylethalandshouldhavebeenmoreactiveintellingpeo
ple.Johnson'slawyersaid:"Hecouldn'tquit.Hewassmokingtheday
hedied."AlawyerforR.J.Reynolds,America'ssecond-largestto
baccocompany,saidthecompensationwasdisproportionate.Hesai
d:"Thedamagesawardedinthiscasearegrosslyexcessiveandimpe
rmissibleunderstateandconstitutionallaw."Headded:"Thisverdict
goesfarbeyondtherealmofreasonablenessandfairnessandiscomp
letelyinconsistentwiththeevidencepresented."MrsRobinson'slaw
yerChrisChestnutsaidjurorslookedatR.J.Reynolds'aggressivema
rketing,particularlycampaignsaimedatyoungpeople.Hesaid:"[R.
J.Reynolds]liedtoCongress,theyliedtothepublic,theyliedtosmoke
rsandtriedtoblamethesmoker."Headdedthatthejury'sdecisionwa
s"courageous".

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Smoking should be made illegal. 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 cigarettes. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

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

4. DAMAGES: Write a magazine article about the damages award. 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 the CEO of R.J. Reynolds. Ask him/her three questions about the compensation award. 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.

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

T

b

T

c

F

d

F

e

F

f

T

g

T

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	ordered	a.	instructed
2.	lawsuit	b.	legal action
3.	negligent	c.	irresponsible
4.	lethal	d.	deadly
5.	quit	e.	give up
6.	disproportionate	f.	unequal
7.	awarded	g.	given
8.	realm	h.	area
9.	aggressive	i.	forceful
10.	courageous	j.	brave

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	$23.6 billion
2.	2008
3.	36
4.	It was potentially lethal
5.	Until the day he died
6.	The second-largest tobacco company in the USA
7.	The damages
8.	Evidence
9.	Children
10.	Courageous

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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Zzzzz (22nd July, 2014)

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