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Noisy neighbours biggest problem (18th September, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

Do you get on well with your neighbours, or are the people living next door stressful? A new report says that a quarter of people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the past year. The survey was carried out by an organization called "Which?” It tries to help and protect consumers. The researchers asked 2,062 adults about their relations with neighbours. They found that 27 per cent had experienced problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left feeling angry and half felt irritable, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one in ten admitted to feeling afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to seek help and advice."

The biggest complaints about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of arguing. Loud music and televisions, and doors slamming were also a problem. People also described drug use and police arriving at their neighbour's house. Only one-third of people spoke to the noisy neighbour about the problem. However, people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not apologise or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young people (those aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get advice. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has found that young people especially are suffering in silence." "Which?" said people needed to keep a diary of unneighbourly behaviour.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/29211402
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2014/09/one-in-four-people-have-nuisance-neighbours--376963/?cmp=RSS-GNS_376963
http://money.aol.co.uk/2014/09/15/1-in-4-have-nuisance-neighbours/

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. NEIGHBOURS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about neighbours. 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?

next door / stressful / problems / the past year / consumers / angry / afraid / advice / complaints / loud voices / arguing / apologise / research / suffering in silence / diary

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

3. COMPLAINTS: What's the best way to complain about these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	How to complain?	Problems	Chances of success
Noisy neighbours
Too much homework
Expensive food prices
Your country's leader
Traffic
Spam mail

4. RELATIONS: Students A strongly believe it is very important to have good relations with neighbours; Students B strongly believe neighbours aren't so important. 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. ANNOYING: Rank these with your partner. Put the most annoying things about neighbours at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• loud voices

• arguing

• loud music

• slamming doors

• parties

• don't say hello

• untidy garden

• gossip

6. ADVICE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "advice". 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 quarter of people in the UK have problems with their neighbours.	T / F
b.	Researchers interviewed over 20,000 people about their neighbours.	T / F
c.	Over half of people in the UK feel stressed about their neighbours.	T / F
d.	Most people do not know how to get advice about neighbours.	T / F
e.	The biggest complaint about neighbours was noise.	T / F
f.	Less than a quarter of people spoke to neighbours about problems.	T / F
g.	The article said the problem went away after talking to a neighbour.	T / F
h.	A consumer organization recommended people keep a diary.	T / F

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

1.	get on well with	a.	quarreling
2.	quarter	b.	look for
3.	carried out	c.	say sorry
4.	relations	d.	conducted
5.	seek	e.	25%
6.	arguing	f.	journal
7.	apologise (UK) / apologize (USA)	g.	dealings
8.	behaviour (UK) / behavior (USA)	h.	hurting
9.	suffering	i.	actions
10.	diary	j.	get along well with

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

1.	get on	a.	past year
2.	a quarter	b.	of arguing
3.	in the	c.	use
4.	one in	d.	help and advice
5.	where to go to seek	e.	became worse
6.	loud voices and the sound	f.	well with
7.	doors	g.	of people in Britain
8.	drug	h.	unneighbourly behaviour
9.	people said the problem	i.	ten
10.	keep a diary of	j.	slamming

GAP FILL

Do you get on well with your neighbours, or are the people living next (1) ____________ stressful? A new report says that a quarter of people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the (2) ____________ year. The survey was carried (3) ____________ by an organization called "Which?" It tries to help and protect (4) ____________. The researchers asked 2,062 adults about their (5) ____________ with neighbours. They found that 27 per cent had experienced problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left feeling angry and half felt (6) ____________, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one in ten (7) ____________ to feeling afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to (8) ____________ help and advice."

out
relations
door
admitted
past
seek
irritable
consumers

The biggest (9) ____________ about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of arguing. Loud music and televisions, and doors (10) ____________ were also a problem. People also described drug (11) ____________ and police arriving at their neighbour's house. Only one-third of people spoke to the (12) ____________ neighbour about the problem. However, people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not (13) ____________ or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young people ((14) ____________ aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get advice. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has found that young people especially are (15) ____________ in silence." "Which?" said people needed to keep a (16) ____________ of unneighbourly behaviour.

noisy
complaints
those
slamming
diary
use
suffering
apologise

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	are the people living next ______?
	a. door stressed full b. doors stressful c. door stressful d. doors stressed full
2)	It tries to help and ______
	a. protects consumers b. protect consumers c. protect consumer is d. protected consumers
3)	Half of the people were left feeling angry and half ______
	a. felt irritability b. felt irritable c. felt irritation d. felt irritate
4)	they felt stressed, and one in ten ______ afraid
	a. admitted to feeling b. admitted to feelings c. admitted to feel in d. admitted to fee line
5)	64 per cent didn't know where to go to seek ______
	a. help and advise b. help and add vice c. help and add vase d. help and advice
6)	The biggest complaints about neighbours ______
	a. were loudly voices b. were loud voice c. were loud voices d. were loud voice is
7)	Loud music and televisions, and ______
	a. doors slimming b. doors slumming c. doors slam in d. doors slamming
8)	the problem became worse if the neighbour ______
	a. did not apologise b. did not apologies c. did not apology d. did not apologises
9)	continued with their ______
	a. annoy in behaviour b. a gnawing behaviour c. a knowing behaviour d. annoying behaviour
10)	Our research has found that young people especially are ______
	a. suffering on silence b. suffering in silence c. suffering and silence d. suffer ringing silence

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Do (1) ___________________ your neighbours, or are the people living next door stressful? A new report says (2) ___________________ people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the past year. The survey was (3) ___________________ organization called "Which?" It tries to help and protect consumers. The researchers asked 2,062 adults about their (4) ___________________. They found that 27 per cent had experienced problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left feeling angry and (5) ___________________, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one in ten admitted to feeling afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where (6) ___________________ help and advice."

The biggest complaints about neighbours were (7) ___________________ the sound of arguing. Loud music and televisions, and (8) ___________________ were also a problem. People also described drug use and police arriving at their neighbour's house. (9) ___________________ people spoke to the noisy neighbour about the problem. However, people said the problem (10) ___________________ the neighbour did not apologise or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young people ((11) ___________________) did not know where to go to get advice. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has found that young people especially are suffering in silence." "Which?" said people needed to (12) ___________________ unneighbourly behaviour.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	How many British people have problems with their neighbours?
2.	What is the name of the organization that carried out the research?
3.	How many adults took part in the survey?
4.	How many people felt irritable?
5.	What percentage of people did not know where to get advice?
6.	What was the sound that was the biggest complaint?
7.	Who did people not like arriving at their neighbour's house?
8.	What happened to the problem if the neighbour did not say sorry?
9.	What were the ages of young people?
10.	What did the organization suggest people keep?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	How many British people have problems with their neighbours?	6.	What was the sound that was the biggest complaint?
	a) a third b) 29,324,001 c) a quarter d) 32.58%		a) the sound of a hammer b) the sound of arguing c) the sound of silence d) the sound of computer games
2.	What is the name of the organization that carried out the research?	7.	Who did people not like arriving at their neighbour's house?
	a) Which? b) What? c) How? d) Who?		a) other neighbours b) decorators c) gardeners d) the police
3.	How many adults took part in the survey?	8.	What happened to the problem if the neighbour did not say sorry?
	a) 589 b) 2,062 c) 6,026 d) 2,026		a) it went away b) it got worse c) the police came d) nothing
4.	How many people felt irritable?	9.	What were the ages of young people?
	a) three-quarters b) four-fifths c) two-thirds d) half		a) 18-26 b) 18-24 c) 19-26 d) 20-24
5.	What percentage of people did not know where to get advice?	10.	What did the organization suggest people keep?
	a) 62% b) 63% c) 64% d) 65%		a) a diary b) calm c) a baseball bat d) their curtains shut

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Being noisy

You think being noisy is the worst thing neighbours can do. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so bad about their things. Also, tell the others which is the least stressful of these (and why): using drugs, keeping rubbish (garbage) in the garden or never saying hello.

Role B – Using drugs

You think using drugs is the worst thing neighbours can do. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so bad about their things. Also, tell the others which is the least stressful of these (and why): being noisy, keeping rubbish (garbage) in the garden or never saying hello.

Role C – Rubbish (garbage) in the garden

You think keeping rubbish (garbage) in the garden is the worst thing neighbours can do. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so bad about their things. Also, tell the others which is the least stressful of these (and why): using drugs, being noisy or never saying hello.

Role D – Never saying hello

You think never saying hello is the worst thing neighbours can do. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so bad about their things. Also, tell the others which is the least stressful of these (and why): using drugs, keeping rubbish (garbage) in the garden or being noisy.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

loud

voice

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:

well
past
carried
protect
website
added

loud
doors
noisy
worse
86
diary

NEIGHBOURS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about neighbours 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.

NEIGHBOURS 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 'neighbour'?
c)	Are you a good neighbour? Why do you think so?
d)	How important are good neighbours?
e)	Do you get on well with your neighbours?
f)	What's the worst experience you've had with a neighbour?
g)	What kind of neighbours do you have?
h)	What would you do if you were afraid of a neighbour?
i)	What do you do if someone new moves in next door?
j)	What do you think about what you read?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	What is your biggest complaint about your neighbours?
c)	What is the best thing your neighbours do?
d)	What do you do if your neighbours are noisy?
e)	Who is your most interesting neighbour?
f)	Have you ever apologised to a neighbour? Why?
g)	Would you speak to a neighbour if he/she annoyed you?
h)	What would you say to people who "suffer in silence"?
i)	What's the best way to be a good neighbour?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the researchers?

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

Do you get on (1) ____ with your neighbours, or are the people living next door stressful? A new report says that a quarter of people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the (2) ____ year. The survey was carried (3) ____ by an organization called "Which?" It tries to help and protect consumers. The researchers asked 2,062 adults about their (4) ____ with neighbours. They found that 27 per cent had experienced problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left (5) ____ angry and half felt irritable, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one in ten admitted to feeling afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to (6) ____ help and advice."

The biggest (7) ____ about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of arguing. Loud music and televisions, and doors (8) ____ were also a problem. People also described drug use and police arriving at their neighbour's house. Only one-third of people spoke to the (9) ____ neighbour about the problem. However, people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not (10) ____ or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young people (those aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get (11) ____. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has found that young people especially are suffering in silence." "Which?" said people needed to (12) ____ a diary of unneighbourly behaviour.

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

1.	(a)	good	(b)	well	(c)	nice	(d)	bad
2.	(a)	parsed	(b)	past	(c)	passed	(d)	paste
3.	(a)	up	(b)	on	(c)	in	(d)	out
4.	(a)	contributions	(b)	relations	(c)	generations	(d)	stations
5.	(a)	feel	(b)	felt	(c)	feels	(d)	feeling
6.	(a)	peek	(b)	meek	(c)	seek	(d)	geek
7.	(a)	complaints	(b)	angers	(c)	idiots	(d)	selfish
8.	(a)	slimming	(b)	slumming	(c)	slamming	(d)	summing
9.	(a)	sound	(b)	volume	(c)	loudly	(d)	noisy
10.	(a)	apologise	(b)	apology	(c)	apologies	(d)	apologises
11.	(a)	advice	(b)	advise	(c)	advises	(d)	advisors
12.	(a)	keep	(b)	carry	(c)	hold	(d)	safe

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	are the people living next door luerstsfs?
2.	a rteurqa of people in Britain
3.	help and protect nsceormsu
4.	atlseorin with neighbours
5.	half felt ltraiiber
6.	one in ten eitdatmd to feeling afraid
Paragraph 2
7.	The biggest tcoaipnslm about neighbours
8.	the neighbour did not oiglaspeo
9.	where to go to get cdaeiv
10.	young people cselplayie
11.	suffering in celsnei
12.	unneighbourly viueobarh

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	at their neighbour's house. Only one-third of people spoke to the noisy neighbour about
( )	2,062 adults about their relations with neighbours. They found that 27 per cent had experienced
( )	apologise or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young
( )	of people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the past year. The survey was carried
( )	The biggest complaints about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of arguing. Loud music
( )	out by an organization called "Which?" It tries to help and protect consumers. The researchers asked
( )	felt irritable, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one in ten admitted to feeling
( )	found that young people especially are suffering in silence." "Which?" said people needed to keep a diary of unneighbourly behaviour.
( )	the problem. However, people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not
( )	afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to seek help and advice."
( 1 )	Do you get on well with your neighbours, or are the people living next door stressful? A new report says that a quarter
( )	problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left feeling angry and half
( )	and televisions, and doors slamming were also a problem. People also described drug use and police arriving
( )	people (those aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get advice. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	living people the Are stressful door next?
2.	have of Britain problems quarter in had A people.
3.	consumers protect and help to tries It.
4.	admitted ten in One afraid feeling to.
5.	help to seek advice where to and Know go.
6.	and voices Loud arguing of sound the.
7.	- one Only neighbour noisy the to spoke people of third.
8.	neighbour became didn't worse apologise if the Problems.
9.	are especially people Young silence in suffering.
10.	to diary behaviour needed a unneighbourly People keep of.

MY e-BOOK

See a sample

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

Do you get in / on well with your neighbours, or are the people living near / next door stressful? A new report says that the / a quarter of people in Britain have had problems with their neighbours in the passed / past year. The survey was carried out / in by an organization called "Which?" It tries to help and protect consumers. The researchers asked / told 2,062 adults about their relations with / without neighbours. They found that 27 per cent had experienced problems. "Which?" said on its website that: "Half [of the people] were left / felt feeling angry and half felt irritable, with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed, and one on / in ten admitted to feeling afraid." It added: "The survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to peek / seek help and advice."

The biggest complaints / complains about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of / for arguing. Loud music and televisions, and doors slimming / slamming were also a problem. People also described drug use / used and police arriving at their neighbour's house. Only one-third of people spoke to the noisy / noises neighbour about the problem. However, people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not apologies / apologise or continued with their annoying behaviour. "Which?" said 86 per cent of young people (those / them aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get advise / advice. A "Which?" spokesperson said: "Our research has found that young people especially are suffering / surfing in silence." "Which?" said people needed to hold / keep a diary of unneighbourly behaviour.

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)

D_ y__ g_t _n w_ll w_th y__r n__ghb__rs, _r _r_ th_ p__pl_ l_v_ng n_xt d__r str_ssf_l? _ n_w r_p_rt s_ys th_t _ q__rt_r _f p__pl_ _n Br_t__n h_v_ h_d pr_bl_ms w_th th__r n__ghb__rs _n th_ p_st y__r. Th_ s_rv_y w_s c_rr__d __t by _n _rg_n_z_t__n c_ll_d "Wh_ch?" _t tr__s t_ h_lp _nd pr_t_ct c_ns_m_rs. Th_ r_s__rch_rs _sk_d 2,062 _d_lts _b__t th__r r_l_t__ns w_th n__ghb__rs. Th_y f__nd th_t 27 p_r c_nt h_d _xp_r__nc_d pr_bl_ms. "Wh_ch?" s__d _n _ts w_bs_t_ th_t: "H_lf [_f th_ p__pl_] w_r_ l_ft f__l_ng _ngry _nd h_lf f_lt _rr_t_bl_, w_th 42 p_r c_nt s_y_ng th_y f_lt str_ss_d, _nd _n_ _n t_n _dm_tt_d t_ f__l_ng _fr__d." _t _dd_d: "Th_ s_rv_y _ls_ f__nd th_t 64 p_r c_nt d_dn't kn_w wh_r_ t_ g_ t_ s__k h_lp _nd _dv_c_."

Th_ b_gg_st c_mpl__nts _b__t n__ghb__rs w_r_ l__d v__c_s _nd th_ s__nd _f _rg__ng. L__d m_s_c _nd t_l_v_s__ns, _nd d__rs sl_mm_ng w_r_ _ls_ _ pr_bl_m. P__pl_ _ls_ d_scr_b_d dr_g _s_ _nd p_l_c_ _rr_v_ng _t th__r n__ghb__r's h__s_. _nly _n_-th_rd _f p__pl_ sp_k_ t_ th_ n__sy n__ghb__r _b__t th_ pr_bl_m. H_w_v_r, p__pl_ s__d th_ pr_bl_m b_c_m_ w_rs_ _f th_ n__ghb__r d_d n_t _p_l_g_s_ _r c_nt_n__d w_th th__r _nn_y_ng b_h_v___r. "Wh_ch?" s__d 86 p_r c_nt _f y__ng p__pl_ (th_s_ _g_d 18-24) d_d n_t kn_w wh_r_ t_ g_ t_ g_t _dv_c_. _ "Wh_ch?" sp_k_sp_rs_n s__d: "__r r_s__rch h_s f__nd th_t y__ng p__pl_ _sp_c__lly _r_ s_ff_r_ng _n s_l_nc_." "Wh_ch?" s__d p__pl_ n__d_d t_ k__p _ d__ry _f _nn__ghb__rly b_h_v___r.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

do you get on well with your neighbours or are the people living next door stressful a new report says that a quarter of people in britain have had problems with their neighbours in the past year the survey was carried out by an organization called "which" it tries to help and protect consumers the researchers asked 2062 adults about their relations with neighbours they found that 27 per cent had experienced problems "which" said on its website that "half [of the people] were left feeling angry and half felt irritable with 42 per cent saying they felt stressed and one in ten admitted to feeling afraid" it added "the survey also found that 64 per cent didn't know where to go to seek help and advice"

the biggest complaints about neighbours were loud voices and the sound of arguing loud music and televisions and doors slamming were also a problem people also described drug use and police arriving at their neighbour's house only one-third of people spoke to the noisy neighbour about the problem however people said the problem became worse if the neighbour did not apologise or continued with their annoying behaviour "which" said 86 per cent of young people (those aged 18-24) did not know where to go to get advice a "which" spokesperson said "our research has found that young people especially are suffering in silence" "which" said people needed to keep a diary of unneighbourly behaviour

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Doyougetonwellwithyourneighbours,orarethepeoplelivingnextdoorstre
ssful?AnewreportsaysthataquarterofpeopleinBritainhavehadproblems
withtheirneighboursinthepastyear.Thesurveywascarriedoutbyanorgani
zationcalled"Which?"Ittriestohelpandprotectconsumers.Theresearcher
sasked2,062adultsabouttheirrelationswithneighbours.Theyfoundthat2
7percenthadexperiencedproblems."Which?"saidonitswebsitethat:"Half
[ofthepeople]wereleftfeelingangryandhalffeltirritable,with42percentsay
ingtheyfeltstressed,andoneintenadmittedtofeelingafraid."Itadded:"The
surveyalsofoundthat64percentdidn'tknowwheretogotoseekhelpandadv
ice."Thebiggestcomplaintsaboutneighbourswereloudvoicesandthesou
ndofarguing.Loudmusicandtelevisions,anddoorsslammingwerealsoap
roblem.Peoplealsodescribeddruguseandpolicearrivingattheirneighbou
r'shouse.Onlyone-thirdofpeoplespoketothenoisyneighbouraboutthepr
oblem.However,peoplesaidtheproblembecameworseiftheneighbourdi
dnotapologiseorcontinuedwiththeirannoyingbehaviour."Which?"said8
6percentofyoungpeople(thoseaged18-24)didnotknowwheretog
otogetadvice.A"Which?"spokespersonsaid:"Ourresearchhasfoundthat
youngpeopleespeciallyaresufferinginsilence.""Which?"saidpeoplenee
dedtokeepadiaryofunneighbourlybehaviour.

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

It is very important to get on well with your neighbours. 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 problems with neighbours. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

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

4. GET ON WELL: Write a magazine article about how to get on well with neighbours. Include imaginary interviews with people who think neighbours are very important and with people who think neighbours are not important.

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 neighbours. Ask him/her three questions about neighbours. 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

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

F

c

F

d

T

e

T

f

F

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	get on well with	a.	get along well with
2.	quarter	b.	25%
3.	carried out	c.	conducted
4.	relations	d.	dealings
5.	seek	e.	look for
6.	arguing	f.	quarreling
7.	apologise (UK) / apologize (USA)	g.	say sorry
8.	behaviour (UK) / behavior (USA)	h.	actions
9.	suffering	i.	hurting
10.	diary	j.	journal

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	A quarter (27% to be exact)
2.	Which?
3.	2,062
4.	Half
5.	64%
6.	The sound of arguing
7.	The police
8.	It got worse
9.	18-24
10.	A diary

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

b

4.

d

5.

c

6.

b

7.

d

8.

b

9.

b

10.

a

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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Noisy neighbours biggest problem (18th September, 2014)

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