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Europe needs to support technology more (5th November, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Google Larry Page has told European governments they need to be more like Silicon Valley. He said European leaders do not support technology companies enough. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations. Google, Apple and Facebook have their headquarters there. Mr Page said Silicon Valley is a great place for technology companies because it is easy to do business there. He told Britain's 'Financial Times' newspaper that Silicon Valley was great for investing in science and for making money by setting up new technology companies. He said Europe's politicians needed to start investing in big ideas.

Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 billion that he wanted to invest in new ideas. He said he wanted to use the money to benefit societies in Europe. He said: "We're trying to figure it out. How do we use all these resources and have a much more positive impact on the world?" Page is not the first business leader to attack Europe for being slow with investing in technology. Many experts say European schools do not teach enough technology, so children do not have the skills that kids in Silicon Valley have. Many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger focus on technology in schools. Some think all elementary schools should have classes on coding for children.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/11202850/Google-boss-Larry-Page-Europe-needs-to-be-more-like-Silicon-Valley-and-support-technology.html
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2378988/google-chief-slams-european-governments-poor-technology-investment
http://www.modernreaders.com/google-ceo-tells-european-govs-follow-silicon-valleys-example/13022/ed-jones

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. TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about technology companies. 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?

CEO / governments / support / home / corporations / headquarters / easy / investing / billion / benefit / impact / experts / leaders / education / focus / elementary schools

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

3. CORPORATIONS: What are the good and bad things about these corporations? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Good	Bad
Google
Apple
Facebook
Yahoo
Amazon
eBay

4. CODING: Students A strongly believe all children should learn to code; Students B strongly believe it's not necessary. 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. COMPANIES: Rank these with your partner. Put the best company to work for at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• software

• gaming

• social network

• microchip design

• phone maker

• app design

• online store

• search engine

6. GOOGLE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "Google". 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.	Google's CEO said Europe needed to be like Silicon Valley.	T / F
b.	The headquarters of Apple is not in Silicon Valley.	T / F
c.	Larry Page was speaking to a British financial newspaper.	T / F
d.	Mr Page said Europe needed to invest in big ideas.	T / F
e.	Mr Page told reporters he wanted to invest $62 billion.	T / F
f.	Mr Page said he wanted to invest most of the money in Africa and Asia.	T / F
g.	Experts said Europe is ahead when it comes to teaching tech to kids.	T / F
h.	No one thought elementary school kids should learn to code.	T / F

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

1.	like	a.	specialists
2.	support	b.	starting
3.	headquarters	c.	emphasis
4.	great	d.	similar to
5.	setting up	e.	put money into
6.	invest	f.	main office
7.	benefit	g.	programming
8.	experts	h.	help
9.	focus	i.	improve
10.	coding	j.	excellent

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

1.	they need to be more	a.	technology corporations
2.	support technology	b.	impact
3.	many of the world's largest	c.	like Silicon Valley
4.	it is easy to do	d.	on technology
5.	politicians needed to	e.	to benefit societies
6.	he had $62 billion that he	f.	business there
7.	use the money	g.	coding for children
8.	a much more positive	h.	start investing
9.	a much bigger focus	i.	wanted to invest
10.	have classes on	j.	companies

GAP FILL

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Google Larry Page has told European governments they (1) ____________ to be more like Silicon Valley. He said European leaders do not (2) ____________ technology companies enough. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's (3) ____________ technology (4) ____________. Google, Apple and Facebook have their headquarters there. Mr Page said Silicon Valley is a great place for technology companies because it is (5) ____________ to do business there. He told Britain's 'Financial Times' newspaper that Silicon Valley was (6) ____________ for investing in science and for making money by (7) ____________ up new technology companies. He said Europe's politicians needed to start investing in big (8) ____________.

corporations
support
easy
setting
need
ideas
great
largest

Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 (9) ____________ that he wanted to invest in new ideas. He said he wanted to use the money to (10) ____________ societies in Europe. He said: "We're trying to figure it out. How do we use all these (11) ____________ and have a much more positive (12) ____________ on the world?" Page is not the first business leader to attack Europe for being slow with investing in technology. Many (13) ____________ say European schools do not teach enough technology, so children do not have the (14) ____________ that kids in Silicon Valley have. Many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger (15) ____________ on technology in schools. Some think all elementary schools should have classes on (16) ____________ for children.

impact
benefit
skills
billion
coding
resources
focus
experts

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	Larry Page has told European governments they need to be more ______
	a. liking Silicon Valley b. liken Silicon Valley c. like Silicon Valley d. liked Silicon Valley
2)	He said European leaders do not support technology ______
	a. company's enough b. companies enough c. accompanies enough d. a company is enough
3)	Silicon Valley is a great place for technology companies because it is easy ______
	a. to do businesses b. to do business in c. to do business d. to do businesslike
4)	Silicon Valley was great for investing in science and ______
	a. for making money b. for faking money c. for taking money d. for raking money
5)	He said Europe's politicians needed to start investing ______
	a. on big ideas b. by big ideas c. for big ideas d. in big ideas
6)	Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 billion that he wanted to ______
	a. investing in new ideas b. invest in new ideas c. invests in new ideas d. invested in new ideas
7)	He said he wanted to use the money to benefit ______
	a. society is in Europe b. societies in Europe c. society's in Europe d. so sire, 'tis in Europe
8)	Page is not the first business leader to attack Europe for being slow with ______
	a. investing in technologies b. investing in technology c. investing in technological d. investing in tech
9)	children do not have the skills that kids in ______
	a. Silicon Valley has b. Silicon Valley having c. Silicon Valley behave d. Silicon Valley have
10)	Many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger ______
	a. focus in technology b. focus on technology c. focus an technology d. focus un-technology

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Google Larry Page has told European governments they (1) ___________________ like Silicon Valley. He said European leaders (2) ___________________ technology companies enough. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations. Google, Apple and Facebook have their headquarters there. Mr Page said Silicon Valley (3) ___________________ for technology companies because it (4) ___________________ business there. He told Britain's 'Financial Times' newspaper that Silicon Valley (5) ___________________ investing in science and for making money by setting up new technology companies. He said Europe's politicians needed (6) ___________________ in big ideas.

Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 billion (7) ___________________ in new ideas. He said he wanted to use the money to benefit societies in Europe. He said: "We're (8) ___________________ out. How do we use all these resources and (9) ___________________ positive impact on the world?" Page is not the first business leader to attack Europe for being slow with investing in technology. Many experts say European schools do (10) ___________________ technology, so children do not have the skills that kids in Silicon Valley have. Many leaders in education believe there should be a much (11) ___________________ technology in schools. Some think all elementary schools should (12) ___________________ for children.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What did Larry Page say Europe needed to be like?
2.	What do Facebook and Google have in Silicon Valley?
3.	What did Larry Page say was easy to do in Silicon Valley?
4.	What did Mr Page say it was easy to make in Silicon Valley?
5.	What did Larry Page say European politicians needed to invest in?
6.	How much money does Larry Page have available to invest?
7.	What kind of impact does Page want to have on the world?
8.	Which kids have better tech skills than European kids?
9.	What do education leaders want a bigger focus on?
10.	What do some people think elementary schools should teach?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What did Larry Page say Europe needed to be like?	6.	How much money does Larry Page have available to invest?
	a) Google b) Canada c) Silicon Valley d) Star Wars		a) $26 million b) $62 billion c) $26 billion d) $62 million
2.	What do Facebook and Google have in Silicon Valley?	7.	What kind of impact does Page want to have on the world?
	a) headquarters b) silicon c) problems d) statues of their CEOs		a) a positive one b) a high-tech one c) a lasting one d) an immediate one
3.	What did Larry Page say was easy to do in Silicon Valley?	8.	Which kids have better tech skills than European kids?
	a) business b) sleep c) have fun d) find free wi-fi		a) kids in U.S. elementary schools b) Indian kids c) Silicon Valley kids d) kids of software engineers
4.	What did Mr Page say it was easy to make in Silicon Valley?	9.	What do education leaders want a bigger focus on?
	a) silicon b) money c) microchips d) animated movies		a) money b) discipline c) silicon d) technology
5.	What did Larry Page say European politicians needed to invest in?	10.	What do some people think elementary schools should teach?
	a) their future b) the New York Stock Exchange c) Google d) big ideas		a) coding b) technology history c) music d) animation skills

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Computer game designer

You think a computer game designer is the best job. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most important of these (and why): social network engineer, microchip designer or phone maker.

Role B – Social network engineer

You think a social network engineer is the best job. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most important of these (and why): computer game designer, microchip designer or phone maker.

Role C – Microchip designer

You think a microchip designer is the best job. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most important of these (and why): social network engineer, computer game designer or phone maker.

Role D – Phone maker

You think a phone maker is the best job. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most important of these (and why): social network engineer, microchip designer or computer game designer.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

support

technology

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:

need
enough
home
great
making
big

62
figure
first
slow
focus
coding

TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about technology companies 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.

TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'technology'?
3)	What do you know about Silicon Valley?
4)	What's your favourite technology company, and why?
5)	What are the tech companies like in your country?
6)	How special are technology companies?
7)	What makes it easy for companies to do business?
8)	What kind of new company would you like to set up?
9)	What would it be like to work in a big technology company?
10)	What big ideas could politicians start investing in?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What should Larry Page invest his $62 billion in?
13)	What would it be like to own Google?
14)	How important is it to invest in technology?
15)	How much technology should schools teach?
16)	What are your technology skills like?
17)	What areas of technology would you like to know more about?
18)	Is coding geeky or cool? Why?
19)	How would your country change if all kids could code?
20)	What questions would you like to ask Larry Page?

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

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Google Larry Page has told European governments they (1) ____ to be more like Silicon Valley. He said European leaders do not support technology companies (2) ____. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations. Google, Apple and Facebook have their (3) ____ there. Mr Page said Silicon Valley is a great place for technology companies because it is easy to (4) ____ business there. He told Britain's 'Financial Times' newspaper that Silicon Valley was great for investing in science and for (5) ____ money by setting up new technology companies. He said Europe's politicians needed to (6) ____ investing in big ideas.

Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 billion that he wanted to invest in new ideas. He said he wanted to use the money to (7) ____ societies in Europe. He said: "We're trying to figure it (8) ____. How do we use all these resources and have a much more positive (9) ____ on the world?" Page is not the first business leader to attack Europe for being slow (10) ____ investing in technology. Many experts say European schools do not teach enough technology, so children do not have the (11) ____ that kids in Silicon Valley have. Many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger focus on technology in schools. Some think all elementary schools should have classes (12) ____ coding for children.

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

1.	(a)	needing	(b)	needless	(c)	needy	(d)	need
2.	(a)	many	(b)	some	(c)	plenty	(d)	enough
3.	(a)	quartered	(b)	headquarters	(c)	quarterly	(d)	quarters
4.	(a)	be	(b)	play	(c)	do	(d)	act
5.	(a)	faking	(b)	taking	(c)	making	(d)	raking
6.	(a)	start	(b)	starting	(c)	started	(d)	starts
7.	(a)	beneficial	(b)	benefit	(c)	beneficiary	(d)	benefits
8.	(a)	out	(b)	in	(c)	up	(d)	down
9.	(a)	pact	(b)	impact	(c)	part	(d)	compact
10.	(a)	for	(b)	on	(c)	with	(d)	as
11.	(a)	skillful	(b)	skilled	(c)	skills	(d)	skilling
12.	(a)	by	(b)	in	(c)	to	(d)	on

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	Chief tvcieeExu Officer
2.	European esrtenvmgon
3.	the world's largest technology rpotocnairos
4.	Facebook have their saheeutarrqd there
5.	it is easy to do ubisnses there
6.	start nnvsitgei in big ideas
Paragraph 2
7.	he had $62 lboinli that he wanted to invest
8.	use the money to netbife societies
9.	We're trying to reuigf it out
10.	have a much more poiteisv impact
11.	leaders in adtiouenc
12.	tmyrelaene schools

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	because it is easy to do business there. He told Britain's 'Financial Times' newspaper
( )	out. How do we use all these resources and have a much more positive impact on the
( )	up new technology companies. He said Europe's politicians needed to start investing in big ideas.
( )	have their headquarters there. Mr Page said Silicon Valley is a great place for technology companies
( )	enough. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations. Google, Apple and Facebook
( )	that Silicon Valley was great for investing in science and for making money by setting
( )	be more like Silicon Valley. He said European leaders do not support technology companies
( )	focus on technology in schools. Some think all elementary schools should have classes on coding for children.
( )	do not have the skills that kids in Silicon Valley have. Many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger
( )	in technology. Many experts say European schools do not teach enough technology, so children
( )	Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 billion that he wanted to invest in new ideas. He said he wanted
( )	to use the money to benefit societies in Europe. He said: "We're trying to figure it
( 1 )	The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Google Larry Page has told European governments they need to
( )	world?" Page is not the first business leader to attack Europe for being slow with investing

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	technology support not do Leaders enough companies .
2.	the tech Home of largest many world's corporations to .
3.	for is place companies Valley great technology Silicon a .
4.	money for science making Great in for investing and .
5.	needed big to ideas start investing Politicians in .
6.	$62 ideas wanted new he had in that He invest billion to .
7.	He societies benefit to money the use to wanted he said .
8.	more on much impact world a positive the Have .
9.	teach not do schools European technology enough .
10.	on There a focus be bigger technology should much .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Google Larry Page has told European governments they need / needy to be more like Silicon Valley. He said European leaders do not supportive / support technology companies enough. Silicon Valley is home / house to many of the world's largest technology corporations. Google, Apple and Facebook have their close-quarters / headquarters there. Mr Page said / say Silicon Valley is a great place for technology companies so / because it is easy to do / be business there. He told Britain's 'Financial Times' newspaper that Silicon Valley was great from / for investing in science and for making money in / by setting up new technology companies. He said Europe's politicians needed to start investing in / on big ideas.

Mr Page told the Financial Times he had $62 billion what / that he wanted to invest in new ideas. He said he wanted to use the / a money to benefit societies in Europe. He said: "We're trying to figure / figures it out. How do we use all these resources and have the / a much more positive impact on the world?" Page is not the first business leader to / for attack Europe for being slow / slowly with investing in technology. Many experts say European schools do not teach plenty / enough technology, so children do not have the skills that kids in Silicon Valley be / have. Many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger focal / focus on technology in schools. Some think all / every elementary schools should have classes on coding for children.

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)

Th_ C__ (Ch__f _x_c_t_v_ _ff_c_r) _f G__gl_ L_rry P_g_ h_s t_ld __r_p__n g_v_rnm_nts th_y n__d t_ b_ m_r_ l_k_ S_l_c_n V_ll_y. H_ s__d __r_p__n l__d_rs d_ n_t s_pp_rt t_chn_l_gy c_mp_n__s _n__gh. S_l_c_n V_ll_y _s h_m_ t_ m_ny _f th_ w_rld's l_rg_st t_chn_l_gy c_rp_r_t__ns. G__gl_, _ppl_ _nd F_c_b__k h_v_ th__r h__dq__rt_rs th_r_. Mr P_g_ s__d S_l_c_n V_ll_y _s _ gr__t pl_c_ f_r t_chn_l_gy c_mp_n__s b_c__s_ _t _s __sy t_ d_ b_s_n_ss th_r_. H_ t_ld Br_t__n's 'F_n_nc__l T_m_s' n_wsp_p_r th_t S_l_c_n V_ll_y w_s gr__t f_r _nv_st_ng _n sc__nc_ _nd f_r m_k_ng m_n_y by s_tt_ng _p n_w t_chn_l_gy c_mp_n__s. H_ s__d __r_p_'s p_l_t_c__ns n__d_d t_ st_rt _nv_st_ng _n b_g _d__s.

Mr P_g_ t_ld th_ F_n_nc__l T_m_s h_ h_d $62 b_ll__n th_t h_ w_nt_d t_ _nv_st _n n_w _d__s. H_ s__d h_ w_nt_d t_ _s_ th_ m_n_y t_ b_n_f_t s_c__t__s _n __r_p_. H_ s__d: "W_'r_ try_ng t_ f_g_r_ _t __t. H_w d_ w_ _s_ _ll th_s_ r_s__rc_s _nd h_v_ _ m_ch m_r_ p_s_t_v_ _mp_ct _n th_ w_rld?" P_g_ _s n_t th_ f_rst b_s_n_ss l__d_r t_ _tt_ck __r_p_ f_r b__ng sl_w w_th _nv_st_ng _n t_chn_l_gy. M_ny _xp_rts s_y __r_p__n sch__ls d_ n_t t__ch _n__gh t_chn_l_gy, s_ ch_ldr_n d_ n_t h_v_ th_ sk_lls th_t k_ds _n S_l_c_n V_ll_y h_v_. M_ny l__d_rs _n _d_c_t__n b_l__v_ th_r_ sh__ld b_ _ m_ch b_gg_r f_c_s _n t_chn_l_gy _n sch__ls. S_m_ th_nk _ll _l_m_nt_ry sch__ls sh__ld h_v_ cl_ss_s _n c_d_ng f_r ch_ldr_n.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

the ceo (chief executive officer) of google larry page has told european governments they need to be more like silicon valley he said european leaders do not support technology companies enough silicon valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations google apple and facebook have their headquarters there mr page said silicon valley is a great place for technology companies because it is easy to do business there he told britain's 'financial times' newspaper that silicon valley was great for investing in science and for making money by setting up new technology companies he said europe's politicians needed to start investing in big ideas

mr page told the financial times he had $62 billion that he wanted to invest in new ideas he said he wanted to use the money to benefit societies in europe he said "we're trying to figure it out how do we use all these resources and have a much more positive impact on the world" page is not the first business leader to attack europe for being slow with investing in technology many experts say european schools do not teach enough technology so children do not have the skills that kids in silicon valley have many leaders in education believe there should be a much bigger focus on technology in schools some think all elementary schools should have classes on coding for children

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

TheCEO(ChiefExecutiveOfficer)ofGoogleLarryPagehastoldEuropea
ngovernmentstheyneedtobemorelikeSiliconValley.HesaidEuropean
leadersdonotsupporttechnologycompaniesenough.SiliconValleyish
ometomanyoftheworld'slargesttechnologycorporations.Google,App
leandFacebookhavetheirheadquartersthere.MrPagesaidSiliconValle
yisagreatplacefortechnologycompaniesbecauseitiseasytodobusines
sthere.HetoldBritain's'FinancialTimes'newspaperthatSiliconValleyw
asgreatforinvestinginscienceandformakingmoneybysettingupnewt
echnologycompanies.HesaidEurope'spoliticiansneededtostartinves
tinginbigideas.MrPagetoldtheFinancialTimeshehad$62billionthathe
wantedtoinvestinnewideas.Hesaidhewantedtousethemoneytobene
fitsocietiesinEurope.Hesaid:"We'retryingtofigureitout.Howdoweuse
alltheseresourcesandhaveamuchmorepositiveimpactontheworld?"
PageisnotthefirstbusinessleadertoattackEuropeforbeingslowwithin
vestingintechnology.ManyexpertssayEuropeanschoolsdonotteache
noughtechnology,sochildrendonothavetheskillsthatkidsinSiliconVal
leyhave.Manyleadersineducationbelievethereshouldbeamuchbigge
rfocusontechnologyinschools.Somethinkallelementaryschoolsshoul
dhaveclassesoncodingforchildren.

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Which is better, Google or Apple? Why? Give three good and bad things about each company.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 technology companies. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES: Make a poster about technology companies. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. GOOGLE: Write a magazine article about the money Larry Page has to invest. Include imaginary interviews with him and European leaders. Ask them where the money should go.

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 technology companies. Ask him/her three questions about Silicon Valley. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to help tech companies. 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...

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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

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

F

c

T

d

T

e

T

f

F

g

F

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	like	a.	similar to
2.	support	b.	help
3.	headquarters	c.	main office
4.	great	d.	excellent
5.	setting up	e.	starting
6.	invest	f.	put money into
7.	benefit	g.	improve
8.	experts	h.	specialists
9.	focus	i.	emphasis
10.	coding	j.	programming

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Silicon Valley
2.	Headquarters
3.	Business
4.	Money
5.	Big ideas
6.	$62 billion
7.	A positive one
8.	Silicon Valley kids
9.	Technology
10.	Coding

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

a

4.

b

5.

d

6.

b

7.

a

8.

c

9.

d

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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Europe needs to support technology more (5th November, 2014)

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