The Reading / Listening - Level 5

Tech giants Facebook and Google are competing for the talents of a 15-year-old app developer. Australian Ben Pasternak sparked the interest of the companies with his app for a game called Impossible Rush. It has been downloaded more than 500,000 times since its launch. The addictive game climbed higher than Vine and Twitter in the App Store. Pasternak has been invited by Facebook’s internship department for a tour of the company’s headquarters. The vice-president of Google asked him to visit the Google campus. Both companies hope Ben could be one of their future developers.

Pasternak is one of 450 high-school-aged entrepreneurs attending an event called Hack Generation Y. The high-schoolers are from ten different countries. They will collaborate on a 36-hour project to create a sellable product. They will also listen to famous speakers from the technology world. The organiser of the event, said: "Pasternak is a young entrepreneur and clearly ambitious. He has shown the world that age is just a number." He added that: "[Pasternak's] iPhone app was extremely impressive and if we were to guess, we would never imagine it was run by a 15-year-old."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Level 4 or  Level 6

Sources
  • http://news.sky.com/story/1413485/tech-giants-woo-15-year-old-app-whizzkid
  • http://tribune.com.pk/story/826918/15-year-old-whizzkid-attracts-google-and-facebook-with-new-app/
  • http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tech-giants-facebook-google-battle-it-out-teen-tech-whizz-kid-ben-pasternak-1484927
  • http://techaeris.com/2015/01/24/google-facebook-battle-15-year-old/


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 Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.

competing for the talents of a

a.

internship department

2.

Pasternak sparked the

b.

the Google campus

3.

downloaded more than 500,000 times

c.

15-year-old

4.

The addictive

d.

their future developers

5.

Pasternak has been invited by Facebook's

e.

since its launch

6.

a tour of the company's

f.

game

7.

Google asked him to visit

g.

interest of the companies

8.

Ben could be one of

h.

headquarters

MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.

one of 450 high-school-

a.

product

2.

attending an event

b.

ten different countries

3.

The high-schoolers are from

c.

speakers

4.

collaborate on

d.

aged entrepreneurs

5.

create a sellable

e.

impressive

6.

listen to famous

f.

a 36-hour project

7.

Pasternak is a young entrepreneur

g.

called Hack Generation Y

8.

extremely

h.

and clearly ambitious

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

Tech giants Facebook and Google (1) ___________________ the talents of a (2) ___________________ developer. Australian Ben Pasternak sparked the interest of the companies (3) ___________________ game called Impossible Rush. It has (4) ___________________ more than 500,000 times since its launch. The addictive game climbed higher than Vine and Twitter in the App Store. Pasternak has been invited by Facebook's internship department for a (5) ___________________ headquarters. The vice-president of Google asked him to visit the Google campus. Both companies hope Ben could be one of (6) ___________________.

Pasternak (7) ___________________-school-aged entrepreneurs attending an event called Hack Generation Y. The high-schoolers are from ten different countries. They (8) ___________________ a 36-hour project to create a sellable product. They (9) ___________________ famous speakers from the technology world. The (10) ___________________, said: "Pasternak is a young entrepreneur (11) ___________________. He has shown the world that age is just a number." He added that: "[Pasternak's] iPhone app was extremely impressive and (12) ___________________, we would never imagine it was run by a 15-year-old."

APPS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about apps 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.

 

 

 

 

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

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

a)

________________________________________________________

b)

________________________________________________________

c)

________________________________________________________

d)

________________________________________________________

e)

________________________________________________________

f)

________________________________________________________

g)

________________________________________________________

h)

________________________________________________________

 

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

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

a)

________________________________________________________

b)

________________________________________________________

c)

________________________________________________________

d)

________________________________________________________

e)

________________________________________________________

f)

________________________________________________________

g)

________________________________________________________

h)

________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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