The Reading / Listening - Reindeer - Level 1

A man photographed a rare white reindeer in the north of Norway. Mads Nordsveen, from Oslo, was hiking in the mountains. He suddenly saw a small white animal. He realized it was a reindeer. He said it was so white, "he almost disappeared into the snow". He said the experience was "magical" and like a "fairy tale". He said: "We looked into each other's eyes. He was very calm....He behaved as if he was posing for my photos. He was very curious."

The photo has gone viral on social media. It has been liked over 30,000 times. It is good luck in Norway to see a white reindeer. Also, Christmas is coming. Santa Claus' sleigh is pulled by eight reindeer. They help Santa to deliver presents. Santa's reindeer are usually brown. A white reindeer is white because of a genetic problem that removes colour from its fur. They are not albino. In the USA, reindeer are known as caribou.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Reindeer - Level 0 Reindeer - Level 2   or  Reindeer - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46442538
  • https://globalnews.ca/news/4726909/rare-white-reindeer-calf/
  • https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/white-reindeer-captured-by-norweigan-photographer-mads-nordsveen-instagram-northern-norway-sami-people/118142


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 :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. in the
  2. He suddenly saw a small
  3. he almost disappeared
  4. He said the experience was
  5. like a
  6. We looked into each
  7. he was posing
  8. He was very
  1. into the snow
  2. for my photos
  3. "magical"
  4. curious
  5. other's eyes
  6. north of Norway
  7. white animal
  8. "fairy tale"

Paragraph 2

  1. The photo has gone viral
  2. It is good
  3. Santa Claus' sleigh is pulled
  4. They help Santa
  5. Santa's reindeer
  6. because of a genetic
  7. removes colour
  8. In the USA, reindeer are
  1. are usually brown
  2. from its fur
  3. luck in Norway
  4. known as caribou
  5. by eight reindeer
  6. to deliver presents
  7. on social media
  8. problem

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A man photographed a rare white reindeer (1) ___________________ of Norway. Mads Nordsveen, from Oslo, was (2) ___________________ mountains. He suddenly saw a small white animal. He (3) ___________________ a reindeer. He said it was so white, "he almost disappeared (4) ___________________". He said the experience was "magical" and like a "fairy tale". He said: "We looked (5) ___________________ eyes. He was very calm....He behaved as if he (6) ___________________ my photos. He was very curious."

The photo has (7) ___________________ social media. It has been liked over 30,000 times. It is (8) ___________________ Norway to see a white reindeer. Also, Christmas is coming. Santa Claus' sleigh (9) ___________________ eight reindeer. They help Santa to deliver presents. Santa's reindeer (10) ___________________. A white reindeer is white (11) ___________________ genetic problem that removes colour from its fur. They are not albino. In the USA, reindeer (12) ___________________ caribou.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AmanphotographedararewhitereindeerinthenorthofNorway.MadsN
ordsveen,fromOslo,washikinginthemountains.Hesuddenlysawasm
allwhiteanimal.Herealizeditwasareindeer.Hesaiditwassowhite,"heal
mostdisappearedintothesnow".Hesaidtheexperiencewas"magical"a
ndlikea"fairytale".Hesaid:"Welookedintoeachother'seyes.Hewasver
ycalm....Hebehavedasifhewasposingformyphotos.Hewasverycurio
us."Thephotohasgoneviralonsocialmedia.Ithasbeenlikedover30,00
0times.ItisgoodluckinNorwaytoseeawhitereindeer.Also,Christmasis
coming.SantaClaus'sleighispulledbyeightreindeer.TheyhelpSantato
deliverpresents.Santa'sreindeerareusuallybrown.Awhitereindeeris
whitebecauseofageneticproblemthatremovescolourfromitsfur.They
arenotalbino.IntheUSA,reindeerareknownascaribou.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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