The Reading / Listening - Dangerous Places - Level 6

A team of paleontologists has uncovered what they believe was the most dangerous place in the history of the Earth. It is not a crime-ridden, inner-city ghetto or a hellish war zone. It was an area of the Sahara Desert in Morocco that 100 million years ago was a scary place to be. The team of fossil hunters said an area near the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a terrifying array of ferocious predators - rather like the beasts from Jurassic Park, but on steroids. The paleontologists have dubbed the area as being the "most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth". Their claim is based on the discovery of an array of fossils found in ancient rock formations called the Kem Kem group deep in the Sahara.

Professor David Martill wrote about the significance of the study. He said: "This is the most comprehensive piece of work on fossil vertebrates from the Sahara in almost a century." He added: "This place was filled with absolutely enormous fish...probably four or even five times larger than today's....There was an enormous freshwater saw shark...with the most fearsome of teeth. They are like barbed daggers, but beautifully shiny." Dr Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the report into the research, said it was a truly inhospitable habitat. He said it was, "a place where a human time-traveller would not last very long". He said the study provides "a window into Africa's age of dinosaurs".

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Dangerous Places - Level 4  or  Dangerous Places - Level 5

Sources
  • https://www.newsweek.com/prehistoric-sahara-ferocious-predators-dangerous-place-earth-1500389
  • https://www.sciencealert.com/palaeontologists-say-ancient-sahara-was-most-dangerous-place-in-earth-s-history
  • http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/kem-kem-predators-08367.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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. DANGEROUS PLACES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about dangerous places. 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?
       paleontologists / dangerous / history / inner city / war zone / fossil / terrifying /
       study / vertebrates / century / enormous fish / shark / teeth / inhospitable / habitat
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. TODAY: Students A strongly believe the world today is a more dangerous place then the world of hundreds of years ago; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. SCARY PLACES: How scary are these places? Why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

How Scary

Why?

Haunted house

 

 

Deep forest

 

 

Prison

 

 

Graveyard

 

 

In a nightmare

 

 

The city at night

 

 

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. DESERT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "desert". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. FEROCIOUS: Rank these with your partner. Put the most ferocious animals at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • shark
  • hyena
  • rat
  • lion
  • hornet
  • centipede
  • bear
  • rattle snake

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. paleontologists a. A wide range of a particular type of thing.
      2. crime-ridden b. Very, very, very old.
      3. ghetto c. Someone who studies animal and plant fossils.
      4. array d. A part of a city, especially a poor area, occupied by a minority group or groups.
      5. ferocious e. Having a lot of illegal and unlawful behaviour.
      6. predators f. Really fierce, cruel, or violent.
      7. ancient g. An animal that naturally preys on (hunts and eats) other animals.

    Paragraph 2

      8. significance h. Of large content or scope; wide-ranging.
      9. comprehensive i. The remains  of a prehistoric animal, bird, fish, insect or plant preserved in a rock.
      10. fossil j. An environment that is harsh and difficult to live in.
      11. vertebrates k. The quality of being worthy of attention; importance.
      12. enormous l. The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.
      13. inhospitable m. Very, very, very big.
      14. habitat n. An animal that has a backbone.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. The most dangerous place on earth is a war zone in the Sahara.     T / F
  2. The most dangerous place was found to be 100 million years ago.     T / F
  3. The dinosaurs they found fossils of were in the movie Jurassic Park.     T / F
  4. The fossils they found were in an area called Kem Kem.     T / F
  5. The research is the most comprehensive ever done on fossils.     T / F
  6. The area in the study was full of huge fish 100 million years ago.     T / F
  7. The article described a whale with very sharp teeth.     T / F
  8. A researcher said the place was a great place for time-travellers.     T / F

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

  1. uncovered
  2. area
  3. array
  4. dubbed
  5. ancient
  6. significance
  7. comprehensive
  8. enormous
  9. inhospitable
  10. age
  1. importance
  2. named
  3. era
  4. collection
  5. thorough
  6. found
  7. hostile
  8. very old
  9. huge
  10. region

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

  1. a crime-ridden, inner-
  2. an area near the Morocco-
  3. ferocious
  4. the discovery of an
  5. deep
  6. the most comprehensive piece of
  7. filled with absolutely enormous
  8. it was a truly inhospitable
  9. a human time-
  10. a window into Africa's age
  1. fish
  2. in the Sahara
  3. predators
  4. traveller
  5. city ghetto
  6. of dinosaurs
  7. habitat
  8. array of fossils
  9. work
  10. Algeria border

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
scary
predators
ghetto
history
hunters
formations
uncovered
dubbed

A team of paleontologists has (1) ____________ what they believe was the most dangerous place in the history of the Earth. It is not a crime-ridden, inner-city (2) ____________ or a hellish war zone. It was an area of the Sahara Desert in Morocco that 100 million years ago was a (3) ____________ place to be. The team of fossil (4) ____________ said an area near the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a terrifying array of ferocious (5) ____________ - rather like the beasts from Jurassic Park, but on steroids. The paleontologists have (6) ____________ the area as being the "most dangerous place in the (7) ____________ of planet Earth". Their claim is based on the discovery of an array of fossils found in ancient rock (8) ____________ called the Kem Kem group deep in the Sahara.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
inhospitable
age
vertebrates
shark
traveller
significance
beautifully
enormous

Professor David Martill wrote about the (9) ____________ of the study. He said: "This is the most comprehensive piece of work on fossil (10) ____________ from the Sahara in almost a century." He added: "This place was filled with absolutely (11) ____________ fish...probably four or even five times larger than today's....There was an enormous freshwater saw (12) ____________...with the most fearsome of teeth. They are like barbed daggers, but (13) ____________ shiny." Dr Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the report into the research, said it was a truly (14) ____________ habitat. He said it was, "a place where a human time-(15) ____________ would not last very long". He said the study provides "a window into Africa's (16) ____________ of dinosaurs".

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  It is not a crime-ridden, inner-city ghetto or a ______
     a.  hellish wart zone
     b.  hellish wary zone
     c.  hellish wore zone
     d.  hellish war zone
2)  the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a terrifying ______ predators
     a.  affray of ferocious
     b.  allay of ferocious
     c.  alloy of ferocious
     d.  array of ferocious
3)  rather like the beasts from Jurassic Park, ______
     a.  but on steroids
     b.  but in steroids
     c.  but as steroids
     d.  but to steroids
4) dubbed the area as being the most dangerous place in the ______ Earth
     a.  history for planet
     b.  history of planet
     c.  history as planet
     d.  history at planet
5)  based on the discovery of an array of fossils found in ______
     a.  ancient lock formations
     b.  ancient rock formations
     c.  ancient rack formations
     d.  ancient lack formations

6)  He said: "This is the most comprehensive piece of ______ vertebrates"
     a.  working fossil
     b.  work con fossil
     c.  work on fossil
     d.  working con fossil
7)  There was an enormous freshwater saw shark...with the most ______
     a.  fearsome off teeth
     b.  fears some of teeth
     c.  fearsome of teeth
     d.  fear some off teeth
8) lead author of the report into the research, said it was a truly ______
     a.  inhospitable habitat
     b.  in hospitality habitat
     c.  in hospital able habitat
     d.  in hospice habitat
9)  He said it was, "a place where a human time-traveller would not ______
     a.  lasts very long
     b.  lasted very long
     c.  last very long
     d.  lastly very long
10)  the study provides "a window into Africa's ______"
     a.  ages of dinosaurs
     b.  aged of dinosaurs
     c.  agar of dinosaurs
     d.  age of dinosaurs

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A team of paleontologists has uncovered what (1) ___________________ the most dangerous place in the history of the Earth. It is not a crime-ridden, inner-city ghetto or a (2) ___________________. It was an area of the Sahara Desert in Morocco that 100 million years ago (3) ___________________ place to be. The team of fossil hunters said an area near the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a (4) ___________________ ferocious predators - rather like the beasts from Jurassic Park, but on steroids. The paleontologists have (5) ___________________ as being the "most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth". Their claim is based on the discovery of an array of fossils found (6) ___________________ formations called the Kem Kem group deep in the Sahara.

Professor David Martill wrote about (7) ___________________ the study. He said: "This is the most comprehensive piece of work on fossil vertebrates from the Sahara in (8) ___________________." He added: "This place was filled with absolutely enormous fish...probably four or even five times larger than today's....There (9) ___________________ freshwater saw shark...with the most fearsome of teeth. They are like barbed daggers, but beautifully shiny." Dr Nizar Ibrahim, (10) ___________________ the report into the research, said it was a truly inhospitable habitat. He said it was, "a place where a (11) ___________________ would not last very long". He said the study provides "a window into Africa's (12) ___________________ ".

Comprehension questions

  1. Who believes they uncovered a dangerous place?
  2. How long ago do people think the place was very dangerous?
  3. Near what border was the dangerous place?
  4. What did the article say were ferocious?
  5. What is the name of the ancient rock formations?
  6. Who is David Martill?
  7. How much larger were the fish mentioned in the article than today's fish?
  8. What did the fish have that were fearsome?
  9. Who did a researcher say would not last long in the dangerous place?
  10. What did a researcher say the study provided a window into?

Multiple choice quiz

1)  Who believes they uncovered a dangerous place?
a) psychiatrists
b) paleontologists
c) philanthropists
d) pathologists
2) How long ago do people think the place was very dangerous?
a) thousands of years ago
b) a few centuries ago
c) a billion years ago
d) 100 million years ago
3) Near what border was the dangerous place?
a) the Morocco-Algeria border
b) the border with Africa
c) the Kenya-Uganda border
d) the Egypt-Sudan border
4) What did the article say were ferocious?
a) paleontologists
b) early humans
c) predators
d) researchers
5) What is the name of the ancient rock formations?
a) Bim Bom
b) Kem Kem
c) Tim Tim
d) Tam Tam

6) Who is David Martill?
a) a dangerous places expert
b) an early human
c) a professor
d) a dinosaur hunter
7) How much larger were the fish mentioned in the article than today's fish?
a) infinitely
b) many times
c) 100%
d) 4 or 5 times
8) What did the fish have that were fearsome?
a) teeth
b) eyes
c) claws
d) jaws
9) Who did a researcher say would not last long in the dangerous place?
a) a human time-traveller
b) stone-age man
c) an English student
d) paleontologists
10) What did a researcher say the study provided a window into?
a) paleontologists
b) dinosaurs in Africa
c) a room
d) a good view

Role play

Role  A – Sharks
You think sharks are the most ferocious animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their animals aren't as ferocious. Also, tell the others which are the cutest of these (and why): bears, snakes or hornets.

Role  B – Bears
You think bears are the most ferocious animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their animals aren't as ferocious. Also, tell the others which are the cutest of these (and why): sharks, snakes or hornets.

Role  C – Snakes
You think snakes are the most ferocious animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their animals aren't as ferocious. Also, tell the others which are the cutest of these (and why): bears, sharks or hornets.

Role  D – Hornets
You think hornets are the most ferocious animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their animals aren't as ferocious. Also, tell the others which are the cutest of these (and why): bears, snakes or sharks.

After reading / listening

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

'dangerous'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • and 'dinosaur'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • • 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:

    • believe
    • crime
    • scary
    • beasts
    • dubbed
    • rock
    • comprehensive
    • filled
    • enormous
    • shiny
    • truly
    • age

    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 - Dangerous Places

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'dangerous'?
    3. What do you think is the most dangerous place on Earth?
    4. How dangerous is your town?
    5. What's the most dangerous place you've been to?
    6. What do you think of paleontology?
    7. What do you think of fossils?
    8. How important is it to find fossils?
    9. What are the most terrifying beasts in the world today?
    10. What do you know about the Sahara Desert?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'Earth'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What is the most dangerous time in history?
    5. How dangerous is the world today?
    6. Would you like to be a paleontologist?
    7. Do you think scientists should use DNA to bring dinosaurs back?
    8. If you were a time-traveller, what time would you go to?
    9. What would you like to know about the age of the dinosaurs?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the paleontologists?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    A team of paleontologists has (1) ____ what they believe was the most dangerous place in the history of the Earth. It is not a crime-(2) ____, inner-city ghetto or a (3) ____ war zone. It was an area of the Sahara Desert in Morocco that 100 million years ago was a scary place to be. The team of fossil hunters said an area near the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a terrifying (4) ____ of ferocious predators - rather like the beasts from Jurassic Park, but on steroids. The paleontologists have (5) ____ the area as being the "most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth". Their claim is based on the discovery of an array of fossils found in (6) ____ rock formations called the Kem Kem group deep in the Sahara.

    Professor David Martill wrote about the (7) ____ of the study. He said: "This is the most comprehensive piece of work on fossil vertebrates from the Sahara in almost a century." He added: "This place was filled with (8) ____ enormous fish...probably four or even five times larger than today's....There was an enormous freshwater saw shark...with the most fearsome (9) ____ teeth. They are like barbed daggers, but beautifully shiny." Dr Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the report (10) ____ the research, said it was a truly inhospitable habitat. He said it was, "a place where a human (11) ____-traveller would not last very long". He said the study provides "a window into Africa's (12) ____ of dinosaurs".

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     uncovered     (b)     coveted     (c)     encouraged     (d)     entourage    
    2. (a)     sodden     (b)     hidden     (c)     ridden     (d)     rotten    
    3. (a)     nirvana     (b)     heavenly     (c)     hellish     (d)     inferno    
    4. (a)     affray     (b)     display     (c)     comply     (d)     array    
    5. (a)     shielded     (b)     comforted     (c)     dubbed     (d)     staffed    
    6. (a)     olde-worlde     (b)     ancient     (c)     contemporary     (d)     archaic    
    7. (a)     onus     (b)     significance     (c)     pastime     (d)     service    
    8. (a)     resolve     (b)     absolutely     (c)     irresponsible     (d)     ill-mannered    
    9. (a)     at     (b)     for     (c)     of     (d)     to    
    10. (a)     unto     (b)     as to     (c)     onto     (d)     into    
    11. (a)     luxury     (b)     budget     (c)     rail     (d)     time    
    12. (a)     day     (b)     era     (c)     old     (d)     age

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. crime-ridden, inner-city thteog
    2. The team of iosslf hunters
    3. seroifouc predators
    4. from Jurassic Park, but on ietdsosr
    5. based on the discovery of an yarar
    6. entainc rock formations

    Paragraph 2

    1. the ginasfcenici of the study
    2. pemsrheniveco piece of work
    3. absolutely ouosrnme fish
    4. the most easeofrm of teeth
    5. a truly atbploshieni habitat
    6. Africa's age of diorsnuas

    Put the text back together

    (...)  the area as being the "most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth". Their claim is based on the discovery
    (...)  hunters said an area near the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a terrifying array of ferocious
    (...)  of an array of fossils found in ancient rock formations called the Kem Kem group deep in the Sahara.
    (...)  century." He added: "This place was filled with absolutely enormous fish...probably four or even five times larger than
    (...)  area of the Sahara Desert in Morocco that 100 million years ago was a scary place to be. The team of fossil
    (...)  place in the history of the Earth. It is not a crime-ridden, inner-city ghetto or a hellish war zone. It was an
    1  ) A team of paleontologists has uncovered what they believe was the most dangerous
    (...)  comprehensive piece of work on fossil vertebrates from the Sahara in almost a
    (...)  traveller would not last very long". He said the study provides "a window into Africa's age of dinosaurs".
    (...)  a truly inhospitable habitat. He said it was, "a place where a human time-
    (...)  Professor David Martill wrote about the significance of the study. He said: "This is the most
    (...)  predators - rather like the beasts from Jurassic Park, but on steroids. The paleontologists have dubbed
    (...)  today's....There was an enormous freshwater saw shark...with the most fearsome of teeth. They are like barbed daggers, but beautifully
    (...)  shiny." Dr Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the report into the research, said it was

    Put the words in the right order

    1. believe   most   What   they   the   place   .   dangerous   was
    2. Sahara   the   of   Desert   in   Morocco   .   An   area
    3. to   a   ferocious   terrifying   array   of   predators   .   Home
    4. the   beasts   steroids   .   on   from       Jurassic Park       Like   but  
    5. fossils   .   an   discovery   The   of   array   of
    6. is   comprehensive   of   work   .   piece   This   most   the
    7. absolutely   enormous   This   filled   was   place   fish   .   with
    8. shark   most   A   teeth   .   with   the   fearsome   of
    9. author   research   .   report   into   Lead   of   the   the
    10. into   Provides   of   a   window   age   dinosaurs   .   Africa's

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    A team of paleontologists has covered / uncovered what they believe was the most dangerous place in the history of the Earth. It is not a crime-ridden, inner-city ghetto or a holy / hellish war zone. It was an arena / area of the Sahara Desert in Morocco that 100 million years ago was a scarred / scary place to be. The team of fossil hunters said an area near the Morocco-Algeria border was home to a terrifying array / affray of ferocious predators - rather like the beasts / beats from Jurassic Park, but on steroids. The paleontologists have dubbed / daubed the area as being the "most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth". Their claim is basted / based on the discovery of an array of fossils found in ancient rocked / rock formations called the Kem Kem group deep / deeply in the Sahara.

    Professor David Martill wrote about the significance / significant of the study. He said: "This is the most comprehensive piece / peace of work on fossil vertebrates from the Sahara in almost a centurion / century." He added: "This place was filled with / within absolutely enormous fish...probably four or even five times larger than today's....There was an enormous freshwater saw / seen shark...with the most fearsome of teeth. They are like barbed daggers, but beautifully shine / shiny." Dr Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the report onto / into the research, said it was a truly / truth inhospitable habitat. He said it was, "a place where a human time-traveller would not lastly / last very long". He said the study provides "a window into Africa's age / ageless of dinosaurs".

    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)

    A t__ m _f p_l__ n t_l_g_s t s h_s _n c_v_r_d w h_t t h_y b_l__ v_ w_s t h_ m_s t d_n g_r__ s p l_c_ _n t h_ h_s t_r y _f t h_ E_r t h . I t _s n_t _ c r_m_- r_d d_n , _n n_r - c_t y g h_t t_ _r _ h_l l_s h w_r z_n_. I t w_s _n _r__ _f t h_ S_h_r_ D_s_r t _n M_r_c c_ t h_t 1 0 0 m_l l__ n y__ r s _g_ w_s _ s c_r y p l_c_ t_ b_. T h_ t__ m _f f_s s_l h_n t_r s s__ d _n _r__ n__ r t h_ M_r_c c_- A l g_r__ b_r d_r w_s h_m_ t_ _ t_r r_f y_n g _r r_y _f f_r_c___s p r_d_t_r s - r_t h_r l_k_ t h_ b__ s t s f r_m J_r_s s_c P_r k , b_t _n s t_r__ d s . T h_ p_l__ n t_l_g_s t s h_v_ d_b b_d t h_ _r__ _s b__ n g t h_ " m_s t d_n g_r__ s p l_c_ _n t h_ h_s t_r y _f p l_n_t E_r t h " . T h__ r c l__ m _s b_s_d _n t h_ d_s c_v_r y _f _n _r r_y _f f_s s_l s f__ n d _n _n c__ n t r_c k f_r m_t__ n s c_l l_d t h_ K_m K_m g r__ p d__ p _n t h_ S_h_r_.

    P r_f_s s_r D_v_d M_r t_l l w r_t_ _b__ t t h_ s_g n_f_c_n c_ _f t h_ s t_d y . H_ s__ d : " T h_s _s t h_ m_s t c_m p r_h_n s_v_ p__ c_ _f w_r k _n f_s s_l v_r t_b r_t_s f r_m t h_ S_h_r_ _n _l m_s t _ c_n t_r y . " H_ _d d_d : " T h_s p l_c_ w_s f_l l_d w_t h _b s_l_t_l y _n_r m__ s f_s h . . . p r_b_b l y f__ r _r _v_n f_v_ t_m_s l_r g_ r t h_n t_d_y ' s . . . . T h_r_ w_s _n _n_r m__ s f r_s h w_t_r s_w s h_r k . . . w_t h t h_ m_s t f__ r s_m_ _f t__ t h . T h_y _r_ l_k_ b_r b_d d_g g_r s , b_t b___t_f_l l y s h_n y . " D r N_z_r I b r_h_m , l__ d __ t h_r _f t h_ r_p_r t _n t_ t h_ r_s__ r c h , s__ d _t w_s _ t r_l y _n h_s p_t_b l_ h_b_t_t . H_ s__ d _t w_s , "_ p l_c_ w h_r_ _ h_m_n t_m_- t r_v_l l_r w__ l d n_t l_s t v_r y l_n g " . H_ s__ d t h_ s t_d y p r_v_d_s "_ w_n d_w _n t_ A f r_c_' s _g_ _f d_n_s__ r s " .

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    a team of paleontologists has uncovered what they believe was the most dangerous place in the history of the earth it is not a crimeridden innercity ghetto or a hellish war zone it was an area of the sahara desert in morocco that 100 million years ago was a scary place to be the team of fossil hunters said an area near the moroccoalgeria border was home to a terrifying array of ferocious predators  rather like the beasts from jurassic park but on steroids the paleontologists have dubbed the area as being the most dangerous place in the history of planet earth their claim is based on the discovery of an array of fossils found in ancient rock formations called the kem kem group deep in the sahara

    professor david martill wrote about the significance of the study he said this is the most comprehensive piece of work on fossil vertebrates from the sahara in almost a century he added this place was filled with absolutely enormous fish probably four or even five times larger than todays there was an enormous freshwater saw shark with the most fearsome of teeth they are like barbed daggers but beautifully shiny dr nizar ibrahim lead author of the report into the research said it was a truly inhospitable habitat he said it was a place where a human timetraveller would not last very long he said the study provides a window into africas age of dinosaurs

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Ateamofpaleontologistshasuncoveredwhattheybelievewasthemost
    dangerousplaceinthehistoryoftheEarth.Itisnotacrime-ridden,inner-
    cityghettoorahellishwarzone.ItwasanareaoftheSaharaDesertinMor
    occothat100millionyearsagowasascaryplacetobe.Theteamoffossilh
    unterssaidanareaneartheMorocco-Algeriaborderwashometoaterrif
    yingarrayofferociouspredators-ratherlikethebeastsfromJurassicP
    ark,butonsteroids.Thepaleontologistshavedubbedtheareaasbeingt
    he"mostdangerousplaceinthehistoryofplanetEarth".Theirclaimisbas
    edonthediscoveryofanarrayoffossilsfoundinancientrockformationsc
    alledtheKemKemgroupdeepintheSahara.ProfessorDavidMartillwrot
    eaboutthesignificanceofthestudy.Hesaid:"Thisisthemostcomprehe
    nsivepieceofworkonfossilvertebratesfromtheSaharainalmostacentu
    ry."Headded:"Thisplacewasfilledwithabsolutelyenormousfish...pro
    bablyfourorevenfivetimeslargerthantoday's....Therewasanenormo
    usfreshwatersawshark...withthemostfearsomeofteeth.Theyarelike
    barbeddaggers,butbeautifullyshiny."DrNizarIbrahim,leadauthoroft
    hereportintotheresearch,saiditwasatrulyinhospitablehabitat.Hesaid
    itwas,"aplacewhereahumantime-travellerwouldnotlastverylong".H
    esaidthestudyprovides"awindowintoAfrica'sageofdinosaurs".

    Free writing

    Write about dangerous places for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    Academic writing

    Life on Earth in the past was more dangerous than it is now. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. DANGEROUS PLACES: Make a poster about dangerous places. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. CLEANED UP: Write a magazine article about spending lots of money on cleaning up dangerous places and making them safer. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    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 dangerous places. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your ideas on the most dangerous place. 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

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Help Support This Web Site

    • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

    Sean Banville's Book

    Thank You