The Reading / Listening - Turtle - Level 2

There are many reasons for airport delays. Sometimes it's the weather, sometimes it's a technical problem, and other times it's a late passenger. Narita Airport in Japan found a new cause – a turtle going for a walk. Narita's runway closed for 12 minutes because a small turtle was on the tarmac. The pilot of an airplane waiting to take off saw the small reptile at around 11:35am. There was an immediate search for it. This caused the delay of five flights. Airport staff managed to locate the creature. They safely removed it with a net. They reported that it was unharmed.

An airport spokesperson said the turtle lived in a nearby pond. It got under the airport fence and crawled onto the runway. The turtle might have decided to sunbathe. It was warmer than usual at the airport for the time of the year. After the turtle was caught, an A380 airplane took off. By coincidence, it was painted in a turtle design. The plane was going to the island of Okinawa in the south of Japan. An airline spokesperson said: "Turtles are seen as bringing good luck. We hope this turtle, who came to see the flight off, signals a bright future."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Turtle - Level 0 Turtle - Level 1   or  Turtle - Level 3

Sources
    https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0007810712 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/28/turtle-slow-moving-reptile-delays-five-planes-at-japan-airport https://simpleflying.com/tokyo-tortoise-trouble/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. There are many reasons
  2. sometimes it's a technical
  3. other times it's a late
  4. a turtle going
  5. a small turtle was
  6. The pilot of an
  7. waiting to take
  8. Airport staff managed to
  1. airplane
  2. passenger
  3. off
  4. on the tarmac
  5. for airport delays
  6. locate the creature
  7. problem
  8. for a walk

Paragraph 2

  1. An airport
  2. the turtle lived
  3. It got under
  4. crawled onto
  5. It was warmer than usual
  6. it was painted in a turtle
  7. Turtles are seen as
  8. a bright
  1. future
  2. the airport fence
  3. at the airport
  4. bringing good luck
  5. spokesperson
  6. the runway
  7. in a nearby pond
  8. design

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

There (1) ___________________ for airport delays. Sometimes it's the weather, sometimes it's (2) ___________________, and other times it's a late passenger. Narita Airport in Japan found a new cause - a turtle going for a walk. Narita's (3) __________________ 12 minutes because a small turtle was on the tarmac. The pilot of an airplane (4) ___________________ off saw the small reptile at around 11:35am. There was an immediate search for it. This caused the (5) ___________________ flights. Airport staff managed to locate the creature. They safely removed it with a net. They reported that (6) ___________________.

An airport spokesperson said the turtle lived in (7) ___________________. It got under the airport fence and crawled onto the runway. The turtle might have (8) ___________________. It was (9) ___________________ at the airport for the time of the year. After the turtle was caught, an A380 airplane took off. By coincidence, it was painted in a turtle design. The plane was going to (10) ___________________ Okinawa in the south of Japan. An airline spokesperson said: "Turtles are seen as (11) ___________________. We hope this turtle, who came to see the flight off, (12) ___________________ future."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Therearemanyreasonsforairportdelays.Sometimesit'stheweather,s
ometimesit'satechnicalproblem,andothertimesit'salatepassenger.N
aritaAirportinJapanfoundanewcause-aturtlegoingforawalk.Narita's
runwayclosedfor12minutesbecauseasmallturtlewasonthetarmac.T
hepilotofanairplanewaitingtotakeoffsawthesmallreptileataround11:
35am.Therewasanimmediatesearchforit.Thiscausedthedelayoffivef
lights.Airportstaffmanagedtolocatethecreature.Theysafelyremoved
itwithanet.Theyreportedthatitwasunharmed.Anairportspokesperso
nsaidtheturtlelivedinanearbypond.Itgotundertheairportfenceandcr
awledontotherunway.Theturtlemighthavedecidedtosunbathe.Itwas
warmerthanusualattheairportforthetimeoftheyear.Aftertheturtlewa
scaught,anA380airplanetookoff.Bycoincidence,itwaspaintedinaturt
ledesign.TheplanewasgoingtotheislandofOkinawainthesouthofJapa
n.Anairlinespokespersonsaid:"Turtlesareseenasbringinggoodluck.
Wehopethisturtle,whocametoseetheflightoff,signalsabrightfuture."

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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