The Reading / Listening - Scorpions - Level 3

More than 500 people have been stung by scorpions in Aswan, Egypt. Heavy rain forced hundreds of the eight-legged creatures into the streets and into people's homes earlier this week. Many of the people who were stung had to go to hospital. Doctors gave them anti-venom injections. The people were able to go home after having the jab. Those stung by the scorpions had symptoms including severe pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. The Health Ministry has put hospitals on alert just in case more people are stung. A weather expert asked farmers in the area to be careful, especially when planting crops. In addition, he asked people to be careful of snakes, which were also seen after the rain.

People in Aswan are worried because the scorpions in their town are very dangerous. They are Arabian fat-tailed scorpions. Their nickname is "man-killer". The Al Jazeera news agency says they are among the most dangerous scorpions in the world. The venom in their sting is very poisonous and can kill a human within an hour. However, fat-tailed scorpions live in the mountains and rarely come into contact with humans. The weather expert advised people to wear proper footwear when they went outside to avoid getting bitten. He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried up. Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion species are deadly.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Scorpions - Level 0,  Scorpions - Level 1   or  Scorpions - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/16/more-than-500-stung-by-scorpions-flushed-out-by-storms-in-egypt
  • https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypt-warns-aswan-residents-of-scorpions-and-snakes/
  • https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/deadly-scorpions-kill-three-injure-25465378


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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. SCORPIONS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about scorpions. 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?
       500 / scorpions / creatures / streets / hospital / injections / pain / fever / farmers /
       worried / nickname / news agency / venom / weather / expert / footwear / deadly
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SCARIER: Students A strongly believe scorpions are scarier than snakes; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. DEADLY CREATURES: Why are these creatures so deadly? What can we do to avoid them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Why So Deadly

How to Avoid Them

Scorpions

 

 

Lions

 

 

Snakes

 

 

Bears

 

 

Hornets

 

 

Viruses / Bugs

 

 
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. RAIN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "rain". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. SCARY CREATURES: Rank these with your partner. Put the scariest creatures at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Scorpions
  • Tarantulas
  • Cockroaches
  • Bears
  • Snakes
  • Lions
  • Buffalo
  • Rats

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. creature a. Of something bad or undesirable; very great; intense.
      2. venom b. A plant that is grown on a large scale, especially a cereal, fruit, or vegetable.
      3. injection c. An animal, but not a human being.
      4. symptom d. A poisonous liquid that snakes, spiders, and scorpions have that can hurt or kill other animals.
      5. severe e. A physical or mental sign that someone is ill.
      6. fever f. A sickness where you have a very high body temperature (usually over 38ºC).
      7. crops g. The act of putting a liquid (especially a drug or vaccine) into the body using a syringe.

    Paragraph 2

      8. nickname h. Keep away from or stop oneself from doing something.
      9. poisonous i. Of the correct type or form; suitable or appropriate.
      10. rarely j. A person who is very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area.
      11. expert k. A name given to a person or thing instead of their real name.
      12. proper l. A group of living things of the same type, that can produce young together.
      13. avoid m. Of a liquid, chemical or plant that can kill us if we eat it of if it gets into our body.
      14. species n. Not often; seldom.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. Scorpions stung over 500 people in Egypt's capital city Cairo.     T / F
  2. Rainwater washed many scorpions into people's homes.     T / F
  3. People who had anti-venom injections had to stay in hospital.     T / F
  4. A weather expert asked farmers to be careful when harvesting crops.     T / F
  5. The scorpions are fat-tailed scorpions.     T / F
  6. The scorpion's venom can kill a human in just one hour.     T / F
  7. The scorpions are from the mountains.     T / F
  8. About 10 per cent of the world's scorpion species are deadly.     T / F

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

  1. stung
  2. injection
  3. severe
  4. expert
  5. In addition
  6. worried
  7. venom
  8. rarely
  9. avoid
  10. deadly
  1. very bad
  2. poison
  3. Also
  4. seldom
  5. jab
  6. bitten
  7. lethal
  8. stay away from
  9. specialist
  10. concerned

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

  1. hundreds of the eight-
  2. Doctors gave them anti-
  3. people were able to go home after
  4. Those stung by the scorpions
  5. planting
  6. Their nickname
  7. The venom in their sting
  8. rarely come into
  9. avoid getting
  10. the world's scorpion
  1. bitten
  2. having the jab
  3. crops
  4. contact with humans
  5. had symptoms
  6. legged creatures
  7. species are deadly
  8. is very poisonous
  9. venom injections
  10. is "man-killer"

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
alert
earlier
snakes
severe
expert
forced
crops
venom

More than 500 people have been stung by scorpions in Aswan, Egypt. Heavy rain (1) _____________________ hundreds of the eight-legged creatures into the streets and into people's homes (2) _____________________ this week. Many of the people who were stung had to go to hospital. Doctors gave them anti- (3) _____________________ injections. The people were able to go home after having the jab. Those stung by the scorpions had symptoms including (4) _____________________ pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. The Health Ministry has put hospitals on (5) _____________________ just in case more people are stung. A weather (6) _____________________ asked farmers in the area to be careful, especially when planting (7) _____________________. In addition, he asked people to be careful of (8) _____________________, which were also seen after the rain.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
among
rarely
worried
avoid
venom
deadly
nickname
proper

People in Aswan are (9) _____________________ because the scorpions in their town are very dangerous. They are Arabian fat-tailed scorpions. Their (10) _____________________ is "man-killer". The Al Jazeera news agency says they are (11) _____________________ the most dangerous scorpions in the world. The (12) _____________________ in their sting is very poisonous and can kill a human within an hour. However, fat-tailed scorpions live in the mountains and (13) _____________________ come into contact with humans. The weather expert advised people to wear (14) _____________________ footwear when they went outside to (15) _____________________ getting bitten. He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried up. Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion species are (16) _____________________.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Heavy rain forced hundreds of the eight-legged ______ streets
     a.  creatures unto the
     b.  creatures in too the
     c.  creatures as to the
     d.  creatures into the
2)  Many of the people who were stung had to ______
     a.  go for hospital
     b.  go to hospital
     c.  go at hospital
     d.  go two hospitals
3)  The people were able to go home after ______
     a.  having the jib
     b.  having the jab
     c.  having the job
     d.  having the jade
4)  The Health Ministry has put hospitals on alert ______
     a.  just in case
     b.  just on case
     c.  just ink case
     d.  just ink ace
5)  asked farmers in the area to be careful, especially ______
     a.  when plan tin crops
     b.  when plant tin crops
     c.  when plant in crops
     d.  when planting crops

6)  People in Aswan are worried because the scorpions in their town ______
     a.  are verily dangerous
     b.  are very dangerous
     c.  are verity dangerous
     d.  are verify dangerous
7)  The venom in their sting is very poisonous and can kill a human ______
     a.  wither an hour
     b.  within an hour
     c.  withering an hour
     d.  with inner hour
8)  The weather expert advised people to ______
     a.  wear proper footwear
     b.  wear propel footwear
     c.  wear prosper footwear
     d.  wear proffer footwear
9)  He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the ______
     a.  rainy water dried up
     b.  rains water dried up
     c.  rainwater dried up
     d.  rain watery dried up
10)  Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion ______
     a.  specials are deadly
     b.  specifics are deadly
     c.  speeches are deadly
     d.  species are deadly

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

More than 500 people have (1) ____________________ scorpions in Aswan, Egypt. Heavy rain forced hundreds of the (2) ____________________ into the streets and into people's homes earlier this week. Many of the people who were stung had to go to hospital. Doctors gave (3) ____________________ injections. The people were able to go home after having the jab. Those stung by the scorpions had symptoms including (4) ____________________, vomiting and diarrhoea. The Health Ministry has put hospitals on alert (5) ____________________ more people are stung. A weather expert asked farmers in the area to be careful, especially (6) ____________________. In addition, he asked people to be careful of snakes, which were also seen after the rain.

People in Aswan (7) ____________________ the scorpions in their town are very dangerous. They are Arabian fat-tailed scorpions. Their nickname is "man-killer". The Al Jazeera news agency says (8) ____________________ the most dangerous scorpions in the world. The venom in their sting is very poisonous and can kill a human (9) ____________________. However, fat-tailed scorpions live in the mountains and rarely (10) ____________________ with humans. The weather expert advised people to wear proper footwear when they went outside to (11) ____________________. He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried up. Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion (12) ____________________.

Comprehension questions

  1. Where in Egypt did this news take place?
  2. What did doctors give to people with scorpion stings?
  3. Where did the people go after having a jab?
  4. Who told farmers to be careful?
  5. What else do people in the area have to be careful of?
  6. What is the nickname of the scorpions?
  7. Which news agency said the scorpions were dangerous?
  8. How long could it take for this scorpion to kill a human?
  9. When should people wear proper footwear?
  10. What percentage of scorpion species are deadly?

Multiple choice quiz

1)  Where in Egypt did this news take place?
a) Cairo
b) Aswan
c) Alexandria
d) Luxor
2)  What did doctors give to people with scorpion stings?
a) advice
b) medicine
c) an injection
d) thick socks
3)  Where did the people go after having a jab?
a) the desert
b) the mountains
c) hospital
d) home
4)  Who told farmers to be careful?
a) the government
b) a weather expert
c) a scorpion expert
d) soldiers

5)  What else do people in the area have to be careful of?
a) snakes
b) rats
c) cockroaches
d) locusts

6)  What is the nickname of the scorpions?
a) Man-killer
b) Stinger
c) Stingie
d) Stay Away
7)  Which news agency said the scorpions were dangerous?
a) ABC
b) CNN
c) BBC
d) Al Jazeera
8)  How long could it take for the scorpion to kill a human?
a) seconds
b) a day
c) an hour
d) a few minutes
9)  When should people wear proper footwear?
a) in the desert
b) at home
c) in the mountains
d) when going outside
10)  What percentage of scorpion species are deadly?
a) 10%
b) less than 1%
c) about 5%
d) between 7%-9%

Role play

Role  A – Scorpions
You think scorpions are the scariest creatures. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their creatures aren't as scary. Also, tell the others which is the least scary of these (and why): rats, cockroaches or lions.

Role  B – Rats
You think rats are the scariest creatures. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their creatures aren't as scary. Also, tell the others which is the least scary of these (and why): scorpions, cockroaches or lions.

Role  C – Cockroaches
You think cockroaches are the scariest creatures. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their creatures aren't as scary. Also, tell the others which is the least scary of these (and why): rats, scorpions or lions.

Role  D – Lions
You think lions are the scariest creatures. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their creatures aren't as scary. Also, tell the others which is the least scary of these (and why): rats, cockroaches or scorpions.

After reading / listening

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

'scorpion'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'rain'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • heavy
    • earlier
    • able
    • pain
    • case
    • snakes
    • worried
    • nickname
    • venom
    • contact
    • wear
    • dried

    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 - Scorpions

    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 'scorpion'?
    3. What do you know about scorpions?
    4. What would you do if you saw a scorpion?
    5. Why do people think scorpions are so scary?
    6. Have you ever been stung by anything?
    7. Which are scarier - scorpions, snakes or spiders?
    8. What scary creatures are there where you live?
    9. What animal are you most scared of?
    10. What do you think of injections?

    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 'rain'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think of scorpions?
    5. What do you know about Egypt?
    6. Would you eat food made from scorpions?
    7. What is the difference between scorpions and insects?
    8. What three adjectives best describe scorpions?
    9. Could you touch or hold a scorpion?
    10. What questions would you like to ask a scorpion expert?

    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)

    More than 500 people have been (1) ____ by scorpions in Aswan, Egypt. Heavy rain (2) ____ hundreds of the eight-legged creatures into the streets and into people's homes earlier this week. Many of the people who were stung had to go to hospital. Doctors gave them anti-venom (3) ____. The people were able to go home after having the jab. Those stung by the scorpions had symptoms (4) ____ severe pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. The Health Ministry has put hospitals (5) ____ alert just in case more people are stung. A weather expert asked farmers in the area to be careful, especially when planting crops. In addition, he asked people to be careful of snakes, which were also (6) ____ after the rain.

    People in Aswan are worried because the scorpions in their town are very (7) ____. They are Arabian fat-tailed scorpions. Their nickname is "man-killer". The Al Jazeera news agency says they are (8) ____ the most dangerous scorpions in the world. The venom in their sting is very poisonous and can kill a human within an hour. However, fat-tailed scorpions live in the mountains and rarely (9) ____ into contact with humans. The weather expert (10) ____ people to wear proper footwear when they went outside to avoid (11) ____ bitten. He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried (12) ____. Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion species are deadly.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     sting     (b)     stung     (c)     stings     (d)     stinging    
    2. (a)     faced     (b)     forced     (c)     farce     (d)     fierce    
    3. (a)     ingest     (b)     injectors     (c)     injects     (d)     injections    
    4. (a)     inclusive     (b)     including     (c)     include     (d)     includes    
    5. (a)     in     (b)     at     (c)     to     (d)     on    
    6. (a)     seeing     (b)     sees     (c)     seen     (d)     see    
    7. (a)     dangerous     (b)     danger     (c)     dangers     (d)     dangerously    
    8. (a)     between     (b)     side     (c)     among     (d)     aside    
    9. (a)     do     (b)     go     (c)     be     (d)     come    
    10. (a)     advised     (b)     advice     (c)     advise     (d)     advisory    
    11. (a)     getting     (b)     get     (c)     gets     (d)     got    
    12. (a)     up     (b)     in     (c)     on     (d)     of

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. hundreds of the eight-legged urtscaeer
    2. Doctors gave them anti-venom jtionniecs
    3. symptoms including verese pain
    4. A weather teexrp
    5. especially when planting prcso
    6. be careful of saknes

    Paragraph 2

    1. Their minanekc is "man-killer"
    2. The Al Jazeera news gecayn
    3. their sting is very ouisnspoo
    4. rarely come into conatct with humans
    5. advised people to wear eorrpp footwear
    6. the world's scorpion secipes

    Put the text back together

    (...)  vomiting and diarrhoea. The Health Ministry has put hospitals on alert just in case more people are stung. A weather
    (...)  up. Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion species are deadly.
    (...)  he asked people to be careful of snakes, which were also seen after the rain.
    (...)  contact with humans. The weather expert advised people to wear proper footwear when they went outside to avoid
    (...)  People in Aswan are worried because the scorpions in their town are very dangerous. They are Arabian fat-
    (...)  home after having the jab. Those stung by the scorpions had symptoms including severe pain, fever,
    (...)  expert asked farmers in the area to be careful, especially when planting crops. In addition,
    (...)  getting bitten. He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried
    (...)  of the eight-legged creatures into the streets and into people's homes earlier this week. Many of the people who were
    (...)  stung had to go to hospital. Doctors gave them anti-venom injections. The people were able to go
    (...)  a human within an hour. However, fat-tailed scorpions live in the mountains and rarely come into
    (...)  dangerous scorpions in the world. The venom in their sting is very poisonous and can kill
    (...)  tailed scorpions. Their nickname is "man-killer". The Al Jazeera news agency says they are among the most
    (  1  ) More than 500 people have been stung by scorpions in Aswan, Egypt. Heavy rain forced hundreds

    Put the words in the right order

    1. hundreds   creatures   Rain   of   into   forced   the   streets   .
    2. who   were   hospital   .   people   stung   The   to   went
    3. scorpions   by   symptoms   .   Those   the   had   stung
    4. in   A   farmers   the   expert   weather   asked   area   .
    5. asked   snakes   .   careful   to   be   of   He   people
    6. are   their   scorpions   dangerous   .   town   in   The   very
    7. among   scorpions   .   the   They   world's   are   dangerous   most
    8. in   poisonous   .   very   is   sting   The   venom   their
    9. proper   The   to   people   wear   expert   footwear   .   advised
    10. would   go   dried   up   .   Numbers   down   after   rainwater

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    More than 500 people have been sting / stung by scorpions in Aswan, Egypt. Heavy rain forced hundreds of the eight-legged creatives / creatures into the streets and into people's home / homes earlier this week. Many of the people who were stung had to go to hospital. Doctors gave them anti-venom injections / injects. The people were able to go home after having the jab / job. Those stung by the scorpions had symptoms / symptom including severe / several pain, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. The Health Ministry has put hospitals on / in alert just in case more people are stung. A weather expert asked farmers in the area to be careful / carefully, especially when planting crops. In addition, he asked people to be careful of snakes, which were also seen after a / the rain.

    People in Aswan are worried because / become the scorpions in their town are very dangerous / danger. They are Arabian fat-tailed scorpions. Their nickname is "man-killer". The Al Jazeera news agency says they are between / among the most dangerous scorpions in / on the world. The venom in their sting is very poisonous / poison and can kill a human within an hour. However, fat-tailed scorpions lively / live in the mountains and rarely go / come into contact with humans. The weather expert advised people to wear proper / properly footwear when they went outside to avoid get / getting bitten. He said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried down / up. Less than one per cent of the world's scorpion species are deadly.

    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)

    M_r_ th_n 500 p__pl_ h_v_ b__n st_ng by sc_rp__ns _n _sw_n, _gypt. H__vy r__n f_rc_d h_ndr_ds _f th_ __ght-l_gg_d cr__t_r_s _nt_ th_ str__ts _nd _nt_ p__pl_'s h_m_s __rl__r th_s w__k. M_ny _f th_ p__pl_ wh_ w_r_ st_ng h_d t_ g_ t_ h_sp_t_l. D_ct_rs g_v_ th_m _nt_-v_n_m _nj_ct__ns. Th_ p__pl_ w_r_ _bl_ t_ g_ h_m_ _ft_r h_v_ng th_ j_b. Th_s_ st_ng by th_ sc_rp__ns h_d sympt_ms _ncl_d_ng s_v_r_ p__n, f_v_r, v_m_t_ng _nd d__rrh___. Th_ H__lth M_n_stry h_s p_t h_sp_t_ls _n _l_rt j_st _n c_s_ m_r_ p__pl_ _r_ st_ng. _ w__th_r _xp_rt _sk_d f_rm_rs _n th_ _r__ t_ b_ c_r_f_l, _sp_c__lly wh_n pl_nt_ng cr_ps. _ n _dd_t__n h_ _sk_d p__pl_ t_ b_ c_r_f_l _f sn_k_s, wh_ch w_r_ _ls_ s__n _ft_r th_ r__n.

    P__pl_  _n  _sw_n  _r_  w_rr__d  b_c__s_  th_  sc_rp__ns  _n  th__r  t_wn  _r_  v_ry  d_ng_r__s.  Th_y  _r_  _r_b__n  f_t-t__l_d  sc_rp__ns.  Th__r  n_ckn_m_  _s  "m_n-k_ll_r".  Th_  _l  J_z__r_  n_ws  _g_ncy  s_ys  th_y  _r_  _m_ng  th_  m_st  d_ng_r__s  sc_rp__ns  _n  th_  w_rld.  Th_  v_n_m  _n  th__r  st_ng  _s  v_ry  p__s_n__s  _nd  c_n  k_ll  _  h_m_n  w_th_n  _n  h__r.  H_w_v_r,  f_t-t__l_d  sc_rp__ns  l_v_  _n  th_  m__nt__ns  _nd  r_r_ly  c_m_  _nt_  c_nt_ct  w_th  h_m_ns.  Th_  w__th_r  _xp_rt  _dv_s_d  p__pl_  t_  w__r  pr_p_r  f__tw__r  wh_n  th_y  w_nt  __ts_d_  t_  _v__d  g_tt_ng  b_tt_n.  H_  s__d  th_  sc_rp__n  n_mb_rs  w__ld  g_  d_wn  _ft_r  th_  r__nw_t_r  dr__d  _p.  L_ss  th_n  _n_  p_rc_nt  _f  th_  w_rld's  sc_rp__n  sp_c__s  _r_  d__dly.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    more than 500 people have been stung by scorpions in aswan egypt heavy rain forced hundreds of the eightlegged creatures into the streets and into peoples homes earlier this week many of the people who were stung had to go to hospital doctors gave them antivenom injections the people were able to go home after having the jab those stung by the scorpions had symptoms including severe pain fever vomiting and diarrhoea the health ministry has put hospitals on alert just in case more people are stung a weather expert asked farmers in the area to be careful especially when planting crops In addition, he asked people to be careful of snakes which were also seen after the rain

    people in aswan are worried because the scorpions in their town are very dangerous they are arabian fattailed scorpions their nickname is mankiller the al jazeera news agency says they are among the most dangerous scorpions in the world the venom in their sting is very poisonous and can kill a human within an hour however fattailed scorpions live in the mountains and rarely come into contact with humans the weather expert advised people to wear proper footwear when they went outside to avoid getting bitten he said the scorpion numbers would go down after the rainwater dried up less than one per cent of the worlds scorpion species are deadly

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Morethan500peoplehavebeenstungbyscorpionsinAswan,Egypt.Hea
    vyrainforcedhundredsoftheeight-leggedcreaturesintothestreetsan
    dintopeople'shomesearlierthisweek.Manyofthepeoplewhowerestun
    ghadtogotohospital.Doctorsgavethemanti-venominjections.Thepe
    oplewereabletogohomeafterhavingthejab.Thosestungbythescorpio
    nshadsymptomsincludingseverepain,fever,vomitinganddiarrhoea.
    TheHealthMinistryhasputhospitalsonalertjustincasemorepeopleare
    stung.Aweatherexpertaskedfarmersintheareatobecareful,especiall
    ywhenplantingcrops.Inaddition,heaskedpeopletobecarefulofsnakes
    ,whichwerealsoseenaftertherain.PeopleinAswanareworriedbecause
    thescorpionsintheirtownareverydangerous.TheyareArabianfat-tail
    edscorpions.Theirnicknameis"man-killer".TheAlJazeeranewsagenc
    ysaystheyareamongthemostdangerousscorpionsintheworld.Theve
    nomintheirstingisverypoisonousandcankillahumanwithinanhour.Ho
    wever,fat-tailedscorpionsliveinthemountainsandrarelycomeintoc
    ontactwithhumans.Theweatherexpertadvisedpeopletowearproperf
    ootwearwhentheywentoutsidetoavoidgettingbitten.Hesaidthescorp
    ionnumberswouldgodownaftertherainwaterdriedup.Lessthanonepe
    rcentoftheworld'sscorpionspeciesaredeadly.

    Free writing

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

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    Academic writing

    Insects and other creatures will cause humans more problems in the future. Discuss.

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    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. SCORPIONS: Make a poster about scorpions. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. PROTECTION: Write a magazine article about providing everyone with education to protect themselves against dangerous animals. 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 scorpions. Ask him/her three questions about scorpions. Give him/her three of your ideas. 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

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    Answers

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

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