The Reading / Listening - Twitter - Level 2

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, has bought Twitter. He bought the company for $44 billion. On April the 4th, he bought 9 per cent of Twitter for $2.6 billion. Twitter's value then went up by 27 per cent. Musk wanted to buy the whole company, but the board of directors said no. However, on April the 25th, the board said yes. Musk is number seven on the list of Twitter's most-followed people. He has 84 million followers. Former U.S. President Barack Obama is top of the list with 131 million followers. A former Twitter boss is happy that Musk is the new owner.

Mr Musk said he wants more free speech on Twitter. He aims to remove spam bots. These are used to tweet false information to people voting in elections. They are also used to spread conspiracy theories about vaccinations and other social issues. Mr Musk wants to introduce new products. He said the company has a lot of potential. Many people are asking if Musk will allow former U.S. President Donald Trump back on Twitter. He was banned in 2021. Other people are worried about hate speech. Human rights groups say a more open Twitter could lead to a rise in hate speech.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Twitter - Level 0 Twitter - Level 1   or  Twitter - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61225355
  • https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/04/twitter-has-new-owner-heres-what-he-should-do
  • https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/26/jack-dorsey-elon-musk-is-the-singular-solution-for-twitter.html


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. the world's
  2. he bought
  3. Twitter's value then went
  4. the board of
  5. Musk is number seven
  6. He has 84 million
  7. top of
  8. A former Twitter
  1. the list
  2. on the list
  3. boss is happy
  4. up by 27 per cent
  5. followers
  6. 9 per cent of Twitter
  7. richest person
  8. directors

Paragraph 2

  1. He aims to remove spam
  2. used to tweet false
  3. people voting
  4. conspiracy
  5. He was banned
  6. Other people are
  7. Human rights
  8. a rise in
  1. worried
  2. theories
  3. hate speech
  4. bots
  5. groups
  6. in elections
  7. in 2021
  8. information

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Elon Musk, the (1) ___________________, has bought Twitter. He bought the company for $44 billion. On April the 4th, he bought 9 per cent of Twitter for $2.6 billion. Twitter's (2) ___________________ up by 27 per cent. Musk wanted to buy the whole company, (3) ___________________ of directors said no. However, on January the 25th, the board said yes. Musk is number seven (4) ___________________ of Twitter's most-followed people. He has 84 million followers. Former U.S. President Barack Obama is top (5) ___________________ with 131 million followers. A former Twitter boss is happy that Musk is (6) ___________________.

Mr Musk said he wants (7) ___________________ on Twitter. He aims to (8) ___________________. These are used to tweet false information to people voting in elections. They are also used to (9) ___________________ about vaccinations and other social issues. Mr Musk wants to introduce new products. He said the company has a (10) ___________________. Many people are asking if Musk will allow former U.S. President Donald Trump back on Twitter. He was banned in 2021. Other people (11) ___________________ hate speech. Human rights groups say a more open Twitter could lead to (12) ___________________ hate speech.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

ElonMusk,theworld'srichestperson,hasboughtTwitter.Heboughtthe
companyfor$44billion.OnAprilthe4th,hebought9percentofTwitterfo
r$2.6billion.Twitter'svaluethenwentupby27percent.Muskwantedto
buythewholecompany,buttheboardofdirectorssaidno.However,onA
prilthe25th,theboardsaidyes.MuskisnumbersevenonthelistofTw
itter'smost-followedpeople.Hehas84millionfollowers.FormerU.S.P
residentBarackObamaistopofthelistwith131millionfollowers.Aforme
rTwitterbossishappythatMuskisthenewowner.MrMusksaidhewants
morefreespeechonTwitter.Heaimstoremovespambots.Theseareuse
dtotweetfalseinformationtopeoplevotinginelections.Theyarealsous
edtospreadconspiracytheoriesaboutvaccinationsandothersocialissu
es.MrMuskwantstointroducenewproducts.Hesaidthecompanyhasal
otofpotential.ManypeopleareaskingifMuskwillallowformerU.S.Presi
dentDonaldTrumpbackonTwitter.Hewasbannedin2021.Otherpeopl
eareworriedabouthatespeech.HumanrightsgroupssayamoreopenT
wittercouldleadtoariseinhatespeech.

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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_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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