The Reading / Listening - Orchids - Level 1

Nature still has many secrets. We uncovered one of them last week. A nature lover found a new species of orchid in Japan. It is unusual to find new plants in Japan. Scientists studied the new orchid. They believe it grows all over Japan. It is pink and white. Its thin petals look like they are made from glass. A professor said: "The discovery of new species in common places means it is necessary to keep exploring, even in everyday places."

There are 28,000 orchid species worldwide. The new orchid belongs to a class that is common in Japan. The class is in a Japanese poem from the year 759. The professor was "thrilled to have identified a new species". He was excited because it wasn't found in a rainforest or jungle. The discovery of the new orchid is good news. However, many orchids are in danger. We need to protect nature. If we lose more orchids, the world will be less colourful.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Orchids - Level 0 Orchids - Level 2   or  Orchids - Level 3

Sources
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/17/asia/japan-new-species-orchid-scn/index.html
  • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/17/japans-most-familiar-orchid-is-found-to-have-near-identical-cousin
  • https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/research_at_kobe_en/NEWS/news/2023_03_17_01.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. Nature still has
  2. We uncovered one
  3. nature
  4. It is unusual to
  5. They believe it grows
  6. thin
  7. they are made
  8. The discovery
  1. petals
  2. find new plants
  3. of them last week
  4. of new species
  5. lover
  6. from glass
  7. many secrets
  8. all over Japan

Paragraph 2

  1. a class that is common in
  2. a Japanese poem
  3. it wasn't found
  4. the new orchid is good
  5. many orchids are in
  6. We need to
  7. If we lose
  8. the world will be less
  1. protect nature
  2. news
  3. colourful
  4. from the year 759
  5. more orchids
  6. in a rainforest
  7. danger
  8. Japan

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Nature (1) ___________________ secrets. We uncovered one of them last week. (2) ___________________ found a new species of orchid in Japan. It is unusual to find new plants in Japan. Scientists studied the new orchid. They believe it (3) ___________________ Japan. It is pink and white. Its thin petals (4) ___________________ are made from glass. A professor said: "The discovery of new (5) ___________________ places means it is necessary to keep exploring, (6) ___________________ places."

There are 28,000 orchid species worldwide. The new orchid (7) ___________________ class that is common in Japan. The class is in a Japanese (8) ___________________ year 759. The professor was "thrilled to have identified a new species". He was excited because it wasn't (9) ___________________ rainforest or jungle. The discovery of the new orchid is good news. However, many orchids (10) ___________________. We need to protect nature. (11) ___________________ more orchids, the world (12) ___________________ colourful.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Naturestillhasmanysecrets.Weuncoveredoneofthemlastweek.Anat
ureloverfoundanewspeciesoforchidinJapan.Itisunusualtofindnewpl
antsinJapan.Scientistsstudiedtheneworchid.Theybelieveitgrowsallo
verJapan.Itispinkandwhite.Itsthinpetalslookliketheyaremadefromg
lass.Aprofessorsaid:"Thediscoveryofnewspeciesincommonplacesm
eansitisnecessarytokeepexploring,evenineverydayplaces."Therear
e28,000orchidspeciesworldwide.Theneworchidbelongstoaclassthat
iscommoninJapan.TheclassisinaJapanesepoemfromtheyear759.Th
eprofessorwas"thrilledtohaveidentifiedanewspecies".Hewasexcited
becauseitwasn'tfoundinarainforestorjungle.Thediscoveryofthenew
orchidisgoodnews.However,manyorchidsareindanger.Weneedtopr
otectnature.Ifwelosemoreorchids,theworldwillbelesscolourful.

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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