The Reading / Listening - Blueberries - Level 5

A farmer in Australia has entered the record books for growing the world's biggest ever blueberry. The giant berry weighed 20.4 grams. This obliterated the previous record, which was 16.2 grams. The record-breaker was as wide as a table tennis ball. It was 39.31 millimetres in diameter and 12.35 centimetres in circumference. It was 10 times heavier than a regular blueberry. The fruit was grown by horticulturalist Brad Hocking. He said he was overjoyed to be officially verified by Guinness World Records. He said it was "a combination of good breeding and good growing".

Mr Hocking said his blueberry was from the Eterna variety, known for its crisp texture and long shelf life. He told reporters Eterna is "a consistently large fruit" with a great flavour. He added: "While the fruit is large, there's absolutely no compromise on quality or flavour, as would be expected when developing a premium variety." At first, he was unsure whether or not he had broken the record. He said he had to recalibrate the scales to make sure. When asked what he would do with his prize berry, he said he might make a smoothie out of it.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Blueberries - Level 4 or  Blueberries - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2024/3/behemoth-blueberry-grown-in-australia-verified-as-heaviest-ever-767762
  • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-14/guinness-world-records-worlds-heaviest-blueberry-costa-berries/103585822
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/15/australia/worlds-heaviest-blueberry-scli-intl/index.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. entered the record
  2. The giant berry weighed
  3. This obliterated the
  4. as wide as
  5. 12.35 centimetres
  6. 10 times heavier than
  7. officially verified by
  8. a combination of good breeding
  1. Guinness World Records
  2. previous record
  3. in circumference
  4. and good growing
  5. 20.4 grams
  6. books
  7. a regular blueberry
  8. a table tennis ball

Paragraph 2

  1. known for its crisp
  2. a consistently large fruit with
  3. no compromise
  4. developing a premium
  5. unsure whether or not he had
  6. he had to recalibrate the
  7. what he would do
  8. he might make a smoothie
  1. scales to make sure
  2. on quality or flavour
  3. with his prize berry
  4. a great flavour
  5. out of it
  6. texture
  7. broken the record
  8. variety

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A farmer in Australia has (1) ___________________ books for growing the world's biggest ever blueberry. The giant berry weighed 20.4 grams. This (2) ___________________ record, which was 16.2 grams. The record-breaker was as wide as a table tennis ball. It was 39.31 millimetres (3) ___________________ 12.35 centimetres in circumference. It was 10 times heavier than a regular blueberry. The fruit was (4) ___________________ Brad Hocking. He said he was overjoyed to be (5) ___________________ Guinness World Records. He said it was "a combination of (6) ___________________ good growing".

Mr Hocking said his blueberry was from the Eterna variety, known for (7) ___________________ and long shelf life. He told reporters Eterna is "a (8) ___________________" with a great flavour. He added: "While the fruit is large, there's absolutely no (9) ___________________ or flavour, as would be expected when developing (10) ___________________." At first, he was unsure whether or not he had broken the record. He said he had to (11) ___________________ to make sure. When asked what he would do with his prize berry, he said he might make a (12) ___________________ it.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AfarmerinAustraliahasenteredtherecordbooksforgrowingtheworld's
biggesteverblueberry.Thegiantberryweighed20.4grams.Thisobliter
atedthepreviousrecord,whichwas16.2grams.Therecord-breakerw
asaswideasatabletennisball.Itwas39.31millimetresindiameterand1
2.35centimetresincircumference.Itwas10timesheavierthanaregula
rblueberry.ThefruitwasgrownbyhorticulturalistBradHocking.Hesaid
hewasoverjoyedtobeofficiallyverifiedbyGuinnessWorldRecords.Hes
aiditwas"acombinationofgoodbreedingandgoodgrowing".MrHockin
gsaidhisblueberrywasfromtheEternavariety,knownforitscrisptextur
eandlongshelflife.HetoldreportersEternais"aconsistentlylargefruit"
withagreatflavour.Headded:"Whilethefruitislarge,there'sabsolutely
nocompromiseonqualityorflavour,aswouldbeexpectedwhendevelop
ingapremiumvariety."Atfirst,hewasunsurewhetherornothehadbrok
entherecord.Hesaidhehadtorecalibratethescalestomakesure.When
askedwhathewoulddowithhisprizeberry,hesaidhemightmakeasmoo
thieoutofit.

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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