The Reading / Listening - Stamps - Level 5

The French Post Office (La Poste) has issued a special postage stamp to honour the baguette – France's famous bread. The stamp is no ordinary issue. It is coated with tiny capsules that release the fragrance of fresh bread. The stamp shows a baguette decorated with a red, white, and blue ribbon. A Parisian shopkeeper who sells the "scratch-and-sniff" stamp said it had a "bakery smell". The stamp was launched to celebrate the patron saint of bakers. It had an initial print run of 594,000 copies. La Poste said French bakers bake more than six billion baguettes every year.

The baguette is close to the hearts of French people. France's president once described it as being "250 grams of magic and perfection". La Poste called the baguette, "the bread of our daily lives, the symbol of our gastronomy, the jewel of our culture". It explained the baguette's popularity, saying: "It is the promise of a [delicious] sensory experience. On view, it seduces with its golden crust.…Fresh from the oven, its toasted scent whets the appetite." The baguette was given UNESCO heritage status in 2022. La Poste called the bread, "an ambassador of the bakery craft".

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Stamps - Level 4 or  Stamps - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/may/17/french-post-office-releases-scratch-and-sniff-baguette-stamp
  • https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240517-french-post-office-celebrates-baguette-with-scented-stamp
  • https://www.laposte.fr/pp/timbre-baguette-de-pain-francaise/p/1124031


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. a special postage stamp to
  2. It is coated
  3. the fragrance
  4. a red, white, and blue
  5. it had a bakery
  6. celebrate the patron
  7. It had an initial print
  8. French bakers bake
  1. smell
  2. ribbon
  3. more than six billion
  4. honour the baguette
  5. saint of bakers
  6. with tiny capsules
  7. of fresh bread
  8. run of 594,000 copies

Paragraph 2

  1. close to the hearts
  2. 250 grams of magic
  3. the symbol
  4. a delicious sensory
  5. it seduces with its golden
  6. Fresh from
  7. its toasted scent whets
  8. UNESCO heritage
  1. the oven
  2. status
  3. crust
  4. of our gastronomy
  5. and perfection
  6. the appetite
  7. experience
  8. of French people

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The French Post Office (La Poste) has (1) ___________________ postage stamp to honour the baguette - France's famous bread. The stamp is (2) ___________________. It is coated with tiny capsules that release (3) ___________________ fresh bread. The stamp shows a baguette decorated with a red, white, and blue ribbon. A Parisian shopkeeper who sells the "scratch-and-sniff" stamp said it had (4) ___________________. The stamp was launched to celebrate the patron saint of bakers. It had an (5) ___________________ of 594,000 copies. La Poste said French (6) ___________________ than six billion baguettes every year.

The baguette is close to (7) ___________________ French people. France's president once described (8) ___________________ "250 grams of magic and perfection". La Poste called the baguette, "the bread of our daily lives, the symbol (9) ___________________, the jewel of our culture". It explained the baguette's popularity, saying: "It is the (10) ___________________ [delicious] sensory experience. On view, it seduces with its golden crust….Fresh from the oven, its toasted scent (11) ___________________." The baguette was given UNESCO heritage status in 2022. La Poste called the bread, "an ambassador of (12) ___________________".

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

TheFrenchPostOffice(LaPoste)hasissuedaspecialpostagestamptoho
nourthebaguette-France'sfamousbread.Thestampisnoordinaryissu
e.Itiscoatedwithtinycapsulesthatreleasethefragranceoffreshbread.
Thestampshowsabaguettedecoratedwithared,white,andblueribbon
.AParisianshopkeeperwhosellsthe"scratch-and-sniff"stampsaiditha
da"bakerysmell".Thestampwaslaunchedtocelebratethepatronsaint
ofbakers.Ithadaninitialprintrunof594,000copies.LaPostesaidFrench
bakersbakemorethansixbillionbaguetteseveryyear.Thebaguetteiscl
osetotheheartsofFrenchpeople.France'spresidentoncedescribeditas
being"250gramsofmagicandperfection".LaPostecalledthebaguette,
"thebreadofourdailylives,thesymbolofourgastronomy,thejewelofou
rculture".Itexplainedthebaguette'spopularity,saying:"Itisthepromi
seofa[delicious]sensoryexperience.Onview,itseduceswithitsgolden
crust….Freshfromtheoven,itstoastedscentwhetstheappetite."Theba
guettewasgivenUNESCOheritagestatusin2022.LaPostecalledthebre
ad,"anambassadorofthebakerycraft".

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.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

Help Support This Web Site

  • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You