The Reading / Listening - Politicians - Level 5

A 22-year-old has been elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the UK. Sam Carling won the seat in Thursday's general election by a very slim majority. Mr Carling, from the Labour Party, narrowly beat his Conservative Party rival by 39 votes. He will now sit in Parliament and represent the interests of the people in his Cambridge seat. At Westminster, he will be called the "baby of the House". Carling graduated from Cambridge University. He called his victory a "political earthquake". He hopes he will encourage young people to enter politics, and "tackle apathy".

Mr Carling became interested in politics after he saw social and economic decline in the UK. He grew up in "a deprived area" in the north of England. The Conservative Party had promised to turn the north into an economic "powerhouse". However, it did not keep its promises. Carling said he is worried about empty shops on high streets that used to be "thriving" hubs, but are now wastelands. He hopes he can help undo 14 years of Conservative misrule, scandal and corruption. Britain's public services are in chaos and people are worse off than they were 14 years ago.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Politicians - Level 4 or  Politicians - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c16jpl6707eo
  • https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/meet-the-new-baby-of-the-house-labour-mp-sam-carling/ar-BB1pwcuF
  • https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/06/labour-sam-carling-22-first-mp-born-in-21st-century


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. elected as a
  2. Carling won the
  3. in Thursday's general
  4. by a very slim
  5. beat his Conservative Party
  6. He will now sit
  7. represent the interests
  8. tackle
  1. in Parliament
  2. election
  3. apathy
  4. rival
  5. Member of Parliament
  6. of the people
  7. majority
  8. seat

Paragraph 2

  1. Mr Carling became interested
  2. he saw social and
  3. He grew up in a
  4. turn the north into an
  5. it did not keep
  6. high streets that used to be
  7. undo 14 years of Conservative
  8. people are worse
  1. its promises
  2. deprived area
  3. misrule
  4. economic decline
  5. off than they were
  6. economic powerhouse
  7. "thriving" hubs
  8. in politics

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A 22-year-old has (1) ___________________ a Member of Parliament (MP) in the UK. Sam Carling won the seat in Thursday's general election by a (2) ___________________. Mr Carling, from the Labour Party, (3) ___________________ Conservative Party rival by 39 votes. He will now sit in Parliament and (4) ___________________ of the people in his Cambridge seat. At Westminster, he will be called the "baby of the House". Carling graduated from Cambridge University. He called his victory (5) ___________________. He hopes he will encourage young people to enter politics, (6) ___________________.

Mr Carling became (7) ___________________ after he saw social and economic decline in the UK. He grew up in a (8) ___________________ the north of England. The Conservative Party had (9) ___________________ the north into an economic "powerhouse". However, it did not keep its promises. Carling said he is worried about empty shops on high streets that used to (10) ___________________, but are now wastelands. He hopes he can help undo 14 years of Conservative misrule, (11) ___________________. Britain's public services are in (12) ___________________ are worse off than they were 14 years ago.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

A22-year-oldhasbeenelectedasaMemberofParliament(MP)intheU
K.SamCarlingwontheseatinThursday'sgeneralelectionbyaveryslim
majority.MrCarling,fromtheLabourParty,narrowlybeathisConservat
ivePartyrivalby39votes.HewillnowsitinParliamentandrepresentthei
nterestsofthepeopleinhisCambridgeseat.AtWestminster,hewillbeca
lledthe"babyoftheHouse".CarlinggraduatedfromCambridgeUniversi
ty.Hecalledhisvictorya"politicalearthquake".Hehopeshewillencoura
geyoungpeopletoenterpolitics,and"tackleapathy".MrCarlingbecame
interestedinpoliticsafterhesawsocialandeconomicdeclineintheUK.H
egrewupin"adeprivedarea"inthenorthofEngland.TheConservativeP
artyhadpromisedtoturnthenorthintoaneconomic"powerhouse".How
ever,itdidnotkeepitspromises.Carlingsaidheisworriedaboutemptys
hopsonhighstreetsthatusedtobe"thriving"hubs,butarenowwastelan
ds.Hehopeshecanhelpundo14yearsofConservativemisrule,scandala
ndcorruption.Britain'spublicservicesareinchaosandpeopleareworse
offthantheywere14yearsago.

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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