The Reading / Listening - Alcatraz - Level 0

Donald Trump wants to reopen the prison Alcatraz. The prison was used between 1934 and 1963. It is now a tourist attraction. The famous gangster Al Capone stayed there. No one has ever escaped from the prison alive. President Trump said Alcatraz was a symbol of law and order.

The USA's head of border control said Alcatraz could be good for public safety. However, a former head of the prisons service said: "It's not realistic to think you can repair it. You'd have to tear it up and start over." He said security was poor. There are no cameras and fences. He said: "You can't run a prison [like that]."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Alcatraz - Level 1 Alcatraz - Level 2   or  Alcatraz - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly5d9yzr7wo
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/05/us/trump-alcatraz-prison-history-hnk
  • https://www.npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5387239/trump-alcatraz-reopen


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. Donald Trump wants to reopen
  2. The prison was used between
  3. It is now a tourist
  4. The famous
  5. Al Capone
  6. No one has ever
  7. President Trump said Alcatraz
  8. law and
  1. gangster
  2. stayed there
  3. order
  4. attraction
  5. was a symbol
  6. the prison
  7. escaped
  8. 1934 and 1963

Paragraph 2

  1. The USA's head of border
  2. Alcatraz could be good
  3. a former head of the prisons
  4. It's not
  5. you can
  6. You'd have to tear
  7. He said security
  8. You can't run a prison
  1. repair it
  2. service
  3. like that
  4. for public safety
  5. it up
  6. control
  7. realistic
  8. was poor

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Donald Trump (1) _________________________________________________ the prison Alcatraz. The (2) _________________________________________________ between 1934 and 1963. It is now (3) _________________________________________________. The famous gangster Al Capone stayed there. (4) _________________________________________________ ever escaped from (5) _________________________________________________. President Trump said Alcatraz was a symbol of (6) _________________________________________________.

The USA's (7) _________________________________________________ control said Alcatraz could be (8) _________________________________________________ safety. However, a former (9) _________________________________________________ prisons service said: "It's not realistic to think you (10) _________________________________________________. You'd have to tear it up and start over." He said security was poor. There are no (11) _________________________________________________. He said: "You can't run a (12) _________________________________________________."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

DonaldTrumpwantstoreopentheprisonAlcatraz.Theprisonwasusedb
etween1934and1963.Itisnowatouristattraction.Thefamousgangste
rAlCaponestayedthere.Noonehaseverescapedfromtheprisonalive.P
residentTrumpsaidAlcatrazwasasymboloflawandorder.TheUSA'she
adofbordercontrolsaidAlcatrazcouldbegoodforpublicsafety.Howeve
r,aformerheadoftheprisonsservicesaid:"It'snotrealistictothinkyouc
anrepairit.You'dhavetotearitupandstartover."Hesaidsecuritywaspo
or.Therearenocamerasandfences.Hesaid:"Youcan'trunaprison[liket
hat]."

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