The Reading / Listening - Chips - Level 3

Visitors to a UK beach saw an unusual sight earlier this week. The shoreline was covered in French fries ("chips" in British English). Thousands of bags of chips washed up on a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo ships in the English Channel. Bad weather caused three of the containers to fall into the sea. Currents and tides carried one of the containers and the chips to the shore. Joel Bonnici, a local man, was the first to find the chips. He said: "From a distance, it looked like the golden sand of a Caribbean beach, but on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips, but chip bags." He added: "In some areas, the chips were 75 cm deep."

Volunteers are helping to clean up the beach. Many people came to the beach to help the clean-up. Mr Bonnici said the chips were an environmental hazard. He said: "Removing the plastic bags is a priority." He is worried about a colony of seals that live near the beach. Bonnici said: "If the seals see the bags, they will play with them or try to eat them." A local official warned people to be careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep dogs on leads as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be harmful to them." She asked people to "report any new debris". The chip spill is the second such event in Sussex recently. Last month, thousands of bananas washed ashore.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Chips - Level 0,  Chips - Level 1   or  Chips - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0lxkl3gd6jo
  • https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/nothing-compares-to-this-locals-left-stunned-after-thousands-of-chips-wash-up-on-sussex-beach/ar-AA1UtVyx
  • https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/25775185.thousands-bags-chips-wash-beachy-head/


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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. CHIPS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about chips. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
       beach / unusual sight / French fries / shipping / tides / sand / Caribbean / chips /
       clean-up / environmental hazard / plastic bags / seals / dogs / debris / bananas
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. FRENCH FRIES: Students A strongly believe French fries are the best snack food; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. SNACK FOOD: What do you think of these snack foods? What are the good and bad things about them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What I Think

Good Things

Bad Things

Chips (French fries)

 

 

 

Crisps (potato chips)

 

 

 

Pizza

 

 

 

Popcorn

 

 

 

Peanuts

 

 

 

Cookies

 

 

 
MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. SHIP: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "ship". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. CHIPS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best things to put on chips at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Ketchup
  • Salt
  • Curry sauce
  • Gravy
  • Mayonnaise
  • Vinegar
  • Cheese sauce
  • Chili

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. unusual a. How far one thing is from another.
      2. shoreline b. The place where the land meets the sea.
      3. container c. Goods/Things that are carried by a ship, plane or truck.
      4. cargo d. Something that is not common or not normal.
      5. tides e. A careful look at something.
      6. distance f. A very large, giant box that is used to carry things on a ship or truck.
      7. inspection g. The rise and fall of the sea twice a day.

    Paragraph 2

      8. volunteers h. A group of animals that live together.
      9. hazard i. Something that is more important and should be done first.
      10. priority j. A long cord/strap used to take a dog for a walk and stop it running away.
      11. colony k. People who help or do work without getting paid.
      12. official (noun) l. Something that can be dangerous.
      13. lead (noun) m. Broken or unwanted pieces left after something happens.
      14. debris n. A person who works for the government or an organization.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. Visitors to a beach saw people cooking millions of French fries.     T / F
  2. Millions of bags of chips washed up on the beach.     T / F
  3. The fries came from a shipping container from a cargo ship.     T / F
  4. The chips made the beach look like the Caribbean's golden sand. T / F
  5. The fries were good news for seals, who had lots of food to eat.     T / F
  6. A local official said dogs should be on loads so they do not attack seals.   T / F
  7. The official asked people to report any seals they find eating chips.     T / F
  8. Thousands of bananas washed ashore last month in the same county.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. unusual
  2. beach
  3. fall
  4. find
  5. areas
  6. helping
  7. hazard
  8. colony
  9. harmful
  10. debris
  1. drop
  2. community
  3. places
  4. assisting
  5. waste
  6. strange
  7. dangerous
  8. danger
  9. shore
  10. discover

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. Visitors to a UK beach saw
  2. shipping
  3. bad
  4. From a
  5. In some areas, the chips
  6. Volunteers are helping to
  7. the chips were an environmental
  8. Removing the plastic bags is a
  9. keep dogs on
  10. thousands
  1. clean up the beach
  2. weather
  3. were 75 cm deep
  4. leads
  5. containers
  6. priority
  7. an unusual sight
  8. of bananas
  9. hazard
  10. distance

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
find
ships
areas
shoreline
sea
unusual
golden
washed

Visitors to a UK beach saw an (1) ______________________________________________ sight earlier this week. The (2) ______________________________________________ was covered in French fries ("chips" in British English). Thousands of bags of chips (3) ______________________________________________ up on a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo (4) ______________________________________________ in the English Channel. Bad weather caused three of the containers to fall into the (5) ______________________________________________. Currents and tides carried one of the containers and the chips to the shore. Joel Bonnici, a local man, was the first to (6) ______________________________________________ the chips. He said: "From a distance, it looked like the (7) ______________________________________________ sand of a Caribbean beach, but on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips, but chip bags." He added: "In some (8) ______________________________________________, the chips were 75 cm deep."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
eat
second
hazard
dogs
thousands
helping
harmful
colony

Volunteers are (9) ______________________________________________ to clean up the beach. Many people came to the beach to help the clean-up. Mr Bonnici said the chips were an environmental (10) ______________________________________________. He said: "Removing the plastic bags is a priority." He is worried about a (11) ______________________________________________ of seals that live near the beach. Bonnici said: "If the seals see the bags, they will play with them or try to (12) ______________________________________________ them." A local official warned people to be careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep (13) ______________________________________________ on leads as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be (14) ______________________________________________ to them." She asked people to "report any new debris". The chip spill is the (15) ______________________________________________ such event in Sussex recently. Last month, (16) ______________________________________________ of bananas washed ashore.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Visitors to a UK beach saw an unusual sight ______
     a.  earlier that week
     b.  earlier these weeks
     c.  earlier this week
     d.  earlier this weeks
2)  The bags were in shipping containers that fell ______
     a.  of cargo ships
     b.  off cargo ship
     c.  off cargo ships
     d.  off car go ships
3)  Bad weather caused three of the ______
     a.  containers to fell
     b.  containers to fall
     c.  containers to fail
     d.  containers to feel
4)  but on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips, ______
     a.  but chip bags
     b.  put chip bags
     c.  but chip bag
     d.  but chipped bags
5)  He added: "In some areas, the chips ______."
     a.  were 75 cm deep
     b.  were 75 cm depth
     c.  were 75 cm deepen
     d.  were 75 cm deeps

6)  Mr Bonnici said the chips were ______
     a.  an environmental hazards
     b.  an environmental hazard
     c.  an environmental hazardous
     d.  an environmentalist hazard
7)  Removing the plastic bags is a priority." He is worried about a ______
     a.  colon knee of seals
     b.  colony off seals
     c.  colony of seals
     d.  collar knee of seals
8)  some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be ______
     a.  harmful at them
     b.  harmful for them
     c.  harmful to them
     d.  harmful on them
9)  She asked people to "report ______"
     a.  any new daybreak
     b.  any new day bris
     c.  any news debris
     d.  any new debris
10)  Last month, thousands of ______
     a.  bananas washed a shore
     b.  bananas washed assure
     c.  bananas washed ash or
     d.  bananas washed ashore

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Visitors to a UK beach (1) __________________________________________________ sight earlier this week. The shoreline was covered in French fries ("chips" in British English). Thousands of bags of chips (2) __________________________________________________ a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo ships in the English Channel. Bad weather (3) __________________________________________________ the containers to fall into the sea. Currents and tides carried one of the containers and the chips to the shore. Joel Bonnici, (4) __________________________________________________, was the first to find the chips. He said: "(5) __________________________________________________, it looked like the golden sand of a Caribbean beach, but on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips, but chip bags." He added: "(6) __________________________________________________, the chips were 75 cm deep."

Volunteers (7) __________________________________________________ clean up the beach. Many people came to the beach to help the clean-up. Mr Bonnici said the chips were (8) __________________________________________________. He said: "Removing the plastic bags is a priority." He is worried about a colony of seals that live near the beach. Bonnici said: "If the (9) __________________________________________________ bags, they will play with them or try to eat them." A local official warned people to be careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep (10) __________________________________________________ as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may (11) __________________________________________________ them." She asked people to "report any new debris". The chip spill is the second such event in Sussex recently. Last month, thousands (12) __________________________________________________ ashore.

Comprehension questions

  1. What is 'French fries' in British English?
  2. Where in the UK is the beach on which the fries washed up?
  3. What fell off of cargo ships in the English Channel?
  4. Who is Joel Bonnici?
  5. How deep were the fires and bags in some places?
  6. What did volunteers go to the beach to do?
  7. What did Joel Bonnici say was a priority?
  8. What might eat the fries?
  9. What did an official request people to do to dogs?
  10. What washed ashore at another beach last month?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What is 'French fries' in British English?
a) crisps
b) potato fries
c) chips
d) potato chips
2) Where in the UK is the beach on which the fries washed up?
a) Sussex
b) Essex
c) Middlesex
d) Wessex
3) What fell off of cargo ships in the English Channel?
a) potatoes
b) shipping containers
c) crisps
d) bags of potato starch
4) Who is Joel Bonnici?
a) a chef
b) a potato farmer
c) a dog owner
d) a local man
5) How deep were the fires and bags in some places?
a) 85 cm
b) 75 cm
c) 65 cm
d) 55 cm

6) What did volunteers go to the beach to do?
a) get free fries
b) clean it up
c) take photos
d) cook the fries
7) What did Joel Bonnici say was a priority?
a) public health
b) eating the chips
c) keeping the seas safe
d) removing plastic bags
8) What might eat the fries?
a) dogs
b) seals
c) crabs
d) dolphins
9) What did an official request people to do to dogs?
a) Get them to swim in the sea.
b) Keep them on a lead.
c) Take them for a walk.
d) Be kind to them.
10) What washed ashore at another beach last month?
a) thousands of bananas
b) tens of thousands of pineapples
c) hundreds of thousands of papayas
d) thousands of chicken nuggets

Role play

Role  A – Ketchup
You think ketchup is the best thing to put on chips. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): salt, mayonnaise or chili.

Role  B – Salt
You think salt is the best thing to put on chips. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): ketchup, mayonnaise or chili.

Role  C – Mayonnaise
You think mayonnaise is the best thing to put on chips. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): salt, ketchup or chili.

Role  D – Chili
You think chili is the best thing to put on chips. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): salt, mayonnaise or ketchup.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'bag'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'chips'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • Share your findings with your partners.

    • Make questions using the words you found.

    • Ask your partner / group your questions.

    2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

    •Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

    3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

    4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

    5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

    • unusual
    • thousands
    • bad
    • local
    • golden
    • areas
    • volunteers
    • plastic
    • play
    • careful
    • report
    • event

    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 - Chips

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'fries'?
    3. Do you prefer the UK English 'chips' or American English 'fries'?
    4. What do you think of beaches?
    5. What would you do if you saw a beach covered in chips?
    6. When was the last time you went to a beach?
    7. What do you think of Caribbean beaches?
    8. Have you ever seen anything strange on a beach?
    9. What is the best thing to eat with chips?
    10. What's the best thing to put on top of chips?

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'chips'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think of chips or fries?
    5. What are the differences between chips and French fries?
    6. What things have you volunteered for?
    7. What kind of hazard might the chips be?
    8. What do you know about seals?
    9. Who should pay for the clean-up of the spilt chips?
    10. What questions would you like to ask a chip maker?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Visitors to a UK beach saw an (1) ____ sight earlier this week. The shoreline was covered in French fries ("chips" in British English). Thousands of bags of chips washed (2) ____ on a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo (3) ____ in the English Channel. Bad weather caused three of the containers to fall into the sea. Currents and (4) ____ carried one of the containers and the chips to the shore. Joel Bonnici, a local man, was the first to find the chips. He said: "From a (5) ____, it looked like the golden sand of a Caribbean beach, but on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips, but chip bags." He added: "In some (6) ____, the chips were 75 cm deep."

    Volunteers are helping to clean up the beach. Many people came to the beach to (7) ____ the clean-up. Mr Bonnici said the chips were an environmental hazard. He said: "Removing the plastic bags is a (8) ____." He is worried about a colony of seals that live near the beach. Bonnici said: "If the seals see the bags, they will play with them or try to eat (9) ____." A local official warned people to be careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep dogs on (10) ____ as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be harmful (11) ____ them." She asked people to "report any new debris". The chip spill is the second such event in Sussex recently. Last month, thousands of bananas (12) ____ ashore.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     unusually     (b)     usually     (c)     usual     (d)     unusual    
    2. (a)     over     (b)     down     (c)     in     (d)     up    
    3. (a)     tankers     (b)     ships     (c)     canoes     (d)     kayaks    
    4. (a)     hides     (b)     rides     (c)     tides     (d)     bides    
    5. (a)     far     (b)     isolated     (c)     distance     (d)     measure    
    6. (a)     areas     (b)     arenas     (c)     auras     (d)     aerials    
    7. (a)     helper     (b)     help     (c)     helping     (d)     helps    
    8. (a)     priority     (b)     priory     (c)     property     (d)     properly    
    9. (a)     those     (b)     them     (c)     these     (d)     that    
    10. (a)     strings     (b)     chains     (c)     leads     (d)     ropes    
    11. (a)     by     (b)     of     (c)     to     (d)     at    
    12. (a)     dusted     (b)     wiped     (c)     cleaned     (d)     washed

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. The renisheol was covered in French fries
    2. The bags were in shipping aitrsecnno
    3. cogar ships
    4. currents and tside
    5. on closer cneptionis
    6. in some reasa

    Paragraph 2

    1. the chips were an environmental azdahr
    2. Removing the plastic bags is a iyroiptr
    3. a nolcoy of seals
    4. a local lfficoia
    5. report any new eibrsd
    6. the second such event in Sussex yleenctr

    Put the text back together

    (    )   but chip bags." He added: "In some areas, the chips were 75 cm deep."
    (    )   careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep dogs on leads as some of the food items washing on to the
    (    )   clean-up. Mr Bonnici said the chips were an environmental hazard. He said: "Removing the plastic bags is a
    (    )   distance, it looked like the golden sand of a Caribbean beach, but on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips,
    (    )   English Channel. Bad weather caused three of the containers to fall into the sea. Currents and tides carried one
    (    )   event in Sussex recently. Last month, thousands of bananas washed ashore.
    (    )   in French fries ("chips" in British English). Thousands of bags of chips washed
    (    )   of the containers and the chips to the shore. Joel Bonnici, a local man, was the first to find the chips. He said: "From a
    (    )   priority." He is worried about a colony of seals that live near the beach. Bonnici said: "If the seals
    (    )   see the bags, they will play with them or try to eat them." A local official warned people to be
    (    )   shoreline may be harmful to them." She asked people to "report any new debris". The chip spill is the second such
    (    )   up on a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo ships in the
    (  1  )   Visitors to a UK beach saw an unusual sight earlier this week. The shoreline was covered
    (    )   Volunteers are helping to clean up the beach. Many people came to the beach to help the

    Put the words in the right order

    1. to   Visitors   beach   a   an   saw   sight   unusual   .
    2. The   was   shoreline   in   covered   fries   French   .
    3. Bags   chips   of   up   washed   a   on   beach   .
    4. weather   Bad   three   caused   to   containers   fall   .
    5. looked   It   the   like   of   sand   beach   a   .
    6. Volunteers   helping   are   clean   to   the   up   beach   .
    7. said   He   chips   the   an   were   hazard   environmental   .
    8. He   worried   is   a   about   of   colony   seals   .
    9. local   A   warned   official   to   people   careful   be   .
    10. Last   thousands,   month   bananas   of   ashore   washed   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Visitors to a UK beach saw an usual / unusual sight earlier this week. The shoreline was covered in / on French fries ("chips" in British English). Thousands of bags of chips washed up / down on a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping contains / containers that fell off cargo ships in the English Channel. Bad / Badly weather caused three of the containers to fall into the sea. Currents and tides / tidal carried one of the containers and the chips to the sure / shore. Joel Bonnici, a locally / local man, was the first to find the chips. He said: "From a distance, it looked like the golden sand of a Caribbean beach, but / so on closer inspection, we saw not just the chips, but chip bags." He added: "In some arenas / areas, the chips were 75 cm deep."

    Volunteers are helping to clean down / up the beach. Many people came to the beach to helping / help the clean-up. Mr Bonnici said the chips were an environmental hazard / hazardous. He said: "Removing the plastic bags is a priority." He is worried about a colony of seals what / that live near the beach. Bonnici said: "If the seals see the bags, they will play with them or try to eat these / them." A local official warned / warning people to be careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep dogs on reads / leads as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be harmful at / to them." She asked people to "report any news / new debris". The chip spill is the second such event in Sussex recently. Last month, thousands of bananas washed shore / ashore.

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    V_s_t_rs  t_  _  _K  b__ch  s_w  _n  _n_s__l  s_ght  __rl__r  th_s  w__k.  Th_  sh_r_l_n_  w_s  c_v_r_d  _n  Fr_nch  fr__s  ("ch_ps"  _n  Br_t_sh  _ngl_sh).  Th__s_nds  _f  b_gs  _f  ch_ps  w_sh_d  _p  _n  _  b__ch  _n  th_  c__nty  _f  S_ss_x.  Th_  b_gs  w_r_  _n  sh_pp_ng  c_nt__n_rs  th_t  f_ll  _ff  c_rg_  sh_ps  _n  th_  _ngl_sh  Ch_nn_l.  B_d  w__th_r  c__s_d  thr__  _f  th_  c_nt__n_rs  t_  f_ll  _nt_  th_  s__.  C_rr_nts  _nd  t_d_s  c_rr__d  _n_  _f  th_  c_nt__n_rs  _nd  th_  ch_ps  t_  th_  sh_r_.  J__l  B_nn_c_,  _  l_c_l  m_n,  w_s  th_  f_rst  t_  f_nd  th_  ch_ps.  H_  s__d:  "Fr_m  _  d_st_nc_,  _t  l__k_d  l_k_  th_  g_ld_n  s_nd  _f  _  C_r_bb__n  b__ch,  b_t  _n  cl_s_r  _nsp_ct__n,  w_  s_w  n_t  j_st  th_  ch_ps,  b_t  ch_p  b_gs."  H_  _dd_d:  "_n  s_m_  _r__s,  th_  ch_ps  w_r_  75  cm  d__p."

    V_l_nt__rs  _r_  h_lp_ng  t_  cl__n  _p  th_  b__ch.  M_ny  p__pl_  c_m_  t_  th_  b__ch  t_  h_lp  th_  cl__n-_p.  Mr  B_nn_c_  s__d  th_  ch_ps  w_r_  _n  _nv_r_nm_nt_l  h_z_rd.  H_  s__d:  "R_m_v_ng  th_  pl_st_c  b_gs  _s  _  pr__r_ty."  H_  _s  w_rr__d  _b__t  _  c_l_ny  _f  s__ls  th_t  l_v_  n__r  th_  b__ch.  B_nn_c_  s__d:  "_f  th_  s__ls  s__  th_  b_gs,  th_y  w_ll  pl_y  w_th  th_m  _r  try  t_  __t  th_m."  _  l_c_l  _ff_c__l  w_rn_d  p__pl_  t_  b_  c_r_f_l  _f  th_y  g_  t_  th_  b__ch.  Sh_  s__d:  "Pl__s_  k__p  d_gs  _n  l__ds  _s  s_m_  _f  th_  f__d  _t_ms  w_sh_ng  _n  t_  th_  sh_r_l_n_  m_y  b_  h_rmf_l  t_  th_m."  Sh_  _sk_d  p__pl_  t_  "r_p_rt  _ny  n_w  d_br_s".  Th_  ch_p  sp_ll  _s  th_  s_c_nd  s_ch  _v_nt  _n  S_ss_x  r_c_ntly.  L_st  m_nth,  th__s_nds  _f  b_n_n_s  w_sh_d  _sh_r_.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    visitors to a uk beach saw an unusual sight earlier this week the shoreline was covered in french fries chips in british english thousands of bags of chips washed up on a beach in the county of sussex the bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo ships in the english channel bad weather caused three of the containers to fall into the sea currents and tides carried one of the containers and the chips to the shore joel bonnici a local man was the first to find the chips he said from a distance it looked like the golden sand of a caribbean beach but on closer inspection we saw not just the chips but chip bags he added in some areas the chips were 75 cm deep

    volunteers are helping to clean up the beach many people came to the beach to help the cleanup mr bonnici said the chips were an environmental hazard he said removing the plastic bags is a priority he is worried about a colony of seals that live near the beach bonnici said if the seals see the bags they will play with them or try to eat them a local official warned people to be careful if they go to the beach she said please keep dogs on leads as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be harmful to them she asked people to report any new debris the chip spill is the second such event in sussex recently last month thousands of bananas washed ashore

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    VisitorstoaUKbeachsawanunusualsightearlierthisweek.Theshorelin
    ewascoveredinFrenchfries("chips"inBritishEnglish).Thousandsofba
    gsofchipswasheduponabeachinthecountyofSussex.Thebagswereins
    hippingcontainersthatfelloffcargoshipsintheEnglishChannel.Badwe
    athercausedthreeofthecontainerstofallintothesea.Currentsandtides
    carriedoneofthecontainersandthechipstotheshore.JoelBonnici,aloc
    alman,wasthefirsttofindthechips.Hesaid:"Fromadistance,itlookedli
    kethegoldensandofaCaribbeanbeach,butoncloserinspection,wesaw
    notjustthechips,butchipbags."Headded:"Insomeareas,thechipswer
    e75cmdeep."Volunteersarehelpingtocleanupthebeach.Manypeople
    cametothebeachtohelptheclean-up.MrBonnicisaidthechipswereane
    nvironmentalhazard.Hesaid:"Removingtheplasticbagsisapriority."
    Heisworriedaboutacolonyofsealsthatlivenearthebeach.Bonnicisaid:
    "Ifthesealsseethebags,theywillplaywiththemortrytoeatthem."Aloca
    lofficialwarnedpeopletobecarefuliftheygotothebeach.Shesaid:"Plea
    sekeepdogsonleadsassomeofthefooditemswashingontotheshorelin
    emaybeharmfultothem."Sheaskedpeopleto"reportanynewdebris".T
    hechipspillisthesecondsucheventinSussexrecently.Lastmonth,thou
    sandsofbananaswashedashore.

    Free writing

    Write about bags of chips for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    The UK word "chip" is better than the American English word "French fry". Discuss.

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    Homework

    1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
    2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. CHIPS: Make a poster about chips. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. CLEAN-UPS: Write a magazine article about all of us getting involved in community clean-ups. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
    5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on chips. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions on chips. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

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    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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