Learn English » English Speaking Worksheet-2 For Advanced Level Learners

Worksheet-2

1. Matching headlines and articles, summarising, and presentation. (reading and speaking skills)

This is an activity using newspapers, and it involves pair-work.

The teacher asks students to choose a partner each. One of the students in each pair is given some cut-outs of newspaper headlines. The other is given articles corresponding to the headlines. The tasks for each pair are
1. to match the headlines to the corresponding newspaper article.
2. to summarise the main points after reading the article, and
3. to present their summary in about 70 words to the class

The activity should be time-bound. The teacher may decide how much time to be allotted, depending on the proficiency level of the students. Students at this level should be able to finish this activity in about 20 to 30 minutes. Students may be instructed to present the summary in their own words as far as possible.

This activity involves both reading and speaking, since both students in each pair have to read and understand the article they have got, and talk to each other about the articles so that they may be able to match them. It also involves presentation skills and confidence building, since the summary has to be presented in front of the whole class. The teacher has to insist that the entire activity has to be done in English, in the case of second language learners.

A few samples of newspaper headlines and article cut-outs that can be used by teachers are given below.

Sample headlines

Animals poisoned in reserve in South Africa
Why the Zika virus is causing alarm
Spring rains bring relief to hunger crisis in Ethiopia

Sample articles

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Poachers have been at work again at the reputed Kruger Park in South Africa. About 100 vultures and two lions died apparently after eating the poisoned carcass of an elephant, officials said on Wednesday, suggesting the presence of poachers in the reserve that is heavily guarded.

It was not clear when the poisoning happened, but the carcasses of the animals were found at the weekend, by rangers. Investigations showed that the elephant had been shot in the head, its tusks removed, and the carcass rubbed on with poison. Two lions, two jackals, and 110 white-back vultures then died after they fed on the poisoned carcass.

The Kruger Park is one of the most heavily guarded in the country. Rangers have infra-red binoculars at their disposal to locate and catch poachers who usually operate at night.

Officials are puzzled as to what the poachers’ ultimate target may be. The Park spokesman William Mabasa said vultures and elephant tusks were in demand in eastern Asian countries. Extensive investigations are under way.

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ADDIS ABABA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Africa’ second most populous nation has some relief from the worst drought in 50 years, as spring brought some rain.

The number of Ethiopians that need food aid this year is so high that the United Nations and the Ethiopian government have appealed for $1.4 billion to tackle the emergency situation. “Overall, the crisis is going to worsen up until August or September,” said the country director for Save the Children, John Graham. According to him, the worst is yet to come.

Belg, the term for these March-to-May rains, has caused officials to be very optimistic about the coming months. The rains will be particularly helpful to the herders in the eastern Somali and Ahar regions, where the livestock has suffered the most. The United Nations has said that the Belg may enable about a million people to feed themselves by July. Till then, they need to receive food aid.

Meher rains that fall from June to September account for 90% of food production in these regions. If these rains are really good, farmers who live in Meher-producing regions may not need food aid after January 2017. A predominant need now is to provide farmers with seeds and fertilisers before the rain starts.

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Thursday 3 March 2016: Health officials around the world are racing to understand the virus called Zika that is behind the major outbreak in Brazil and in many countries in the Americas.

Just like dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya, zika is transmitted to people by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito. According to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), these mosquitoes thrive in all the countries in the Americas except continental Chile and Canada.

There is no treatment for Zika infection, though efforts are afoot to develop an effective and safe vaccine for it. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that it would take a minimum of 18 months to begin large scale clinical trials of potential vaccines.

According to the PAHO, there has been no cases of death from being infected by the Zika virus so far, but it has been connected to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder in which the nervous system of the affected body is attacked by the immune system. It is suspected that pregnant women who are affected by the Zika virus give birth to babies with a condition known as microcephaly. This is a condition characterised by unusually small heads in babies, which can result in developmental problems.

So far, Brazil has 641 confirmed cases of microcephaly. An additional 4,222 suspected cases are under investigation. Early results of research indicates that the microcephaly risk is mostly associated with the mother getting infected by Zika in the first trimester of pregnancy.

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