News-based English language activities from the global newspaper

October 2011

Level Lower intermediate Style Lesson plan

Welcome to the Guardian Weeklys special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: advanced and lower intermediate. These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardian.co.uk/weekly/. You can also find more advice for teachers and learners from the Guardian Weeklys Learning English section on the site.

Parents to get key to safer teenage driving

Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould Lesson focus: reading, synonyms Materials: article, dictionaries Time: 55 minutes 1 Write on the board: Todays lesson is about teenage _____. Put up these words from the article: fuel, key, model, speed. Students in pairs with dictionaries guess the topic. 6 mins Answer: drivers/motorists. Give both answers. Explain they are synonyms. 2 Direct students to gapped phrases about driving (below) in task 1. Students work in pairs. They use dictionaries to complete the phrases with the words in the list. Class feedback. 8 mins accident, crash, petrol, safely, seatbelt, stereo a to turn up the car _____ b to put on a _____ c to run out of _____ d to drive _____ e to be involved in an _____ f to have a _____ Answers: a stereo b seatbelt c petrol d safely e accident f crash 3 Ask: Which phrases from student task 1 are more typical of teenage drivers? How do some teenagers drive? Generate discussion. 6 mins 4 Go through the questions in task 2 (below). Give out the article. Look at the headline, photo, caption and do the first question as a class. Students read and choose the correct option. Paircheck. Class feedback. 14 mins a All / Ford cars will now have a new type of key.

Instructions

b The key will be used by parents / teenagers when they drive. c The new system will begin in Europe / the US next year. d Parents can put a speed limit of 105 / 120kmph on the car. e If drivers dont wear a seatbelt, they cant start the engine / listen to the radio. f US parents are happy / unsure about the new system. g 13 / 18% of younger drivers in the UK have accidents. Answers: a Ford b teenagers c Europe d 120 e listen to the radio f happy g 13 5 Ask students if the system is a good idea. Elicit reasons why/why not? Class discussion with reference to the article. 6 mins 6 Remind students of the synonyms driver/motorist. Why does the journalist use both of these in paragraph seven? To avoid repetition. Direct students to the words in task 3 (below). In pairs students find a matching synonym for each one in the article. Paragraph numbers are in brackets. Class feedback. Students think of further synonym examples. 15 mins a quickly (1) b children (2) c idea (3) d normal (5) e earlier (5) f opportunity (6) g begin (6) h help and support (8) Answers: a fast b offspring c concept d usual e sooner f chance g start h encourage

News-based English language activities from the global newspaper

October 2011

Materials sheet Student tasks

1 Work in pairs. Use dictionaries to complete the phrases with the words in the list. accident, crash, petrol, safely, seatbelt, stereo a to turn up the car b to put on a c to run out of d to drive e to be involved in an f to have a 2 Read the article and choose the correct options in these statements. a All / Ford cars will now have a new type of key. b The key will be used by parents / teenagers when they drive. c The new system will begin in Europe / the US next year. d Parents can put a speed limit of 105 / 120kmph on the car. e If drivers dont wear a seatbelt, they cant start the engine / listen to the radio. f US parents are happy / unsure about the new system. g 13 / 18% of younger drivers in the UK have accidents. 2 Synonyms In pairs find a matching synonym in the article for the words below. Paragraph numbers are in brackets. a quickly (1) b children (2) c idea (3) d normal (5) e earlier (5) f opportunity (6) g begin (6) h help and support (8)
Ford concept ... driving with limits

Article: Parents to get key to safer teenage driving

1 For generations of teenagers, access to the family car has been a rare moment of freedom, an opportunity to turn up the stereo and drive fast without a seatbelt. 2 But not any more not, at least, for the offspring of parents who drive a Ford car. 3 The US motoring company has announced that it will introduce a concept called MyKey to its European models next year. The new cars have a second car key which parents can give to their children. This key can be programmed with specific limitations for the vehicle. 4 The new technology is already on most US Ford models. It gives a number of options designed to make teenage motoring as safe as possible. For example, parents can now put a maximum speed limit on the car as well as a maximum volume on the audio system. 5 The maximum speed can be set at 120kmph, with the option of a warning noise at 70, 90 or 105kmph. Seatbelt reminders can be louder and more frequent than usual. In addition, the car radio wont work until the seatbelt is put on. The low fuel warning can also be made to sound sooner, to stop young drivers running out of petrol. 6 In a survey, the Ford company found that American parents welcomed the chance to manage the behaviour of their teenage children when they first start to drive. 7 There is, of course, a serious side to the technology because young drivers are statistically far more likely to be involved in car accidents than older drivers. In the UK 13% of those age 17 or 18 have a crash compared to 4.5% of motorists in their 40s. 8 The more we can do to encourage safe driving and limit distraction the better, said Peter Patzelt, the Ford designer behind MyKey. With MyKey, parents can set limitations, while still allowing the freedom of driving a car. Original article by Peter Walker, rewritten by Janet Hardy-Gould