Breaking News English

Level: Easier (Try the harder lesson.)

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THE ARTICLE

The new Star Wars movie Episode III: Revenge of the Sith has broken many box office records in its opening four days. It became the first movie to earn more than $50 million on its opening day. Movie industry experts say this figure is amazing. It is the sixth and final part of the Star Wars series and looks like it will become the most profitable.

Although “Sith” made $108 million in weekend sales, it failed to beat Spiderman as the biggest weekend moneymaker of all time. However, Episode III easily made more money than the previous two Star Wars movies. Attack of the Clones pulled in $80 million on its opening weekend in 2002, while The Phantom Menace netted $65 million in 1999.

Star Wars fans around the world waited for hours for movie theaters to open. Many wore costumes of characters from the movie. In North America, tickets went on sale at one minute past midnight in the 9,000 theaters that screened the movie. “Sith” also set the record for the biggest global debut ever. It was released simultaneously in 104 countries.

WARM-UPS

1. HEADLINE: In pairs / groups, make your own news report from the words “break”, “box office” and “records”. Develop the story, complete with characters and facts, and tell it to another partner / group. Decide whose story is the best, funniest, strangest, most probable, etc.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics are most interesting and which are most boring.

Revenge / Star Wars / movie theaters / fans / movie tickets / $50 million / weekend sales / Spiderman / midnight / North America

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. MOVIES: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with movies. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

4. MOVIE OPINIONS: In pairs / groups, decide which of these opinion you agree with. Discuss how much truth there is in each one.

1. Movies are better than books.
2. Going to the movies is great value for money.
3. Life would be boring without movies.
4. Movies can change our lives.
5. Movie stars get paid too much money.
6. Renting a video is better than going to the movies.
7. European, Indian, Chinese or Japanese movies are better than Hollywood movies.
8. There’s too much blood and killing in movies.

5. BLOCKBUSTERS: Which of these movie series did you see / like?

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

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

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the correct spaces.

Star Wars sets box office records

AFTER READING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘box’ and ‘office’.

• 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 and talk about your answers to this exercise. After you agree, check your answers against the text.

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

5. STUDENT CINEMA SURVEY: In pairs / groups write down questions about the cinema and movies.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make a mini-presentation to another group / the class on your findings.

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

 DISCUSSION

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

1. Did you think the headline of this article was interesting?
2. Do you like reading about movie news?
3. Have you seen any of the Star Wars movies?
4. What do you know about the Star Wars stories and characters
5. Do you like sci-fi movies?
6. How important are movies in your life?
7. Can you remember your first trip to the movie theater?
8. Do you prefer Hollywood movies or those from other countries?
9. Is going to the movies good value for money?
10. What do you think of movie theaters?

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

1. Did you like reading the article?
2. What did you think of this news?
3. Are you interested in how much money movies make?
4. What kind of movies do you like best?
5. Would you wear movie costumes to see a film?
6. What would life be like without movies?
7. Which do you prefer, television or movie theaters?
8. Which is better, the book or the movie from the book?
9. Have you ever got really excited about a new movie?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

THE PERFECT CINEMA: You are in charge of making the perfect movie-going experience. In pairs / groups, decide on the new ideas for each point in the table below that will increase the quality of movie theaters:

Change partners and compare your ideas. Give each other feedback. Combine your ideas to make the perfect cinema concept. Return to your original partner / group and show them your new ideas.

LANGUAGE

MONEY WORDS:

• Circle any words you find in the text that are about money.
• Compare the words you circled with those of your partner(s).
• Look for other meanings of the words in a dictionary. Show your findings to your partner(s)
• Make questions about real life (not the Star Wars movie) using these words and ask them to another partner.

Star Wars breaks box office records

The new Star Wars movie Episode III: Revenge of the Sith has broken many box office records in its opening four days. It became the first movie to earn more than $50 million on its opening day. Movie industry experts say this figure is amazing. It is the sixth and final part of the Star Wars series and looks like it will become the most profitable.

Although “Sith” made $108 million in weekend sales, it failed to beat Spiderman as the biggest weekend moneymaker of all time. However, Episode III easily made more money than the previous two Star Wars movies. Attack of the Clones pulled in $80 million on its opening weekend in 2002, while The Phantom Menace netted $65 million in 1999.

Star Wars fans around the world waited for hours for movie theaters to open. Many wore costumes of characters from the movie. In North America, tickets went on sale at one minute past midnight in the 9,000 theaters that screened the movie. “Sith” also set the record for the biggest global debut ever. It was released simultaneously in 104 countries.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Star Wars breaks box office records

The new Star Wars movie Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ___ ______ _____ box office records in its opening four days. It became the first movie __ ____ more than $50 million on its opening day. Movie industry experts say this figure is amazing. It is the _____ ___ ____ part of the Star Wars series and looks like it will become the most profitable.

Although “Sith” made $108 million in weekend sales, it
______ __ ____ Spiderman as the biggest weekend moneymaker of all time. However, Episode III easily made more money than ___ ________ ___ Star Wars movies. Attack of the Clones pulled in $80 million on its opening weekend in 2002, while The Phantom Menace ______ __ _______ in 1999.

Star Wars fans around the world ______ ___ _____ for movie theaters to open. Many wore costumes of characters from the movie. In North America, tickets ____ __ ____ at one minute past midnight in the 9,000 theaters that screened the movie. “Sith” also set the record for the biggest global debut ever. It was ________ ______________ in 104 countries.

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 information on Star Wars. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. MOVIES AND ME: Write an essay about movies and how important they are in your life. Start with memories of your first movie or trip to the movie theater. Write about your thoughts on how the movie industry has changed. What are your favorite movies and why?

4. DIARY: Imagine you are a movie star. Write your diary / journal entry for one day in your life on the set of a new movie you are making. Write about the people around you.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

GAP FILL:

Star Wars breaks box office records

The new Star Wars movie Episode III: Revenge of the Sith has broken many box office records in its opening four days. It became the first movie to earn more than $50 million on its opening day. Movie industry experts say this figure is amazing. It is the sixth and final part of the Star Wars series and looks like it will become the most profitable.

Although “Sith” made $108 million in weekend sales, it failed to beat Spiderman as the biggest weekend moneymaker of all time. However, Episode III easily made more money than the previous two Star Wars movies. Attack of the Clones pulled in $80m in 2002, while The Phantom Menace netted $65 in its opening weekend in 1999.

Star Wars fans around the world waited for hours for movie theaters to open. Many wore costumes of characters from the movie. In North America, tickets went on sale at one minute past midnight in the 9,000 theaters that screened the movie. “Sith” also set the record for the biggest global debut ever. It was released simultaneously in 104 countries.

LANGUAGE:

box office records / earn / figure / profitable / sales / moneymaker / made more / pulled in / netted /