Porsche, the world’s most profitable carmaker, has announced it will build a four-door car, to go on sale in 2009. Owners say they will invest $1.2 billion in the new vehicle. The new car will be called the “Panamera” and is expected to sell around 20,000 models a year. This would make it the company’s best selling product. The Stuttgart based factory is famous for high quality motor cars. Porsche’s announcement has confirmed Internet rumors about a brand new car.

The car is to be built solely by Porsche in Stuttgart. It will carry the “Made in Germany” mark of quality. The CEO of Porsche said: “The Panamera…has all the typical DNA characteristics of a genuine sports car. In terms of performance, design, and driving dynamics it meets Porsche’s high standards.…we are making our customers an attractive offer in the top performance segment.” The car will compete against other luxury models from Mercedes, Aston Martin and Bentley.

WARM-UPS

1. CAR OWNERS: You are the owner of a luxury car. It cost nearly $500,000. Talk to the other “luxury car owners” in the class about your cars. Why did you buy that model? How often do you use it? How does driving it make you feel?

2. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think European cars are the best in the world. Students B think Japanese cars are the best in the world. Students C think American cars are the best in the world. Change partners often.

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

Carmakers / Porsche / roads / luxury cars / rumors / things made in Germany / DNA / driving / Mercedes / car drivers / pollution

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

4. CARS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with cars. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. MY CAR HISTORY: In pairs / groups, talk about your history with the car. Can you remember the family car when you were a child? How important is the car to you now? What happy or unhappy memories do you have in cars? Do you like watching car programmes on TV?

6. CAR OPINIONS: How far do you agree with the following opinions on cars?

1. There are too many cars in the world.
2. Carmakers shouldn’t make cars that can go faster than the speed limits.
3. Spending $200,000 on a car when African children are starving is wrong.
4. I would love to have a Porsche one day.
5. A quality car is the world’s greatest status symbol.
6. Cars are killers and should be banned.
7. The world is car crazy.
8. The car someone drives tells a lot about his or her own personality.
9. Men are better drivers than women.
10. My opinion on cars ___________________________________________.

Change partners and compare what you talked about.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	A new Porsche sports car went on sale yesterday.	T / F
b.	Porsche will invest $1.2 million in the new vehicle.	T / F
c.	The new car is expected to become Porsche’s top seller.	T / F
d.	The new car was kept a complete secret until yesterday.	T / F
e.	Porsche’s new vehicle is to be made in China and Korea.	T / F
f.	The company’s CEO said the car has DNA characteristics.	T / F
g.	Porsche wants attractive people only to buy their cars.	T / F
h.	The main competition will be from Ford, Toyota and Hyundai.	T / F

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

a.	build	top
b.	carmaker	bear
c.	vehicle	real
d.	best	auto producer
e.	rumors	only
f.	solely	manufacture
g.	carry	expected
h.	typical	gossip
i.	genuine	with
j.	against	car

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

a.	the world’s most	about a brand new car
b.	to go on	in the new vehicle
c.	invest $1.2 billion	against other luxury models
d.	the company’s best	of quality
e.	confirmed Internet rumors	profitable carmaker
f.	The car is to be built	characteristics
g.	mark	solely by Porsche
h.	DNA	sale in 2009
i.	it meets Porsche’s	selling product
j.	The car will compete	high standards

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Porsche unveils 4-door sports car

Porsche, the world’s _______ profitable carmaker, has announced it will build a four-door car, to go on _______ in 2009. Owners say they will _______ $1.2 billion in the new _______. The new car will be called the “Panamera” and is _______ to sell around 20,000 models a year. This would make it the company’s best _______ product. The Stuttgart based factory is _______ for high quality motor cars. Porsche’s announcement has confirmed Internet _______ about a brand new car.		selling rumors invest most famous vehicle sale expected
The car is to be built _______ by Porsche in Stuttgart. It will _______ the “Made in Germany” mark of quality. The CEO of Porsche said: “The Panamera…has all the _______ DNA characteristics of a genuine sports car. In _______ of performance, design, and driving _______ it meets Porsche’s high standards.…we are making our _______ an attractive offer in the top performance _______.” The car will _______ against other luxury models from Mercedes, Aston Martin and Bentley.		dynamics typical segment solely compete terms carry customers

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 gap fill. 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. STUDENT “CARS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about cars and Porsche.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups 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:

profitable sale invest sell famous rumors

solely quality typical meets attractive compete

DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you first read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. Do you often read motoring news?
4. Are you interested in cars?
5. Would you like a Porsche?
6. What image do you have of Porsche drivers?
7. What car would you really love to have or drive?
8. Do you get excited the announcement of a new car being launched?
9. Which is better, a two- or four-door car?
10. Which would you rather have, a sports car or SUV?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. What do you think about luxury cars?
4. What points do / would you look at when buying a car?
5. Does your country make cars? Are they good?
6. What do you think of German / Italian / French / Japanese / American / Korean cars?
7. Do you think cars will always be a part of our lives?
8. What do you think are the “typical DNA characteristics of a genuine sports car”?
9. Have you heard any rumors recently?
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

DRIVING: You have been asked by carmakers to make recommendations on how to improve cars. In pairs / groups, write down the biggest problems with cars in the categories below. Decide on three suggestions for their improvement. Agree on and circle the how big the “present problems” are (1 = very serious, 5 = no problem).

CATEGORY	PRESENT PROBLEM	RECOMMENDATIONS
Fuel efficiency	1    2    3    4    5	1. 2. 3.
Safety	1    2    3    4    5	1. 2. 3.
The interior (seats, dashboard, luggage space, etc.)	1    2    3    4    5	1. 2. 3.
Handling (how the car is to drive)	1    2    3    4    5	1. 2. 3.
After sales service	1    2    3    4    5	1. 2. 3.
Looks	1    2    3    4    5	1. 2. 3.

Change partners and explain what you discussed with your previous partner(s). Give each other feedback on your ideas. Combine your ideas to make your recommendations even better (you have to agree on the three best recommendations).

Return to your original partners and discuss any changes you made.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Porsche unveils 4-door sports car

Porsche, the world’s most __________ carmaker, has announced it will build a four-door car, to go __ _____ in 2009. Owners say they will invest $1.2 billion in the new vehicle. The new car will be called the “Panamera” and is ________ to sell around 20,000 models a year. This would make it the company’s best selling product. The Stuttgart _______ factory is famous for high quality motor cars. Porsche’s announcement has confirmed Internet _______ about a _______ new car.

The car is to be built _______ by Porsche in Stuttgart. It will carry the “Made in Germany” mark of _______. The CEO of Porsche said: “The Panamera…has all the _______ DNA characteristics of a genuine sports car. In terms of performance, design, and driving _______ it meets Porsche’s high standards.…we are making our customers an attractive offer in the top performance _______.” The car will compete _______ other luxury models from Mercedes, Aston Martin and Bentley.

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 more information on Porsche. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. THE FUTURE: Make a poster that shows what you think cars of the future will look like. How will they function and perform? Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all describe similar features?

4. DIARY / JOURNAL: Imagine you are a car. Write a diary / journal entry about a day in your life. How do the humans treat you? What do you think of other cars? What annoys you most? What do you do in your free time? Read your entry to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	build	manufacture
b.	carmaker	auto producer
c.	vehicle	car
d.	best	top
e.	rumors	gossip
f.	solely	only
g.	carry	bear
h.	typical	expected
i.	genuine	real
j.	against	with

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	the world’s most	profitable carmaker
b.	to go on	sale in 2009
c.	invest $1.2 billion	in the new vehicle
d.	the company’s best	selling product
e.	confirmed Internet rumors	about a brand new car
f.	The car is to be built	solely by Porsche
g.	mark	of quality
h.	DNA	characteristics
i.	it meets Porsche’s	high standards
j.	The car will compete	against other luxury models

GAP FILL:

Porsche unveils 4-door sports car

Porsche, the world’s most profitable carmaker, has announced it will build a four-door car, to go on sale in 2009. Owners say they will invest $1.2 billion in the new vehicle. The new car will be called the “Panamera” and is expected to sell around 20,000 models a year. This would make it the company’s best selling product. The Stuttgart based factory is famous for high quality motor cars. Porsche’s announcement has confirmed Internet rumors about a brand new car.

The car is to be built solely by Porsche in Stuttgart. It will carry the “Made in Germany” mark of quality. The CEO of Porsche said: “The Panamera…has all the typical DNA characteristics of a genuine sports car. In terms of performance, design, and driving dynamics it meets Porsche’s high standards.…we are making our customers an attractive offer in the top performance segment.” The car will compete against other luxury models from Mercedes, Aston Martin and Bentley.

TOP