Breaking News English

        

1. CHOLESTEROL: Walk around the class and talk to other students about cholesterol. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

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

child health / experts / screened / cholesterol / heart disease / overweight / blood / guidelines / programme / childhood / genetically / pediatricians / recommend / diet

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. KIDS HEALTH: How to protect it? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	What do we tell kids?	Will they listen? (Why/not?)
Diet
Exercise
TV / Games
Fast food
Education
Drugs

4. CHOLESTEROL: Students A strongly believe cholesterol will one day be a problem of the past; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. THE HEART: What’s best to look after it? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

no stress regular exercise laugh a lot medical check-ups

low-cholesterol diet no alcohol vitamin supplements love

6. OVERWEIGHT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘overweight’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	All American children will be screened for high cholesterol.	T / F
b.	An organization says 9-11-year-olds are at high risk of heart problems.	T / F
c.	Around a third of U.S. teenagers are overweight or suffer from obesity.	T / F
d.	The test for cholesterol levels in kids is very easy.	T / F
e.	A doctor who wrote screening guidelines said it must be for adults only.	T / F
f.	The doctor says high cholesterol starts when we become adults.	T / F
g.	The doctor said kids with genetically high cholesterol cannot be helped.	T / F
h.	The doctor recommended mothers breastfeed their babies.	T / F

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

1.	experts	a.	stop
2	guidelines	b.	levels
3.	rates	c.	strategy
4.	prevent	d.	develops
5.	simple	e.	specialists
6.	programme	f.	group
7.	progresses	g.	recommendations
8.	identify	h.	start
9.	category	i.	straightforward
10.	introduce	j.	determine

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

1.	experts believe children should	a.	rates in children
2	recommend the regular	b.	right track
3.	increasing obesity	c.	of the guidelines
4.	prevent heart disease later	d.	or obese
5.	15 per cent of U.S. kids are overweight	e.	on in life
6.	one of the authors	f.	be regularly screened
7.	learn about heart disease	g.	at a higher risk
8.	genetically are	h.	fat diet for babies
9.	get kids started on the	i.	screening of kids
10.	introduce a low-	j.	and stroke in adults

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Child health experts (1) ____________ children should be regularly screened for cholesterol (2) ____________. New guidelines from America’s National Institutes of Health recommend the (3) ____________ screening of kids between the ages of 9 and 11. Doctors say with increasing obesity rates in children, it is essential that (4) ____________ are taken to make kids aware of their health. They say identifying high cholesterol early can (5) ____________ heart disease later on in life. Around 15 per cent of U.S. kids are overweight or obese; a (6) ____________ that rises to 30 per cent for teenagers. Over ten per cent of children in America have high cholesterol. The test is very (7) ____________ – just a finger prick blood sample can tell doctors which children are most (8) ____________ risk.		figure steps at levels prevent believe simple regular
Dr Stephen Daniels of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and one of the (9) ____________ of the guidelines explained the importance of starting a screening programme: "The more we (10) ____________ about heart disease and (11) ____________ in adults, the more we know that the process begins in childhood and progresses over time," he said. He believes the guidelines will (12) ____________ identify children who genetically are at a higher risk of having high cholesterol. Dr Daniels added: "We as pediatricians really need to get kids started on the (13) ____________ track and keep them in as (14) ____________ a risk category as possible." The guidelines recommend ways to (15) ____________ the heart’s health. They say mothers should start with breast-feeding and (16) ____________ a low-fat diet for babies.		right stroke increase authors help introduce learn low

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

________________________ children should be regularly screened for cholesterol levels. New guidelines from America’s National Institutes of Health recommend ________________________ kids between the ages of 9 and 11. Doctors say with increasing obesity rates in children, it is essential that ________________________ kids aware of their health. They say identifying high cholesterol early can prevent heart ________________________. Around 15 per cent of U.S. kids are overweight or obese; ________________________ to 30 per cent for teenagers. Over ten per cent of children in America have high cholesterol. The test is very simple – just a ________________________ sample can tell doctors which children are most at risk.

Dr Stephen Daniels of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and one of the authors of the guidelines ________________________ of starting a screening programme: "The more we learn about heart ________________________ adults, the more we know that the process begins in childhood ________________________," he said. He believes the guidelines will help identify children ________________________ a higher risk of having high cholesterol. Dr Daniels added: "We as pediatricians really need to get kids started ________________________ keep them in as low a risk category as possible." The guidelines recommend ways to increase the heart’s health. They say mothers should start with breast-feeding and ________________________ for babies.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

heart

disease

• 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:

regularly between aware later simple tell

authors adults time identify track low

STUDENT CHOLESTEROL SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about cholesterol 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CHOLESTEROL DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘cholesterol’?
c)	How important is it to have your cholesterol regularly checked?
d)	How are your cholesterol levels?
e)	Do you think kids should have regular cholesterol level checks?
f)	What is cholesterol and what does it do?
g)	How can we reduce obesity rates among children?
h)	Why are obesity rates in kids so high?
i)	Do you think kids of the future will not be obese?
j)	What’s obesity in children like in your country?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Who should pay for the screening programme?
c)	Is high cholesterol self-inflicted?
d)	Should the dangers of high cholesterol be taught at school?
e)	What three adjectives best describe this story (and why)?
f)	How healthy or unhealthy is your diet?
g)	Do you worry about your health?
h)	Should governments ban foods that give us high cholesterol?
i)	Is it good to put babies on a low-fat diet?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Dr Stephen Daniels?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Child health (1) ____ believe children should be regularly screened for cholesterol levels. New guidelines from America’s National Institutes of Health recommend the regular (2) ____ of kids between the ages of 9 and 11. Doctors say with (3) ____ obesity rates in children, it is essential that steps are taken to make kids (4) ____ of their health. They say identifying high cholesterol early can prevent heart disease later (5) ____ in life. Around 15 per cent of U.S. kids are overweight or obese; a figure that rises to 30 per cent for teenagers. Over ten per cent of children in America have high cholesterol. The test is very simple – just a finger prick blood sample can tell doctors which children are most (6) ____ risk.

Dr Stephen Daniels of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and one of the authors of the guidelines explained (7) ____ importance of starting a screening programme: "The more we learn about heart disease and (8) ____ in adults, the more we know that the process begins in childhood and progresses (9) ____ time," he said. He believes the guidelines will help identify children who genetically are at a higher risk (10) ____ having high cholesterol. Dr Daniels added: "We as pediatricians really need to get kids started on the right (11) ____ and keep them in as low a risk category as possible." The guidelines recommend ways to increase the heart’s health. They say mothers should start with breast-feeding and introduce a low-fat (12) ____ for babies.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	experts	(b)	expertise	(c)	expertly	(d)	expert
2.	(a)	screen	(b)	screening	(c)	screens	(d)	screener
3.	(a)	increases	(b)	increase	(c)	increasing	(d)	increasingly
4.	(a)	knowledge	(b)	understand	(c)	clued in	(d)	aware
5.	(a)	to	(b)	of	(c)	up	(d)	on
6.	(a)	to	(b)	on	(c)	at	(d)	up
7.	(a)	the	(b)	a	(c)	an	(d)	such
8.	(a)	streak	(b)	stroke	(c)	stoke	(d)	strike
9.	(a)	up	(b)	around	(c)	over	(d)	under
10.	(a)	of	(b)	to	(c)	so	(d)	and
11.	(a)	trick	(b)	truck	(c)	trek	(d)	track
12.	(a)	dietary	(b)	diet	(c)	dietician	(d)	diets

 
 

WRITING

Write about cholesterol for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 cholesterol. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CHOLESTEROL: Make a poster about cholesterol. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. OBESITY: Write a magazine article about obesity. Include imaginary interviews with people who suffer from it and with doctors.

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. LETTER: Write a letter to a cholesterol expert. Ask him/her three questions about cholesterol. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	experts	a.	specialists
2	guidelines	b.	recommendations
3.	rates	c.	levels
4.	prevent	d.	stop
5.	simple	e.	straightforward
6.	programme	f.	strategy
7.	progresses	g.	develops
8.	identify	h.	start
9.	category	i.	group
10.	introduce	j.	determine

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	experts believe children should	a.	be regularly screened
2	recommend the regular	b.	screening of kids
3.	increasing obesity	c.	rates in children
4.	prevent heart disease later	d.	on in life
5.	15 per cent of U.S. kids are overweight	e.	or obese
6.	one of the authors	f.	of the guidelines
7.	learn about heart disease	g.	and stroke in adults
8.	genetically are	h.	at a higher risk
9.	get kids started on the	i.	right track
10.	introduce a low-	j.	fat diet for babies

GAP FILL:

Cholesterol screening for kids

Child health experts (1) believe children should be regularly screened for cholesterol (2) levels. New guidelines from America’s National Institutes of Health recommend the (3) regular screening of kids between the ages of 9 and 11. Doctors say with increasing obesity rates in children, it is essential that (4) steps are taken to make kids aware of their health. They say identifying high cholesterol early can (5) prevent heart disease later on in life. Around 15 per cent of U.S. kids are overweight or obese; a (6) figure that rises to 30 per cent for teenagers. Over ten per cent of children in America have high cholesterol. The test is very (7) simple – just a finger prick blood sample can tell doctors which children are most (8) at risk.

Dr Stephen Daniels of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and one of the (9) authors of the guidelines explained the importance of starting a screening programme: "The more we (10) learn about heart disease and (11) stroke in adults, the more we know that the process begins in childhood and progresses over time," he said. He believes the guidelines will (12) help identify children who genetically are at a higher risk of having high cholesterol. Dr Daniels added: "We as pediatricians really need to get kids started on the (13) right track and keep them in as (14) low a risk category as possible." The guidelines recommend ways to (15) increase the heart’s health. They say mothers should start with breast-feeding and (16) introduce a low-fat diet for babies.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - c

4 - d

5 - d

6 - c

7 - a

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - d

12 - b

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