Breaking News English

        

1. ENERGY DRINKS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about energy drinks. 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.

energy drinks / irreversible damage / damaging / acidity / enamel / bathing / fillings / teenagers / brushing teeth / more harm than good / chewing gum / rinse the mouth

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

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

	What are the dangers?	How can we protect our teeth?
Candy
Coffee
Sports
Gum disease
Teeth whitening
Smoking

4. PERFECT: Students A strongly believe everyone in the future will have perfectly white, straight teeth with no decay; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. TEETH STUFF: Which of these things do you least like? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner. Put your least liked at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

brushing your teeth fillings dentists food stuck between your teeth

very cold water on sensitive teeth the colour of your teeth biting your tongue by mistake dentures (false teeth)

6. TOOTH DECAY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the term 'tooth decay'. 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.	Energy drinks cause more damage to your teeth than sports drinks.	T / F
b.	Acid in energy drinks harm the enamel of our teeth.	T / F
c.	A doctor said teenagers know of the harm energy drinks do to teeth.	T / F
d.	The article says energy drinks lead to people having more cavities.	T / F
e.	Up to 50% of U.S. teens drink at least one sports drink a day.	T / F
f.	A doctor advised us to brush our teeth straight after a sports drink.	T / F
g.	Another doctor recommended any kind of chewing gum.	T / F
h.	Rinsing the mouth with water helps keep acidity levels mouth.	T / F

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

1.	cause	a.	wash
2.	irreversible	b.	eat away at
3.	erode	c.	cavities
4.	assuming	d.	amounts
5.	tooth decay	e.	damage
6.	consume	f.	lead to
7.	harm	g.	circulation
8.	rinse	h.	eat or drink
9.	flow	i.	irreparable
10.	levels	j.	believing

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

1.	twice as damaging	a.	levels
2.	high acidity	b.	mouth with water
3.	the glossy outer layer	c.	with acid
4.	assuming that	d.	sports and energy drinks
5.	bathing their teeth	e.	that protects the tooth
6.	American teenagers regularly consume	f.	least an hour
7.	does more	g.	they will improve
8.	wait at	h.	as sports drinks
9.	rinse the	i.	the acidity levels
10.	naturally helps to return	j.	harm than good

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

A new study has found that energy drinks and sports drinks       (1) ____________ irreversible damage to teeth, with energy drinks being (2) ____________ as damaging as sports drinks. A report recently published in the (3) ____________ "General Dentistry" found that the high acidity levels in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the glossy outer (4) ____________ that protects the tooth. Lead author Dr Poonam Jain said: "Young adults consume these drinks (5) ____________ that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are 'better' for them than soda….Most of these patients are             (6) ____________ to learn that these drinks are essentially      (7) ____________ their teeth with acid." This has led to an increase in tooth decay and the need for (8) ____________.		journal assuming cause fillings bathing twice layer shocked
The report says 30 to 50 per cent of American teenagers           (9) ____________ consume sports and energy drinks, with as many as 62 per cent drinking at (10) ____________ one sports drink a day. It also says brushing teeth after drinking one of the drinks does more (11) ____________ than good as this will spread the acid over the tooth enamel. The doctors advised people to wait at (12) ____________ an hour before brushing your teeth. Dr Jennifer Bone of America's Academy of General Dentistry recommended people (13) ____________ sugar-free chewing gum and rinse the mouth with water after drinking the drinks. She said: "Both (14) ____________ increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to (15) ____________ the acidity levels in the mouth to (16) ____________."		return least least normal chew regularly harm tactics

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A new study has found that energy drinks and sports drinks cause irreversible damage to teeth, with energy drinks _____________________ as sports drinks. A report recently published in the journal "General Dentistry" found that the _____________________ in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the _____________________ that protects the tooth. Lead author Dr Poonam Jain said: "Young _____________________ drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are 'better' for them than soda….Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are _____________________ their teeth with acid." This has led to an increase in tooth decay and _____________________.

The report says 30 to 50 per cent of American teenagers _____________________ sports and energy drinks, with as many as 62 per cent drinking at least one sports drink a day. It also says brushing teeth after drinking one of the drinks does _____________________ as this will spread the acid over the tooth enamel. The doctors advised people to wait at least an hour before brushing your teeth. Dr Jennifer Bone of America's Academy of General Dentistry recommended _____________________ chewing gum and _____________________ with water after drinking the drinks. She said: "Both tactics _____________________, which naturally helps to _____________________ in the mouth to normal."

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'tooth' and 'decay'.

tooth

decay

• 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:

cause high outer improve shocked need

regularly harm wait chew rinse normal

ENERGY DRINKS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about energy drinks 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.

 
 

ENERGY DRINKS / TEETH 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 'energy drink'?
c)	What do you think of the idea of energy drinks?
d)	What do you think about what you read?
e)	Do you worry about your teeth?
f)	What can people do instead of drinking energy drinks?
g)	What do you know about tooth enamel?
h)	What are your experiences with tooth decay (cavities) and fillings?
i)	What do you think of the phrase "bathing their teeth with acid"?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What things in the article surprised or shocked you?
c)	Will you think twice from now about drinking energy and sports drinks?
d)	What do you think the makers of energy and sports drinks might say about the news in this article?
e)	Does this article mean that most U.S. teenagers have bad teeth?
f)	How good is gum for your teeth?
g)	Many energy drinks have high caffeine levels and are addictive. Should they be classified as a drug?
h)	Do you need to take better care of your teeth?
i)	What questions would you like to ask Dr Poonam Jain about this research?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A new study has found that energy drinks and sports drinks (1) ____ irreversible damage to teeth, with energy drinks being twice as (2) ____ as sports drinks. A report recently published in the journal "General Dentistry" found that the high acidity levels in the drinks (3) ____ tooth enamel, the glossy (4) ____ layer that protects the tooth. Lead author Dr Poonam Jain said: "Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are 'better' for (5) ____ than soda….Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid." This has led to an increase in tooth decay and the need for (6) ____.

The report says 30 to 50 per cent of American teenagers regularly consume sports and energy drinks, with as (7) ____ as 62 per cent drinking at least one sports drink a day. It also says brushing teeth after drinking one of the drinks does more (8) ____ than good (9) ____ this will spread the acid over the tooth enamel. The doctors advised people to wait at least an hour (10) ____ brushing your teeth. Dr Jennifer Bone of America's Academy of General Dentistry recommended people chew sugar-free chewing gum and rinse the mouth (11) ____ water after drinking the drinks. She said: "Both tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to return the acidity levels in the mouth to (12) ____."

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

1.	(a)	causal	(b)	causation	(c)	causing	(d)	cause
2.	(a)	damaged	(b)	damaging	(c)	damages	(d)	damage
3.	(a)	erode	(b)	deride	(c)	parade	(d)	elude
4.	(a)	outing	(b)	out	(c)	outer	(d)	out-and-out
5.	(a)	these	(b)	their	(c)	them	(d)	they
6.	(a)	upholstery	(b)	fillings	(c)	padding	(d)	stuffing
7.	(a)	many	(b)	most	(c)	same	(d)	less
8.	(a)	harmful	(b)	harmed	(c)	harms	(d)	harm
9.	(a)	was	(b)	as	(c)	is	(d)	has
10.	(a)	after	(b)	via	(c)	then	(d)	before
11.	(a)	as	(b)	all	(c)	with	(d)	warm
12.	(a)	normal	(b)	standard	(c)	common	(d)	established

 
 

WRITING

Write about energy drinks 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 energy and sports drinks and the damage they do to the teeth. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. TEETH: Make a poster about how to look after your teeth. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. ENERGY DRINKS: Write a magazine article about the damage energy and sports drinks do to your teeth. Include imaginary interviews with a dentist and the CEO of an energy drink maker.

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 dentist. Ask him/her three questions about energy drinks and tooth decay. Give him/her three of your opinions. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

T

c.

F

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	cause	a.	lead to
2.	irreversible	b.	irreparable
3.	erode	c.	eat away at
4.	assuming	d.	believing
5.	tooth decay	e.	cavities
6.	consume	f.	eat or drink
7.	harm	g.	damage
8.	rinse	h.	wash
9.	flow	i.	circulation
10.	levels	j.	amounts

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	twice as damaging	a.	as sports drinks
2.	high acidity	b.	levels
3.	the glossy outer layer	c.	that protects the tooth
4.	assuming that	d.	they will improve
5.	bathing their teeth	e.	with acid
6.	American teenagers regularly consume	f.	sports and energy drinks
7.	does more	g.	harm than good
8.	wait at	h.	least an hour
9.	rinse the	i.	mouth with water
10.	naturally helps to return	j.	the acidity levels

GAP FILL:

Energy drinks irreversibly damage teeth

A new study has found that energy drinks and sports drinks (1) cause irreversible damage to teeth, with energy drinks being (2) twice as damaging as sports drinks. A report recently published in the (3) journal "General Dentistry" found that the high acidity levels in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the glossy outer (4) layer that protects the tooth. Lead author Dr Poonam Jain said: "Young adults consume these drinks (5) assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are 'better' for them than soda….Most of these patients are (6) shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially (7) bathing their teeth with acid." This has led to an increase in tooth decay and the need for (8) fillings.

The report says 30 to 50 per cent of American teenagers (9) regularly consume sports and energy drinks, with as many as 62 per cent drinking at (10) least one sports drink a day. It also says brushing teeth after drinking one of the drinks does more (11) harm than good as this will spread the acid over the tooth enamel. The doctors advised people to wait at (12) least an hour before brushing your teeth. Dr Jennifer Bone of America's Academy of General Dentistry recommended people (13) chew sugar-free chewing gum and rinse the mouth with water after drinking the drinks. She said: "Both (14) tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to (15) return the acidity levels in the mouth to (16) normal."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

 

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