Breaking News English

        

1. FLYING: Walk around the class and talk to other students about flying. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

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

airlines / passengers / fed up / screaming / economy class / no extra cost / noise / worldwide trend / poll / child-free flights / stressful / screeching kids / tolerant

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

3. CHILDREN: Should they be banned in these places? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

Banned in…	Yes / No?	Why?
airplanes
restaurants
hotel pools
coffee shops
supermarkets
cities at night

4. SEEN BUT NOT HEARD: Students A strongly believe children should be seen but not heard; Students B strongly believe noisy kids are OK.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. FLYING: What's worst about it? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the worst at the top. Change partners often.

noisy children lack of legroom airplane meals checking in

delays the rush to disembark immigration the cost

6. AIRLINE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'airline'. 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.	An airline has reserved a place on its planes where children fly for free.	T / F
b.	The airline says kids can't sit in the first seven rows of economy class.	T / F
c.	Noise from children is the biggest complaint among air passengers.	T / F
d.	Malaysian Airlines banned kids from the top deck of one of its planes.	T / F
e.	A British paper reported 70% of people had no problem with noisy kids.	T / F
f.	One passenger blamed parents for not controlling their kids on planes.	T / F
g.	A travel writer sympathized with those who had a problem with kids.	T / F
h.	The writer suggested air travellers not use ear plugs.	T / F

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

1.	steps	a.	complaint
2.	banning	b.	reacting
3.	responding	c.	understanding
4.	gripe	d.	shift
5.	carrier	e.	put up with
6.	trend	f.	action
7.	poll	g.	responsibility
8.	endure	h.	airline
9.	fault	i.	prohibiting
10.	tolerant	j.	survey

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

1.	passengers who are fed	a.	rows of its economy class
2.	the first seven	b.	trend in air travel
3.	responding	c.	enough
4.	budget	d.	over it
5.	he new system will come	e.	up with screaming kids
6.	the start of a worldwide	f.	fault
7.	Frequent	g.	into effect
8.	Economy is stressful	h.	to the complaints
9.	It's usually the parents'	i.	carrier
10.	get	j.	flyer

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

A Malaysian airline has taken (1) ____________ to help passengers who are fed up with screaming kids on flights. Air Asia is banning children under the age of 12 from sitting in the first seven (2) ____________ of its economy class cabins. The airline said it is (3) ____________ to the complaints of thousands of air travellers who say their biggest (4) ____________ while flying is the noise from children. The budget carrier has said its new booking system will mean passengers can reserve a seat in the new "quiet zone" at no (5) ____________ cost, and experience "minimal noise". The new system will come into (6) ____________ from February 2013. Air Asia's initiative follows a (7) ____________ earlier this year by Malaysian Airlines, who banned children from the top (8) ____________ of its A380 aircraft.		move gripe rows effect steps deck responding extra
The moves by the Malaysian airlines could be the start of a worldwide (9) ____________ in air travel. A recent (10) ____________ by Britain's "Daily Telegraph" newspaper found that nearly 70 per cent of people supported the introduction of child-free flights, not just child-free areas. Frequent (11) ____________ Jonathon Stannard welcomed Air Asia's policy, saying: "It's about time. Economy is stressful (12) ____________ without having to endure  screeching kids and crying babies. It's usually the parents' (13) ____________ – they rarely do much to control their children." Travel writer Simon Calder said: "People need to be (14) ____________. People who have a problem with children on flights need to get (15) ____________ it." He added: "I have two words for them - ear (16) ____________."		flyer over poll fault trend plugs enough tolerant

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A Malaysian airline has (1) _____________________ passengers who are fed up with screaming kids on flights. Air Asia is banning children under the age of 12 from sitting in (2) _____________________ of its economy class cabins. The airline said it is responding (3) _____________________ thousands of air travellers who say their biggest gripe while flying is the noise from children. The budget carrier has said its new booking system will mean passengers (4) _____________________ in the new "quiet zone" at no extra cost, and experience "minimal noise". The new system will come into effect from February 2013. Air Asia's (5) _____________________ earlier this year by Malaysian Airlines, who banned children                        (6) ____________________ of its A380 aircraft.

The moves by the Malaysian airlines could be the start of a worldwide trend in air travel. (7) _____________________ Britain's "Daily Telegraph" newspaper found that nearly 70 per cent of people supported the introduction of child-free flights, not (8) _____________________. Frequent flyer Jonathon Stannard welcomed Air Asia's policy, saying: "It's about time. Economy is (9) _____________________ having to endure  screeching kids and crying babies. It's usually (10) _____________________ – they rarely do much to control their children." Travel writer Simon Calder said: "People (11) _____________________. People who have a problem with children on flights (12) _____________________." He added: "I have two words for them - ear plugs."

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

child

free

• 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:

steps age biggest budget system top

trend poll frequent time fault plugs

CHILD-FREE ZONES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about child-free zones 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.

 
 

CHILD-FREE ZONES 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 'child-free'?
c)	How old do you think the child-free concept is?
d)	Do you think people who feel the need for child-free zones lack basic tolerance?
e)	Are child-free zones on airplanes a good idea?
f)	The child-free zone on Air Asia is at the front. Is this unfairly making passengers with children sit in the middle or at the back?
g)	The very front row is usually for passengers with babies. Where will they sit now?
h)	What's your biggest gripe about flying?
i)	What's your biggest gripe about children?
j)	Do you think airlines will lose or make money from child-free zones?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think child-free flights would be successful?
c)	What do you think of the expression, "Children should be seen but not heard"?
d)	How stressful are other people's children on airplanes, in restaurants, etc.?
e)	What do you think of parents who let their kids scream and misbehave in public places?
f)	Is the travel writer right when he said people need to be more tolerant?
g)	Should there also be zones for those who want to avoid sitting near passengers who talk loudly and non-stop?
h)	How do you think children feel about being the target of such intolerance? What does this teach them about other people?
i)	Do you think ear plugs are the solution?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the CEO of Air Asia?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A Malaysian airline has taken (1) ____ to help passengers who are fed up with screaming kids on flights. Air Asia is banning children under the age of 12 from sitting in the first seven rows of its economy class (2) ____. The airline said it is responding to the complaints of thousands of air travellers who say their biggest gripe (3) ____ flying is the noise from children. The budget (4) ____ has said its new booking system will mean passengers can reserve a seat in the new "quiet zone" at no extra cost, and experience "(5) ____ noise". The new system will come into effect from February 2013. Air Asia's initiative follows a move earlier this year by Malaysian Airlines, who banned children from the top (6) ____ of its A380 aircraft.

The moves by the Malaysian airlines could be the start of a worldwide (7) ____ in air travel. A recent (8) ____ by Britain's "Daily Telegraph" newspaper found that nearly 70 per cent of people supported the introduction of child-free flights, not just child-free areas. Frequent (9) ____ Jonathon Stannard welcomed Air Asia's policy, saying: "It's about time. Economy is stressful (10) ____ without having to endure  screeching kids and crying babies. It's usually the parents' (11) ____ – they rarely do much to control their children." Travel writer Simon Calder said: "People need to be tolerant. People who have a problem with children on flights need to get (12) ____ it." He added: "I have two words for them - ear plugs."

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

1.	(a)	stairs	(b)	ladders	(c)	steps	(d)	flights
2.	(a)	cabins	(b)	rooms	(c)	suites	(d)	aisles
3.	(a)	which	(b)	while	(c)	whereabouts	(d)	whether
4.	(a)	carrying	(b)	carriage	(c)	carry on	(d)	carrier
5.	(a)	mini	(b)	minimalist	(c)	minimal	(d)	miniature
6.	(a)	dock	(b)	deck	(c)	pack	(d)	peck
7.	(a)	trend	(b)	trendy	(c)	trend-setter	(d)	trended
8.	(a)	toll	(b)	roll	(c)	moll	(d)	poll
9.	(a)	flight	(b)	fly-by-night	(c)	flyer	(d)	flighty
10.	(a)	sufficient	(b)	plenty	(c)	adequate	(d)	enough
11.	(a)	dominion	(b)	fault	(c)	charge	(d)	hearsay
12.	(a)	over	(b)	under	(c)	into	(d)	via

 
 

WRITING

Write about flying 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 child-free zones. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

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

4. CHILD-FREE: Write a magazine article about child-free flights. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against them.

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 the head of Air Asia. Ask him/her three questions about the child-free zones. Give her/him three of your opinions on them. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	steps	a.	action
2.	banning	b.	prohibiting
3.	responding	c.	reacting
4.	gripe	d.	complaint
5.	carrier	e.	airline
6.	trend	f.	shift
7.	poll	g.	survey
8.	endure	h.	put up with
9.	fault	i.	responsibility
10.	tolerant	j.	understanding

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	passengers who are fed	a.	up with screaming kids
2.	the first seven	b.	rows of its economy class
3.	responding	c.	to the complaints
4.	budget	d.	carrier
5.	he new system will come	e.	into effect
6.	the start of a worldwide	f.	trend in air travel
7.	Frequent	g.	flyer
8.	Economy is stressful	h.	enough
9.	It's usually the parents'	i.	fault
10.	get	j.	over it

GAP FILL:

Airline launches child-free zone

A Malaysian airline has taken (1) steps to help passengers who are fed up with screaming kids on flights. Air Asia is banning children under the age of 12 from sitting in the first seven (2) rows of its economy class cabins. The airline said it is (3) responding to the complaints of thousands of air travellers who say their biggest (4) gripe while flying is the noise from children. The budget carrier has said its new booking system will mean passengers can reserve a seat in the new "quiet zone" at no (5) extra cost, and experience "minimal noise". The new system will come into (6) effect from February 2013. Air Asia's initiative follows a (7) move earlier this year by Malaysian Airlines, who banned children from the top (8) deck of its A380 aircraft.

The moves by the Malaysian airlines could be the start of a worldwide (9) trend in air travel. A recent (10) poll by Britain's "Daily Telegraph" newspaper found that nearly 70 per cent of people supported the introduction of child-free flights, not just child-free areas. Frequent (11) flyer Jonathon Stannard welcomed Air Asia's policy, saying: "It's about time. Economy is stressful (12) enough without having to endure  screeching kids and crying babies. It's usually the parents' (13) fault – they rarely do much to control their children." Travel writer Simon Calder said: "People need to be (14) tolerant. People who have a problem with children on flights need to get (15) over it." He added: "I have two words for them - ear (16) plugs."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - c

2 - a

3 - b

4 - d

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 -c

10 - d

11 - b

12 - a

 

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