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Nutritionists and dieting experts have long sought the answer to how to encourage people to lose weight. It seems overweight people are more interested in the size of their wallets than their waistlines. Researchers in the USA may have found one answer – cash rewards and penalties. A year-long study of 100 weight watchers by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found a system of financial incentives and fines had a significant impact on people's success in shedding kilos. The weight-conscious dieters received $20 a month if they met their weight loss goals and had to pay a penalty if they didn't. Those motivated by financial gain lost an average of 4.1kg, compared to just 1kg for those without the cash bonus.
The study followed 100 obese adults aged between 18 to 63, who were weighed every month for a year. They were put into four groups, some with a monetary focus, others with an emphasis on education and behaviour change. The $20 a month was enough for the financially-motivated dieters to out-diet the other groups. Mayo Clinic's Dr Donald Hensrud said: "Just wanting to lose weight isn't enough. Financial incentives can be powerful." Head researcher Dr Steven Driver found the fear of losing money was stronger than the thought of receiving a bonus. He said: "Fear of losing money tends to motivate people about two and a half times more than the prospect of gaining the same amount of money." Sources: WARM-UPS 1. DIETING: Walk around the class and talk to other students about dieting. Change partners often 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.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. INCENTIVES: How can we incentivize people to do these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.
4. CASH BONUSES: Students A strongly believe cash bonuses are the best way to get people to lose weight; Students B strongly believe other methods are better. Change partners again and talk about your conversations. 5. $?: How much would you need a month to do these things? Change partners often and share what you decided.
6. DIET: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'diet'. 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).
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)
GAP FILL
LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.
LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps Nutritionists and dieting (1) ________________________ the answer to how to encourage people to lose weight. It seems overweight people are more interested (2) ________________________ than their waistlines. Researchers in the USA may have found one answer – cash rewards and penalties. A year-long study (3) ________________________ the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found a system (4) ________________________ fines had a significant impact on people's success in shedding kilos. The weight-conscious dieters received $20 a month if (5) ________________________ goals and had to pay a penalty if they didn't. Those motivated by financial (6) ________________________ 4.1kg, compared to just 1kg for those without the cash bonus. The study followed 100 obese adults aged between 18 to 63, who were weighed every month for a year. They (7) ________________________, some with a monetary focus, others (8) ________________________ and behaviour change. The $20 a month was enough for the financially-motivated dieters (9) ________________________ groups. Mayo Clinic's Dr Donald Hensrud said: "Just wanting to lose weight isn't enough. Financial (10) ________________________." Head researcher Dr Steven Driver found the fear of losing money was (11) ________________________ receiving a bonus. He said: "Fear of losing money tends to motivate people about two and a half times more (12) ________________________ the same amount of money." COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ
ROLE PLAY
AFTER READING / LISTENING 1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'lose' and 'weight'.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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:
DIETING SURVEY Write five GOOD questions about dieting 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.
DIETING DISCUSSION STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MULTIPLE CHOICE - LANGUAGE Nutritionists and dieting experts have long (1) ____ the answer to how to encourage people to lose weight. It seems overweight people are more interested in the size of their wallets than their waistlines. Researchers in the USA may have found one answer – cash (2) ____ and penalties. A year-long study of 100 weight (3) ____ by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found a system of financial incentives and fines had a significant impact (4) ____ people's success in shedding kilos. The weight-conscious dieters received $20 a month if they (5) ____ their weight loss goals and had to pay a penalty if they didn't. Those motivated by financial gain lost an average of 4.1kg, compared to just 1kg for those without the (6) ____ bonus. The study followed 100 obese adults (7) ____ between 18 to 63, who were weighed every month for a year. They were put into four groups, some with a (8) ____ focus, others with an emphasis (9) ____ education and behaviour change. The $20 a month was enough for the financially-motivated dieters to out-diet the other groups. Mayo Clinic's Dr Donald Hensrud said: "(10) ____ wanting to lose weight isn't enough. Financial incentives can be powerful." Head researcher Dr Steven Driver found the fear of losing money was stronger than the thought of receiving a bonus. He said: "Fear of losing money (11) ____ to motivate people about two and a half times more than the (12) ____ of gaining the same amount of money." Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
SPELLING
PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER Number these lines in the correct order.
PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER
CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS) Nutritionists and dieting experts / expertise have long thought / sought the answer to how to encourage people to lose / down weight. It seems overweight people are more interested in the amount / size of their wallets than their waistlines. Researchers in the USA may have found one answer – cash regards / rewards and penalties. A year-long study of 100 weight watchers by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found a system of financial incentive / incentives and fines had a significant impact / compact on people's success in shredding / shedding kilos. The weight-conscious dieters received $20 a month if they met their weight lost / loss goals and had to pay a penalty if they didn't. Those motivated by financial gain lost an average of 4.1kg, compared to just 1kg for those / them without the cash bonus. The study followed 100 obesity / obese adults aged between 18 to 63, who were weighed every / all month for a year. They were put into four groups, some with a momentary / monetary focus, others with an emphasis from / on education and behaviour change. The $20 a month was enough / suffice for the financially-motivated dieters to out-diet / in-diet the other groups. Mayo Clinic's Dr Donald Hensrud said: "Just wanting to lose weight isn't plenty / enough. Financial incentives can be powerful." Head researcher Dr Steven Driver found the fear of / by losing money was stronger than the thought of receiving a bonus. He said: "Fear of losing money attends / tends to motivate people about two and a half times more than the prospect of gaining the same amount / volume of money." Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u) N_tr_t__n_sts _nd d__t_ng _xp_rts h_v_ l_ng s__ght th_ _nsw_r t_ h_w t_ _nc__r_g_ p__pl_ t_ l_s_ w__ght. _t s__ms _v_rw__ght p__pl_ _r_ m_r_ _nt_r_st_d _n th_ s_z_ _f th__r w_ll_ts th_n th__r w__stl_n_s. R_s__rch_rs _n th_ _S_ m_y h_v_ f__nd _n_ _nsw_r – c_sh r_w_rds _nd p_n_lt__s. _ y__r-l_ng st_dy _f 100 w__ght w_tch_rs by th_ M_y_ Cl_n_c _n M_nn_s_t_ f__nd _ syst_m _f f_n_nc__l _nc_nt_v_s _nd f_n_s h_d _ s_gn_f_c_nt _mp_ct _n p__pl_'s s_cc_ss _n sh_dd_ng k_l_s. Th_ w__ght-c_nsc___s d__t_rs r_c__v_d $20 _ m_nth _f th_y m_t th__r w__ght l_ss g__ls _nd h_d t_ p_y _ p_n_lty _f th_y d_dn't. Th_s_ m_t_v_t_d by f_n_nc__l g__n l_st _n _v_r_g_ _f 4.1kg, c_mp_r_d t_ j_st 1kg f_r th_s_ w_th__t th_ c_sh b_n_s. Th_ st_dy f_ll_w_d 100 _b_s_ _d_lts _g_d b_tw__n 18 t_ 63, wh_ w_r_ w__gh_d _v_ry m_nth f_r _ y__r. Th_y w_r_ p_t _nt_ f__r gr__ps, s_m_ w_th _ m_n_t_ry f_c_s, _th_rs w_th _n _mph_s_s _n _d_c_t__n _nd b_h_v___r ch_ng_. Th_ $20 _ m_nth w_s _n__gh f_r th_ f_n_nc__lly-m_t_v_t_d d__t_rs t_ __t-d__t th_ _th_r gr__ps. M_y_ Cl_n_c's Dr D_n_ld H_nsr_d s__d: "J_st w_nt_ng t_ l_s_ w__ght _sn't _n__gh. F_n_nc__l _nc_nt_v_s c_n b_ p_w_rf_l." H__d r_s__rch_r Dr St_v_n Dr_v_r f__nd th_ f__r _f l_s_ng m_n_y w_s str_ng_r th_n th_ th__ght _f r_c__v_ng _ b_n_s. H_ s__d: "F__r _f l_s_ng m_n_y t_nds t_ m_t_v_t_ p__pl_ _b__t tw_ _nd _ h_lf t_m_s m_r_ th_n th_ pr_sp_ct _f g__n_ng th_ s_m_ _m__nt _f m_n_y." PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS nutritionists and dieting experts have long sought the answer to how to encourage people to lose weight it seems overweight people are more interested in the size of their wallets than their waistlines researchers in the usa may have found one answer – cash rewards and penalties a year-long study of 100 weight watchers by the mayo clinic in minnesota found a system of financial incentives and fines had a significant impact on people's success in shedding kilos the weight-conscious dieters received $20 a month if they met their weight loss goals and had to pay a penalty if they didn't those motivated by financial gain lost an average of 41kg compared to just 1kg for those without the cash bonus the study followed 100 obese adults aged between 18 to 63 who were weighed every month for a year they were put into four groups some with a monetary focus others with an emphasis on education and behaviour change the $20 a month was enough for the financially-motivated dieters to out-diet the other groups mayo clinic's dr donald hensrud said "just wanting to lose weight isn't enough financial incentives can be powerful" head researcher dr steven driver found the fear of losing money was stronger than the thought of receiving a bonus he said "fear of losing money tends to motivate people about two and a half times more than the prospect of gaining the same amount of money" PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE
FREE WRITING Write about dieting for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ACADEMIC WRITING People will become more and more obese and no diet or scheme will reduce this. Discuss. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 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 dieting for money. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. DIETING: Make a poster about the best way to diet. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things? 4. LOSING WEIGHT: Write a magazine article about schemes that pay people to lose weight. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it. 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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles. 6. LETTER: Write a letter to a dieting expert. Ask him/her three questions about dieting. Give him/her three of your opinions on the best way to diet. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERS TRUE / FALSE (p.4)
SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)
MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)
ALL OTHER EXERCISES Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2. Help Support This Web Site
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