Breaking News English Lesson: Bodybuilder Sushi

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Bodybuilder delivery helps sushi business in Japan (6th September, 2020)

The Reading / Listening - Bodybuilder Sushi - Level 3

A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with a novel idea to help its business. It is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi to people's homes and workplaces. The restaurant is located in central Japan and is owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the third-generation owner of the 60-year-old Imazushi restaurant. As well as being a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He ranked third in a world bodybuilding championship earlier this year. He wanted to increase sales in his restaurant after the number of customers dropped because of coronavirus. Sugiura called his service "Delivery Macho". Customers need to order a minimum of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

The Delivery Macho service is proving to be popular with customers. Even though the restaurant is in central Japan, Mr Sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places as far away as Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. The service has also been trending on Twitter. Satisfied customers have posed for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt off and pose for photos at the doorstep. The delivery men stay socially distanced. This has helped to increase orders for the restaurant. Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped to employ people out of work. He recruited his friends from fitness gyms to work as sushi delivery staff.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Bodybuilder Sushi - Level 0, Bodybuilder Sushi - Level 1 or Bodybuilder Sushi - Level 2

Sources

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/09/04/national/bodybuilders-deliver-sushi/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-sushi-delive/japan-sushi-chef-using-bodybuilder-delivery-to-buoy-covid-19-hit-business-idUSKBN25V1KA
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200904/p2g/00m/0na/068000c

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. BODYBUILDING: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about bodybuilding. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
sushi / restaurant / bodybuilder / central / chef / championship / delivery / minimum /
popular / customers / service / pose / photos / socially distanced / fitness / gyms
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. DINING: Students A strongly believe having food delivered and dining at home is better than dining in a restaurant; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. DELIVERY: What are the good and bad things about having these things delivered? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Good Things	Bad Things
Sushi
Clothes
Flowers
Games
Ice Cream
Coffee

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. BUSINESS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "business". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. RESTAURANTS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best restaurants at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Sushi
Hamburger
Ramen
Fish and chips
Pizza
Kebab
Tapas
Dim sum

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	come up with	a.	Thought of an idea, plan, etc.
2.	novel	b.	A person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business.
3.	located	c.	New or unusual in an interesting way.
4.	third-generation	d.	Given someone or something a place within a competition or grading system.
5.	ranked	e.	Situated in a particular place.
6.	customers	f.	A group of members of a family at the same level in their family tree.
7.	minimum	g.	The least or smallest amount or quantity possible.

Paragraph 2

8.	proving	h.	Stand or sit somewhere to be photographed, painted, or drawn.
9.	popular	i.	Happy; pleased.
10.	trending	j.	Being seen or found to be true.
11.	satisfied	k.	Give work to someone and pay them for it.
12.	pose	l.	Liked, admired, or enjoyed by many people or by a particular person or group.
13.	employ	m.	Got someone to work for a company, join the army or help in doing something.
14.	recruited	n.	Being the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

A sushi restaurant will use a novel about fish to help its business. T / F
Bodybuilders will help to carry hundreds of kilos of tuna and salmon. T / F
The restaurant's sushi chef is also a top bodybuilder. T / F
The restaurant's bodybuilder delivery is on sushi orders of at least $66. T / F
The restaurant is in Tokyo but it delivers all over Japan. T / F
Customers can pose for photos at their door with the bodybuilders. T / F
The delivery bodybuilders keep their distance from their customers. T / F
The sushi chef employed bodybuilders from fitness gyms. T / F

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

come up with
located
championship
increase
minimum
popular
places
satisfied
stay
staff

locations
lower limit
workers
situated
remain
grow
happy
thought of
in demand
tournament

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

A sushi restaurant in Japan has come
deliver sushi to people's homes
The restaurant is located
He is the third-
Customers need to order a minimum
The Delivery Macho service is proving to be
The service has also been trending
pose for
employ people
He recruited

photos
generation owner
out of work
popular with customers
up with a novel idea
on Twitter
of 7,000 yen of sushi
and workplaces
his friends
in central Japan

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

located
dropped
workplaces
minimum
ranked
novel
generation
sales

A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with a (1) _____________________ idea to help its business. It is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi to people's homes and (2) _____________________. The restaurant is (3) _____________________ in central Japan and is owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the third-(4) _____________________ owner of the 60-year-old Imazushi restaurant. As well as being a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He (5) _____________________ third in a world bodybuilding championship earlier this year. He wanted to increase (6) _____________________ in his restaurant after the number of customers (7) _____________________ because of coronavirus. Sugiura called his service "Delivery Macho". Customers need to order a (8) _____________________ of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

posed
employ
proving
gyms
doorstep
trending
far
orders

The Delivery Macho service is (9) _____________________ to be popular with customers. Even though the restaurant is in central Japan, Mr Sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places as (10) _____________________ away as Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. The service has also been (11) _____________________ on Twitter. Satisfied customers have (12) _____________________ for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt off and pose for photos at the (13) _____________________. The delivery men stay socially distanced. This has helped to increase (14) _____________________ for the restaurant. Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped to (15) _____________________ people out of work. He recruited his friends from fitness (16) _____________________ to work as sushi delivery staff.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with a novel idea to ______
     a. help its busy nest
     b. help its busy neat
     c. help its business
     d. help its biz-nits
2) It is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi to people's homes ______
     a. and works places
     b. and were places
     c. and awake places
     d. and workplaces
3) owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the ______
     a. thirdly-generation owner
     b. third-generation owner
     c. thirds-generation owner
     d. thud-generation owner
4) third in a world bodybuilding championship earlier this year. He wanted ______
     a. to increase sales
     b. to increase sells
     c. to increase seals
     d. too increase soils
5) called his service "Delivery Macho". Customers need to order a ______ yen
     a. mini Mum of 7,000
     b. mine immune of 7,000
     c. minimum of 7,000
     d. maximum of 7,000

6) The Delivery Macho service is ______ popular
     a. proving to be
     b. prove in to be
     c. proof in to be
     d. proving into be
7) Mr Sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places as ______ Tokyo
     a. far away as
     b. afar away as
     c. for away as
     d. fear away as
8) the bodybuilding delivery men who take their shirt off and ______
     a. pose for photos
     b. poise for photos
     c. prose for photos
     d. post for photos
9) Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped ______
     a. to implore people
     b. two employs people
     c. to employ people
     d. too employed people
10) He recruited his friends from fitness gyms to work as ______
     a. sushi delivery stuff
     b. sushi delivery staff
     c. sushi delivery stiff
     d. sushi delivery strafe

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with (1) ____________________ to help its business. It is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi to people's homes and workplaces. The restaurant is (2) ____________________ Japan and is owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the third-generation owner of the 60-year-old Imazushi restaurant. As (3) ____________________ a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He (4) ____________________ a world bodybuilding championship earlier this year. He wanted to increase sales in his restaurant after the (5) ____________________ dropped because of coronavirus. Sugiura called his service "Delivery Macho". Customers need to (6) ____________________ of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

The Delivery Macho (7) ____________________ to be popular with customers. Even though the restaurant is in central Japan, Mr Sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places (8) ____________________ as Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. The service has also been trending on Twitter. Satisfied (9) ____________________ for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt off and pose for photos (10) ____________________. The delivery men stay socially distanced. This has helped (11) ____________________ for the restaurant. Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped to employ people out of work. He recruited his friends (12) ____________________ to work as sushi delivery staff.

Comprehension questions

Where in Japan is the sushi restaurant?
How old is the restaurant?
Where did the sushi chef come in a bodybuilding tournament?
What is the name of the bodybuilder delivery service?
What is the minimum order to get the bodybuilder delivery service?
Where does the restaurant deliver as far as?
Where has the restaurant been trending?
What do the delivery men take off for photos?
Where do the delivery men pose for photos?
Where did the sushi chef recruit the delivery men from?

Multiple choice quiz

1) Where in Japan is the sushi restaurant?
a) Osaka
b) Tokyo
c) northern Japan
d) central Japan
2) How old is the restaurant?
a) 100 years old
b) 60 years old
c) 10 years old
d) two weeks old
3) Where did the sushi chef come in a bodybuilding tournament?
a) first
b) last
c) second
d) third
4) What is the name of the bodybuilder delivery service?
a) Sushi Build
b) Macho Maguro
c) Delivery Macho
d) Delivery Sushi

5) What is the minimum order to get the bodybuilder delivery service?
a) ¥8,000
b) ¥10,000
c) ¥5,555
d) ¥7,000

6) Where does the restaurant deliver as far as?
a) Korea
b) Hokkaido
c) Tokyo and Osaka
d) Sapporo and Hiroshima
7) Where has the restaurant been trending?
a) on Twitter
b) in fish markets
c) at sea
d) in restaurants
8) What do the delivery men take off for photos?
a) their hat
b) the lid of the sushi
c) their shirt
d) their mask
9) Where do the delivery men pose for photos?
a) in the kitchen
b) at the doorstep
c) in the restaurant
d) on their motorbike
10) Where did the sushi chef recruit the delivery men from?
a) fitness gyms
b) universities
c) fishing villages
d) Amazon

Role play

Role A – Sushi
You think sushi restaurants are best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their restaurants. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): hamburger, pizza or kebab.

Role B – Hamburger
You think hamburger restaurants are best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their restaurants. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): sushi, pizza or kebab.

Role C – Pizza
You think pizza restaurants are best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their restaurants. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): hamburger, sushi or kebab.

Role D – Kebab
You think kebab restaurants are best. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their restaurants. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): hamburger, pizza or sushi.

After reading / listening

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

'sushi'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'bodybuilding'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

novel

homes

ranked

sales

called

minimum

popular

far

trending

shirt

stay

fitness

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - Bodybuilder Sushi

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'sushi'?
When was the last time you had a novel idea?
What do you think of the sushi delivery idea?
What do you think of sushi?
What do you think of food delivery?
What is your experience of sushi restaurants?
What do you think life as a sushi chef is like?
What do you think of the name 'Delivery Macho'?
Would you like your sushi to be delivered by a bodybuilder?

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

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'bodybuilding'?
What do you think about what you read?
What do you know about sushi?
What do you think of bodybuilding?
What is your favourite restaurant?
Are you always a satisfied customer in a restaurant?
What other things could the sushi chef do to increase orders?
Is bodybuilding good for us?
What questions would you like to ask the sushi chef?

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

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

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with a (1) ____ idea to help its business. It is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi to people's homes and workplaces. The restaurant is (2) ____ in central Japan and is owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the (3) ____-generation owner of the 60-year-old Imazushi restaurant. As well as (4) ____ a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He ranked third in a world bodybuilding championship earlier this year. He wanted (5) ____ increase sales in his restaurant after the number of customers dropped because of coronavirus. Sugiura called his service "Delivery Macho". Customers need to order a minimum (6) ____ 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

The Delivery Macho service is (7) ____ to be popular with customers. Even though the restaurant is in central Japan, Mr Sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places as (8) ____ away as Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. The service has also been (9) ____ on Twitter. Satisfied customers have posed for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt off and (10) ____ for photos at the doorstep. The delivery men stay socially distanced. This has helped to increase orders (11) ____ the restaurant. Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped to employ people out of work. He recruited his friends from fitness gyms to work (12) ____ sushi delivery staff.

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) book (b) poem (c) literature (d) novel
(a) local (b) location (c) locale (d) located
(a) three (b) third (c) thirdly (d) thirds
(a) bin (b) been (c) being (d) be
(a) to (b) as (c) by (d) on
(a) of (b) at (c) on (d) by
(a) provision (b) proof (c) provide (d) proving
(a) far (b) close (c) near (d) distance
(a) vending (b) trending (c) mending (d) bending
(a) praise (b) post (c) pose (d) paste
(a) from (b) of (c) for (d) fare
(a) on (b) as (c) in (d) of

Spelling

Paragraph 1

come up with a loven idea
people's homes and kpcowerasl
located in tecalrn Japan
He is the third-genaotreni owner
a world bodybuilding amnshophcipi
order a nmiiumm of 7,000 yen

Paragraph 2

proving to be lapruop with customers
been gedritnn on Twitter
tesaifdsi customers
socially csdtnadie
helped to moylep people out of work
He durreitce his friends

Put the text back together

(...) central Japan, Mr Sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places as far away as Tokyo and
(...) to deliver sushi to people's homes and workplaces. The restaurant is located in central Japan and is
( 1 ) A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with a novel idea to help its business. It is using bodybuilders
(...) Osaka. Tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. The service has also been trending
(...) of customers dropped because of coronavirus. Sugiura called his service "Delivery Macho". Customers
(...) championship earlier this year. He wanted to increase sales in his restaurant after the number
(...) owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the third-generation owner of the 60-year-old Imazushi restaurant. As well
(...) need to order a minimum of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.
(...) on Twitter. Satisfied customers have posed for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt
(...) of work. He recruited his friends from fitness gyms to work as sushi delivery staff.
(...) The Delivery Macho service is proving to be popular with customers. Even though the restaurant is in
(...) off and pose for photos at the doorstep. The delivery men stay socially distanced. This has
(...) helped to increase orders for the restaurant. Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped to employ people out
(...) as being a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He ranked third in a world bodybuilding

Put the words in the right order

its help idea business . to novel A
deliver bodybuilders to It sushi . is using
third He ranked a championship . in bodybuilding world
sales He in his restaurant . increase to wanted
order . to Customers a need of minimum 7,000 yen
popular be proving is It customers . with to
places as Tokyo . away Delivered to as far
Twitter . also on been has service The trending
off their Take for photos . and pose shirt
his from friends He gyms . fitness recruited

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

A sushi restaurant in Japan has come down / up with a novel idea to help its business. It is using bodybuilders to deliver / delivery sushi to people's homes and workplaces. The restaurant is locale / located in central Japan and is owned of / by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. He is the third-generation owner of the 60-year-old Imazushi restaurant. As well as been / being a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He ranked / rankled third in a world bodybuilding championship earlier one / this year. He wanted to increase sales in / on his restaurant after the number of customers dropped because of coronavirus. Sugiura called / name his service "Delivery Macho". Customers need to order a minimum to / of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

The Delivery Macho service is proof / proving to be popular with customers. Even though the restaurant is in centrally / central Japan, Mr Sugiura says he was / has delivered sushi to places as far / near away as Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. The service has also been / bin trending on Twitter. Satisfied customers have pasted / posed for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt off and dose / pose for photos at the doorstep. The delivery men stay socially distanced. This has helped to increase orders / demands for the restaurant. Mr Sugiura said the service has also helped to employ / deploy people out of work. He recruited his friends from fit / fitness gyms to work as sushi delivery staff.

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)

A s_s h_ r_s t__ r_n t _n J_p_n h_s c_m_ _p w_t h _ n_v_l _d__ t_ h_l p _t s b_s_n_s s . I t _s _s_n g b_d y b__ l d_r s t_ d_l_v_r s_s h_ t_ p__ p l_' s h_m_s _n d w_r k p l_c_s . T h_ r_s t__ r_n t _s l_c_t_d _n c_n t r_l J_p_n _n d _s _w n_d b y 4 1 - y__ r -_l d M_s_n_r_ S_g__ r_. H_ _s t h_ t h_r d - g_n_r_t__ n _w n_r _f t h_ 6 0 - y__ r -_l d I m_z_s h_ r_s t__ r_n t . A s w_l l _s b__ n g _ s_s h_ c h_f , M r S_g__ r_ _s _ b_d y b__ l d_r . H_ r_n k_d t h_r d _n _ w_r l d b_d y b__ l d_n g c h_m p__ n s h_p __ r l__ r t h_s y__ r . H_ w_n t_d t_ _n c r__ s_ s_l_s _n h_s r_s t__ r_n t _f t_r t h_ n_m b_r _f c_s t_m_r s d r_p p_d b_c__ s_ _f c_r_n_v_r_s . S_g__ r_ c_l l_d h_s s_r v_c_ " D_l_v_r y M_c h_" . C_s t_m_r s n__ d t_ _r d_r _ m_n_m_m _f 7 , 0 0 0 y_n ( $ 6 6 ) _f s_s h_ t_ g_t t h__ r f__ d d_l_v_r_d b y _ b_d y b__ l d_r .

T h_ D_l_v_r y M_c h_ s_r v_c_ _s p r_v_n g t_ b_ p_p_l_r w_t h c_s t_m_r s . E v_n t h__ g h t h_ r_s t__ r_n t _s _n c_n t r_l J_p_n , M r S_g__ r_ s_y s h_ h_s d_l_v_r_d s_s h_ t_ p l_c_s _s f_r _w_y _s T_k y_ _n d O s_k_. T_k y_ _s _r__ n d 3 5 0 k m f r_m t h_ r_s t__ r_n t . T h_ s_r v_c_ h_s _l s_ b__ n t r_n d_n g _n T w_t t_r . S_t_s f__ d c_s t_m_r s h_v_ p_s_d f_r p h_t_s w_t h t h_ b_d y b__ l d_n g d_l_v_r y m_n , w h_ t_k_ t h__ r s h_r t _f f _n d p_s_ f_r p h_t_s _t t h_ d__ r s t_p . T h_ d_l_v_r y m_n s t_y s_c__ l l y d_s t_n c_d . T h_s h_s h_l p_d t_ _n c r__ s_ _r d_r s f_r t h_ r_s t__ r_n t . M r S_g__ r_ s__ d t h_ s_r v_c_ h_s _l s_ h_l p_d t_ _m p l_y p__ p l_ __ t _f w_r k . H_ r_c r__ t_d h_s f r__ n d s f r_m f_t n_s s g y m s t_ w_r k _s s_s h_ d_l_v_r y s t_f f .

Punctuate the text and add capitals

a sushi restaurant in japan has come up with a novel idea to help its business. it is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi to people's homes and workplaces. the restaurant is located in central japan and is owned by 41-year-old masanori sugiura. he is the third-generation owner of the 60-year-old imazushi restaurant. as well as being a sushi chef, mr sugiura is a bodybuilder. he ranked third in a world bodybuilding championship earlier this year. he wanted to increase sales in his restaurant after the number of customers dropped because of coronavirus. sugiura called his service "delivery macho". customers need to order a minimum of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

the delivery macho service is proving to be popular with customers. even though the restaurant is in central japan, mr sugiura says he has delivered sushi to places as far away as tokyo and osaka. tokyo is around 350km from the restaurant. the service has also been trending on twitter. satisfied customers have posed for photos with the bodybuilding delivery men, who take their shirt off and pose for photos at the doorstep. the delivery men stay socially distanced. this has helped to increase orders for the restaurant. mr sugiura said the service has also helped to employ people out of work. he recruited his friends from fitness gyms to work as sushi delivery staff

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AsushirestaurantinJapanhascomeupwithanovelideatohelpitsbusine
ss.Itisusingbodybuilderstodeliversushitopeople'shomesandworkpla
ces.TherestaurantislocatedincentralJapanandisownedby41-year-o
ldMasanoriSugiura.Heisthethird-generationownerofthe60-year-ol
dImazushirestaurant.Aswellasbeingasushichef,MrSugiuraisabodyb
uilder.Herankedthirdinaworldbodybuildingchampionshipearlierthis
year.Hewantedtoincreasesalesinhisrestaurantafterthenumberofcus
tomersdroppedbecauseofcoronavirus.Sugiuracalledhisservice"Deli
veryMacho".Customersneedtoorderaminimumof7,000yen($66)ofs
ushitogettheirfooddeliveredbyabodybuilder.TheDeliveryMachoserv
iceisprovingtobepopularwithcustomers.Eventhoughtherestaurantis
incentralJapan,MrSugiurasayshehasdeliveredsushitoplacesasfaraw
ayasTokyoandOsaka.Tokyoisaround350kmfromtherestaurant.Thes
ervicehasalsobeentrendingonTwitter.Satisfiedcustomershavepose
dforphotoswiththebodybuildingdeliverymen,whotaketheirshirtoffa
ndposeforphotosatthedoorstep.Thedeliverymenstaysociallydistanc
ed.Thishashelpedtoincreaseordersfortherestaurant.MrSugiurasaidt
heservicehasalsohelpedtoemploypeopleoutofwork.Herecruitedhisfr
iendsfromfitnessgymstoworkassushideliverystaff.

Free writing

Write about bodybuilder sushi for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

Having restaurant food delivered is better than going to a restaurant. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. BODYBUILDING: Make a poster about bodybuilding. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. FOOD DELIVERY: Write a magazine article about governments encouraging more food delivery. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
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 an expert on bodybuilding. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your opinions on bodybuilding. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

Answers

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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Breaking News English Lesson: Bodybuilder Sushi

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