The Reading / Listening - Balloons and Aliens - Level 2

Strange things are happening in the sky above North America. US fighter jets have shot down four UFOs in US and Canadian airspace. Officials said the UFOs were balloons that were a danger to airplanes. They were flying at an altitude of around 12,200 metres. The USA said there were no signs the balloons were linked to aliens. A White House spokesperson said: "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these crafts." Earlier in the week, a different official said aliens could not be counted out as a possible explanation for the balloons.

The USA and China exchanged tit-for-tat messages because of the balloons. The US believes the balloons are being used for spying. There is no proof of this. Experts are currently looking at the electronics they have found from the balloons. China said the balloons were for tracking weather and were not spy balloons. Beijing said US high-altitude balloons have flown in China's airspace without permission more than ten times in the past year. The White House said this was untrue. A balloon shooting in early February resulted in the US Secretary of State cancelling a visit to China.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Balloons and Aliens - Level 0 Balloons and Aliens - Level 1   or  Balloons and Aliens - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-14/spy-balloon-alien-white-house-china-surveillance-aircraft/101969384
  • https://theconversation.com/no-indication-of-aliens-spy-balloon-saga-continues-to-surprise-amid-rising-us-china-tension-199769
  • https://english.news.cn/20230205/fbbeecffa7ff48119880de4170d97495/c.html


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 :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. Strange things
  2. in the sky
  3. US fighter
  4. flying at an altitude of
  5. the balloons were linked
  6. worry
  7. aliens could not be
  8. a possible explanation
  1. counted out
  2. for the balloons
  3. about aliens
  4. above North America
  5. around 12,200 metres
  6. jets
  7. are happening
  8. to aliens

Paragraph 2

  1. exchanged tit-for-
  2. the balloons are being
  3. There is no proof
  4. Experts are currently looking
  5. the balloons were for tracking
  6. US high-
  7. more than ten times in
  8. cancelling a
  1. at the electronics
  2. visit to China
  3. weather
  4. used for spying
  5. the past year
  6. of this
  7. altitude balloons
  8. tat messages

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Strange things are happening in (1) ___________________ North America. US fighter jets have (2) ___________________ UFOs in US and Canadian airspace. Officials said the UFOs were balloons that were a danger to airplanes. They were flying (3) ___________________ of around 12,200 metres. The USA said there were no signs the balloons were (4) ___________________. A White House spokesperson said: "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens (5) ___________________ these crafts." Earlier in the week, a different official said aliens could not be (6) ___________________ a possible explanation for the balloons.

The USA and China exchanged (7) ___________________ because of the balloons. The US believes the balloons are being used for spying. There is (8) ___________________ this. Experts are currently looking at the electronics they have found from the balloons. China said the balloons (9) ___________________ weather and were not spy balloons. Beijing said US high-altitude balloons (10) ___________________ China's airspace without permission more than ten times (11) ___________________ year. The White House said this was untrue. A balloon shooting in early February resulted in the US Secretary of State (12) ___________________ to China.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

StrangethingsarehappeningintheskyaboveNorthAmerica.USfighter
jetshaveshotdownfourUFOsinUSandCanadianairspace.Officialssaid
theUFOswereballoonsthatwereadangertoairplanes.Theywereflying
atanaltitudeofaround12,200metres.TheUSAsaidtherewerenosignst
heballoonswerelinkedtoaliens.AWhiteHousespokespersonsaid:"Ido
n'tthinktheAmericanpeopleneedtoworryaboutalienswithrespecttoth
esecrafts."Earlierintheweek,adifferentofficialsaidalienscouldnotbec
ountedoutasapossibleexplanationfortheballoons.TheUSAandChina
exchangedtit-for-tatmessagesbecauseoftheballoons.TheUSbelieve
stheballoonsarebeingusedforspying.Thereisnoproofofthis.Expertsa
recurrentlylookingattheelectronicstheyhavefoundfromtheballoons.
Chinasaidtheballoonswerefortrackingweatherandwerenotspyballoo
ns.BeijingsaidUShigh-altitudeballoonshaveflowninChina'sairspac
ewithoutpermissionmorethantentimesinthepastyear.TheWhiteHou
sesaidthiswasuntrue.AballoonshootinginearlyFebruaryresultedinth
eUSSecretaryofStatecancellingavisittoChina.

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 — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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