The Reading / Listening - Colonizing Space - Level 6

Just when demographers are ringing alarm bells about overpopulation, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says we need to populate our solar system. Mr Bezos was asked for his thoughts on humanity living in outer space in a thousand years' time. He replied: "I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any given time 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins.…Space would be full of life and intelligence and energy." He added that he wants to help "build heavy infrastructure that will be used by the space entrepreneurs of future generations…so that ingenuity and imagination can really be unleashed".

Mr Bezos' thoughts are echoed by fellow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly known as Twitter). In 2021, he said of the human race: "We don't want to be one of those single-planet species; we want to be a multi-planet species." Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming…mark these words." Mr Bezos conceives of people living in giant space stations. He said most inhabitants of these would visit Earth for vacations. He envisions our planet returning to its pristine environment, as factories would be built in space. He said they would exploit resources on the moon or on asteroids instead of using up Earth's.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Colonizing Space - Level 4  or  Colonizing Space - Level 5

Sources
  • https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-human-170119555.html
  • https://www.sciencealert.com/bezoss-vision-for-1000-einsteins-doesnt-take-into-account-37000-serial-killers
  • https://futurism.com/the-byte/jeff-bezos-trillion-people-live-cylindrical-space-stations


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. COLONIZING SPACE: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about colonizing space. 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?
       demographers / alarm bells / overpopulation / solar system / a trillion humans / space 
       billionaire / species / low birth rates / civilization / global warming / space stations
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. LIFE IN SPACE: Students A strongly believe we should live in space to protect Earth; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. A THOUSAND YEARS' TIME: What will these things be like in a thousand years' time? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Good Things

Bad Things

Space travel

 

 

Climate

 

 

Technology

 

 

Music

 

 

Global politics

 

 

Food

 

 
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. OVERPOPULATION: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "overpopulation". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. RISKS TO CIVILIZATION: Rank these with your partner. Put the biggest risks to civilization at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Overpopulation
  • Population collapse
  • A.I.
  • War
  • Climate change
  • Viruses
  • Migration
  • Alien attacks

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. demographer a. The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies, etc.) that society or companies need to operate.
      2. populate b. An expert in the study of statistics relating to the changing structure of human populations.
      3. outer space c. The physical universe beyond the earth's atmosphere.
      4. infrastructure d. The quality of being clever, original, and inventive.
      5. entrepreneur e. Caused a strong or violent force to be released or become unrestrained.
      6. ingenuity f. Cause people to settle in a place.
      7. unleashed g. A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.

    Paragraph 2

      8. echoed h. A person or animal that lives in or occupies a place.
      9. species i. Make full use of and get benefit from a resource.
      10. civilization j. In its original condition; unspoilt.
      11. inhabitant k. The society, culture, and way of life of a particular area.
      12. envisions l. Imagines as a future possibility.
      13. pristine m. Repeated (someone's words or opinions), typically to express agreement.
      14. exploit n. A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. Bell-ringers are raising the alarm about overpopulation.     T / F
  2. Jeff Bezos gave his thoughts on humans living in inner space.     T / F
  3. Bezos said we could have 1,000 Einsteins if there were a trillion people.   T / F
  4. Bezos said there is too little energy in space to support a trillion people.  T / F
  5. Elon Musk said humans should only live on Earth.     T / F
  6. Mr Musk said too few people was a bigger problem than overpopulation.  T / F
  7. Mr Bezos can see people inhabiting huge space stations.     T / F
  8. Mr Bezos said there was a danger of asteroids destroying Earth.     T / F

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

  1. ringing
  2. populate
  3. thoughts
  4. entrepreneurs
  5. unleashed
  6. echoed
  7. risk
  8. inhabitants
  9. envisions
  10. exploit
  1. occupants
  2. reiterated
  3. set free
  4. foresees
  5. assessment
  6. sounding
  7. utilize
  8. business people
  9. threat
  10. inhabit

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

  1. demographers are ringing alarm
  2. at any
  3. he wants to help build heavy
  4. the space entrepreneurs of
  5. ingenuity and imagination can really
  6. Bezos' thoughts are echoed by fellow
  7. Population collapse due to
  8. a much bigger
  9. pristine
  10. exploit resources on the moon
  1. environment
  2. future generations
  3. multi-billionaire Elon Musk
  4. be unleashed
  5. risk to civilization
  6. given time
  7. bells
  8. or on asteroids
  9. infrastructure
  10. low birth rates

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
heavy
populate
outer
unleashed
life
ringing
future
given

Just when demographers are (1) _____________________ alarm bells about overpopulation, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says we need to (2) _____________________ our solar system. Mr Bezos was asked for his thoughts on humanity living in (3) _____________________ space in a thousand years' time. He replied: "I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any (4) _____________________ time 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins.…Space would be full of (5) _____________________ and intelligence and energy." He added that he wants to help "build (6) _____________________ infrastructure that will be used by the space entrepreneurs of (7) _____________________ generations…so that ingenuity and imagination can really be (8) _____________________".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
multi
mark
asteroids
echoed
pristine
collapse
race
inhabitants

Mr Bezos' thoughts are (9) _____________________ by fellow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly known as Twitter). In 2021, he said of the human (10) _____________________: "We don't want to be one of those single-planet species; we want to be a (11) _____________________ -planet species." Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population (12) _____________________ due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming... (13) _____________________ these words." Mr Bezos conceives of people living in giant space stations. He said most (14) _____________________ of these would visit Earth for vacations. He envisions our planet returning to its (15) _____________________ environment, as factories would be built in space. He said they would exploit resources on the moon or on (16) _____________________ instead of using up Earth's.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  Just when demographers are ringing alarm ______
     a.  balls about overpopulation
     b.  bills about overpopulation
     c.  bulls about overpopulation
     d.  bells about overpopulation
2)  Mr Bezos was asked for his thoughts on humanity living ______
     a.  in out of space
     b.  in otter space
     c.  in outer space
     d.  in inner space
3)  If we had a trillion humans, we would have at ______
     a.  any giving time
     b.  any given time
     c.  any give in time
     d.  any gives in time
4)  He added that he wants to help ______
     a.  build heavily infrastructure
     b.  build heavy infrastructure
     c.  build heaving infrastructure
     d.  build heavies' infrastructure
5)  so that ingenuity and imagination can ______
     a.  really be on leashed
     b.  really be in leashed
     c.  really be unleashed
     d.  really been leashed

6)  We don't want to be one of those ______
     a.  single-planet specimens
     b.  single-planet spaces
     c.  single-planet specials
     d.  single-planet species
7)  Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population collapse due to ______
     a.  low birth rates
     b.  low berth rates
     c.  low bath rates
     d.  low birthed rates
8)  a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming...______
     a.  lark these words
     b.  mark these words
     c.  dark these words
     d.  park these words
9)  our planet returning to its pristine environment, as factories would be ______
     a.  built on space
     b.  build in space
     c.  building space
     d.  built in space
10)  He said they would exploit resources on the moon ______
     a.  more on asteroids
     b.  or in asteroids
     c.  or on asteroids
     d.  ore on asteroids

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Just when demographers are (1) ____________________ about overpopulation, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says we need to (2) ____________________ system. Mr Bezos was asked for his thoughts on humanity living in outer space in a (3) ____________________. He replied: "I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at (4) ____________________ 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins.…Space would be full of life and intelligence and energy." He added that he wants to help "(5) ____________________ that will be used by the space entrepreneurs of future generations…so that ingenuity and imagination can (6) ____________________".

Mr Bezos' thoughts are (7) ____________________ multi-billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, (8) ____________________ Twitter. In 2021, he said of the human race: "We don't want to be one of those single-planet species; we want to be a (9) ____________________." Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming... (10) ____________________." Mr Bezos conceives of people living in giant space stations. He said most (11) ____________________ would visit Earth for vacations. He envisions our planet returning to its pristine environment, as factories would be built in space. He said they would exploit resources on the moon or (12) ____________________ of using up Earth's.

Comprehension questions

  1. What does the article say demographers are ringing?
  2. What does Jeff Bezos want to see populated?
  3. What might there be a thousand of if a trillion people lived in space?
  4. What does Mr Bezos want to help build in space?
  5. What does Mr Bezos hope will be released?
  6. What did Elon Musk do to Jeff Bezos' thoughts?
  7. What kind of species does Elon Musk want humans to be?
  8. What did Mr Musk say was a bigger threat to us than global warming?
  9. Where does Mr Bezos think people will visit in the future?
  10. Where might people get resources from besides the moon?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What does the article say demographers are ringing?
a) the changes
b) ears
c) alarm bells
d) alarm clocks
2) What does Jeff Bezos want to see populated?
a) our solar system
b) Antarctica
c) the deep ocean
d) the Amazon
3) What might there be a thousand of if a trillion people lived in space?
a) deadly viruses
b) planets like Earth
c) geniuses
d) Mozarts and Einsteins
4) What does Mr Bezos want to help build in space?
a) Amazon delivery centres
b) heavy infrastructure
c) a new Internet
d) a giant space rocket
5) What does Mr Bezos hope will be released?
a) engineers and machines
b) engines and machinations
c) ingenuity and imagination
d) inventiveness and imagery

6) What did Elon Musk do to Jeff Bezos' thoughts?
a) ask for them
b) echo them
c) debate them
d) reject them
7) What kind of species does Elon Musk want humans to be?
a) a special species
b) an X species
c) an electric species
d) a multi-planet species
8) What did Mr Musk say was a bigger threat to us than global warming?
a) pandemics
b) population collapse
c) alien diseases
d) solar storms
9) Where does Mr Bezos think people will visit in the future?
a) Earth
b) the Amazon
c) the next galaxy
d) Jupiter
10) Where might people get resources from besides the moon?
a) Mars
b) Amazon.com
c) their brains
d) asteroids

Role play

Role  A – Overpopulation
You think overpopulation is the biggest threat to civilization. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their threats will never materialize. Also, tell the others which is the remotest threat of these (and why): population collapse, A.I. or war.

Role  B – Population Collapse
You think population collapse is the biggest threat to civilization. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their threats will never materialize. Also, tell the others which is the remotest threat of these (and why): overpopulation, A.I. or war.

Role  C – A.!.
You think A.I. is the biggest threat to civilization. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their threats will never materialize. Also, tell the others which is the remotest threat of these (and why): population collapse, overpopulation or war.

Role  D – War
You think war is the biggest threat to civilization. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their threats will never materialize. Also, tell the others which is the remotest threat of these (and why): population collapse, A.I. or overpopulation.

After reading / listening

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

'trillion'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'humans'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • bells
    • need
    • thoughts
    • given
    • build
    • future
    • echoed
    • race
    • warned
    • mark
    • pristine
    • exploit

    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 - Colonizing Space

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'trillion'?
    3. What do you know about the solar system?
    4. What do you think of overpopulation?
    5. What do you think of populating our solar system?
    6. What do you think of a trillion people living in space?
    7. What would the world be like with 1,000 Mozarts and Einsteins?
    8. Would you like to live in space?
    9. What will the future be like?
    10. How often do you unleash your imagination?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'solar system'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What are the advantages of us being a multi-planet species?
    5. How worried are you about 'population collapse'?
    6. What would life be like on a space station?
    7. What might people do on an Earth vacation?
    8. Do you think Jeff Bezos' idea would help our planet?
    9. What three adjectives best describe this article?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Jeff Bezos about his vision?

    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)

    Just when demographers are ringing (1) ____ bells about overpopulation, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says we need to populate our solar system. Mr Bezos was asked for his (2) ____ on humanity living in (3) ____ space in a thousand years' time. He replied: "I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any (4) ____ time 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins.…Space would be full of life and intelligence and energy." He added that he wants to help "build (5) ____ infrastructure that will be used by the space entrepreneurs of future generations…so that ingenuity and imagination can really be (6) ____".

    Mr Bezos' thoughts are echoed (7) ____ fellow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly known as Twitter). In 2021, he said of the human race: "We don't want to be one of those (8) ____-planet species; we want to be a multi-planet species." Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming... (9) ____ these words." Mr Bezos conceives of people living in giant space stations. He said most inhabitants of (10) ____ would visit Earth for vacations. He envisions our planet (11) ____ to its pristine environment, as factories would be built in space. He said they would exploit resources on the moon or on asteroids (12) ____ of using up Earth's.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     alarm     (b)     alarming     (c)     alarmed     (d)     alarming    
    2. (a)     things     (b)     thoughtful     (c)     thoughts     (d)     thoughtlessness    
    3. (a)     outing     (b)     outage     (c)     outer     (d)     out    
    4. (a)     presented     (b)     taken     (c)     removed     (d)     given    
    5. (a)     heavy     (b)     weighty     (c)     hefty     (d)     dense    
    6. (a)     lashed     (b)     unleashed     (c)     leashed     (d)     slashed    
    7. (a)     in     (b)     at     (c)     of     (d)     by    
    8. (a)     alone     (b)     single     (c)     exclusive     (d)     individual    
    9. (a)     hark     (b)     lark     (c)     mark     (d)     dark    
    10. (a)     it     (b)     all     (c)     them     (d)     these    
    11. (a)     returnee     (b)     returns     (c)     return     (d)     returning    
    12. (a)     rather     (b)     instead     (c)     place     (d)     prefer

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. eehrgsrmodpa are ringing alarm bells
    2. we need to epplauto our solar system
    3. his thoughts on imyauthn
    4. euterrepnnesr of future generations
    5. nygeiintu and imagination
    6. really be euhandles

    Paragraph 2

    1. one of those single-planet cpsesie
    2. Bezos nseeiccov of people living
    3. bnaiitshtan of these would visit Earth
    4. returning to its nietpsir environment
    5. He said they would extlpio resources
    6. on the moon or on stisedaro

    Put the text back together

    (...)   on humanity living in outer space in a thousand years' time. He replied: "I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans
    (...)   birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming...mark these
    (...)   entrepreneurs of future generations…so that ingenuity and imagination can really be unleashed".
    (...)   planet species; we want to be a multi-planet species." Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population collapse due to low
    (...)   time 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins.…Space would be full of life and intelligence and
    (...)   Mr Bezos' thoughts are echoed by fellow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly
    (...)   Jeff Bezos says we need to populate our solar system. Mr Bezos was asked for his thoughts
    (...)   living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any given
    (  1  )   Just when demographers are ringing alarm bells about overpopulation, Amazon founder
    (...)   energy." He added that he wants to help "build heavy infrastructure that will be used by the space
    (...)   words." Mr Bezos conceives of people living in giant space stations. He said most
    (...)   known as Twitter). In 2021, he said of the human race: "We don't want to be one of those single-
    (...)   would be built in space. He said they would exploit resources on the moon or on asteroids instead of using up Earth's.
    (...)   inhabitants of these would visit Earth for vacations. He envisions our planet returning to its pristine environment, as factories

    Put the words in the right order

    1. demographers  about  alarm  When  ringing  overpopulation    are  bells
    2. populate   we   must   our   system   .   solar   says   Bezos
    3. humanity   living   thoughts   on   His   space   .   outer   in
    4. He   the   infrastructure   .   build   wants   help   heavy   to
    5. entrepreneurs   Used   space   by   the   of   future   generations   .
    6. are   by   multi-billionaire   .   a   fellow   echoed   thoughts   Bezos'
    7. a   don't   be   species   .   single-planet   want   to   We
    8. due   to   low   rates   .   Population   birth   collapse
    9. inhabitants   vacations   .   Most   for   Earth   would   visit
    10. they'd   exploit   the   resources   moon   .   He   on   said

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Just when demographers are ringing alarming / alarm bells about overpopulation, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says we need to populate our solar / sonar system. Mr Bezos was asked for his thoughts in / on humanity living in outer / inner space in a thousand years' time. He replied: "I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans living in / on the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any taken / given time 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins.…Space would be full / filled of life and intelligence and energy." He added that he wants to help "build heavily / heavy infrastructure that will be used by the space entrepreneurs of future generations…so that / what ingenuity and imagination can really be leashed / unleashed".

    Mr Bezos' thoughts are etched / echoed by fellow / follow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly / firmly known as Twitter). In 2021, he said of the human race: "We don't want to be one of them / those single-planet species; we want to be a multi-planet species." Earlier this year, Mr Musk warned that: "Population collapse / clasp due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming...grade / mark these words." Mr Bezos concepts / conceives of people living in giant space stations. He said most inhabitants / habitats of these would visit Earth for vacations. He envisions our planet returning to its pristine environment, has / as factories would be built in space. He said they would exploit resources on the moon or on asteroids instead of abusing / using up Earth's.

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    J_st  wh_n  d_m_gr_ph_rs  _r_  r_ng_ng  _l_rm  b_lls  _b__t  _v_rp_p_l_t__n,  _m_z_n  f__nd_r  J_ff  B_z_s  s_ys  w_  n__d  t_  p_p_l_t_  __r  s_l_r  syst_m.  Mr  B_z_s  w_s  _sk_d  f_r  h_s  th__ghts  _n  h_m_n_ty  l_v_ng  _n  __t_r  sp_c_  _n  _  th__s_nd  y__rs'  t_m_.  H_  r_pl__d:  "_  w__ld  l_v_  t_  s__,  y__  kn_w,  _  tr_ll__n  h_m_ns  l_v_ng  _n  th_  s_l_r  syst_m.  _f  w_  h_d  _  tr_ll__n  h_m_ns,  w_  w__ld  h_v_  _t  _ny  g_v_n  t_m_  1,000  M_z_rts  _nd  1,000  __nst__ns.…Sp_c_  w__ld  b_  f_ll  _f  l_f_  _nd  _nt_ll_g_nc_  _nd  _n_rgy."  H_  _dd_d  th_t  h_  w_nts  t_  h_lp  "b__ld  h__vy  _nfr_str_ct_r_  th_t  w_ll  b_  _s_d  by  th_  sp_c_  _ntr_pr_n__rs  _f  f_t_r_  g_n_r_t__ns…s_  th_t  _ng_n__ty  _nd  _m_g_n_t__n  c_n  r__lly  b_  _nl__sh_d".

    Mr  B_z_s'  th__ghts  _r_  _ch__d  by  f_ll_w  m_lt_-b_ll__n__r_  _l_n  M_sk,  _wn_r  _f  X  (f_rm_rly  kn_wn  _s  Tw_tt_r).  _n  2021,  h_  s__d  _f  th_  h_m_n  r_c_:  "W_  d_n't  w_nt  t_  b_  _n_  _f  th_s_  s_ngl_-pl_n_t  sp_c__s;  w_  w_nt  t_  b_  _  m_lt_-pl_n_t  sp_c__s."  __rl__r  th_s  y__r,  Mr  M_sk  w_rn_d  th_t:  "P_p_l_t__n  c_ll_ps_  d__  t_  l_w  b_rth  r_t_s  _s  _  m_ch  b_gg_r  r_sk  t_  c_v_l_z_t__n  th_n  gl_b_l  w_rm_ng...m_rk  th_s_  w_rds."  Mr  B_z_s  c_nc__v_s  _f  p__pl_  l_v_ng  _n  g__nt  sp_c_  st_t__ns.  H_  s__d  m_st  _nh_b_t_nts  _f  th_s_  w__ld  v_s_t  __rth  f_r  v_c_t__ns.  H_  _nv_s__ns  __r  pl_n_t  r_t_rn_ng  t_  _ts  pr_st_n_  _nv_r_nm_nt,  _s  f_ct_r__s  w__ld  b_  b__lt  _n  sp_c_.  H_  s__d  th_y  w__ld  _xpl__t  r_s__rc_s  _n  th_  m__n  _r  _n  _st_r__ds  _nst__d  _f  _s_ng  _p  __rth's.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    just when demographers are ringing alarm bells about overpopulation amazon founder jeff bezos says we need to populate our solar system mr bezos was asked for his thoughts on humanity living in outer space in a thousand years time he replied i would love to see you know a trillion humans living in the solar system if we had a trillion humans we would have at any given time 1000 mozarts and 1000 einsteins space would be full of life and intelligence and energy he added that he wants to help build heavy infrastructure that will be used by the space entrepreneurs of future generationsso that ingenuity and imagination can really be unleashed

    mr bezos thoughts are echoed by fellow multibillionaire elon musk owner of x formerly known as twitter in 2021 he said of the human race we dont want to be one of those singleplanet species we want to be a multiplanet species earlier this year mr musk warned that population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming mark these words mr bezos conceives of people living in giant space stations he said most inhabitants of these would visit earth for vacations he envisions our planet returning to its pristine environment as factories would be built in space he said they would exploit resources on the moon or on asteroids instead of using up earths

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Justwhendemographersareringingalarmbellsaboutoverpopulation,
    AmazonfounderJeffBezossaysweneedtopopulateoursolarsystem.Mr
    Bezoswasaskedforhisthoughtsonhumanitylivinginouterspaceinatho
    usandyears'time.Hereplied:"Iwouldlovetosee,youknow,atrillionhu
    manslivinginthesolarsystem.Ifwehadatrillionhumans,wewouldhave
    atanygiventime1,000Mozartsand1,000Einsteins.…Spacewouldbefu
    lloflifeandintelligenceandenergy."Headdedthathewantstohelp"build
    heavyinfrastructurethatwillbeusedbythespaceentrepreneursoffutur
    egenerations…sothatingenuityandimaginationcanreallybeunleashe
    d".MrBezos'thoughtsareechoedbyfellowmulti-billionaireElonMusk,o
    wnerofX(formerlyknownasTwitter).In2021,hesaidofthehumanrace:
    "Wedon'twanttobeoneofthosesingle-planetspecies;wewanttobeam
    ulti-planetspecies."Earlierthisyear,MrMuskwarnedthat:"Populatio
    ncollapseduetolowbirthratesisamuchbiggerrisktocivilizationthanglo
    balwarming...markthesewords."MrBezosconceivesofpeoplelivingin
    giantspacestations.HesaidmostinhabitantsofthesewouldvisitEarthf
    orvacations.Heenvisionsourplanetreturningtoitspristineenvironme
    nt,asfactorieswouldbebuiltinspace.Hesaidtheywouldexploitresourc
    esonthemoonoronasteroidsinsteadofusingupEarth's.

    Free writing

    Write about a trillion humans for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    It's important to colonize space to protect the future of Earth. Discuss.

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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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. A TRILLION HUMANS: Make a poster about increasing our numbers to a trillion. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. COLONIZING SPACE: Write a magazine article about colonizing space. 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 colonizing space. Ask him/her three questions about this. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. 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

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    Answers

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

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