The Reading / Listening - Siege of Paris - Level 3

French farmers are angry with their government. They are blocking roads around France's capital city of Paris. There are many reasons for the farmers' anger. It is becoming more difficult for them to survive. Inflation in France is increasing because of high energy prices. This is making food more expensive for farmers to produce. The war in Ukraine is causing higher prices, especially for fertilizers. The farmers are also angry because the government is not protecting them from cheaper food coming from other countries, especially Eastern Europe. Finally, they are furious with European Union climate measures, which are adding to red tape and the costs of doing business.

The farmers blocked major highways around Paris. They parked their tractors on main roads to stop traffic going in and out of the city. They also dumped smelly agricultural waste outside government offices. Farmer Christophe Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come to defend French agriculture. We go from crisis to crisis." Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal is to starve Parisians." A large farmers union said: "Our objective is to put pressure on the government so that we can quickly find a solution for a way out of the crisis." Some tractors had messages on them that said: "No food without farmers" and "The end of us would mean famine for you."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Siege of Paris - Level 0,  Siege of Paris - Level 1   or  Siege of Paris - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.foxnews.com/world/protesting-french-farmers-plan-siege-capital-paris-rejecting-government-concessions
  • https://thehill.com/policy/international/4436517-french-farmers-blockade-paris-in-heated-protest/
  • https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/29/french-farmers-block-major-motorways-around-paris-as-dispute-escalates


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. PARIS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Paris. 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?
       farmers / government / capital city / anger / inflation / fertilizers / climate / red tape /
       tractors / main roads / news agency / crisis / hungry / pressure / solution / famine
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. FARMERS: Students A strongly believe all countries should help more people to become farmers; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. COST OF LIVING: How cheap or expensive are these things? Have they gone up in price? How important are they to you? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Price

More Expensive?

How Important?

Restaurants

 

 

 

Supermarkets

 

 

 

Gasoline

 

 

 

Transport

 

 

 

Electricity

 

 

 

Chocolate

 

 

 
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. SURVIVE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "survive". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. ANGER: Rank these with your partner. Put the things that anger us most at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Money
  • Wifi
  • Rude people
  • Our government
  • Family
  • Transport
  • Shopping
  • Ourselves

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. government a. A rise in the prices of things we buy every day.
      2. blocking b. Rules and regulations that can slow down business.
      3. survive c. The group of people who are the leaders of a country.
      4. inflation d. Continue to live, especially when there is danger or hardship.
      5. fertilizer e. The action of putting things in the way of someone to stop them moving forward.
      6. furious f. A chemical or natural substance put on farms and gardens to make things grow better.
      7. red tape g. Very, very, very angry.

    Paragraph 2

      8. traffic h. Unwanted material, substances, or other things that we throw away.
      9. waste i. A time of great difficulty or danger.
      10. crisis j. A way of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation.
      11. starve k. All of the cars, trucks, buses, etc. on the roads.
      12. objective l. A big shortage or lack of food in an area or country.
      13. solution m. Goal.
      14. famine n. Have pain or die from not having enough food.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. The French government is angry with French farmers.     T / F
  2. Inflation in France is making it more difficult for farmers to survive.     T / F
  3. France's government is protecting farmers from cheap food imports.     T / F
  4. Blue tape is making the cost of doing business higher.     T / F
  5. Farmers used combine harvesters to block roads around Paris.     T / F
  6. Farmers put bad-smelling waste outside government offices.     T / F
  7. A farmer said his aim was to make people in Paris hungry.     T / F
  8. Some farmers said there would be famine if there were no farmers.     T / F

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

  1. angry
  2. reasons
  3. protecting
  4. measures
  5. red tape
  6. blocked
  7. dumped
  8. solution
  9. crisis
  10. famine
  1. actions
  2. answer
  3. bureaucracy
  4. food shortages
  5. furious
  6. disaster
  7. shielding
  8. threw away
  9. causes
  10. obstructed

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

  1. French farmers are angry
  2. The war in Ukraine is causing
  3. cheaper food coming
  4. adding to red
  5. the costs of doing
  6. farmers blocked major highways
  7. We go from
  8. put pressure
  9. find a solution for a way
  10. The end of us would mean
  1. higher prices
  2. tape
  3. around Paris
  4. from other countries
  5. out of the crisis
  6. business
  7. famine for you
  8. crisis to crisis
  9. with their government
  10. on the government

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
survive
with
protecting
tape
anger
higher
those
making

French farmers are angry (1) _____________________ their government. They are blocking roads around France's capital city of Paris. There are many reasons for the farmers' (2) _____________________. It is becoming more difficult for them to (3) _____________________. Inflation in France is increasing because of high energy prices. This is (4) _____________________ food more expensive for farmers to produce. The war in Ukraine is causing (5) _____________________ prices, especially for fertilizers. The farmers are also angry because the government is not (6) _____________________ them from cheaper food coming from other countries, especially (7) _____________________ in Eastern Europe. Finally, they are furious with European Union climate measures, which are adding to red (8) _____________________ and the costs of doing business.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
defend
famine
traffic
smelly
messages
objective
major
crisis

The farmers blocked (9) _____________________ highways around Paris. They parked their tractors on main roads to stop (10) _____________________ going in and out of the city. They also dumped (11) _____________________ agricultural waste outside government offices. Farmer Christophe Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come to (12) _____________________ French agriculture. We go from crisis to (13) _____________________." Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal is to starve Parisians." A large farmers union said: "Our (14) _____________________ is to put pressure on the government so that we can quickly find a solution for a way out of the crisis." Some tractors had (15) _____________________ on them that said: "No food without farmers" and "The end of us would mean (16) _____________________ for you."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) French farmers are angry with their government. They ______
     a.  are backing roads
     b.  are blocking roads
     c.  are breaking roads
     d.  are blocked in roads
2)  It is becoming more difficult for ______
     a.  them to survive
     b.  them to survival
     c.  them to survives
     d.  them to survived
3)  This is making food more expensive for ______
     a.  farmers to produce
     b.  farmers to product
     c.  farmers to producer
     d.  farmers to produced
4)  the government is not protecting them ______
     a.  from cheapish food
     b.  from cheap pair food
     c.  from cheapen food
     d.  from cheaper food
5)  they are furious with European Union climate measures, which are adding ______
     a.  to read tape
     b.  to led tape
     c.  tread tape
     d.  to red tape

6)  They parked their tractors on main roads ______
     a.  two stop traffic
     b.  to stopped traffic
     c.  to stop traffic
     d.  to stop traffics
7)  Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come to ______
     a.  defence French agriculture
     b.  defend French agriculture
     c.  offend French agriculture
     d.  offence French agriculture
8)  Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal is ______."
     a.  to staff Parisians
     b.  to save Parisians
     c.  to stab Parisians
     d.  to starve Parisians
9)  we can quickly find a solution for a way out ______
     a.  off the crisis
     b.  of a crisis
     c.  of thick crisis
     d.  of the crisis
10)  The end of us would mean ______
     a.  famine for you
     b.  farming for you
     c.  fanning for you
     d.  phenom for you

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

French (1) ____________________ with their government. They are blocking roads around France's capital city of Paris. There are (2) ____________________ the farmers' anger. It is becoming more difficult for them to survive. Inflation in France is increasing because of (3) ____________________. This is making food more expensive for farmers to produce. The war in Ukraine is (4) ____________________, especially for fertilizers. The farmers are also angry because the government is (5) ____________________ from cheaper food coming from other countries, especially those in Eastern Europe. Finally, they are furious with European Union climate measures, which are adding (6) ____________________ and the costs of doing business.

The farmers (7) ____________________ around Paris. They parked their tractors on main roads to stop (8) ____________________ and out of the city. They also dumped smelly agricultural waste outside government offices. Farmer Christophe Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come to defend French agriculture. We go from (9) ____________________." Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal (10) ____________________ Parisians." A large farmers union said: "Our objective is to put pressure on the government so that we can quickly (11) ____________________ for a way out of the crisis." Some tractors had messages on them that said: "No food without farmers" and "The end of us would (12) ____________________ you."

Comprehension questions

  1. Who are French farmers angry with?
  2. What are higher energy prices causing in France?
  3. What does the article say is causing higher prices?
  4. Where does the article say cheaper food is coming from?
  5. What kind of tape are farmers having to deal with more?
  6. What did farmers park on roads outside Paris?
  7. What did farmers dump outside government offices?
  8. What did a farmer say the goal of the farmers was?
  9. What did a union say they needed a solution for?
  10. What did some messages say would happen if there were no farmers?

Multiple choice quiz

1)  Who are French farmers angry with?
a) English farmers
b) the French government
c) the U.K. government
d) fertilizer makers
2)  What are higher energy prices causing in France?
a) more expensive coffee
b) cooler offices
c) inflation
d) panic
3)  What does the article say is causing higher prices?
a) fertilizer
b) Brexit
c) blocked roads
d) the Ukraine War
4)  Where does the article say cheaper food is coming from?
a) Russia
b) Eastern Europe
c) Ukraine
d) China
5)  What kind of tape are farmers having to deal with more?
a) red tape
b) Sellotape
c) masking tape
d) double-sided tape

6)  What did farmers park on roads outside Paris?
a) tractors
b) trucks
c) combine harvesters
d) bicycles
7)  What did farmers dump outside government offices?
a) cheese
b) sausages
c) bottles of wine
d) smelly agricultural waste
8)  What did a farmer say the goal of the farmers was?
a) to get a pay rise
b) to produce better food
c) to starve Parisians
d) to stop food imports
9)  What did a union say they needed a solution for?
a) border controls
b) red tape
c) a crossword puzzle
d) a crisis
10)  What did some messages say would happen if there were no farmers?
a) nothing
b) famine
c) tractors would be more expensive
d) France would get food from Italy

Role play

Role  A – Money
You think money is the thing that causes the greatest anger. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things do not cause such great anger. Also, tell the others which is the least likely of these to cause anger (and why): rude people, transport or family members.

Role  B – Rude People
You think rude people are the cause of the greatest anger. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things do not cause such great anger. Also, tell the others which is the least likely of these to cause anger (and why): money, transport or family members.

Role  C – Transport
You think transport is the thing that causes the greatest anger. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things do not cause such great anger. Also, tell the others which is the least likely of these to cause anger (and why): rude people, money or family members.

Role  D – Family Members
You think family members are the causes of the greatest anger. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things do not cause such great anger. Also, tell the others which is the least likely of these to cause anger (and why): rude people, transport or money.

After reading / listening

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

'farmer'

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

    • and 'tractor'.

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

    • • 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:

    • capital
    • survive
    • making
    • causing
    • protecting
    • red
    • major
    • smelly
    • defend
    • goal
    • find
    • famine

    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 - Siege of Paris

    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 'tractor'?
    3. When was the last time you were angry?
    4. What do you think of your capital city?
    5. How important are farmers?
    6. What do you think of inflation?
    7. How are higher prices affecting you?
    8. How easy or difficult is it for you to survive?
    9. Would you like to start your own business?
    10. What advice do you have for the farmers?

    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 'farmer'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What does your government do that makes you angry?
    5. What do you think of a farmer's life?
    6. What would you think if people stopped you getting to a major city?
    7. What should France do to help the farmers?
    8. How risky is it to be a farmer?
    9. What do you think of Paris?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the farmers?

    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)

    French farmers are (1) ____ with their government. They are blocking roads around France's capital city of Paris. There are many reasons (2) ____ the farmers' anger. It is becoming more difficult for them to survive. Inflation in France is increasing because of high energy prices. This is (3) ____ food more expensive for farmers to produce. The war in Ukraine is causing higher prices, especially for fertilizers. The farmers are also angry because the government is not protecting them (4) ____ cheaper food coming from other countries, especially (5) ____ in Eastern Europe. Finally, they are furious with European Union climate measures, which are adding to (6) ____ tape and the costs of doing business.

    The farmers blocked major highways around Paris. They parked their tractors on (7) ____ roads to stop traffic going in and out of the city. They also (8) ____ smelly agricultural waste outside government offices. Farmer Christophe Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come to (9) ____ French agriculture. We go from crisis to crisis." Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal is to (10) ____ Parisians." A large farmers union said: "Our objective is to put pressure (11) ____ the government so that we can quickly find a solution for a way out of the crisis." Some tractors had messages on them that said: "No food without farmers" and "The end of us would mean (12) ____ for you."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    (a)     angrily     (b)     angry     (c)     anger     (d)     angers    
    (a)     of     (b)     for     (c)     by     (d)     at    
    (a)     make     (b)     makes     (c)     made     (d)     making    
    (a)     farm     (b)     from     (c)     firm     (d)     frame    
    (a)     they     (b)     them     (c)     this     (d)     those    
    (a)     green     (b)     purple     (c)     red     (d)     blue    
    (a)     main     (b)     pain     (c)     gain     (d)     rain    
    (a)     doped     (b)     duped     (c)     dumped     (d)     drooped    
    (a)     fender     (b)     fend off     (c)     offend     (d)     defend    
    (a)     starve     (b)     hunger     (c)     peckish     (d)     ravenous    
    (a)     on     (b)     of     (c)     in     (d)     to    
    (a)     famine     (b)     vermin     (c)     ermine     (d)     farming

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. difficult for them to evvisur
    2. ntlfaoiin in France is increasing
    3. high neegyr prices
    4. lecliaepys those in Eastern Europe
    5. they are usuirfo
    6. European Union climate msesareu

    Paragraph 2

    1. arjmo highways around Paris
    2. smelly grcruilutlaa waste
    3. put prsesuer on the government
    4. we can quickly find a ooulnsti
    5. a way out of the scsiri
    6. The end of us would mean eimafn

    Put the text back together

    (...)   with European Union climate measures, which are adding to red tape and the costs of doing business.
    (...)   pressure on the government so that we can quickly find a solution for a way out of the crisis." Some tractors had messages
    (...)   expensive for farmers to produce. The war in Ukraine is causing higher prices, especially for
    (...)   fertilizers. The farmers are also angry because the government is not protecting them
    (...)   from cheaper food coming from other countries, especially those in Eastern Europe. Finally, they are furious
    (  1  )  French farmers are angry with their government. They are blocking roads around France's capital
    (...)   to defend French agriculture. We go from crisis to crisis." Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be
    (...)   The farmers blocked major highways around Paris. They parked their tractors on main
    (...)   city of Paris. There are many reasons for the farmers' anger. It is becoming more difficult for them to
    (...)   roads to stop traffic going in and out of the city. They also dumped smelly agricultural waste
    (...)   on them that said: "No food without farmers" and "The end of us would mean famine for you." 
    (...)   hungry. The goal is to starve Parisians." A large farmers union said: "Our objective is to put
    (...)   survive. Inflation in France is increasing because of high energy prices. This is making food more
    (...)   outside government offices. Farmer Christophe Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come

    Put the words in the right order

    1. with   their   French   farmers   angry   are   government   .
    2. are   France's   roads   They   blocking   around   city   .   capital
    3. for   farmers'   the   anger   .   many   reasons   are   There
    4. more   food   Making   produce   .   farmers   expensive   to   for
    5. and   tape   costs   business   .   the   of   Red   doing
    6. tractors   on   main   roads   .   their   parked   They
    7. offices . smelly  They  waste  agricultural  dumped  government  outside
    8. Parisians   to   going   are   said   be   hungry   .   He
    9. for   a   the   crisis   .   Solution   way   out   of
    10. of   famine   .   us   end   mean   The   would

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    French farmers are angry without / with their government. They are blocking roads around France's capital city of / in Paris. There are many reasons for the farmers' angry / anger. It is becoming more difficult for them to survive. Inflation in France is increasing because of / on high energy prices. This is making food more expensive for / of farmers to produce. The war in Ukraine is causing higher / heighten prices, especially for fertilizers. The farmers are also angry because the government is not protection / protecting them from cheaper food coming from other / another countries, especially those in Eastern Europe. Finally, they are furious with European Union climate tapes / measures, which are adding to red tape and the costs of done / doing business.

    The farmers blocked major / majority highways around Paris. They peaked / parked their tractors on main roads to stop traffic going in and out of the city. They also dumped / dumping smelly agricultural waste outside government offices. Farmer Christophe Rossignol told the Associated Press news agency: "We've come to offend / defend French agriculture. We go from / by crisis to crisis." Another farmer said: "Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal is to staff / starve Parisians." A large farmers onion / union said: "Our objective is to put pressure on / in the government so that we can quickly find a solution for a way in / out of the crisis." Some tractors had messages on them that said: "No food without farmers" and "The end of us would mean famine / farming for you."

    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)

    Fr_nch  f_rm_rs  _r_  _ngry  w_th  th__r  g_v_rnm_nt.  Th_y  _r_  bl_ck_ng  r__ds  _r__nd  Fr_nc_'s  c_p_t_l  c_ty  _f  P_r_s.  Th_r_  _r_  m_ny  r__s_ns  f_r  th_  f_rm_rs'  _ng_r.  _t  _s  b_c_m_ng  m_r_  d_ff_c_lt  f_r  th_m  t_  s_rv_v_.  _nfl_t__n  _n  Fr_nc_  _s  _ncr__s_ng  b_c__s_  _f  h_gh  _n_rgy  pr_c_s.  Th_s  _s  m_k_ng  f__d  m_r_  _xp_ns_v_  f_r  f_rm_rs  t_  pr_d_c_.  Th_  w_r  _n  _kr__n_  _s  c__s_ng  h_gh_r  pr_c_s,  _sp_c__lly  f_r  f_rt_l_z_rs.  Th_  f_rm_rs  _r_  _ls_  _ngry  b_c__s_  th_  g_v_rnm_nt  _s  n_t  pr_t_ct_ng  th_m  fr_m  ch__p_r  f__d  c_m_ng  fr_m  _th_r  c__ntr__s,  _sp_c__lly  th_s_  _n  __st_rn  __r_p_.  F_n_lly,  th_y  _r_  f_r___s  w_th  __r_p__n  _n__n  cl_m_t_  m__s_r_s,  wh_ch  _r_  _dd_ng  t_  r_d  t_p_  _nd  th_  c_sts  _f  d__ng  b_s_n_ss.

    Th_  f_rm_rs  bl_ck_d  m_j_r  h_ghw_ys  _r__nd  P_r_s.  Th_y  p_rk_d  th__r  tr_ct_rs  _n  m__n  r__ds  t_  st_p  tr_ff_c  g__ng  _n  _nd  __t  _f  th_  c_ty.  Th_y  _ls_  d_mp_d  sm_lly  _gr_c_lt_r_l  w_st_  __ts_d_  g_v_rnm_nt  _ff_c_s.  F_rm_r  Chr_st_ph_  R_ss_gn_l  t_ld  th_  _ss_c__t_d  Pr_ss  n_ws  _g_ncy:  "W_'v_  c_m_  t_  d_f_nd  Fr_nch  _gr_c_lt_r_.  W_  g_  fr_m  cr_s_s  t_  cr_s_s."  _n_th_r  f_rm_r  s__d:  "P_r_s__ns  _r_  g__ng  t_  b_  h_ngry.  Th_  g__l  _s  t_  st_rv_  P_r_s__ns."  _  l_rg_  f_rm_rs  _n__n  s__d:  "__r  _bj_ct_v_  _s  t_  p_t  pr_ss_r_  _n  th_  g_v_rnm_nt  s_  th_t  w_  c_n  q__ckly  f_nd  _  s_l_t__n  f_r  _  w_y  __t  _f  th_  cr_s_s."  S_m_  tr_ct_rs  h_d  m_ss_g_s  _n  th_m  th_t  s__d:  "N_  f__d  w_th__t  f_rm_rs"  _nd  "Th_  _nd  _f  _s  w__ld  m__n  f_m_n_  f_r  y__."

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    french farmers are angry with their government they are blocking roads around frances capital city of paris there are many reasons for the farmers anger it is becoming more difficult for them to survive inflation in france is increasing because of high energy prices this is making food more expensive for farmers to produce the war in ukraine is causing higher prices especially for fertilizers the farmers are also angry because the government is not protecting them from cheaper food coming from other countries especially those in eastern europe finally they are furious with european union climate measures which are adding to red tape and the costs of doing business

    the farmers blocked major highways around paris they parked their tractors on main roads to stop traffic going in and out of the city they also dumped smelly agricultural waste outside government offices farmer christophe rossignol told the associated press news agency weve come to defend french agriculture we go from crisis to crisis another farmer said parisians are going to be hungry the goal is to starve parisians a large farmers union said our objective is to put pressure on the government so that we can quickly find a solution for a way out of the crisis some tractors had messages on them that said no food without farmers and the end of us would mean famine for you

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Frenchfarmersareangrywiththeirgovernment.Theyareblockingroad
    saroundFrance'scapitalcityofParis.Therearemanyreasonsforthefar
    mers'anger.Itisbecomingmoredifficultforthemtosurvive.Inflationin
    Franceisincreasingbecauseofhighenergyprices.Thisismakingfoodm
    oreexpensiveforfarmerstoproduce.ThewarinUkraineiscausinghighe
    rprices,especiallyforfertilizers.Thefarmersarealsoangrybecausethe
    governmentisnotprotectingthemfromcheaperfoodcomingfromother
    countries,especiallythoseinEasternEurope.Finally,theyarefuriouswi
    thEuropeanUnionclimatemeasures,whichareaddingtoredtapeandth
    ecostsofdoingbusiness.ThefarmersblockedmajorhighwaysaroundP
    aris.Theyparkedtheirtractorsonmainroadstostoptrafficgoinginando
    utofthecity.Theyalsodumpedsmellyagriculturalwasteoutsidegovern
    mentoffices.FarmerChristopheRossignoltoldtheAssociatedPressne
    wsagency:"We'vecometodefendFrenchagriculture.Wegofromcrisist
    ocrisis."Anotherfarmersaid:"Parisiansaregoingtobehungry.Thegoal
    istostarveParisians."Alargefarmersunionsaid:"Ourobjectiveistoput
    pressureonthegovernmentsothatwecanquicklyfindasolutionforawa
    youtofthecrisis."Sometractorshadmessagesonthemthatsaid:"Nofo
    odwithoutfarmers"and"Theendofuswouldmeanfamineforyou."

    Free writing

    Write about siege of Paris for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Countries should grow enough food to feed all of their people. 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. PARIS: Make a poster about Paris. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. FARMERS: Write a magazine article about all countries increasing the number of farmers. 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 farming. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to help farmers. 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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