Learning English with CBC Edmonton Weekly newscast January 16 th, 2015 Lessons prepared by Barbara Edmondson & Justine Light Objectives of the weekly newscast lesson - to develop listening skills at the CLB 4 level - to increase vocabulary among learners - to increase knowledge of news stories - to provide a self- study tool, as well as, an ESL classroom resource www.alberta.ca http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/learning- english/ 1
News story #1 Edmontonians fought for ISIS What is ISIS? Why has ISIS been in the news so much in the past year? This story is about three Edmonton residents who died fighting for ISIS. Before you listen to the first news story, complete this vocabulary activity. It will help you to understand the listening more easily. Choose the group of synonyms (words with similar meaning) that best match each of the vocabulary words. Answers are in the appendix. Answer Word from the story Related words 1) cousin a) abroad in a foreign country 2) overseas b) explain inform 3) along (with) c) refuse oppose 4) deny d) your sister s son your brother s son 5) nephew e) your aunt s child your uncle s child 6) break (the news) f) reported by stated in 7) according to g) together accompanying Now listen to the first news story from the audio file. Listening Activity: Matching Match the subject (noun phrase) of the sentence with the correct predicate (verb phrase that affects or is affected by the subject.) Answers are in the appendix. Subject Answer Predicate Three Edmonton cousins Ahmed Hirsi A another cousin from Minnesota a) was also killed. b) called him last fall to break the news. c) says his 20- year- old son Mahad was killed last fall. Other family members d) left Edmonton without telling him in October 2013. His son and two nephews Then his sister e) have died while fighting overseas for ISIS. f) deny the men died fighting for ISIS. Discussion Question Why are Canadians leaving Canada to fight for ISIS? What are some reasons that you would leave Canada? Would you return home to help your family members? Would you join a war in your home country? Would you join a war in another country? 2
News story #2 Sales Tax for Alberta? How do the falling oil prices affect Alberta (business and the government)? How do the falling prices affect you? This story discusses some of the effects of the falling oil prices. Before you listen to the second news story, complete this vocabulary activity. It will help you to understand the listening more easily. Use one of the vocabulary words below to complete the sentences. Answers are in the appendix. plunge quickly and steeply fall sales tax a tax on all items sold (most Canadian provinces have this tax) option possible choice deal with to cope or to find a solution for a difficult situation revenue money made by a company or industry meanwhile at the same time cut to reduce or decrease in number workforce people who work for a company or organization Extra definitions to help you understand the reading: Suncor a large oil company that operates in northern Alberta 1. Alberta relies on made from the sale of our oil. Because oil prices have fallen so much Alberta must the loss of income. The government will need to look at many and decide what is best for the province. 2. oil companies must also deal with the loss of income. Companies may not be able to keep all their because they are losing money. 3. If oil prices continue to we will pay even less for gas at the pump. This also means the money the province gets will be even more. 4. One idea that will be considered is to add a to all goods and services in Alberta, so the government can increase its income. Now listen to the second news story from the audio file. Listening Activity: True/False Decide whether the statements below are true or false. Answers are in the appendix. 1. Jim Prentice, the premiere of Alberta, is talking about the plunging oil price. 2. Because the price of oil is so low, Prentice is now willing to talk about a sales tax. 3. It is up to the premiere to decide if Alberta should have a sales tax or not. 4. Prentice would like to hear Albertans opinions about the issue. 5. Alberta is losing millions of dollars from the decrease in oil revenue. 6. Suncor will hire 1000 new employees because of low oil prices. Discussion Question Do you think it is a good idea to add a sales tax in Alberta? Do you have any other ideas of how the government can get back some of the income it is losing? 3
News story #3 Goodbye Roxy Theatre Have you heard of the Roxy Theatre in Edmonton? Do you enjoy watching live performances? This story explains the unfortunate event that destroyed this historic Edmonton building. Before you listen to the third news story, complete this vocabulary activity. It will help you to understand the listening more easily. Match the words with their definitions. Answers are in the appendix. Answer Word Definition 1. landmark a) at first; to begin with 2. destroy b) to construct again 3. fixture c) a building or place that has cultural importance and is easily recognized by residents 4. far along d) the audience watches real actors/actresses on stage 5. originally e) something permanent; a building that belongs in a location 6. converted f) to completely damage or ruin 7. live performance g) to be changed into something different 8. social media h) to have existed for a long time 9. rebuild i) in progress, almost complete 10. historic j) websites used for communication by many people Extra definitions to help you understand the reading: go up in flames to start on fire and burn Now listen to the third news story from the audio file. Listening Activity: Chronological Order After hearing the story organize the following sentences in order of the time they would have occurred. Answers are in the appendix. Who? 1. The Roxy Theatre went up in flames. 2. The Roxy Theater was converted into a live performance site. 3. The fire was so far along, the firefighters could not save the building. 4. People have used social media to start plans to rebuild the theatre. 5. The Roxy Theatre was built. 6. The Roxy Theater was a movie theater. Discussion Question What are some other landmarks that you know of in Edmonton? What are some landmarks in your home city? Do you think citizens or governments should help pay to keep or maintain landmarks and historical buildings? 4
Language Focus Passive Voice In the Active voice we focus on who is doing the action because the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action. Ex: Three Edmonton cousins died while fighting overseas. In the Passive voice we focus on the action itself or on the object receiving the action, rather than who is doing it. The subject of the sentence receives the action. Ex: Mahad Hirsi was killed last fall along with his cousins. We use passive voice in three situations: 1. When the doer of the action is unknown, or not important. 2. When we want to express that the action/event is more important than the actor. 3. When we write a scientific paper or lab report. Forming the passive voice : be verb + past participle of the main verb. Present tense: The news is read by Don Bell. Past tense: The Roxy Theatre was destroyed by fire. (Active: Don Bell reads the news.) (Active: Fire destroyed the Roxy Theatre.) Present continuous: A sales tax is being discussed by the government. (Active: The government is discussing a sales tax.) Present perfect: A nearly 80- year- old Edmonton landmark has been destroyed by fire. (Active: A fire has destroyed an 80- year- old Edmonton landmark.) Let s look at some examples adapted from the stories this week. Which sentences are in the active voice? Which are in the passive voice? Highlight the verbs. Try to change active sentences to passive voice, and passive sentences to be active. Answers are in the appendix. 1. Ahmed Hirsi says another cousin from Minnesota was also killed. 2. The fact that the men died while fighting for ISIS is denied by other family members. 3. Hirsi s sister called him last fall to break sad the news. 4. A sales tax is being talked about by Jim Prentice. 5. Suncor is cutting its workforce. 6. The Roxy could not be saved by the firefighters. 7. People converted the Roxy into a live performance hall. 8. Social media is being used to start rebuilding plans. 5
Transcripts of Weekly news stories Introduction Story 1 Story 2 Story 3 JANUARY 16 TH WEEKLY NEWS STORIES Hi, this is Don Bell. You re listening to Learning English with CBC for January 16 th. Three Edmonton cousins have died while fighting overseas for ISIS according to the father of one of the men. Ahmed Hirsi says his 20- year- old son Mahad was killed last fall along with cousins Hamsa and Hersi Kariye. He says another cousin from Minnesota was also killed. Other family members deny the men died while fighting for ISIS, but Hirsi says it's true. He says his son and two nephews left Edmonton without telling him in October 2013. Then his sister called him last fall to break the news that all four men had been killed. The plunging price of oil has Alberta Premier Jim Prentice talking about a "sales tax". After saying for weeks that a sales tax was not an option, Prentice says it's now time to at least talk about the idea. He says a sales tax is not his choice, but he wants to hear from people about how Alberta can deal with billions of dollars in lost oil revenue. Meanwhile, oilsands giant, Suncor, has said that it will cut its workforce by one- thousand because of low oil prices. A nearly 80 year old Edmonton landmark has been destroyed by fire. The Roxy Theatre had been a fixture on 124 street since 1938. It went up in flames early Tuesday morning. By the time firefighters got there the fire was so far along, firefighters could only fight it from the outside - knowing they could not save the building. The Roxy was originally a movie theatre. It was converted into a live performance site in 1989. Many people have used social media to start plans to rebuild the historic theatre. TIME 0:00 0:12 1:09 1:58 6
Answer keys News story 1 Answer Word from the story Related words e 1) your cousin a) abroad in a foreign country a 2) overseas b) explain inform g 3) along (with) c) refuse oppose c 4) deny d) your sister s son your brother s son d 5) nephew e) your aunt s child your uncle s child b 6) break (the news) f) reported by stated in f 7) according to g) together accompanying Listening Subject Answer Predicate Three Edmonton cousins e a) was also killed. Ahmed Hirsi c b) called him last fall to break the news. Another cousin from Minnesota a c) says his 20- year- old son Mahad was killed last fall. Other family members f d) left Edmonton without telling him in October 2013. His son and two nephews d e) have died while fighting overseas for ISIS. Then his sister b f) deny the men died fighting for ISIS. News story 2 1. Alberta relies on revenue made from the sale of our oil. Because oil prices have fallen so much Alberta must deal with the loss of income. The government will need to look at many options and decide what is best for the province. 2. Meanwhile oil companies must also deal with the loss of income. Companies may not be able to keep all their workforce because they are losing money. 3. If oil prices continue to plunge we will pay even less for gas at the pump. This also means the money the province gets will be cut even more. 4. One idea that will be considered is to add a sales tax to all goods and services in Alberta, so the government can increase its income. 7
Listening 1. F Jim Prentice is talking about the plunging oil price. 2. T Because the price of oil is so low, Prentice is now willing to talk about a sales tax. 3. F It is up to the premiere to decide if Alberta should have a sales tax or not. 4. T Prentice would like to hear Albertans opinions about the issue. 5. F Alberta is losing millions of dollars from decrease oil revenue. 6. F Suncor will hire 1000 new employees because of low oil prices. News story 3 Answer Word Definition c 1. landmark a) at first; to begin with f 2. destroy b) to construct again e 3. fixture c) a building or place that has cultural importance and is easily recognized by residents i 4. far along d) the audience watches real actors/actresses on stage a 5. originally e) something permanent; a building that belongs in a location g 6. converted f) to completely damage or ruin d 7. live performance g) to be changed into something different j 8. social media h) to have existed a long time b 9. rebuild i) in progress, almost complete h 10. historic j) websites used for communication by many people Listening 1. 4 The Roxy Theatre went up in flames. 2. 3 The Roxy Theater was converted into a live performance site. 3. 5 The fire was so far along the firefighters could not save the building. 4. 6 People have used social media to start plans to rebuild the theatre. 5. 1 The Roxy Theatre was built. 6. 2 The Roxy Theater was a movie theater. Language Focus 1. Ahmed Hirsi says another cousin from Minnesota was also killed. Active/passive It was said by Hirsi that someone killed another cousin from Minnesota. 2. The fact that the men died while fighting for ISIS is denied by other family members. Passive Other family members deny that the men died while fighting for ISIS. 8
3. Hirsi s sister called him last fall to break sad the news. Active Hirsi was called by his sister last fall to break the sad news. 4. A sales tax is being talked about by Jim Prentice. Passive Jim Prentice is talking about a sales tax. 5. Suncor is cutting its workforce. Active The workforce is being cut by Suncor. or Suncor s workforce is being cut. 6. The Roxy could not be saved by the firefighters. Passive Firefighters could not save the Roxy. 7. People converted the Roxy into a live performance hall. Active The Roxy was converted into a live performance hall. 8. Social media is being used to start rebuilding plans. Passive People are using social media to start rebuilding plans. 9