Tag: Preliminary PET

China Battles Corona Virus

B1- Intermediate

China is ramping up for containment measures as other countries are preparing for a major outbreak that has killed 56 people and infected at least 1,975 more.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2001/200124-coronavirus-1.html

Discussion Questions:

1. What is coronavirus? How serious is it?

2. What is your reaction to this news?

3. What would you do if there was an outbreak in your country?

4. Do you think scientists will find a cure for the coronavirus?

Japanese City Asks Tourists to Stop ‘Sand Graffiti’

B1 – Intermediate

City officials of Tottori are asking tourists to avoid writing messages and pictures in the sand of its giant sand dunes. More than 3,300 cases of ‘sand graffiti’ happened at this tourist spot in the last 10 years.

Read the article below to know more about this new rule.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1905/190525-tottori-sand-dunes-1.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of the city’s new rule?
  2. What do you think of the tourists’ actions?
  3. What other tourism rules do you follow?

Why Do Students Drop Out of School?

B1 – Intermediate

Nowadays, a lot of American high school students have been dropping out.

Let’s see what the usual reasons for this are and some possible outcomes when students drop out of high school on the link below.

https://www.english-online.at/education/school-dropouts/school-dropouts.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the reasons students drop out of school?
  2. How can dropping out of high school affect young people’s future?
  3. How do you think can we improve our education system so students wouldn’t choose to stop studying?
  4. Talk about someone you know who is a dropout. Did this person become successful or not?
  5. What would you say to a high school student who wants to stop their studies?

We May Be Able to Learn Vocabulary While Sleeping

B1 – Intermediate

Good news to everyone who wants to expand their vocabulary! A new study in Switzerland has shown that we can learn new vocabulary while sleeping. It is also possible to learn a foreign language this way.

Check out this article below for more information.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1902/190206-learning-vocabulary.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you think that this is effective?
  2. Would you like to try it?
  3. How do you expand your vocabulary?
  4. What other languages would you like to learn?
  5. What other things would you like to learn while you sleep?

Garbage Collectors Start Library with Abandoned Books

B1 – Intermediate

There’s an old saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. This phrase perfectly describes this article about garbage collectors in Turkey who recycle abandoned books. The collection grew gradually as they began saving books and has now built a library.

Learn more by reading the article on the website below.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1905/190509-library.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What can you say about the article?
  2. Do you have a lot of libraries in your city?
  3. How often do you go to libraries?
  4. How can reading affect your life?
  5. Do you think there are still a lot of people who go to libraries?

Egypt Opens Ancient Pyramids for the First Time

B1 – Intermediate

Egypt has opened two of its oldest pyramids. These two pyramids are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are now open to the public for the first time since 1965.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1907/190720-pyramids-0.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you know about the Pyramids in Egypt?
  2. Do you think the Pyramids are some of the most important architectural sites in the world?
  3. What do you think will be the effect of tourism on the pyramids?

The United Kingdom Could Break Up

B1 – Intermediate

Many people in the UK want independence. An ex-UK prime minister believes that if the UK leaves the EU, the four nations of the UK will be in trouble.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1908/190813-united-kingdom-0.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion of the European Union (the EU)?
  2. Why do think people in the UK want this independence? What advantages, if any, would their citizens obtain?
  3. What do you think will happen to the EU without the UK?
  4. Can freedom damage a country?

Child Marriage in Nepal

B1 – Intermediate

Child marriage is very common in poor countries of the Third World. Over half the adults in Nepal married when they were still children. A UNICEF study reports that about 60% of Nepalese women got married before they turned 18 years old.

https://www.english-online.at/news-articles/people/child-marriage-in-nepal.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about child marriage?
  2. At what age do people usually get married in your country?
  3. In your country, what do women usually do after getting married?
  4. What are some wedding traditions in your country?

The Most Stressful Jobs

B1 – Intermediate

Job stress is something that every employee can relate to, but not all jobs are created equal.

Listen to the audio about stressful jobs below.

https://www.allthingstopics.com/uploads/2/3/2/9/23290220/uk-stressfuljobs.mp3

Transcript:

“Recently, my nine-year-old son proudly announced to me that he wanted to become a commercial airline pilot when he grows up. I’m happy for him because he spends hours reading books about airplanes, and he loves to play airplane game apps. It’s great to know what career you want at such a young age. As well, the average annual salary for an airline pilot is quite good: US$105,270. Also, being an airline pilot means that you might travel to many exotic locations around the world places that most people might never get a
chance to see. However, I wonder if his choice of career is one that I should encourage. You see, this morning I googled “most stressful jobs” and I discovered that my son’s dream career is actually the third most stressful job on a list of top ten most stressful jobs. This makes sense because as a pilot you are responsible for the lives of hundreds of people, you are away from home for many days at a time, and you may have to fly through many different time zones which can be very difficult to adjust to. Number one on the list was “military personnel” (soldier) and number two was “firefighter”. Of course, jobs like these are very dangerous – you must put your life in danger almost daily. Interestingly, however, “taxi driver” was also on the list (at number ten). “

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think is the most stressful job?
  2. What do you think is the least stressful job?
  3. What do you think of your job?
  4. If a job gets too stressful, what would you do?
  5. Would you support your children no matter what career they choose?

Headteacher Has to Clean School Toilets

B1 – Intermediate

The UK government has cut school budgets. Schools have little money to spend and have to reduce cost on many things. Thousands of headteachers have made difficult decisions about how to spend their school’s money.

Read the article below and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1903/190326-head-teacher-0.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about the decision made by the headteacher in the article?
  2. What can you say about your country’s education system?
  3. Does your government pay more attention to issues in the education sector?
  4. Do schools in your country get enough funds?
  5. What other problems related to the education system do you have in your country and how can these issues be addressed?