Summary

Summarizing a text to a sentence.

Students listen to a story and make a short statement, which describes its main idea.

e.g.

Court Battle Over Baby's Name
BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters) The Kepurra family from the eastern German town of Oranienburg have been battling officials for a year over their choice of name. Jona, a common girl's name in Israel, is cited in reference books as a version of the biblical name Jonah, the male character who spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale. But registry office authorities in Germany insist it is a boy's name and have asked that a recent court decision allowing the Kepurras to use the name for their daughter be re-examined.		Officials said the baby would remain nameless until the court decision. The legal wrangling in Germany contrasts sharply with the relaxed approach to names in many other countries.
Article ©2001 Reuters Limited. Lesson ©2001 www.english-to-go.co

Main idea:

A court in Germany has to decide whether Jona is a suitable name for a girl.

Interview

Group interview.

Variation 1.

Having gathered information about a famous person any student acts as this person. The other classmates interview him as if at a press conference.

e.g.

How many children have you got?

In what films have you starred?

What do you prefer for breakfast? Etc.

Variation 2.

One person interviews several people (e.g. two or more close friends).

e.g.

How many times a week do you meet?

Do you celebrate holidays together?

Have you common hobbies? Etc.

Jig-saw

Jig-saw listening.

Students may listen to different parts of one text with the help of a cassette player, and then tell them to each other.

Questionnaire

Personality tests.

Students are given a questionnaire to see what kind of people they are.

Variation 1. Are you fashion-conscious?

Students score their results according to the suggested scale to see what sorts of people prevail in the class.

e.g.

1. You are invited to a party. What would you wear?

1. Something new and fashionable.

2. A traditional suit or dress.

3. Does it matter?

2. How much time do you spend in front of the mir­ror before going out?

1. More than fifteen minutes.

2. Less than fifteen minutes.

3. About five minutes.

3. What do you usually wear?

1. Casual clothes, for example a T-shirt and jeans.

2. Whatever's in fashion.

3. What I feel like wearing.

4. Why do you like your clothes?

1. Because I feel comfortable in them.

2. Because they say something about the sort of person I am.

3. I can't say I like my clothes.

5. You pass a clothes shop and see just the dress/suit you want. It's beautiful – but you haven't got much money. What would you do?

1. I'd forget about it.

2. I wouldn't buy it, but I would dream about it.

3. I'd borrow money and buy it.

6. How often do you buy fashion magazines?

1. Very often.

2. From time to time.

3. Never.

7. The colour in fashion this year doesn't suit you. What do you do?

1. I wear it anyway —it's in fashion!

2. I don't wear it.

3. I don't care about what's in fashion.

8. How would you describe your style of dress?

1. Fashionable.

2. Not fashionable but 'me'.

3. Style? What do you mean?

Your score:								Answers
1	a)	3	b)	2	c)	1			8 – 15: You aren't fashion-conscious at all. You think that there are more important things in life than fash­ion. But don't you think the world would be a dull place if there were no fashion! It adds spice to life. 16 – 24: Clothes aren't the most important thing in your life. However, you know what suits you and you have a personal style. But you are a little bit conserva­tive. Why not try a different style for a change? 25 – 32: You are a fashion victim! You go for the latest styles and spend a lot of money on clothes. But there are more important things in life than clothes — try speaking to people and you'll be surprised to find that they are nice, even if they are wearing old shoes.
2	a)	3	b)	2	c)	1
3	a)	1	b)	3	c)	2
4	a)	2	b)	3	c)	1
5	a)	1	b)	2	c)	3
6	a)	3	b)	2	c)	1
7	a)	3	b)	2	c)	1
8	a)	3	b)	2	c)	1

(taken from Speak Out 1999, № 2-3)

Variation 2. Sleeping habits.

Students answer the questions and compare their answers with those of their classmates.

e.g.

1. How much time do you spend on bedmaking?

1. 5 mins a day

2. 5 mins every other day

3. 5mins a week

2. Before you go to bed do you

1. pull open the downstairs curtains

2. read

3. eat

3. After a night's sleep do you find that the covers

1. are as tidy as when you went to bed

2. are all over the floor

3. are in a heap in the middle of the bed

4. If you have trouble getting to sleep do you

1. count sheep

2. toss and turn

3. lie still and concentrate

5. If you wake up in the middle of the night is it because

1. you remember something you ought to have done

2. you're cold

3. you're hungry

6. If you hear a bump in the night do you

1. get up cautiously and investigate quietly

2. charge around the house with a weapon

3. turn over and go back to sleep

7. Do other people complain about your sleeping habits?

1. never

2. frequently

3. sometimes

8. When you have dreams are they mostly

1. dreams about work

2. nightmares

3. sweet dreams

(taken from Learning to Listen by Maley and Moulding, p. 3)

(may be done at a pre-listening stage as well)