A A BREAKING NEWS

2020 Tokyo Olympics Postponed

Lesson code: 117Q-Z7MA-UQ84 INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)
British English

1 Warm up

• Do you enjoy watching the Olympics?

• Did your country win any medals in the 2016 Olympics in Rio?
• The Tokyo Olympics have been in the news recently. Do you know why?

2 Watch for main idea

You are going to watch a "By the Numbers" report on the Tokyo Olympics from ABC News. Before you
watch, predict what these numbers from the report (1-6) mean by completing the matching exercise.
Video One option (A-G) is extra. Then watch the report to check your ideas and find out more details.

1. 2021
2. 11,000
3. 200
4. 2
5. 1944 & 1940
6. 12,000,000,000
a. the cost of organising the Tokyo Olympics
b. the number of countries who plan to attend
c. the number of people who watch the Olympics on TV
d. when the Tokyo Olympic games will take place
e. the number of countries who first said they would not attend
f. years when the Olympics did not happen
g. the number of athletes who plan to attend
Can you remember any more information about these numbers from the report?

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 2020 Tokyo Olympics Postponed
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3 Vocabulary
Explain the relationship between these pairs of key words from the report.

1. scheduling and cancelling an event

2. delaying and postponing an event

3. athletes and competition

4 Watch for detail

You are going to watch the report again. Before you watch, look through the sentences below and
choose the best option for each underlined gap. Then watch again to check your answers.

The 2020 Summer Olympics now the latest major sports 1) cancelled / cancelling / cancellation caused
by the global Covid 19 pandemic.
So let's take a look by the numbers: the summer of 2021, that's when the 2020 Summer Olympics will
now be held in Tokyo after Japanese officials in the International Olympic Committee announced today the
games would be 2) postponed / postponing / postponement.
Some 11,000 3) athletics / athletes / athleticism from more than 200 countries were expected to
4) compete / competition / competed in the Summer Games but the global pandemic halted training and
would likely make travel in the coming months virtually impossible, and after two nations, Canada and
Australia, announced that they would not send their athletes to Tokyo if the games went on, followed by
the US swimming and track and field teams camp calling for postponement, the writing ...(on)... was on
the wall for a 5) delayer / delay / delaying.
The Olympics have not been postponed in recent years but they were last cancelled in 1944 as well as
1940 due to World War Two with the 1940 Games originally 6) scheduling / rescheduled / scheduled for
Tokyo as well.
Japan has reportedly spent more than 12 billion dollars to organise this year's Olympics meaning
postponing it will likely be a costly move but hopefully the games will indeed go on next summer without
a hitch.

Glossary:
• pandemic = when a disease has spread across a very large area
• halted = stopped

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 2020 Tokyo Olympics Postponed
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5 Language in context
Choose the best meaning for these expressions in bold from the news report, using the context to help
you.

1. the writing ... was on the wall

a. there was a problem with graffiti in Tokyo
b. lots of athletes signed a letter to the Olympic Committee
c. there were clear signs that the Olympics would not happen

2. a costly move
a. a change of location
b. an expensive decision
c. a difficult plan

3. without a hitch
a. without any difficulties
b. without extra costs
c. without anyone getting sick

6 Discuss
What different effects does the decision to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have on these groups
of people?

• athletes
• games organisers

• the people of Tokyo

• sports fans

Think of both positive and negative effects for each group.

7 Extension/Homework
Imagine that you are one of the people in the list above. Write a Tweet explaining how you feel about
the postponement of the games. You can write 144 characters or ~ 30 words. Use vocabulary from
the lesson.

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 2020 Tokyo Olympics Postponed - Key
A A A A BREAKING NEWS

1- Warm up

5 mins. This stage introduces the topic of the lesson and allows students to express any personal interests they
have. Set the task and check students understand the word "medal" - the picture will help - and that there are
gold, silver and bronze medals at the Olympics. Students can do this activity in pairs or small groups and you can
conduct quick class feedback after a couple of minutes. It is highly likely that students will have heard that the
2020 Tokyo Olympics have been postponed for a year, but if they aren't sure, don't confirm or deny their ideas at
this stage. If they are sure, it will be useful for the teacher to see how well they can express this concept with
vocabulary that will be explored later on in this lesson, so don't focus on correcting their language at this stage.

2- Watch for main idea

10 mins. In this stage students watch for main idea to this short news report. It's often difficult for students to hear
or say numbers accurately, so first go over the numbers and make sure students are expressing these correctly
(see answers). Then give them a few minutes to predict the significance of each number and remind them that one
option is extra. Play the clip once (0:00 - 1:07) for them to check their ideas and remind them to listen for further
details about these figures. They don't need to take notes, they should focus in watching and listening. When you
check answers, ask students to recall details from the report - they could do this in pairs at first.

ANSWERS: 1 twenty twenty-one = D; 2 eleven thousand = G; 3 two hundred = B; 4 two = E; 5 nineteen

forty-four and nineteen forty = F; twelve billion = A; extra option = C, ask students what they think this number is
likely to be (the answer is ~3.2 billion).

3- Vocabulary

5 mins. In this stage, students prepare to complete the watch for detail task, which focuses on this vocabulary.
These words are all B1, so students should be able to explain the relationship between each pair. As this may be
an unfamiliar task, do this with the whole group together, and prompt them with questions like, "Do these words
have similar meanings? Are they opposites?" etc. Make sure that students can pronounce these words - stressed
syllables are underlined.

ANSWERS: 1. Scheduling an event is when you set a time (and place) for it to happen, while cancelling is the
opposite, ie you say that the event will not happen at all. 2. Delaying and postponing have very similar meanings -
delay means that an event is late (eg a flight is delayed by 2 hours) while postpone means that a formal decision is
made to change the time of the event to another time in the future. 3. Athletes are people who take part in sports
competitions, eg the Olympics.

4- Watch for detail

15 mins. In this stage, students watch the report again to identify the correct form of the words 1-6. This exercise
helps students to recognise both grammar and pronunciation in sentences, as all the options are variants of the
same root. When students predict the correct answer before watching, they will be thinking about grammar.
When they are watching to check their ideas, they will be thinking about pronunciation - especially the number of
syllables they hear. You could elicit or point this out to them. Students could work in pairs initially to predict the
answers. When you play the report again, they may benefit from watching twice. Point out that there is a Glossary
to help with two words. Students should not worry about the phrases in bold at this time, as these will be explored
in the next stage.

ANSWERS: 1 cancellation (noun); 2 postponed (part of a passive); 3 athletes (noun - people); 4 compete (part of
an infinitive); 5 delay (noun); 6 scheduled (past participle clause).

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 2020 Tokyo Olympics Postponed - Key
A A A A BREAKING NEWS

5- Language in context

5 mins. In this stage students can focus on some multi-word expressions, or chunks, that appear in the report
and are often used in other contexts. Give students working alone or in pairs and give them a few minutes to read
the sentences and the options and then check answers. You may need to elicit or explain the meaning of graffiti -
writing or drawing on walls in public areas.

1. c 2. b 3. a

6- Discuss

15 mins. In this stage, students consider how different groups of people will be affected by the decision. They can
work in pairs or small groups and you can encourage them to think of 2-3 effects on each group. Conduct class
feedback at the end, and push students to consider both negative and positive effects. You could then ask which
group is the worst affected. This task leads into the extension/homework task, if you feel this is appropriate for
your students.

ANSWERS: sample answers - athletes are disappointed at this late change to their training schedule but some may
be better prepared if they have longer to train. Games organisers will find it challenging to make new arrangements
for the events but they are probably relieved to have a firm decision after a period of uncertainty and they won't
want to be responsible for people getting sick. The people of Tokyo may feel disappointed or relieved, depending
on how the games were going to affect them personally. They may welcome the possibility of being able to make
money next summer, as this year economies all over the world are collapsing due to the pandemic. Sports fans
would probably have enjoyed having something to watch on TV while they are isolating during the pandemic, but
they can look forward to watching next summer.

7- Extension/Homework

5 mins. to introduce. Set the task for homework if appropriate for your class.

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex ii

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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