E-Sports Jigsaw Reading and Debate

New Vocabulary
Talk to your partner, your teacher or look in a
dictionary to get a definition of each one.

scholarship hygiene agility

be glued to
strategy obsession
something

Gist Questions for Both Students

Is the writer for or against e-sports? What three reasons do they give for
their opinion?

1:
2:
3:

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 E-Sports Jigsaw Reading and Debate

Detailed Reading Questions

Remember to underline your evidence in the text.

Student A: Student B:
• Where do young people • When did e-sports
train to become professional start, and why?
e-sport players? • How many people watch
• How long do professional gamers e-sports now? Does the writer
spend practising every day? think this number will go
• What problems can e-sport up or down?
players have with their health? • How much money can you win
• What percentage of people playing e-sports?
who play e-sports do not have • Where can you study e-sports
problems with addiction? at university?
• What do people who play too • What skills do you need to be
many e-sport games stop doing? great at e-sports?
• What laws protect professional • How can e-sports help you
e-sport players? learn a language?
• What do you think ‘the dark • What do you think ‘cream of
side’ means? the crop’ means?

Language Analysis
Work together with your partner.

• Find three expressions (idioms) with the

word ‘game’ in them. What do these
expressions mean?
• Find as many connecting/linking words
as you can. What do they mean?
• Why does the writer use questions in
their writing?

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E-Sports Jigsaw Reading and Debate

The Debate: Should e-sports be added to the

school curriculum?

Student A: The Dark Side of E-Sports

Do you know anyone who dreams of becoming a professional

e-sports player? It’s an ambition of more and more young people to
enter this new world of competitive online gaming. While the bright
lights of a stadium filled with gamers may look inviting, how many
of them have really considered the dark side of this new obsession?

A professional gamer has to begin training at home or at a club

from a very young age, and spend at least three hours practising
every single day. There’s a physical cost to all of this, and gamers
can develop terrible headaches and tiredness from all the hours
spent online.

There’s a mental cost as well. These games are specifically designed

to be addictive to keep you coming back for more. In fact, up to 15%
of gamers may show signs of addiction. These can include a lack of
hygiene, lying to family about how much time is spent glued to the
computer and isolation from friends.

After all that, what happens when you do make it to become a

professional? Well, don’t expect to be protected by employment law.
E-sports are growing so fast that the laws to protect the players
haven’t been created yet, so the company you work for might take
most of the money you win for themselves.

In the end, becoming a professional gamer might not turn out to be

such a great game plan.

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E-Sports Jigsaw Reading and Debate

The Debate: Should e-sports be added to the

school curriculum?

Student B: Why E-Sports Are the Future

E-sports may have begun as a get-together for a small group in the

1970s, but now it can fill stadiums. And there are plenty of reasons
to ‘get ahead of the game’ when it comes to e-sports.

First of all, e-sports are incredibly popular and being great at a

game can bring you fame with the 500-million-plus viewers. It’s a
modern game, for a modern age and modern fans, so it’s only going
to get bigger.

With all that fame comes money. Will parents perhaps be persuaded
to let kids and teens play video games when they realise it can
get you a scholarship to college in the US? Or that winners of the
major tournaments now receive millions of dollars in prize money?
This is just one of the reasons why you can now study e-sports at
postgraduate level in China.

E-sports is a highly competitive game, which means that only the

cream of the crop get to the top. Players learn mental agility and
strategy to win at games that take thousands of hours to perfect,
and then there’s the teamwork skills you’ll need. Some people have
perfected their English fluency online, too, learning through the
conversations they have with fellow gamers.

So grab a desktop computer, keyboard, headset and mouse and get

your head in the game!

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 E-Sports Jigsaw Reading and Debate

Answers

Gist Questions for Both Students

Is the writer for or against e-sports? What three reasons do they give
for their opinion?

Student A: the writer is against e-sports.

1: It can cause physical problems.
2: It can cause addiction.
3: The industry is unregulated.

Student B: the writer is for e-sports.

1: It’s growing in popularity.
2: It can earn you a lot of money.
3: It can teach you important skills.

Detailed Reading Questions

Remember to underline your evidence in the text.

Student A:
• Where do young people train to become professional e-sport players?
At home or at a club
• How long do professional gamers spend practising every day? At
least three hours practising every single day
• What problems can e-sport players have with their health?
Headaches and tiredness
• What percentage of people who play e-sports do not have problems
with addiction? 85%
• What do people who play too many e-sport games stop doing?
Washing themselves, telling the truth, spending time with
other people
• What laws protect professional e-sport players? None!
• What do you think ‘the dark side’ means? The downsides, or
negative aspects

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E-Sports Jigsaw Reading and Debate

Answers

Student B:
• When did e-sports start, and why? In the 1970s, so that friends
could get together
• How many people watch e-sports now? Does the writer think this
number will go up or down? More than 500 million. This number
is expected to go up.
• How much money can you win playing e-sports? Millions
of dollars
• Where can you study e-sports at university? In China
• What skills do you need to be great at e-sports? Mental agility
and strategy
• How can e-sports help you learn a language? You can learn
English by communicating with other players
• What do you think ‘the cream of the crop’ means? The very best
of the best

Language Analysis
Work together with your partner.

• Find three expressions (idioms) with the word ‘game’ in them.

What do these expressions mean? Get your head in the game
(concentrate), game plan (plan for a particular situation), get
ahead of the game (be further ahead than everyone else)
• Find as many connecting/linking words as you can. What do they
mean? Answers may include: too, or, and, but, while, as well, so
• Why does the writer use questions in their writing? These are
rhetorical questions to involve the reader.

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