WORDS

IN THE
NEWS
Teacher’s pack
Words in the News

Climber rescued from dangerous peak

- 10 August 2005
(story link http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/08/050810_climber.shtml)

Teacher’s pack table of contents

Lesson Plan: Core Materials....................................................... 3

Lesson Plan: Supplementary Materials .................................. 9

Worksheet A: Specific information Questions ...............10

Worksheet B: Vocabulary Building. ......................................11

Worksheet C: Numbers............................................................13

Answer Key.......................................................................................14

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins

Warm-up/ Generate interest about today’s topic by asking students to put the
stimulate information about some of the world's highest mountains on the board Name Height Country/
countries
students' into the correct rows. Divide the class into 2 or 3 groups. One person
interest in from each group comes to the board and completes one line. If they
text get all that information correct, they get one point. The winning team
5 is the one with the most points. Nanda Devi Nepal /Tibet
Answers: Everest Pakistan
Name Height Country/countries
Everest 8,848 M Nepal /Tibet Nanga Parbat India
Nanga Parbat 8,125 M Pakistan 8,848 M 7,816 M
Nanda Devi 7,816 M India
8,125 M
Pre-teach Elicit/present key vocabulary that students need either to understand
essential the key points of the text or to understand and/or answer any
vocab questions that you'll set them later in the lesson. The vocabulary is
from Words in the News (so you can elicit the vocabulary by using the
explanations provided online or below).
You could either pre-teach the vocabulary at this stage of the lesson or
you could use the vocabulary building activity from further down this
lesson plan at this stage instead. Have students working in small
10 - 12 groups together and ask them to try to match the vocabulary with the
definitions. Encourage them to work with the other groups to pool
their knowledge. When they have done as much as they can, if they
have dictionaries, ask them to look up the words to check their
answers and to find out the definitions of any words they were not
sure of. If not, check their answers and give them help with any words
they aren't sure of.

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins

Whichever method you use to elicit/present the vocabulary,

you should then model it (say it clearly, highlighting the word stress)
and get them to repeat the words after you.

to huddle
to hold your arms and legs close together, probably because of the
cold or lack of space

precarious
unsafe

an ice screw
hollow, pointed pieces of metal like nails that use grooves to attach
onto ice

an avalanche
a large amount of snow and ice falling down a mountain

a perch
a place high up

to dangle
to hold something so that it hangs loosely

to nearly have a disaster

to almost have a very bad occurrence

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins

unable to detach
cannot separate or take off something

to suffer from the effects of something

to be harmed as a result of something

an earlier attempt also failed

the last time s/he tried to do this s/he was not successful

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins

Written record Write the words on the board, eliciting spelling as you write. Elicit and to huddle (v)
show the word stress of each item and word class, if appropriate.
Give students some time to copy your boardwork into their notebooks. precarious (adj)

an ice screw (n)

an avalanche (n)

a perch (n)

to dangle (v)
5
to nearly have a disaster

unable to detach

to suffer from the effects

of something

an earlier attempt also

failed

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins

Set Global Tell the students they are going to read a text about someone who Tomaz an experienced
W question. climbed Naga Parbat recently. Give them a time limit (1 - 2 minutes) mountain climber.
H Students read 3 to read the text quickly to find the answer to the question on the True or false?
I text the first board.
L time
E Check Elicit answer from students (and mark the correct answers on the Tomaz an experienced
answers board). mountain climber.
R 1 Paragraph 3 says that "Tomaz Humar is famous for his solo assaults" True or false?
E and that "It was the second time he had tried to get up…Nanga
A Parbar."
D Set specific Use worksheet A/online quiz to help students understand the text in
I information more detail.
N questions. 2 Give students a time limit (5 - 6 minutes) to read the text again in
G more detail now and to answer the questions.
Check Elicit answers True or False. Direct attention to a particular paragraph
T
answers if an answer is wrong, to try to elicit correct answer (see worksheet A
E
and answer key).
X
T 1

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins

P Building Before the lesson, make enough copies of worksheet B so that there
O vocabulary is 1 worksheet for every 4 – 5 students. Cut up the vocabulary and
S 5 - 10 explanations.
T In class, tell students to match the correct word with the right
definition.
T Check 2 Elicit answers. If an answer is wrong, ask other students to try to elicit
E answers correct answer (see worksheet B and answer key)
X
T

Total 45
Time
Approx

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 Words in the News – Climber rescued from dangerous peak– Intermediate Reading Skills
Supplementary materials Lesson Plan

Activity Approx Teacher Boardwork

time in
mins
Grammar Use worksheet C to focus on numbers. Tell students to write out the
focus 5 - 10 numbers in their full form.
Check If an answer is wrong, ask other students to try to elicit correct
P answers 3 answer (see worksheet C and answer key).
O
S Follow-up 10 – Tell the students they are going on a mountain climbing trip . Ask for
T activity 15 suggestions of things they will need to take with them. Write their
speaking suggestions on the board (and add more if necessary) so that you
R have a list of 15 items.
E Each person should decide on the 3 items s/he wants to take. Give
A them a minute or two to decide on their items. Then split the class
D into small groups of 4 or 5. Each group is only allowed to carry 5
I items in total. Each person should explain to the group why they
N have selected each item, what it can be used for and why it is better
G than the suggestions other people made. The group must agree on
the final 5 items they will take on their trip.
T While they are speaking, move around the room listening to them
E unobtrusively. Make a note of any errors you hear.
X Feedback Ask a few groups to tell the class what they chose and why. We don't need to carry water,
T Give praise for content (for example, who choose useful items) there's ice everywhere! P
Give praise for correct examples you read. I'd rather have food from
Give feedback on incorrect examples you read. Elicit corrections. clothes. O
Total
Time
Approx

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Words in the News – Worksheet A

Climber rescued from dangerous peak– 10 August 2005

Are the following questions true of false? Read the text again and circle the correct
answer:

1. Tomaz Humar spent almost 7 days standing on the edge of the T/F
mountain, Nanga Parbat.

2. Tomaz managed to stay in a very dangerous part of the mountain T/F

using only basic mountaineer equipment.

3. Attempts to save him were unsuccessful because of snow and ice falls T/F
on the mountain.

4. When the Pakistani army helicopter came to rescue him, Tomaz T/F
couldn't untie his ropes.

5. Tomaz's health wasn't seriously affected after his long stay on the T/F
mountain.

6. This is the second time the weather had affected Tomaz's climbs of T/F
Naga Parbat.

This quiz is available online. Go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/08/050810_climber.shtml

At the bottom of the page (Words in the News), follow the link Do a comprehension test
about this story

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Words in the News – Worksheet B - Vocabulary

Climber rescued from dangerous peak– 10 August 2005

Cut up the following vocabulary items. Ask students to match them correctly with the
definitions.

1. to huddle

2. precarious

3. an ice screw

4. an avalanche

5. a perch

6. to dangle

7. to nearly have a disaster

8. unable to detach

9. to suffer from the effects of something

10. an earlier attempt also failed

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 Words in the News – Worksheet B - Definitions

Climber rescued from dangerous peak– 10 August 2005

Cut up the following definitions. Ask students to match them correctly with the
vocabulary items.

a. a thin pointed piece of metal used to dig into the ice to help climbers

b. cannot separate or take off something

c. the last time s/he tried to do this s/he was not successful

d. to hold something so that it hangs loosely

e. to hold your arms and legs close together, probably because of the cold or
lack of space

f. to be harmed as a result of something

g. a place high up

h. unsafe

i. to almost have a very bad occurrence

j. a large amount of snow and ice falling down a mountain

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Words in the News – Worksheet C

Climber rescued from dangerous peak– 10 August 2005

Here are some examples from today's text of numbers and their full written form:

2nd attempt second attempt

-50 C minus five degress Celsius
6,000 metres six-thousand metres
13 minutes thirteen minutes

Write out the numbers below in the their full form:

1. £5.75 _______________________________

2. 99½% _______________________________

3. 24/7 _______________________________

4. 13:45 hours _______________________________

5. 320 F _______________________________

6. 175,486 _______________________________

7. 10/08/05 _______________________________

8. 65 MPH _______________________________

9. $6,000,000 ______________________________

10. 0.75% _______________________________

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Words in the News

Climber rescued from dangerous peak– 10 August 2005

Answers

Worksheet A

1. False - Paragraph 1 'Tomaz Humar had spent nearly a week huddled on a ledge six-
thousand metres up Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain.'

2. True – Paragraph 1 says ' He was held in his precarious position by ice screws and
ropes.'

3. True – Paragraph 1 says 'Repeated attempts to rescue him failed because of snow
storms and avalanches'.

4. True – Paragraph 2 says 'There was nearly a disaster as the Slovenian climber was
unable to detach the ropes holding him to the mountain.'

5. True – Paragraph 2 says 'He is said to be suffering from the effects of cold and hunger
but otherwise he's well.'

6. True – Paragraph 3 says 'It was the second time he had tried to get up…Nanga Parbat.
His earlier attempt also failed because of bad weather.'

Worksheet B Worksheet C

1. e 1. £5.75 five pounds, seventy-five pence

2. h 2 99½% ninety-nine and a half percent
3. a 3. 24/7 twenty-four, seven or 24 hours,
4. j seven days a wekk
5. g 4. 13:00 hours thirteen hundred hours or one
6. d o'clock or one pm
7. i 5. 320 F thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit
8. b 6. 175,483 one hundred and seventy-five
9. f thousand, four hundred and
10. c eighty-three
7. 10/08/2005 the tenth of August, two thousand
and five
8. 65 MPH sixty-five miles per hour
9. $6,000,000 six million dollars
10. 0.75% zero point seven five percent

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