SPEAKING TASK

PAIR DISCUSSION
 PAIR DISCUSSION – 1
You are going to read a news item.
You have to respond to the news and discuss it with a partner.
You have 2 minutes to read the text and prepare for the discussion.
The discussion should take up to 3 minutes.
You are expected to:
• give a short summary of the text (Student A);
• exchange opinions with the partner about the news;
• comment on the events / people described in the text;
• relate the news item to your own experience or knowledge;
• summarise and conclude your discussion (Student B).
BALLERINA PERFORMS SWAN LAKE ON ICE
TO SAVE NATURE

Russian ballerina Ilmira Bagautdinova danced on the frozen waters in protest against
a construction project which threatens a unique natural habitat. Braving freezing
temperatures, Bagautdinova filmed herself as she performed after she read reports
that there were plans to build a factory at the site.
The dancer posted the video online, adding music from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake in a
nod to the swans that live in the area. "This is a unique natural and historical place
where swans nest in the spring, where families spend their holiday in summer, where
fishermen go out onto the ice in winter," she wrote on Facebook.
Bagautdinova called on Russian people to sign an online petition calling for the area
to be left in its natural state. "It was my cry from the heart to save an amazing place
that has a special meaning for me." Bagautdinova said her family often visited the
sandy beaches in summer and sleighed there in winter.