Activity One - Speaking
Look at the photos below and discuss what you think what
mistakes have been made. Then say which ones are amusing and which are more
serious, giving reasons for your choices.
Activity Two
Take turns to ask and answer the
following questions with your partner(s):
1. When was the last time you made a really
big mistake? What happened?
2. Have you ever mistaken someone for a
different person? Tell me about it.
3. Have you ever got your facts wrong, but
refused to back down once you realised your mistake?
4. Which of the following mistakes do you
consider trivial, and which do you feel are more serious? Explain the reasons
for your choices with examples from your own experiences.
- a waiter screwing up a food or
drink order
- filling up your petrol tank with
the wrong fuel
- calling someone by the wrong name
- heading the wrong way along a
one-way street
- punching in the wrong pin number
at a cash point machine
- wrongly blaming someone for taking
your property
- forgetting to switch off the
cooker before leaving home
- forgetting to send off an
important email, document, etc.
Activity Three – Listening
a). Read the headline and
discuss what you think happened in this true story.
Shock video 'shows OAP on a skydive that goes
horribly wrong'
b). Click on the link below, listen
to the story and then write a brief summary.
Link: http://www.screencast.com/t/JyxfVsSfg
c). Listen again and answer true (T), false
(F) or not given (NG) to the statements below:
i).
Laverne became scared during the
freefall.
ii). She was doing a fundraising skydive for a
children’s charity.
iii). Her strap snapped, causing her to slip out
of her harness.
iv). Laverne’s instructor is female.
v). Laverne
slips out of her harness and hurtles to earth without a parachute.
vi). Laverne
had refused to wear a helmet.
vii). She
had been waiting for ten years to do the skydive.
iix). The
skydive took place in the UK.
ix). An
identical incident occurred in the UK ten years earlier.
x). Laverne
was healthy, but very overweight.
Answers are below.
Listening answers:
i). Laverne became scared during the freefall. (F)
ii). She was doing a fundraising skydive for a children’s charity. (NG)
iii). Her strap snapped, causing her to slip out of her harness. (F)
iv). Laverne’s instructor is female. (F)
v). Laverne slips out of her harness and hurtles to earth without a parachute. (F)
vi). Laverne had refused to wear a helmet. (NG)
vii). She had been waiting for ten years to do the skydive. (T)
iix). The skydive took place in the UK. (F)
ix). An identical incident occurred in the UK ten years earlier. (F)
x). Laverne was healthy, but very overweight. (F)
Transcript: News article
SHOCKING video appears to show a
reluctant OAP skydiver desperately hanging by a single strap on her
instructor's harness in a tandem jump gone horribly wrong.
The footage claims
to show an 80-year-old wannabe daredevil - named Laverne - pulling out of her
tandem jump at the last minute.
Strapped to an
instructor the panicking OAP clutches onto the plane - refusing to go through
with the dive. (1)
The instructor
eventually pushes her out of the plane as her harness comes loose (2) - with
potentially deadly consequences.
The pensioner is
left desperately clinging onto the instructor as the pair hurtle towards earth
at 125mph.
In one dramatic
scene the teacher (4) grasps onto the woman as she threatens to slip out of his
grip (4) and to certain death.
The whole dangerous
sequence - which emerged on theChive.com website - is captured on film by a
separate jumper who is seen at one stage attempting to help.
But some viewers
have cast doubts on the film speculating that it could be a stunt.
They point out that
the woman does not appear to have any skydiving gear on – or even a helmet.
In the video before
the jump Laverne reveals it is her first skydive and has been planning it for a
decade (7).
The video is
believed to have been shot in California (8).
However, it is still unclear when it was shot.
Technical officer
at the British Parachute Association - Tony Butler - said the pensioner could easily
have slipped out of the harness.
He said: "She
was very close to slipping out (5). You can see from the video the instructor was
trying to get to the harness and cling on to it. The person with the video
camera was also trying to help.
"She looks
like a pretty frail and light woman (10), which may well have helped.'
"At the start
of the clip she is reluctant to jump and they were in a bad situation with her
holding onto the door frame as they left the plane.
"Things like
this have happened in the US before and there have already been two fatalities.
"There has
never been a similar incident in Britain (9), and safety checks here are a lot more
rigorous."
At the end of the
video the woman lands safely and is filmed lying on the ground apparently
uninjured.
Article Link:
Activity Four – Describing Situations
and Feelings
a). Discuss the following question with your partner(s). Give reasons and personal examples where appropriate.
"Who do you think was at fault in this situation?"
b). Below
are some useful words and phrases, all which have the same or similar meanings. Use a selection of the phrase to ask your partner(s)
questions about them or people they know or have heard of.
to be
to look
+
petrified (adjective)
terrified (adjective)
scared stiff (adjective, idiomatic)
scared out of your skin (adjective, idiomatic)
Example
question:
“Have
you ever been scared out of your skin? Tell me about it.”
to
reconsider (doing something)
to
have second thoughts (about doing something)
to
change your mind (about doing something)
Example
question:
“Why
do you think the woman had second thoughts about jumping?”
to be in serious danger
to get into trouble
to
get into a very sticky situation (idiomatic)
Example
question:
“Have you ever had to
get yourself out of a sticky situation? What happened?”
to
nearly die
to
come close to dying
(to have / to be) a close call (idiomatic)
(to have / to be) a close shave (idiomatic)
Example
question:
“How
do you think the woman felt after her close shave?”
b). Now click on the Youtube video clip below and watch the
footage of Laverne’s skydiving experience.
Once done, write your own newspaper recounting what happened. Write between 180-220 words.
Link:
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