Activity 4: Read a news report

Study Guide

G06 ~ English Home Language

Unit 1 G. A dog saved a woman from a cobra which had come into her garage. He is a real hero. H. Rain and hail caused devastation in the city last night. Residents report that hailstones bigger than golf balls landed on broken tiles on roofs and smashed windows.

Discuss current news stories and make suggestions for headlines for these stories. Try to make some headlines using a pun.

Activity 4: Read a news report

Bring a newspaper or magazine article to the lesson. Discuss with your facilitator the type of news it covers. What is the difference between local, national and international news? What other types of news appear in newspapers and magazines?

Match the news type to the explanation in the box below.

Type of news articles

1. Local 2. National

3. International 4. Feature 5. Editorial 6. Column

Explanation

a) What’s going on in the world b) “Soft” news such as news on a person doing volunteer work, movie reviews, etc. c) Gives the writer’s own opinion on current issues d) What’s going on in your country e) Written by same person on a regular basis f) What’s going on in your neighbourhood

Read the headline of the report below and look at the pictures. Predict what you think the article will be about?

Read the article.

Newly discovered frog looks like Kermit

Recently, a scientist discovered a type of frog that looks a lot like Kermit. Kermit the Frog is a Muppet – a well-known puppet frog who has bulgy eyes and is a special shade of green.

The frog found in Costa Rica looks a lot like that. It has big google-eyes with black pupils that sit on the top of its head, and it is a uniform shade of bright lime green, similar to Kermit. Just about the only thing its missing is Kermit’s signature pointy collar. (And Kermit’s ability to speak, of course.)

The recently discovered frog is a type of glass frog. Part of the new frog’s Latin name includes Diana. It has been named after the mother of one of the scientists; whose middle name is Diane. The announcement of the new frog was made by the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Centre.

Glass frogs get their name from the way their tummy looks. Many of them – including this new frog – have translucent skin on their stomach, meaning that you can see through it. You can see some of the frog’s organs including the heart and liver.

Scientists think that the glass frog developed a translucent tummy so that it would be hard to spot as it sits on a branch or leaf. That means that other animals that want to eat it would have a more difficult time finding it.

Use these questions to guide a discussion on the article.

1. Into which category of news do you think this article fits? Give a reason for your answer. 2. Do you know where Costa Rica is? Use your atlas to look it up. 3. What is the main idea of the article? a) A new type of glass frog has been discovered. b) The new type of glass frog looks like Kermit.