Teachers' Zone 2

Teachers' Zone 2

Dear Teachers,

 

welcome again. I am pleased to share with you one quick revision technique that may turn out to be handy during pre-Christmas lessons when we can almost literally feel  the magic in the air  and all around us and at the same time be aware of the time passing by and this nagging feeling that even though it is THIS time of the year we still have to remember about regular lessons, revisions and tests…

The revision technique that I would like to tell you about is a popular gap filling exercise that we can prepare ourselves and use any  text/article we wish as well as decide about its level of difficulty. You can use this type of  exercise in a number of ways- to revise prepositions, to teach word formation, to complete the text with words that are either given to students or not. All you need is just the text that you paste in https://www.johnsesl.com/generators/gapfill/gapfill.shtml , copy or share the exercise …. and that is it! Just do not forget to indicate the sources and provide feedback to your students! It can’t get any easier!

 

Here come my examples:

 

ACTIVITY 1

 

  1. COMPLETE THE TEXT WITH THE GIVEN WORDS ( OPTIONAL)

 

consisted, from, make, according, for, likely, purposes, wondered, study, conducted,  found

 

Cats are notorious  (1)……. ..…..being cold and aloof, but perhaps all this time we just didn’t understand the love language of cats… Which (2) …………….to science is blinking.

 

For years we have  (3) ……………what exactly it would take to win over our cats, we buy them gifts, we give them the best quality food and yet many of them still refuse to sit on our laps. We are                  wondering what is wrong with us that is making our cats so reluctant to bond.

 

Well, according to a recent (4)……………. it may be because we haven’t learned to communicate with our feline friends.

 

The study (5) ………………….by researchers from the University of Sussex and the University of Portsmouth found that the easy way into your cat’s good books is by narrowing your eyes or blinking at them slowly.

 

The first experiment ( 6) …………………….of 21 cats from 14 different households and their 14 owners. The experiment was conducted in their own homes and consisted of the owners slow blinking at their pets.

 

Results showed that after a friendly slow blink  (7)……………. their owners, the cats were more likely to slow blink in response compared to if the owners just kept a neutral expression.

 

The second experiment consisted of 24 cats from eight different households. This time the researchers, who had no prior contact with the cat, would slow blink and also hold out their hand. For control  (8) …………………the researchers also conducted a non-blinking experiment, which consisted of the researchers just casually staring at the cats sans blinking.

 

Results (9)……………..that the researchers that did the blinking and hand extending resulted in the cat being more  (10) …………….to blink back as well as being more likely to approach the researcher’s hand for a pat.

So, the next time you’re looking for some attention from your feline companion or even just a friendly stray, try slow blinking at it… Just maybe  (11) ……….sure nobody is watching.

 

Copyright: Ohmymag, 2020

source: https://read.squidapp.co/squinglish/ATIX

 

KEY

  1. FOR

  2. ACCORDING

  3. WONDERED

  4. STUDY

  5. CONDUCTED

  6. CONSISTED

  7. FROM

  8. PURPOSES

  9. FOUND

  10. LIKELY

  11. SURE

 

ACTIVITY 2

 

COMPLETE THE TEXT WITH ONE OF THE WORDS IN THE CORRECT FORM

 

protest, cut, something, temper, decide, hold, wear, gain, something, argue, grade, necessary, take, spread, protection, aware, affordable

 

Many of us love to get a (1)……………, but some feel that events like Black Friday encourage people to buy things that they don’t really need and can’t (2)………… Many people seem to completely lose control of both their spending and their (3)………….. . It is easy to find video online of customers physically fighting each other over bargains. It is also (4)……………….. that Black Friday is bad for small shopkeepers, who cannot afford to offer the kinds of price (5)……….. that the big companies can. 

 

What’s the alternative to Black Friday? 

Instead of  (6)……………..the opportunity to buy as much as possible on Black Friday, you could do the opposite and buy absolutely nothing. Since 1997, Buy Nothing Day has been  (7) …………..on the same day as Black Friday. The rules are simple. Just don’t buy  (8)………….                                at all for 24 hours. Many people are surprised how difficult this actually is. The aim is to make people think more about their spending and to make better (9) ………………….about what they buy and where they buy it from.

As well as spending less and not buying  (10) …………items, Buy Nothing Day aims to raise (11 )…………… of how to be a more ethical consumer. For example, you can avoid buying ‘fast fashion’, that is, very cheap clothes that are (12) …………….. a few times before being thrown away. Or you could decide not to automatically  (13) ………………your mobile at the end of a contract. These kinds of decisions can help to (14) ………………….. the environment as well as saving you money. 

What else can you do?

Some people carry out (15)……………….. at shopping centres. Others avoid the shops completely and go for a walk in nature instead. Another alternative, the Buy Nothing Coat Exchange, is an idea which is (16)……………….… People donate winter coats throughout November and anyone who needs one can come and take one on Buy (17)………………..Day.

 

source: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/magazine/black-friday-and-buy-nothing-day

 

KEY

  1. BARGAIN

  2. AFFORD

  3. TEMPERS

  4. ARGUED

  5. CUTS

  6. TAKING

  7. HELD

  8. ANYTHING

  9. DECISIONS

  10. UNNECEASSARY

  11. AWARENESS

  12. WORN

  13. UPGRADE

  14. PROTECT

  15. PROTESTS

16. SPREADING

17. NOTHING


Hope it has given you an idea how to save your time and help your students learn English!

Next time some more tips- plus a great New Year surprise!

See you in Teachers’ Zone

 

All yours

Katarzyna Nowak