Teaching notes and key Level: pre-intermediate (B1). Class size: at least 10 students. Aims: to conduct a class survey and to express the results as graphs to label graphs on the basis of a text to learn expressions for describing figures and graphs to practise describing graphs. This lesson is particularly suitable for students preparing for Part 1 of the IELTS writing exam. Timing: approximately two hours. Preparation The accompanying article from The Week magazine can be downloaded from www.teachitworld.com. Procedure and answers Task 1 Class survey (50 minutes) Elicit from students the questions they will need to ask, i.e. Do you drink? and How often do you drink it? Allocate one drink to each student or pair of students, depending on numbers. Again depending on numbers, you could have students with the same drink take turns to ask questions or you could split the class into groups of 10 or 11 and have students with the same drink compare their results afterwards. You may need to show students how to keep a tally by marking a vertical line for the first four responses then crossing them with a diagonal bar for the fifth. You may also need to help students decide what type of graph to use (a bar chart will probably work best) and what to put on each axis (probably the number of cups/glasses on the vertical axis and the drinks on the horizontal axis). Task 2 Prediction (10 minutes) Answers: 1. 50mg. 2. The article says France, though statistics from articles in The Telegraph (23 rd February 2011) and Russia Beyond the Headlines (23 rd August 2011) suggest that it might in fact be Russia. 3. Britain, Russia and Ireland, according to the text. www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 1 of 10
Task 3 Completing graphs (10 minutes) Answers: Not all espressos are strong; Britain gets boozier recommended maximum for the general population recommended maximum for pregnant women www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 2 of 10
British banknotes with traces of cocaine in 2005. www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 3 of 10
British banknotes with traces of cocaine in 2011. Not all espressos are strong; Britain gets boozier Task 4 Describing figures and graphs (50 minutes) When you look at the summaries, you might want to ask students whether they think Not all espressos are strong is a good title. The main point of the text seems rather to be that some espressos are ridiculously strong! Answers: Caffeine levels in espressos vary widely across different coffee shops. In the light of evidence that too much caffeine can harm unborn babies, the FSA suggests that pregnant women should not drink more than 200mg of caffeine a day. However, the caffeine content of some espressos is over 300mg, meaning that a pregnant woman would drink too much caffeine with just one cup. Most European countries have seen significant falls in alcohol consumption since 1980. For instance, in France and Italy consumption has declined by 37% and 52% respectively. However, Britain, Russia and Ireland have seen sharp rises in consumption. Moreover, cocaine is present on more than one in 10 British bank notes. 1. One in three British children owns no books. (source: The Week, 10 th December 2011, p. 21) 2. The richest people in the world, Carlos Slim Helu and Bill Gates, are worth $74 billion and $56 billion respectively. (source: http://www.forbes.com/wealth/billionaires/list) 3. The Arctic has seen a sharp rise in winter temperatures and a significant fall in the number of polar bears recently. 4. The quality of healthcare varies widely across England and Wales. 5. In the light of evidence that passive smoking is bad for the health, smoking is now forbidden in pubs, bars and restaurants, meaning that smokers have to go outside for a cigarette. www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 4 of 10
Worksheet Task 1 Class survey You are going to find out what your classmates drink and how much. Ask all your classmates about one of the drinks in the table. Mark the number of responses for each frequency. cups/glasses 3+ a day 1-2 a day 3+ a week 1-2 a week occasionally never mineral water tap water fruit juice fizzy drinks cold milk tea coffee hot chocolate beer/cider wine spirits Now draw a graph to show your results. Are any of the results surprising? www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 5 of 10
Task 2 Prediction You are going to read two texts, one about caffeine consumption and one about alcohol consumption. Before you read, discuss the following questions: 1. What is the standard amount of caffeine in an espresso? 20mg, 50mg, 150mg, 300mg, 500mg... 2. Which of the countries below drinks the most alcohol? Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Russia... 3. Which of those countries drink more now than in 1980?... Now read the texts quickly and check your answers. Task 3 Completing graphs Read the texts again and label the graphs with the words from the box. 2005 2011 an independent shop Britain (x2) Costa ) France (x2) pregnant women the general population Starbucks recommended maximum for recommended maximum for www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 6 of 10
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British banknotes with traces of cocaine in. Not all espressos are strong; Britain gets boozier British banknotes with traces of cocaine in. www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 8 of 10
Task 4 Describing figures and graphs Not all espressos are strong; Britain gets boozier Read the summaries below and complete them with expressions from the original texts. Caffeine levels in espressos across different coffee shops. that too much caffeine can harm unborn babies, the FSA suggests that pregnant women should not drink more than 200mg of caffeine a day. However, the caffeine content of some espressos is over 300mg, a pregnant woman would drink too much caffeine with just one cup. Most European countries have falls in alcohol consumption since 1980. For instance, in France and Italy consumption has declined by 37% and 52%. However, Britain, Russia and Ireland have rises in consumption. Moreover, cocaine is present on more one 10 British bank notes. www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 9 of 10
Now complete the following sentences using the same expressions: 1. One three British children owns no books. 2. The richest people in the world, Carlos Slim Helu and Bill Gates, are worth $74 billion and $56 billion. 3. The Arctic has a rise in winter temperatures and a fall in the number of polar bears. 4. The quality of healthcare across England and Wales. 5. that passive smoking is bad for the health, smoking is now forbidden in pubs, bars and restaurants, smokers have to go outside for a cigarette. Finally, write a description of your graph from task 1. Try to use some of the expressions above. www.teachitworld.com 2011 17115 Page 10 of 10