Adult ESL Lessons: Newspapers (Advanced)

This is Lesson 12, “Newspapers,” from our collection of advanced adult ESL lessons. The lesson features several headlines from newspapers, and students try to match sentences from these articles to the correct headline, after which there are several comprehension questions and discussion questions. This content-packed lesson is useful for helping more advanced English learners refine and improve their English fluency. This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many other ESL lessons for adults like this one in our book ESL Pathways: Frontiers.

ADULT ESL LESSONS: Newspapers (Text-Only Version)

• Which newspapers do you or your family read?
• Why do you read that one?
• What different kinds of stories can you read about in the newspaper?
• What kinds of newspaper stories interest you?
• What kinds of stories don’t interest you?

 

Look at theses newspaper headlines.  What kind of story is each?

1. WHO Sees Civet Cats as Prime Suspect in SARS Spread
2. Fast-Food Chains Expanding in China
3. Mayor Opens New City Park
4. 2003 Computer Viruses Caused $55 Billion Damage
5. NASA Looks to Prepare for Mars Mission
6. First Japanese Soldiers Sent to Join War
7. Wie, 14, About to Make PGA Tour History
8. Jackson Set to Appear in California Court
9. President Travels to Japan on an Un-official State Visit

 

 

Match the headlines with the appropriate text.

Analysts said the number of attacks between January and June 2003 exceeded 70,000, which is about twice the rate for 2002.    

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is discussing plans to send people on three-year trips to Mars, the most hazardous voyage ever planned.

“It doesn’t prove anything, but it showed that the civet cats carried the virus,” Robert Breiman, head of the WHO team told a news conference earlier Friday.

Jackson had a similar experience 10 years ago after making a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement with the family of a teenage boy.

The troops are expected to arrive in Kuwait on Saturday and travel overland later in the month to southern Iraq, where they will take part in humanitarian and reconstruction projects.

The president will spend a week in Tokyo visiting with Japanese politicians and sightseeing.

KFC also plans to increase the number of drive-through outlets, currently just one in Beijing.  This decision reflects the sharp growth in private car ownership among urban Chinese.

Wie is a ninth grader at Punahou School in Hawaii. At 14, she is believed to be the youngest player to compete on the PGA Tour

A large crowd of people gathered at the park entrance on Sunday to see the mayor and take part in the opening ceremony.  

 

Comprehension Questions:

1. What animal is taking the blame for SARS?
2. Who is Robert Breiman?
3. Where are US fast food chains expanding?
4. What do drive through outlets reflect?
5. What did the mayor do?
6. What day did then park open?
7. How much damage did computer viruses cause?
8. How much of an increase in computerattacks occurred between 2002 and 2003?
9. Where does NASA want to go?
10. How long will it take to get there?
11. Where were the Japanese soldiers going?
12. What will they do there?
13. Who made PGA history?
14. Where does she study?
15. What happened to Michael Jackson?
16. What happened to him ten years before?
17. Where is the president going?
18. How long will he spend there?

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you know about SARS?  How can you prevent being infected?
2. Do you like U.S. fast food?  Why?  What do you like to eat?
3. Say something good about U.S. fast food.  Now say something bad about it.
4. How often do you go to the park?  What do you like to do there?
5. What other things do people like to do in the park?
6. Do you have a computer?  What do you use it for?
7. Would you like to go to Mars?  Why?
8. Do you like to play golf?  What other sports do you like?
9. What do you think of Michael Jackson?
10. What popular music do you like to listen to?
11. Have you ever been to Japan?  Would you like to go?
12. Do you like Japanese food?  Do you like raw fish and wasabi?
13. What other international food do you like?