Free Resource for 26 March 2001:   Upper-Intermediate - Advanced Instant Lesson™ Were you fooled? Pre-Reading Activities A: Discussion Answer these questions in small groups. 1. When is April Fool's Day? 2. What happens on April Fool's Day? 3. What practical jokes have you played on April Fool's Day? 4. Have you had a practical joke played on you? (If you have, explain what happened.) B: Talking about Newspapers Look at  the front page of a tabloid newspaper and a local newspaper. 1. Discuss the differences between the two front pages. 2. Which newspaper stories would you believe and why? 3. Are there any exclusive stories either in the tabloid or local newspaper? (An exclusive is a news story that is given or sold to only one newspaper, magazine or TV channel. For example, movie stars often give exclusive interviews to only one magazine.) 4. Is there a photo spread in either newspaper? (a photo spread is a story with lots of photos) C: True or False Decide with your partner if these stories are true or false. 1. A shopkeeper in Japan was so annoyed at shoppers who only look at things and don't buy them that he made a woman get down on her knees and apologize to him because she didn't want to buy the coat she had just been looking at. He managed to pressure her into deciding to buy the coat and giving him $25 as a down payment. 2. Social workers rescued a monkey from a couple addicted to heroin but ignored a 5-year-old girl living with them who was very dirty and covered in sores. She also needed medical attention for an injured leg. The social workers visited the place 18 times but failed to do anything about the girl. 3. Tomato growers are using rock and roll music to make their plants produce more flowers. Songs like the Beach Boys' ``Good Vibrations'' and Bruce Springsteen's ``Dancing in the Dark'' are best for the plants. 4. A cat in Thailand fell in love with a mouse and the two creatures are now behaving like mother and son while a Polish dog summoned the fire and ambulance services by calling the emergency number and howling. Reading Activities A: Guessing Unfamiliar words Read today's article. While you are reading look at the words shown in bold type in the article. Without using a dictionary, work out the meaning of these words using your understanding of the article. (There is a vocabulary list at the bottom of the article which will help you understand some other words in the article.) 1. Flab 2. Absorbing 3. Installed 4. Bizarre 5. Differentiate 6. Hoax 7. Convey 8. Outdone 9. Miss a trick 10. Work-out April: time to fool the Brits again.By Paul MajenLONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - Slimmers can fight the flab with special new fat-absorbing footwear - it drips into their Fatsox.Armchair farmers have now installed paging devices for their cows at milking times. The system is called the Call Operated Wireless Pet and Animal Terminal (COWPAT).Yes, it's that time again.Britain's newspapers, ever eager to catch out their unwary readers, have gone into April Fool's Day mode.But The Times, once the revered mouthpiece of the British establishment, was the first to admit that news stories are now so bizarre that it is becoming impossible to differentiate between hoax and hard reality."It is getting harder to tell the difference between April Fool's and ordinary news stories," it said.To underline the quandary, the paper carried a front-page report quoting scientists who said the slime left behind by slugs could convey a wealth of information to other slugs and act as a model for a new generation of high-speed computers. The Sun, Britain's best-selling tabloid, was awash with feisty Saturday morning tales.In one exclusive, it reported that publishers had launched a 5 million pound bidding war for the autobiography of one-year-old Brooklyn Beckham, the celebrity son of football star David Beckham and Spice Girl Victoria Adams.On the same page came another exclusive - a car transporter which motorists pay 20 pounds to drive onto to escape rush-hour jams. One driver had the cherished number plate APR1L1.The sports pages were not to be outdone - soccer bosses were reported to have developed new high-tech "Ref specs" with such powerful zoom lenses that the much maligned referee will not miss a trick on the pitch.And The Daily Mail offered a photo spread on fatsox - socks that literally draw fat from the body during a gym work-out.The socks were going on sale on Saturday, the paper said. "Subject to today's reaction, they could be widely available soon." Article © 2000 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2001 www.english-to-go.com Vocabulary: Unwary - not careful, not aware. Mode - a way of behaving. Revered - respected and trusted. Mouthpiece of the British establishment - expresses the opinions of the British government. Quandary - problem. Autobiography - an account of a person's life written by that person. Maligned - hated, someone who other people say nasty things about. B: Finding Evidence The three sentences below summarize ideas from the article. Read the article carefully and find evidence for these sentences. 1. Many British newspapers play April Fool's Day jokes on their readers by writing stories that are false. 2. On April Fool's Day it is sometimes difficult to tell what is true and false news. 3. To make the stories sound true newspapers provided evidence. C: Report back Work in pairs. Today's article describes the jokes played on the readers of the 'The Sun', and 'The Daily Mail' and also talks about a true article from 'The Times'. Choose one of the jokes in today's article. Use your own words to describe the joke to your partner. Then swap roles with your partner. (Choose another joke to describe.) D: Summarizing With a partner choose three jokes from the article and make up your own headlines for them. (Remember that a headline is usually no more than five words long, so keep them short.)   Post-Reading Activities You may do one or more of these. A: Writing and Speaking Part One April Fool's Day is a very old holiday as you can see from the poem below. An Unsolved History The first of April, some do say, Is set apart for All Fools' Day. But why the people call it so, Nor I, nor they themselves do know. But on this day are people sent On purpose for pure merriment. -- Poor Robin's Almanac (1790) Because no one really knows how April Fool's Day began, explain how you think it began. Be as creative as you want. Once you have finished, tape your story so that your classmates can listen to it. Part Two Here are some explanations of how April Fool's Day began: One theory is that April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day could have started because of a change of calendar dates. Originally April 1 was the start of the New Year for many cultures.In 1562, however, Pope Gregory created a new calendar for the Christian world where New Year's Day was now January 1. In France and other places there were people who did not believe the change in date so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people thought they were foolish and played jokes on them such as making them believe that something false was true. Another idea of how April Fool's Day began is that it is related to the festival of the vernal (spring) equinox where the days and nights are of equal length. This festival usually happens around March 21 (in the Northern Hemisphere.) In France today, April 1 is called "Poisson d'Avril." French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the "young fool" discovers this trick, the prankster yells "Poisson d'Avril!" (April Fish!). April Fool's Day became popular in England and Scotland during the 18th century. It arrived in America at a later date with the arrival of immigrants. In the past newspapers and television stations have played April Fool's jokes on the public. For example, in the 1950s a British short film shown on April Fool's Day was all about "spaghetti farmers" and how they collected spaghetti from spaghetti trees. Today many newspapers all over the world try to make up false stories on April Fool's day. In some countries, practical jokes are meant to finish at 12:00 p.m. (lunchtime) but in other countries practical jokes are played for the whole day. April Fool jokes are meant to be fun and are not meant to harm anyone. B: Discussion Here are three quotes or sayings about fools. In groups discuss what you think these quotes mean. 1. "The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year." (Mark Twain) 2. "Looking foolish does the spirit good." (John Updike) 3. "A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent (wise) man overlooks an insult." (Proverbs 12:16, The Bible) C: Create a Tabloid In groups of 4 or 5 create your own front page of a tabloid newspaper for April Fool's Day. Remember to give your newspaper a name. Be as imaginative as you want. Perhaps you could include one amazing but true story along with all your bizarre stories. Your classmates could then try and guess which was the true story. D: Conversation Work in pairs. Role play a conversation between two friends on April Fool's Day. Student A: Think of something you have read or heard. (It may be true or it may be a lie but it should be 'bizarre' or 'amazing' in some way.) Tell your partner. Answer any questions that your partner asks you. At the end of the conversation your partner will guess whether or not your story was true. Student B: Your partner will tell you a story. You think it can't be true but decide to ask your partner questions to test whether or not they are telling the truth. Ask (Why?, But how...etc) questions to test your partner's knowledge of the story. At the end of the conversation decide whether or not your partner was telling the truth. E: Extra Reading Read any or all the articles summarized in Pre-Reading Activity C. Social Workers Helped Monkey, Not Child  EDINBURGH Thursday January 20 (Reuters) - A Scottish judge rebuked social workers for rescuing a monkey from a couple addicted to heroin but failing to notice a 5-year-old girl living with them in squalor, court officials said on Thursday.Social workers eventually discovered the girl, whose fingernails had not been cut for more than a year, covered in bed sores, lying in her own filth and wearing a plaster cast on her broken leg that should have been removed 10 months earlier.On an earlier visit, state welfare workers had contacted an animal welfare group about a pet monkey being kept in the flat.Social workers visited the couple's house 18 times but said they were allowed inside only four times. A Glasgow court judge criticized them for failing to notice the plight of the girl. ``To say the least, I am very surprised the girl's predicament did not come to light,'' he said. When doctors finally removed the cast from the girl, whose leg has been permanently scarred, they found spoons, a fork, and a pen she had used to try to scratch her ulcers.The couple who had lived in the flat were sentenced to five years in jail.The judge said they were guilty of a ''revolting'' crime. Article © 2001 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2001 www.english-to-go.com Tomato Growers Dig Rock 'N' Roll Music LONDON April 14 (Reuters) - British tomato growers have decided rock 'n' roll may be an ideal aphrodisiac for their plants.Growers who used to employ people or machines to shake the plants to increase pollination found they could get better results blasting them with loud bass-heavy music, the Guardian newspaper said Wednesday. ``Music with a strong beat is best,'' Alan Parker, chairman of the Tomato Growers' Association, was quoted as saying. Disc jockey Dave Cash, asked to come up with tunes to pollinate by, included the Beach Boys' ``Good Vibrations'' and Bruce Springsteen's ``Dancing in the Dark.'' 1999 Article © 2000 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2001 www.english-to-go.com Mouse Is A Cat's Best FriendPICHIT, Thailand Wednesday July 7 (Reuters) - Whatever would Tom and Jerry make of it? Two-year-old Huan used to hunt mice just like any other cat in Pichit, central Thailand. But five months ago, she found a stray baby mouse in a wardrobe and suddenly it was love, not war. Owner Charanai Nanoontum said she was amazed to discover Huan -- which means fat -- and the mouse, which she nicknamed ''Jerry,'' behaving like mother and son. ``I thought she would eat the mouse as usual but she didn't -- love took over.'' The pair eat, sleep and play together, to the amazement of local villagers who flock to see the bizarre Huan and Jerry show. Article © 2000 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2001 www.english-to-go.com Polish dog summons ambulance, causes false alarmWARSAW, Feb 5 (Reuters) - An ambulance and fire-brigade rescue squad answering a presumed emergency call in a Polish town found only a dog left alone in a flat, Poland's biggest daily said on Saturday."Our dispatcher received a call but heard only the howling of a dog at the other end," Gazeta Wyborcza quoted duty doctor Jaroslaw Jazdzyk in the town of Zabrze as saying."We reckoned someone in need of help had dialed our number but was too weak to say anything."But the emergency workers found only a dog, owned by a woman doctor, and the phone off the hook. Jazdzyk said the dog must have knocked the receiver off the telephone and accidentally pressed the "9" button with its paw, activating the emergency number 999.But the emergency workers found only a dog, owned by a woman doctor, and the phone off the hook.Jazdzyk said the dog must have knocked the receiver off the telephone and accidentally pressed the "9" button with its paw, activating the emergency number 999. Article © 2001 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2001 www.english-to-go.com Store Owner Gets Tough with Window Shoppers TOKYO December 8 (Reuters) - A Japanese shop owner with an acute aversion toward window-shoppers has been arrested for allegedly threatening a woman and forcing her to apologize for eyeing merchandise in his store she didn't want to buy.Fed up with having shoppers leave his clothing store empty-handed, Akira Ishiguro, 38, had put up a sign at the entrance of his shop in Yokohama, near Tokyo, prohibiting entry to those who had no intention of buying, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Friday.The sign read: ``Entry strictly prohibited to shoplifters, browsers, and teasers.''Many customers didn't notice or paid no heed to the warning, but Ishiguro meant business.``Didn't you see the sign outside? Do you take me for a fool?'' Ishiguro allegedly shouted at a 26-year-old woman when he discovered she wasn't interested in buying a coat she had handled.  He then proceeded to force her to get down on her knees and apologize -- considered the ultimate form of humiliation in Japan -- and coerced her into handing over the 3,000 yen ($27.12) she had in cash as down payment for the coat, priced at 42,000 yen, the report said.A shopping mall association said it had in the past received several similar complaints about Ishiguro, who was said to have, in one instance, kept a customer locked in his store until she agreed to purchase something.Police said Ishiguro denied having made the 26-year-old woman get down on her knees, according to the newspaper. Article © 2000 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2001 www.english-to-go.com TEACHERS' NOTES AND ANSWER KEY Pre-Reading Activities A: Discussion - Answers 1. April 1 2. People play practical jokes on each other B: Talking about Newspapers - Notes You can use newspapers in the students' home language to explain the difference between ordinary newspapers and tabloids. If you cannot find a tabloid, you could make up a front page with the headline "Elvis Presley Seen In New York," or use pictures from a magazine of a movie star and make up an extraordinary rumor such as "Brad Pitt keeps six tigers as pets at his home." If you are not able to do any of this here is a short definition of what a tabloid is, and some of its main features. A tabloid newspaper is one that usually has a small amount of news with lots of pictures. Often there is a large picture on the front page. The news is often about scandal (something that causes the readers to be shocked) or about the lives of celebrities and is sometimes based on rumors (unofficial news that is sometimes untrue). Usually the news is not serious news. C: True or False - Notes Depending on the ability of your class, you could read these stories out loud to your class or give them directly to your class to read in small groups. You could discuss the reasons why students think that some of the articles are true while others are false. C: True or False - Answers All the stories are true. Reading Activities A: Guessing Unfamiliar words - Notes You may like to give students this list of words and their meanings after they have completed Reading Activity A. Students may like to look at it. You may, however, prefer to tell them to go straight on to the next activity, if you are confident that their guesses were fairly accurate. A: Guessing Unfamiliar words - Answers 1. Flab-fatty flesh 2. Absorbing-takes in/sucks in 3. Installed-set up, ready to use 4. Bizarre-very strange or unusual 5. Differentiate-notice a difference between 6. Hoax-joke 7. Convey-to pass on or carry 8. Outdone-to do better than something or someone else 9. Never miss a trick-to know exactly what is going on. 10. Work-out-physical exercise B: Find Evidence - Answers 1. Two newspapers, The Sun and The Daily Mail both played April Fool's jokes on their readers. For example, The Daily Mail made up a story about socks that sucked up body fat while a person worked out at the gym. 2. The Times stated this and showed how difficult it was to distinguish between true news and made up news by providing a true story about slug's slime on their front page on April Fool's Day. 3. For example, The Daily Mail published lots of photos of the fatsox.  D: Summarizing - Suggested Answers Possible examples of headlines are · Baby Beckham Writer at One. · Beat the Traffic Jam · Ref Specs stop Soccer Rage · Lose Fat Fast Post-Reading Activities A: Writing - Notes Part One You may want to read through the poem with your class. Students could practice reading it out loud as it is useful for rhythm practice. Encourage your students to be as creative as they can. If you have a tape recorder get your students to tape themselves reading their stories. This is helpful for pronunciation practice and flow. Later you could use this tape for listening practice for your students. You could put all the stories together to make a book for others to read or the stories could be put on a computer disk to be used as a reading activity for later. Students could do this activity separately , or in groups. Part Two This activity can provide extra reading material or you can use it in a variety of ways such as selecting a portion of it for dictation or you could tape it and have students listen to it, finding the answers for such general questions as: · What are two possible reasons for how April Fool's Day began? · What happens in France on April Fool's Day? · What was one of the first media practical jokes? · How should April Fool's Day be celebrated? B: Discussion - Suggested Answers 1. That we are all foolish or fools at times. 2. Helps to remind you that you are not better than others. 3. If someone plays a practical joke on you, it is best not to get cross but just laugh or ignore it. C: Create a Tabloid - Notes Give each group of 4 or 5 students a large piece of paper for them to write the stories. They will probably want to do some draft copies first before they write on the large sheet of paper. Otherwise they could type their stories on a computer and then stick them on the piece of paper. Get students to study the front pages of newspapers first. Make sure they write headlines for their stories. This activity will probably take at least a couple of days. Students can use pictures from magazines, use their own photos or draw pictures. They may even want to add some creative advertising in. Once all the front pages are complete then make sure your students read the other front pages.