Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.
dateline: 20 March 2012
NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈
Belgium Mourns Bus Crash Victims
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
- mourn: to show sadness in memory of people who have died
- head-on:Â straight into with the front first
- elementary: primary; first grades of school
- monitor:Â a person who observes and/or aids
- technical:Â related to machines or electronics
- respond:Â to go to a scene after receiving a call for help
Comprehension Questions
- Where did the crash take place?
- Why were there so many children on the bus?
- What is unknown?
Discussion Question: Prior to the crash, the children had been blogging about how much fun they were having on their ski trip. Why do you think parents of the victims were grateful for this school blog?
show Answershide Answers
Belgium Mourns Bus Crash Victims
Belgium held a national day of mourning on Friday in memory of 28 people who were killed in a bus crash last week. The coach, which was on its way home to Belgium from a ski trip in the Alps, crashed head-on into a tunnel wall in Switzerland. 22 children and all 6 of the adults on board died. The children were 11 and 12-year-olds from two elementary schools. The adults were teachers, drivers and ski monitors. 24 additional students were injured in the accident. It is unknown whether or not the crash was caused by human or technical error. Many emergency workers said it was the worst crash they had ever responded to.
- The crash took place in a tunnel in Switzerland.
- So many children were on the bus because they had been on a school field trip.
- The cause of the head-on crash is unknown.
Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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