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: 01 June 2016

Boy Falls into Cincinnati Gorilla Enclosure

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• enclosure: an area that is closed off from others
• frantically: without control of one’s emotions
• moat: a narrow barrier of water
• tranquilize: to administer a drug that puts an animal to sleep temporarily
• agitated: showing signs of stress and nervousness

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Boy Falls Into Cincinnati Gorilla Enclosure

Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla, was shot and killed by zoo on Saturday after a four-year-old boy into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. The mother of the boy frantically called 911 as the 450-pound gorilla her son through a moat. Zoo officials their decision to kill the animal, saying that tranquilizing him was not an option. The gorilla was already agitated, and a tranquilizer would have resulted in death for the boy.

Comprehension Questions

1. What is the report mainly about?
2. What did the mother do?
3. Why wasn’t a tranquilizer used?

Discussion Questions: Did zoo officials make the right decision by shooting the gorilla, even though it is an endangered species? Why or why not?

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Boy Falls into Cincinnati Gorilla Enclosure
Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla, was shot and killed by zoo officials on Saturday after a four-year-old boy slipped into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. The mother of the boy frantically called 911 as the 450-pound gorilla dragged her son through a moat. Zoo officials defended their decision to kill the animal, saying that tranquilizing him was not an option. The gorilla was already agitated, and a tranquilizer would have resulted in certain death for the boy.

1. The report is mainly about the killing of a gorilla at a zoo in order to save a child’s life.
2. The mother frantically called 911.
3. The gorilla was already agitated and the boy would have likely been killed by the agitated animal (a tranquilizer takes a while to kick in).

Written by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub

Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.

5 Comments

• JOHN MCMAHON says:
  

  What parent NEGLECTS their off-spring to get into these situations. Are these children so stupid not to know where danger lies. Fences are there for a reason. To punish the animal for being in their nature is wrong. Ban parents with out of control kids! Maybe they will learn to control the brats.

• sarah says:
  

  This is a wonderful site > Thanks a lot, for sharing informations , knowledge …I´m so thankful.You do a special work.

• Marietta says:
  

  They had to chooce to save boy’s life, or gorilla’s life. In circumstances like this is difficult to express an opinion. I hope, that this incident will be an opportunity of high-security. for people and animals.

• Norma Alicia Herrera Talamantes says:
  

  I’m Alicia Herrera and I think in situations like that, it must be a fee for whom take children and they don’t take care of them. Maybe put mesh fenses that keeps them away from animales. It’s unfair that animals have to pay with their lives for neglect of people.

• Norbert says:
  

  Bo scared.