photo Tara Benwell 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: 14 March 2018

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Stephen Hawking Dies at 76

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • physicist: an expert in the study of matter and energy (e.g., heat, light, atoms)
  • ALS: a motor neuron disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
  • black hole: an invisible region in space with an intense gravitational force
  • general relativity: the modern theory of gravitation, proposed by Einstein
  • quantum theory: a theory explaining the basic behaviour of matter and energy
  • cosmology: the study of the origin of the universe

Stephen Hawking Dies at 76

World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. Hawking was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 21 and was by doctors he had about two years to live. For the next five decades, the British physicist studied the of the universe and the behaviour of black holes. Hawking, who was also a mathematics professor, brought together two of physics: general relativity and quantum theory. He became famous in 1988 after his best seller on cosmology, A Brief History of Time. His lifelong goal was to gain a complete understanding of the origin of the . He was born exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo and died on March 14, Einstein’s birthday.

Comprehension Questions

  1. Who was Stephen Hawking?
  2. What made Hawking famous?
  3. Why was Hawking’s birthdate and death date significant?

Discussion Questions

In his final months on earth, Stephen Hawking warned that the next 200 years would be crucial for humanity. He believed humans would need to spread out to other planets in order to survive as a species. Do you agree with Hawking’s warning and belief?

show Answers

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.
© EnglishClub.com
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