Slide 1 :
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services Welcome to Read and Talk ESL. Today we will.
Read several short news articles.
Discuss the content of the news articles, and hopefully enjoy a lively conversation.
Please note: this is a fluency class, meaning I will be doing minimal correcting. Participants should try to do as much talking as possible to maximize their practice.
Let’s get started.
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services Warm-Up…answer the questions
What is your favorite large animal? Why?
When large animals such as horses break a leg, why is it difficult for the broken bone to heal properly?
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services Volunteers to read the passage?
A young giraffe in Japan has gained a new lease on life thanks to his devoted keepers and an artificial leg. Keepers at Omoriyama Zoo in Akita, some 450 km (280 miles) north of Tokyo, feared for the life of nine-month-old Taiyo -- "Sun" -- after he fell and broke his right foreleg late in March in a run-in with a zebra. "There was a male zebra in the same enclosure that often butted up against Taiyo, and we believe this may have startled him, and he slipped as he tried to run away," said Katsumi Chiba, a zoo official.
How did the giraffe break his leg?
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services I will read the text aloud,
The limb was promptly placed in a cast, but by mid-April showed signs of necrosis, or tissue death, which threatened to lead to blood poisoning and take the little giraffe's life. "He was so young, still a baby really," said Chiba. He added that Taiyo's robust appetite even after the accident hinted at surprising strength, and inspired the zoo to take unusual steps to save his life.
What happened when they put the leg in a cast?
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services I will read the text aloud,
Several weeks of experiments followed as the frantic keepers pondered what to do, constructing numerous prototype legs out of materials as varied as plastic water pipes to bamboo, before finally succeeding. On Tuesday, about 40 cm (16 inches) of Taiyo's leg was amputated in a six-hour operation -- a massive undertaking due both to his size and the physical delicacy of giraffes, which makes their care difficult. "Even though he's a child, he still weighs more than 200 kg (440 lb) and stands 2.8 meters (9 ft 2 inches) tall," Chiba said.
Make a prediction: What do you think they replaced the leg with?
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services I will read the text aloud,
Taiyo was then fitted with a length of bamboo some 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter with the bottom of a rubber boot attached to prevent slips. The bamboo is being held in place with duct tape and plaster. Taiyo has recovered well, although he still favors his real leg. The long-term prognosis is far from clear, since keepers do not know what will happen as Taiyo grows bigger. "And every time he needs treatment, it will have to be performed under anesthetic," Chiba said. "There may come a point where this may no longer be to his benefit."
Make a prediction: What do you think they replaced the leg with?
Alight Education Services : Grammar:
Look at the following sentences. How are the words in italics different?
i. Keepers feared for the life of the nine-month-old giraffe. ii. The giraffe is nine months old.
In the first sentence nine-month-old is a modifier that describes the age of the giraffe. When the age comes before a noun (e.g. giraffe, baby, man, girl, etc.), hyphens are used between each of the words. In addition, the middle word (e.g. week, month, year, etc.) remains singular.
In the second sentence, there is no noun after nine months old, therefore there are no hyphens and the middle word can be singular or plural (e.g. one year old; two years old). Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Grammar Exercise:
Kayo always loved animals. When she was __________ (1 / year / old), her mother bought her a toy lion. When she was a __________ (6 / year / old) student, she went to the zoo for the very first time with her class.
While watching the penguins with some of her classmates, she noticed that one of them was not swimming like the rest of the penguins. She asked the keeper why that penguin did not swim. The keeper told her that the penguin had an injured wing and did not like to swim. "How old is that penguin?" she asked. "He's __________ (8 / year / old). That's old in penguin years," he replied. Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
What are some unique or different animals that live in your country? Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
How do you feel about the use of animals for medical research? Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
What do you think of hunting? Would you eat an animal that you killed yourself? Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
Do you think it is right to keep wild animals in captivity all their life? Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
Do you think it is a good pattern in general to judge people by their attitude toward animals? Explain why. Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
Do you talk to your pet sometimes? Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Just to talk:
Pets are considered to be a burden to some city dwellers. To what extent do you agree? Alight Education Services
Alight Education Services : Alight Education Services If you enjoyed the class, please leave us a comment.
If you learned something please recommend us to others.
Next class…Wednesday.