Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank

Level 3
1

Advanced

Pre-reading 1

1. If you are a teenager, what kind of thing do you enjoy reading most? 2. Make a short list of five before you read the article below. 3. If you are not a teenager, guess the kind of things they like reading!

Pre-reading 2

Look at the following lists (which are not in the right order!). One is the top ten favourites of young British teenagers; the other is the kind of thing they hate reading most. Which do you think is which? Facebook The Beano Magazine articles about skinny celebrities Music (scores) / the Harry Potter series / maps/directions Shakespeare Encyclopedias and dictionaries Financial Times / anything in another language Books of over 100 pages Books assigned by school/teachers Homework Books by Anthony Horowitz Film scripts My own blog or fan fiction Bliss magazine / online song lyrics Online computer game cheats The Harry Potter series BBC Online / the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson books by Louise Rennison Anne Franks diary Heat magazine The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis

Pre-reading 3

Well, the second list shows the top ten favourites. Which order do you think they came in? Now read the text and see if you were right.

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank / Advanced

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Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank

Level 3 Advanced
followed by Shakespeare, books of over 100 pages and stories about skinny celebrities in magazines although the cover and pages six to 12 of this weeks favourite read Heat are devoted to the subject.

Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank: the reading diary of British teenagers
Shakespeare and homework lose out as Internet competes with books and magazines for attention of young readers Mark Brown, arts correspondent March 27, 2008 1 It may not make all parents leap for joy but a report
published today shows the favourite reading material of young teenagers is Heat magazine. Parents may be more pleased to note that Anne Franks diary, books by Anthony Horowitz and CS Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are also in the top ten. when 11 to 14-year-olds are asked to name their favourite read, followed by teenage girls magazine Bliss, which comes joint second with reading song lyrics online. They are followed by reading computer game cheats advice online, and then reading your own blog or fan fiction. at number five. Proving what a contrary lot teenagers are, Harry Potter is also number eight in the most loathed reading material top ten. Fed Up: Exploring Teenage Reading Habits in the UK Today, which was commissioned by organizers of the National Year of Reading, which Gordon Brown launched in January. diary at number six, Anthony Horowitz novels at eight, the CS Lewis classic at number nine and books by Louise Rennison author of the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series in joint tenth place with BBC Online. Reading, said she was more interested in the shape of the list than the rankings. I think the diversity of the list is really encouraging. I read everything from Jane Austen to Grazia magazine and if you asked adults the same question weve asked teenagers you wouldnt expect James Joyce and Dostoevsky to be there.

8 Evidence that the Facebook phenomenon may be

over is perhaps reflected by it being the ninth most hated read, although the report shows a big rise in online reading. been told off by parents for reading something considered improper. Wilson-Fletcher said: One of the fundamental problems weve got is that we end up being pejorative about certain kinds of reading. Parents should realize reading is not just about books.

9 It also reveals that 45% of young teenagers have

2 The celebrity gossip and news magazine comes top

10 She said the amount of online reading should be

celebrated. Young people are web natives exposed to a wider variety of reading material than any previous generation through the explosion of digital media. It seems not all adults are comfortable with this shift and are often discouraging teens from taking advantage of this new reading landscape. young people have the opportunity to read widely. It is wonderful that 80% of the teenagers surveyed write their own stories and keep up-to-date with current affairs by using sites like BBC Online. listed online computer game cheats as their favourite read, while online song lyrics came second. Nearly a third of boys said they loved reading because it helped them get better at hobbies. Girls took a different approach, with 39% saying they loved reading because it provided an escape, or quiet time to enjoy on their own.

3 The first books in the list are the Harry Potter series

11 The schools minister, Jim Knight, said: It is vital that

4 The results are contained in a report called Read Up,

12 Also revealed is a gender divide. Among boys, 41%

5 Other books on the favourites list are Anne Franks

6 Honor Wilson-Fletcher, director of the National Year of

13 The survey was compiled by using focus groups from

which the 20 most loved and 20 most loathed reads were assembled. From this, a national conversation about reading was launched, with teenagers logging on to the teen website Pizco to have their say. A total of 1,340 teenagers were surveyed.
Guardian News & Media 2008 First published in The Guardian, 27/03/08

7 Predictably, the most loathed read is homework. It is

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Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank

Level 3 Advanced
Most loathed reads
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Homework Shakespeare Books of over 100 pages Magazine articles about skinny celebrities Books set by school/teachers Encyclopedias and dictionaries The Beano Music (scores) / the Harry Potter series / maps/directions 9. Facebook 10. Financial Times / anything in another language

The lists in full: Most loved reads

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Heat magazine Bliss magazine / online song lyrics Online computer game cheats My own blog or fan fiction The Harry Potter series Anne Franks diary Film scripts Books by Anthony Horowitz The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis 10. BBC Online / the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson books by Louise Rennison

4 Vocabulary development 1: Word search

Find words in the text that mean the following. The paragraph numbers are given to help you. 1. ______________________: jump (1) 2. ______________________: inconsistent and difficult to please (3) 3. ______________________: hated (3) 4. ______________________: order in which they are placed (6) 5. ______________________: variety (6) 6. ______________________: very thin (7) 7. ______________________: surprising thing that happens (8) 8. ______________________: unsuitable (9) 9. ______________________: very critical (9) 10. ______________________: move, change (10)

5 General understanding
Are the following statements True (T) or False (F)? If they are false, say why. 1. The writer thinks most parents would approve of the writer CS Lewis. 2. The teenagers questioned prefer books to magazines. 3. Harry Potter books are both loved and hated. 4. Honor Wilson-Fletcher is not surprised by the results. 5. She thinks reading something is better than reading nothing. 6. Jim Knight is discouraged by the results. 7. Boys and girls read for the same reasons. 8. The survey was conducted online.
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Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank

Level 3 Advanced
6 Collocations A
Some words are often found together. Match the words on the left with their collocations on the right. 1. reading 2. joint 3. song 4. computer 5. fan 7. current 8. gender 9. different 10. focus a. problems b. fiction c. game d. approach e. divide f. second g. groups h. lyrics i. affairs j. material

6. fundamental

7 Collocations B
Now match nine of the collocations with their meaning. a. ____________________: several people brought together to find out their opinions b. ____________________: important things that are happening now c. ____________________: basic difficulties d. ____________________: stories made up about popular stars e. ____________________: the big difference between boys and girls f. ____________________: the words of songs g. ____________________: shared second place h. ____________________: things you can read i. ____________________: another attitude

8 Discussion
1. Do the results of the survey surprise you? 2. How similar is the situation in your country? 3. What do you think explains the situation? 4. How much does it matter what young people read? 5. Why? 6. What would you do to change the situation?

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank / Advanced

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Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank

Level 3 KEY
4 Vocabulary development 1: Word search 6 Collocations A
1. leap 2. contrary 3. loathed 4. ranking 5. diversity 6. skinny 7. phenomenon 8. improper 9. pejorative 10. shift 1. j 2. f 3. h 4. c 5. b 6. a 7. i 8. e 9. d 10. g

Advanced

5 General understanding
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. True False; books dont appear until number four. True True True False; hes glad that they read widely, including BBC online 7. False; see paragraph 12 8. True

7 Collocations B
a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. focus groups current affairs fundamental problems fan fiction gender divide song lyrics joint second reading material different approach

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank / Advanced

CA O N T O FR BE C O DO O M W P W N IA EB LO B SI A L TE DE E D