Weekly Newscast January 9, 2015: Learning English With CBC Edmonton

Learning English with
CBC Edmonton
Weekly newscast
January 9th, 2015
Lessons prepared by Barbara Edmondson & Justine Light

www.alberta.ca
http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/learning-english/
CBC 2015 Permission is granted reproduction of these pages for educational purposes only.
For more information on copyright please see http://www.cbc.ca/permissions/
News story #1
Terrorist Attack in France
Did you hear about the terrorist attacks in France last week? Discuss what you know about the
situation with your group/partner. This story will provide more information about the incident.
Vocabulary Before you listen to the first news story, complete this vocabulary activity. It will help
you to understand the listening more easily. Use the vocabulary words below to complete the
sentences. Answers are in the appendix.
condolence
an expression of sympathy to someone who is feeling sorrow or grief
defiance
contempt, expressing how terrible or horrible something is
slogan
a saying or phrase used to represent a product or issue
condemnation strong disapproval
suspect
person believed to have committed a crime
rampage
uncontrolled behaviour
tactical
military unit that carefully plans their attack
hostage
person taken against his/her will and used by the kidnapper to gain something
incident
event or situation
Extra definitions to help you understand the reading:
depictions- pictures that represent or show something meaningful
1. When someone dies we express our ____________________ to their family.
2. There was an unbelievable ___________________of terrorism in Paris last week.
3. Three __________________ were involved in the terrorist attacks.
4. After the shooting ___________________ the terrorists ran from the police.
5. In two different situations the terrorists took ___________________, who were later freed.
6. The Paris police used a _________________ team to search for and kill the shooters.
7. After the terrorist attacks there was _____________ from Muslim leaders around the world.
8. A __________________ is being used to help people remember and support the newspaper
Charlie Hebdo that was attacked.
9. People around the world are expressing _________________ over the shootings in Paris.
Now listen to the first news story from the audio file.
Listening Activity: Short Answer

Read and answer the questions below. Answers are in the appendix.
1. What spread quickly around the world after the terrorist attack in Paris on Wednesday?
2. What slogan are protestors using to protest the killings?
3. Why were protestors waving pens, pencils and paper outside of the newspaper office?
4. How many people were killed by masked gunmen at the newspaper office?
5. Why did the suspects target the newspaper Charlie Hebdo?
6. How were the three suspects killed on Friday?
Discussion Question
Do you think the number of terrorist attacks is increasing? Do you fear this situation could happen
where you live? Is there anything we can do to prevent these types of terrorist activities?
News story #2
Murder in Edmonton
Do you know about the mass murder in Edmonton last week? Why are people around the city shocked
by this event? This story talks about the funeral for the victims and the events of that tragic day.
Before you listen to the second news story, complete this vocabulary activity. It will help you to
understand the listening more easily.
Vocabulary
Choose the group of synonyms (words with similar meaning) that best match each of the
vocabulary words. Answers are in the appendix.
Answer
Word from the story
Related words
a) griever
1) mass

sad person
2) display
b) a large number
many
3) funeral
c) join
show up
4) mourner
d) show
exhibit
5) attend
e) show respect
celebrate
6) honour
f) memorial service
ceremony
Extra definitions to help you understand the reading:

abbot the head or lead monk in a monastery (church in the Buddhist religion)
in the face of despite; to act in a positive manner even when in a negative situation
Now listen to the second news story from the audio file.
Listening Activity: True/False

Decide whether the statements below are true or false. Write your answer in the blanks. Answers
are in the appendix.
1. ____ Last Tuesday there was a funeral for six people who were killed.
2. ____ All six people were from different families.
3. ____ Less than 150 people attended the funeral.
4. ____ The mourners, led by a Buddhist abbot, prayed for peace and forgiveness.
5. ____ Tien Truong and her family were shot by her boyfriend in North Edmonton.
6. ____ The man shot seven people and then shot himself.

Discussion question
This sad story of murder and suicide began as domestic violence. What is domestic violence? How
can we help people who suffer from violence in their home? How can we end this kind of violence?
News story #3
Gold Medal in Hockey
Did you watch the World Junior Hockey Championships? Do you know what countries participate in
this hockey tournament? This story is about the gold medal game.
Before you listen to the third news story, complete this vocabulary activity. It will help you to
understand the listening more easily.
Vocabulary Match the words with their definitions. Answers are in the appendix.
Answer

Word
1. drought
2. hang on
Definition
a) to openly express how one feels (happy or sad)
b) winner of a tournament
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
beat
championship
at one point
storming
nail biter
emotional
passionate
rivalry
work hard to keep ones place or position

quickly working hard to catch up or achieve something
struggle or sense of competition
to have strong feelings about something
dry time; not having won any games for a long time
one time within a game or set time
to defeat another team; to win
describes something that is tense or suspenseful
Now listen to the third news story from the audio file.
Listening activity: Multiple Choice

Choose the best answer to complete the sentences. Answers are in the appendix.
1. __________________, but Canada's has won a world a) It wasn't easy
b) It was easy
junior gold-medal
2. This win ended ______________ drought.
3. Canada ______________ to beat Russia 5-4 on
Monday night.
4. At one point Canada was up 5-1 before the Russians
came ___________________to make it a nail biter.
5. Canada's joy was increased by the
_______________________ of the gold-medal game.
a) a five year long

b) a long
a) was lucky
b) hung on
a) back from a storm
b) storming back
a) emotional twists and turns
b) passionate twisty road
6. This was another classic game in the ____________ a) serious political competition
b) passionate hockey rivalry
_______________between Canada and Russia.

Discussion Question
Do you watch hockey? Do you know the rules of the game? Try to explain the game to your
partner or group. If you know more about Canadians favorite game talk about the different teams
in the NHL, famous players and your favorite team.
Language Focus
Simple Past
We often use the simple past verb tense when we are reporting the news. The simple past is used
when the action occurred in the past, but is no longer occurring now. In the first story the terrorist
events occurred last week in Paris. The terrorists have been killed. The author uses the past tense
to report the story because the events are not occurring now.
Verbs are grouped into regular and irregular verbs.
To change regular verbs into the past tense we simply add ed, but irregular verbs are changed in
some way to create the past tense. Irregular verbs need to be memorized.
Here are some verbs that appear in the first story
Regular verbs
Irregular verbs
wave waved
spread spread
kill killed
go went
shout shouted
is was/were

Listen to the audio clips for the second and third story again and try to identify all the past tense
verbs you hear. Decide if they are regular or irregular verbs. Answers are in the appendix.
Regular verbs
Story 2

Story 3

Irregular verbs

Practice Write the past tense for the following verbs. Some are regular, others are irregular.
look
watch
become
come
blow
break
do
buy
work
drink
bring
study
give
walk
fight
wash
draw
understand
make
improve
repeat
meet
see
follow
Transcripts of Weekly news stories

Introduction
JANUARY 9TH WEEKLY NEWS STORIES

Hi, this is Don Bell. Youre listening to Learning English with CBC for
January 9th.
TIME
0:00
Story 1
Messages of condolence, outrage and defiance over the Paris terrorist

0:10
attack on a newspaper office spread quickly around the
world Wednesday. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest
the killings and using the slogan "Je Suis Charlie" or "I am Charlie" on
social media. Many people went to Place de la Republique in Paris near
The Charlie Hebdo office where the attack took place. They waved
papers, pencils and pens, expressing support of freedom of speech.
Masked gunmen killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo, including the
newspaper's editor, as they shouted "Allahu akbar!" -- or "Allah is the
greatest". The newspaper's depictions of Islam had drawn
condemnation and threats before. The office was firebombed in 2011.
Two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo shooting rampage and another
suspect in the killing of a Paris policewoman were killed Friday. Tactical
units killed the suspects at two separate hostage-taking incidents - one in
the city, and one in a small town.
Story 2
The photos of six people who were killed in a mass shooting last week
1:44
were on display at a downtown funeral held Tuesday. They were all
members of the same family. Mourner Van Du said "Their place in the
world is no longer here, now they go to the next world." More than 150
mourners attended the memorial service. A Buddhist abbot led the
crowd in prayers for peace and forgiveness in the face of the killings.
The service honoured the family of Tien Truong, who police say was shot
to death by her husband in her north Edmonton home. The shooter also
killed six others in the home, including two young children. He then
drove to southwest Edmonton, where he shot Cyndi Duong before killing
himself in a Fort Saskatchewan restaurant.
Story 3
It wasn't easy, but Canada's has won a world junior gold-medal ending a
five year long drought. Canada hung on to beat Russia 5-4 Monday night
for the championship. At one point Canada was up 5-1 before the
Russians came storming back to make it a nail biter. Canada's joy was
increased by the emotional twists and turns of the gold-medal game,
another classic in the passionate hockey rivalry between Canada and
Russia.
2:57
Answer keys
News story 1
Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
When someone dies we express our condolences to their family.

There was an unbelievable incident of terrorism in Paris last week.
Three suspects were involved in the terrorist attacks.
After the shooting rampage the terrorists ran from the police.
In two different situations the terrorists took hostages , who were later freed.
The Paris police used a tactical team to search for and kill the shooters.
After the terrorist attacks there was condemnation from Muslim leaders around the world.
A slogan is being used to help people remember and support the newspaper Charlie
Hebdo that was attacked.
9. People around the world are expressing defiance /condemnation over the shootings in
Paris.
Listening
1. What spread quickly around the world after the terrorist attack in Paris on Wednesday?
Messages of condolence, outrage and defiance over the Paris terrorist attack on a
newspaper office
2. What slogan are protestors using to protest the killings? "Je Suis Charlie" or "I am Charlie"
3. Why were protestors waving pens, pencils and paper outside of the newspaper office?
To express support of freedom of speech
4. How many people were killed by masked gunmen at the newspaper office? 12
5. Why did the suspects target the newspaper Charlie Hebdo?
Probably because of the newspaper's depictions of Islam which had drawn condemnation
and threats before.
6. How were the three suspects killed on Friday? Tactical units killed the suspects at two
separate hostage-taking incidents - one in the city, and one in a small town.

News story 2
Vocabulary
Answer
b
Word from the story

1) mass
Related words
2) display
b) a large number
many
3) funeral
c) join
show up
a) griever
sad person
4) mourner
d) show
exhibit
5) attend
e) show respect
celebrate
6) honour
f) memorial service
ceremony

Listening
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
__T__ Last Tuesday there was a funeral for six people killed last week.
__F__ All six people were from different families.
__F__ Less than 150 people attended the funeral.
__T__ The mourners, led by a Buddhist abbot, prayed for peace and forgiveness.
__F__ Tien Truong and her family were shot by her boyfriend in North Edmonton.
__T__ The man shot seven people and then shot himself.

News story 3
Vocabulary
Answer
g
c
i
b
h
d
j
a
f
e
Word
1. drought
2. hang on
Definition
a) to openly express how one feels (happy or sad)
b) winner of a tournament
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
beat
championship
at one point
storming
nail biter
emotional
passionate
rivalry
work hard to keep ones place or position

quickly working hard to catch up or achieve something
struggle or sense of competition
to have strong feelings about something
dry time; not having won any games for a long time
one time within a game or set time
to defeat another team; to win
describes something that is tense or suspenseful

Listening
1. __________________, but Canada's has won a world a) It wasn't easy
b) It was easy
junior gold-medal
2. This win ended ______________ drought.
a) a five year long
b) a long
3. Canada ______________ to beat Russia 5-4 on
a) was lucky
Monday night.
4. At one point Canada was up 5-1 before the Russians
came ___________________to make it a nail biter.
5. Canada's joy was increased by the
_______________________ of the gold-medal game.
b) hung on
a) back from a storm
b) storming back
a) emotional twists and turns
b) passionate twisty road
6. This was another classic game in the ____________ a) serious political competition
b) passionate hockey rivalry
_______________between Canada and Russia.

Language Focus
Regular verbs
Story 2
killed
attended
honoured

Story 3

Irregular verbs
were
held
said
led
shot
drove
was
won
hung on
came

look
looked
watch
watched
become
became
come
came
blow
blew
break
broke
do
did
buy
bought
work
worked
drink
drank
bring
brought
study
studied
give
gave
walk
walked
fight
fought
wash
washed
draw
drew
understand
understood
make
made
improve
improved
repeat
repeated
meet
met
see
saw
follow
followed

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Learning English with

Terrorist Attack in France

Listening Activity: Short Answer

Extra definitions to help you understand the reading:

Listening Activity: True/False

Gold Medal in Hockey

work hard to keep ones place or position

Listening activity: Multiple Choice

a) a five year long

Transcripts of Weekly news stories

JANUARY 9TH WEEKLY NEWS STORIES

Messages of condolence, outrage and defiance over the Paris terrorist

When someone dies we express our condolences to their family.

Word from the story

work hard to keep ones place or position

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