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January 2010
Level ≥ Lower intermediate
Style ≥ Lesson plan
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of English.
Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to practise English
language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: advanced and lower intermediate. These worksheets
can be downloaded free from guardianweekly.co.uk/learningenglish/. You can also find more advice for
teachers and learners on the site.
Instructions
Lesson focus: reading, revision of adverbs of frequency and offers
Materials sheet: copies of the article
Time: 55 minutes
1 Tell students they are going to read a text about travelling a Passengers on the tube have better/worse manners
on public transport. What is the public transport like in than before.
their area during peak hours? Aim to elicit: busy, crowded, b There are 3.5 million passengers daily/weekly on the
overcrowded. 2 mins tube.
c London Assembly has written a story/report about the
2 Write up the following adverbs (randomly): never, occa- tube.
sionally, sometimes, often, usually, always. Ask students to d The tube is busier/more expensive than other under-
put them in order from never to always. Then go through ground systems.
the meaning of the sentences below as a class. Ask stu- e A lot of Londoners will/won’t give up their seats now.
dents in pairs to think about public transport at busy f Passengers are/aren’t helpful to pregnant women and
times in their town/city. They then complete the sen- people with babies.
tences with an adverb. Class feedback. Students justify g Transport for London plan to spend some/a lot more
their ideas. 10 mins money on the tube.
a Passengers __________ give up their seat to people in need. Answers: a worse b daily c report d busier e won’t f aren’t
b Commuters __________ rush to find a free seat. g a lot
c People __________ queue patiently when they get on a bus
or train. 5 Refer students back to their original sentences from
stage 2. Is the situation in London similar to that in their
3 Show students a map of the London Underground country? Encourage discussion. 5 mins
(downloadable from tfl.gov.uk). Ask: Where is this trans-
6 Tell students they are going to make a TV advert to
port system? London. What is it called? The London
encourage people to give up their seats on the London
Underground, the tube. Has anybody been on it at peak
Underground. They must include a scene showing a
time? What was it like? Explain that the London Assem-
person offering their seat. Go through appropriate offers
bly is the council for London. 3 mins
and responses: Would you like to sit here? Why don’t
you have my seat? Thanks, that’s very kind of you etc.
4 Write up these questions. Check vocabulary. Give out
Students perform their adverts. Conduct evaluation as a
article. Students read and choose the correct word. Class
whole class? 25 mins
feedback. 10 mins
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper
January 2010
3 The tube carries 3.5 million people a day and there are
sometimes four travellers per square metre of carriage
space during peak hours.