News-based English language activities from the global newspaper

March 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 from the Guardian Weekly’s Learning English section on the site.

Surge in teeth grinding linked to recession

Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Instructions
Lesson focus: listening, reading, imperatives, giving advice
Materials sheet: copies of the article and bilingual dictionaries
Time: 55 minutes

1 Tell students the article is about economic problems
in the UK. Ask: How do people feel when there are
such problems? Worried etc. Put up these nouns:
recession, headaches, job losses, worry, redundancies,
stress, anxiety. Students check meanings in bilingual
dictionaries then put words into two columns: a general
problems for the country b people’s personal symptoms.
8 mins
Answers: a recession, job losses, redundancies b
headaches, worry, stress, anxiety
2 Explain the general meaning of grind. Put up these
questions: a What are people doing more often in the
UK? b Why? Read out the first paragraph twice. 5 mins
Answers: a Grinding their teeth. b They are worried
about their jobs.
3 Give out article and questions below. Students read and
choose the correct answers. 15 mins
1 Teeth grinding can leave people with broken teeth
and _____.
a terrible eye problems b bad headaches c neck pain
2 Workers who are _____ suffer most from grinding.
a serious b ill c ambitious
3 Teeth grinding is more common among _____.
a bank workers b sports players c businesswomen
4 Yann Maidment helps patients by giving them _____.
a special plastic teeth b painkillers c bite guards
5 People grind their teeth for up to two hours every _____.
a night b week c month
6 More people are now phoning _____ about the problem.
a their work b a helpline c cosmetic dentists
7 If you grind your teeth, you should _____.
a drink green tea b never drink coffee c never drink
coffee before bed
Answers: 1 b 2 c 3 a 4 c 5 a 6 b 7 c
4 In pairs, students look back at the text and find five
words to check in their bilingual dictionaries. Monitor
and help. Students note down the new words in a short
phrase. 7 mins
5 Ask students: What was the major reason for teeth
grinding? Stress. How can people feel less stressed? Elicit
“Do’s and Don’ts” eg Take regular exercise. Put students
into groups to write a list. 10 mins
6 As a class, look at how these imperatives can be turned
into advice eg Why don’t you take regular exercise?
Put students into new pairs. One student suffers from
terrible stress. The other student gives advice based on
the list. 10 mins