This is a reading and listening lesson for B2+ students based around the topic of survival skills and myths created by Soleil García Brito. Download the student handout below:
Survival Skills Student Handout Word
Survival Skills Student Handout PDF
Survival Skills!
Reading Prediction
Look at these statements about survival. Are they factual or myths?
a] Anyone can start a fire with just two sticks
b] Boiled water is always 100% safe to drink
c] Reality shows about survival will help you prepare for a dire situation
d] You need to find food right away
e] You need to find water immediately to survive in desert heat
f] You can outrun a bear
g] The best way to stop a shark attack is by punching it in the nose
Matching
Read the texts and match the titles a-g
| In reality, you can survive on just your bodys fat stores for weeks, as long as you have water. Conserving energy, avoiding injury, and sourcing a supply of water are key to surviving, said Ras. Hunting and trapping prey are hit and miss activities which often produce nothing and simply end up expending energy and risking injury or illness. Its extremely rare for someone to die of starvation in a survival situation. Injury, illness, poisoning and exposure are much more likely to result in death. By definition, surviving a situation is short-term, and in the short term a person can be fueled by their fat reserves. | |
| None of us would be here today if our ancestors hadnt mastered the fine art of friction firemaking, but this is a skill to practice on camping trips and backyard outings, said Tony Nester ofAncient Pathways Survival School. Its a big mistake to rely solely on friction firemaking in a survival situation, especially when you could end up in a damp environment. Modern survival is about being prepared and carrying at least three firestarters [waterproof matches, spark-rod, lighter] with you at all times, said Nester. I teach primitive firemaking skills to show my students how to perform the method but find that, even under the best of conditions, it is a challenge and not reliable for most people. | |
| Ive worked as a consultant on several reality shows and these shows are heavily-scripted, said Nester. On one program, there was a crew of 12 people accompanying us, including two staff whose sole job was to drag around coolers filled with double-shot espressos and sandwiches while filming scenes of the host living off the land. Theres nothing romantic or fun about real survivalits only adventure in retrospect. | |
| Running away from a bear is a lost cause: Usain Bolt himself couldnt beat one in a footrace, let alone on uneven terrain. The best thing to do depends on the species. If you encounter a black bear, said Nester, Hold your ground and make yourself look bigopen your coat up, throw your arms up above your headand shout and scream and, a lot of times, theyre as spooked as you are, and will take off. Take the opposite approach with a grizzly: Avoid eye contact, which a bear will perceive to be a challenge. If the bears not approaching, back away slowly. If it charges, simply stand your ground. If you have pepper spray, be ready to use it and pronto. If it makes physical contact with you, cover your vitals and play dead. | |
| Even though its true that sharks get stunned if they get punched in the nose, not many people the strength to do this, especially underwater, said Manighetti. Even if you could manage the strength to hit the nose hard enough, theres a chance your hand could end up getting injured by shark teeth. The best way to scare a shark away is to scratch its eyes or gills, its impossible to overpower these fierce creatures in attack mode. | |
| While boiling water will kill off organisms and germs, it will not clean harmful particulates from the water. For instance, no matter how long you boil chemically contaminated water it wont be safe to drink, said Jack. This same principle applies to stagnant dirty water.If the water you are attempting to purify is visibly dirty or murky, you should filter the water before attempting to boil it. If you dont have a commercial water filter available, then you can either pour the dirty water through a clean fabric [towel or shirt] or leave the water to stand until the sediments sink to the bottom. Then just pour the clean water from the topand then boil. | |
| You will last longer in the heat by holding up in the shade versus searching for water during the afternoon hours, said Nester. If you do run out of water, find a north-facing boulder and sit in the shade; keep covered to prevent evaporative sweat loss; stay off the hot ground by sitting on your pack or a pile of debris; and only move around during the cooler hours of the morning or evening. If you didnt tell anyone about your travel plans, though, rescue will likely take more than a few hours and you should search for water when the temperature drops. |
Text adapted from: //www.theactivetimes.com/15-survival-myths-could-actually-kill-you-slideshow/
Discussion
- Were your predictions from the first task correct?
- Look at the texts again. Why are these things all bad ideas?
Language focus
- Look at the underlined phrases and the words in bold. What do you think they mean?
- Discuss with a partner and take a note of the dependent prepositions, collocations, phrasal verbs and idioms.
- Fill in the gaps with the appropriate preposition or collocation without checking in the texts:
- In reality, you can survive _______ just your bodys fat stores for weeks
- Injury, illness, poisoning and exposure are much more likely to result _______
- Its a big mistake to rely solely _______friction firemaking in a survival situation, especially when you could end _______ in a damp environment.
- including two staff whose sole job was to drag around coolers filled with double-shot espressos and sandwiches while filming scenes of the host living _______ the land.
- Running away from a bear is a _______ cause
- a lot of times, theyre as spooked as you are, and will take_______.
- While boiling water will kill _____ organisms and germs, it will not clean harmful particulates from the water.
- This same principle _______to stagnant dirty water.
- If you do run_______of water, find a north-facing boulder and sit _______the shade.
- you should search for water when the temperature _______.
Video Prediction
You are going to watch a video about surviving in extreme situations. These are the topics; are they good or bad ideas?
- Eating snow for hydration
- Drinking cactus water
- Drinking urine or blood
- Using moss for direction
- Drinking alcohol to stay warm
- Rubbing frostbitten extremities
- Sucking venom from a snake bite
- Peeing on a jellyfish sting
VIDEO: Click the link 8 Survival Tips
Questions:
Why are they bad ideas?
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
- ____________________________________________________
Video Language Focus
- Read the sentences below and try to fill the gaps
- Watch the video a second time listening for the words in the gaps and compare to your original predictions.
- Too good to be ___________
- Which will dehydrate you and make _______ worse.
- They still dont taste good, but theyll do in a _______.
- Going _______vampire to survive is probably not the best idea.
- But that is the exact _______of what you want if you need to stay warm.
- Not to _______, freeze the water those cells were using to live.
- Try to sit _______ and dont risk doing more harm.
- In other _______, dont do it.
- Youre best _______leaving the treatment to professionals.
- Last but not _______.
Image credit: Chambers Management
Just a quick note
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This is a listening activity for B2+ students based around a Youtube clip of a Joe Lycett stand-up comedy routine on the subject of scammers. Download the handout, teachers notes, full transcript and powerpoint below:
- Joe Lycett Leadin Powerpoint
- Joe Lycett Teachers Notes
- Joe Lycett Student Handout
- Joe Lycett transcript
The video:
Teachers Notes
Lead-in
Use the first slide of the PowerPoint to pre-teach the UK cultural references students will need for the video:
- Class and social status are very important in the UK, this manifests itself in snobbery about supermarkets: Waitrose is a posh expensive supermarket, Aldi is a cheap, lower quality one.
- Dorothy Perkins is a relatively cheap high street clothes shop.
- Gumtree is a popular website where people list many things: properties for rent, things for sale etc.
- A scam is when someone tries to trick someone else out of their money. Common scams include: email scams, social media scams, rental scams, holiday apartment scams [timeshare], fake goods scams [watches, shoes, handbags etc.]
- In pairs students compare their own country with the UK, do these scams exist?
Pre-Listening
Students discuss in pairs.
- Youre going to watch a video of the British comedian Joe Lycett telling a story about how he scammed a scammer via email.
- What do you think hes going to do?
Listening 1
Watch the first part of the video [until 01:26] and answer the question:
- What is the scam? A property scam, to get a viewing of a flat, potential tenants must transfer money using a site called moneytoindia.eu
Now watch again and answer these questions:
- Why does Joe start emailing Gemma? His friend discovers it and realises it is a scam.
- What does Gemma say about the flat? That it is in a beautiful area with parking facilities.
- What does Gemma ask Joe to do? Send $220 and his home address.
Prediction: What is Joe going to do next?
Listening 2
Watch the next part [until 2:06]: Were your predictions correct?
Watch again:
- Where did Joe say he was? In Stockholm
- Where was he really? In his garden in Birmingham drinking prosecco.
- What was Gemmas excuse for not meeting him? That she was in Berlin on a business trip.
Predict: What do you think Joe will do next?
Listening 3
Watch the next part [until 3:28]: Were your predictions correct?
Watch again:
- What does the German phrase Joe uses mean? I know this is a scam.
- How did Joe make his story more convincing? By including a photo of himself in Berlin from a previous holiday.
- How did Joe finish the latest email? By saying he was going to contact the FBI to check Gemma out.
Predict: What do you think will happen next?
Listening 4
Watch the rest of the video: Were your predictions correct?
- How did Gemma react to Joes email about the FBI? She panicked and sent lots of emails.
- How did Joe give Gemma a taste of her own medicine? By asking her to send him $300 to cancel the FBI check.
- What did Gemma say in her last email? That she was sorry and would try to live a better life.
Reaction
- What did you think of the video?
Decoding Transcript Work KEY
Watch the first part of the video again and fill in the gaps in the transcript with what you hear:
Part 1
So this is my favorite thing thats come as a result of me being a bit weird with somebody online. A friend of mine was looking for somewhere to live in London, which as Im sure youre aware is quite expensive, quite difficult increasingly.
He found somewhere on gumtree that looked kind of promising did a bit of emailing back and forth and realized pretty quickly this is probably a scam and so he sent all the emails that hed done already over to me and just did the subject heading: do your absolute worst. A girl called Gemma, who was supposedly advertising this property, I sent her a fresh email, I said: Hello Gemma Im contacting you regarding the apartment listed on Gumtree, Im interested in a viewing and wanted to arrange, regards Joe Lycett. I used my own name on this one.
Discussion
- Is this a good way to deal with scammers?
- Do similar scams exist in your country?
- Have you ever been a victim of a scam?
- What do you think of this type of comedy? Do you find it funny?
- Which other stand-up comedians do you like? Have you ever been to a live show?
- Did you enjoy this activity?
Extra Support
If students are struggling to understand the text, try slowing the speed down on youtube, or give them the full transcript as a last resort.
Image Credit:blogs.thisismoney.co.uk
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This is a listening lesson for high B1+. I designed this lesson for my DELTA receptive skills assessed class. Its based around a listening text fromSpeak Out Upper-Intermediate [Pearson], in which a woman describes how she had her bag stolen while sitting in a café. I chose this text because this type of crime is an extremely common occurence here in Barcelona.
Below you can download the lesson procedure, students and teachers handout, an annotated version of the transcript and the listening file.
Lesson Procedure
Lisas bad day student handout
Lisas bad day Teachers copy
Audio file
The most important thing to bearin mind is that this is a class which focuses on developing students listening skills rather than simply testing their comprehension of a text so feel free to replay sections of the text as many times as it takes for them to get the message.
Its important to follow the steps as laid out in the procedure. The pre-listening tasks, in which students make predictions about what will happen next, aid students in their comprehension as they are given the opportunity to apply their own knowledge and experience to the text.
After listening the language focus section on connected speech will help students to identify and decipher fast connetced speech, for example, the pronunciation of past modals cant/must/might have. Im currently working on my grammar assessment class in which I will come back to past modals of speculation. It should make a good follow-up class to this one so watch this space.