Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.
dateline: 23 November 2016
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10 Writers Invited to French Castle for NaNoWriMo
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
- NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month (November)
- picturesque: attractive, scenic
- non-fiction: true, historic, or real
- participant: a person who is actively taking part in something
- distraction: something that takes your attention away from another thing or person
- hashtag: a pound key (#) followed by a keyword, used in social media to identify a subject
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10 Writers Invited to French Castle for NaNoWriMo
Comprehension Questions
- Who is Derek Murphy and who is he with this November?
- What is the goal of NaNoWriMo?
- Why are some of the #nanocastle participants finishing more quickly than other participants?
Discussion Questions: Approximately 500,000 participants from around the world are attempting the challenge in 2016, NaNoWriMo’s 18th year. Why do you think so many people take this writing challenge every year? Would you consider joining it? Why or why not?
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10 Writers Invited to French Castle for NaNoWriMo
An American author named Derek Murphy is spending National Novel Writing Month in a picturesque castle in southwest France along with ten other writers that he invited. In addition to writing a 50,000 word book in a month, these NaNoWriMo participants are raising awareness about the annual writing challenge that takes place each November. The castle writers are from eight different countries and are working on a variety of projects, including some nonfiction works. Without the regular distractions of everyday life, some of the participants at the castle were able to complete their challenge in under two weeks. These writers are using the hashtag #nanocastle to share stories, pictures, and videos of their unique writing experience.
- Derek Murphy is an American author. He is spending November with ten other writers at a castle in France.
- The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel (or other writing project) in the month of November.
- Some of the #nanocastle participants are finishing more quickly because they don’t have the distractions of everyday life.
Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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