A woman in Thailand got in trouble after people saw a video of her with a baby lion in a fancy car. The lion was with a man from Sri Lanka who is not in Thailand anymore. People can have lions in Thailand, but they need to tell the government about them. Many people are upset and worried about the baby lion and other special animals.

The video on the internet shows the baby lion with a chain around its neck in a very expensive car. The woman, whose name is Sawangjit, is friends with the man from Sri Lanka. They drove the lion around a city called Pattaya, and many people stopped to look. Now, some people say Thailand should make stronger rules about keeping special animals.

The police took the woman because Thailand is trying to stop people from selling wild animals that are in danger. Thailand is a place where people often bring animals like lions, tigers, and elephants to sell them. The story of the baby lion shows that the country needs to work harder to protect these animals. People who care about animals want tougher punishments for those who sell them illegally and want more people to learn how to take care of special animals the right way.

Original news source: Thailand: Lion filmed riding in open-top Bentley (BBC)

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair a copy of the article. Instruct them to read the article together and then summarize the main points in 2-3 sentences. After they have finished, have a few pairs share their summaries with the class.

– Word Association
Instructions: Write the word “lion” on the board. Tell the class to brainstorm as many words as they can that are related to lions. Give them a time limit of 2 minutes. After the time is up, ask each student to share one word they came up with. Write their words on the board. Encourage students to explain why they chose each word.

– Keyword Hangman
Instructions: Choose 5-7 keywords from the article and write the number of letters for each word on the board, using underscores. Play a game of hangman with the class, where they guess letters to try and figure out the keywords. Give hints if necessary. After each keyword is guessed, discuss its meaning and relevance to the article.

– Headline Creation
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a blank piece of paper. Instruct them to create a catchy newspaper headline related to the article. Encourage them to be creative and think of attention-grabbing titles. After they have finished, have each group share their headline with the class and explain why they chose it.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write 5-7 vocabulary words from the article on separate index cards. Divide the class into two teams. One student from each team comes to the front of the class. Show them a vocabulary word and give them 30 seconds to draw a picture representing that word. The team members must guess the word based on the drawing. After each round, switch the students at the front and continue until all the words have been used. The team with the most correct guesses wins.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What did people see in the video of the woman from Thailand?
2. Why did the woman get in trouble?
3. Can people have lions in Thailand without telling the government?
4. What did the baby lion have around its neck in the video?
5. Where did the woman and the man from Sri Lanka drive the lion?
6. Why did the police take the woman?
7. What do some people want Thailand to do about keeping special animals?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A woman in (1)______ got in trouble after (2)______ saw a video of her with a baby lion in a fancy car. The lion was with a man from Sri Lanka who is not in Thailand anymore. People can have lions in Thailand, but they need to (3)______ the government about them. Many people are upset and worried about the (4)______ lion and other special animals.

The video on the (5)______ shows the baby lion with a chain around its neck in a very expensive car. The woman, whose name is Sawangjit, is friends with the man from Sri (6)______. They drove the lion around a city called Pattaya, and many people stopped to (7)______. Now, some people say Thailand should make stronger rules about keeping special animals.

The police took the woman because Thailand is (8)______ to stop people from selling wild animals that are in danger. Thailand is a (9)______ where people often bring animals like lions, tigers, and elephants to sell them. The story of the baby lion shows that the country needs to (10)______ harder to protect these animals. People who care about animals (11)______ tougher punishments for those who sell them illegally and want more people to (12)______ how to take care of special animals the right way.
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💬 Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a baby lion?
2. How would you feel if you saw a baby lion in a fancy car?
3. Do you like animals like lions, tigers, and elephants? Why or why not?
4. Do you think people should be allowed to have special animals like lions as pets? Why or why not?
5. What do you think about the woman and the man driving the baby lion around the city?
6. How do you think the baby lion felt with a chain around its neck?
7. Do you think Thailand should make stronger rules about keeping special animals? Why or why not?
8. Why do you think the police took the woman?
9. What do you think about people who sell wild animals illegally?
10. Do you think there should be tougher punishments for those who sell wild animals illegally? Why or why not?
11. How do you think we can protect special animals like lions, tigers, and elephants?
12. Would you like to learn how to take care of special animals? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. trouble
2. fancy
3. government
4. upset
5. chain
6. Pattaya
7. stronger
8. selling
9. wild
10. protect
11. punishments
12. illegally

Meanings:
(A) The group of people who make the rules in a country
(B) Animals that live outside and are not tamed by people
(C) Doing something against the rules or the law
(D) A series of metal rings linked together, often used to hold something
(E) A city in Thailand
(F) To keep someone or something safe from harm or danger
(G) Very nice and expensive
(H) Consequences or penalties for doing something wrong
(I) More powerful or effective
(J) Feeling sad or angry
(K) When you are in a situation where you might be punished
(L) Giving something to someone else in exchange for money
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Why did the woman in Thailand get in trouble?
(a) She was friends with a man from Sri Lanka.
(b) She drove the lion around a city called Pattaya.
(c) She was seen with a baby lion in a fancy car.
(d) She did not tell the government about the lion.

2. What do people need to do if they want to have lions in Thailand?
(a) They need to drive them around in fancy cars.
(b) They need to be friends with people from Sri Lanka.
(c) They need to tell the government about them.
(d) They need to sell them illegally.

3. What did the video on the internet show?
(a) The baby lion with a chain around its neck in a fancy car.
(b) The woman named Sawangjit driving a very expensive car.
(c) People stopping to look at the baby lion in Pattaya.
(d) The man from Sri Lanka playing with the baby lion.

4. Why did the police take the woman?
(a) Thailand is trying to stop people from selling wild animals.
(b) The woman did not tell the government about the lion.
(c) The woman was friends with a man from Sri Lanka.
(d) The woman drove the lion around a city called Pattaya.

5. What does the story of the baby lion show?
(a) People often bring animals like lions, tigers, and elephants to Thailand.
(b) The woman named Sawangjit wants to sell the baby lion.
(c) The man from Sri Lanka is not in Thailand anymore.
(d) Thailand needs to work harder to protect special animals.

6. What do people who care about animals want?
(a) More people to learn how to take care of special animals.
(b) Tougher punishments for those who sell animals illegally.
(c) Thailand to make stronger rules about keeping special animals.
(d) All of the above.

7. Why do people want tougher punishments for those who sell animals illegally?
(a) To stop people from driving fancy cars.
(b) To make Thailand a better place for animals.
(c) To make more people learn about special animals.
(d) To protect animals that are in danger.

8. What do people want more of?
(a) Wild animals to be sold in Thailand.
(b) People to learn how to take care of special animals.
(c) Lions, tigers, and elephants in Thailand.
(d) All of the below.

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. Thailand wants to encourage people to sell wild animals that are in danger, so they took the woman into custody.
2. They parked the lion around a city called Pattaya, and few people stopped to look.
3. The woman’s name is Sawangjit, and she is friends with the man from Sri Lanka.
4. In Thailand, people cannot have lions, and they don’t need to tell the government about them.
5. The video on the internet shows the baby lion with a chain around its neck in a very expensive car.
6. A woman in Thailand got in trouble for having a baby lion in her fancy car.
7. The baby lion was with a woman from Sri Lanka, and she is not in Thailand anymore.
8. Many people are upset and worried about the baby lion and other special animals.
Go to answers ⇩

📝 Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What happened to the woman in Thailand after people saw a video of her with a baby lion in a fancy car?
2. Can people have lions in Thailand? What do they need to do if they want to have a lion?
3. What did the video on the internet show? Where did the woman and the man from Sri Lanka drive the lion?
4. Why did the police take the woman? What is Thailand trying to stop people from doing?
5. What do people who care about animals want?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What did people see in the video of the woman from Thailand?
People saw the woman with a baby lion in a fancy car in the video.

2. Why did the woman get in trouble?
The woman got in trouble because she did not tell the government about having the lion.

3. Can people have lions in Thailand without telling the government?
No, people cannot have lions in Thailand without telling the government.

4. What did the baby lion have around its neck in the video?
The baby lion had a chain around its neck in the video.

5. Where did the woman and the man from Sri Lanka drive the lion?
The woman and the man from Sri Lanka drove the lion around a city called Pattaya.

6. Why did the police take the woman?
The police took the woman because Thailand is trying to stop people from selling wild animals illegally.

7. What do some people want Thailand to do about keeping special animals?
Some people want Thailand to make stronger rules and punishments for those who sell special animals illegally and to educate more people about how to take care of them properly.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) Thailand
(2) people
(3) tell
(4) baby
(5) internet
(6) Lanka
(7) look
(8) trying
(9) place
(10) work
(11) want
(12) learn
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. trouble
Answer: (K) When you are in a situation where you might be punished

2. fancy
Answer: (G) Very nice and expensive

3. government
Answer: (A) The group of people who make the rules in a country

4. upset
Answer: (J) Feeling sad or angry

5. chain
Answer: (D) A series of metal rings linked together, often used to hold something

6. Pattaya
Answer: (E) A city in Thailand

7. stronger
Answer: (I) More powerful or effective

8. selling
Answer: (L) Giving something to someone else in exchange for money

9. wild
Answer: (B) Animals that live outside and are not tamed by people

10. protect
Answer: (F) To keep someone or something safe from harm or danger

11. punishments
Answer: (H) Consequences or penalties for doing something wrong

12. illegally
Answer: (C) Doing something against the rules or the law
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Why did the woman in Thailand get in trouble?
Answer: (c) She was seen with a baby lion in a fancy car.

2. What do people need to do if they want to have lions in Thailand?
Answer: (c) They need to tell the government about them.

3. What did the video on the internet show?
Answer: (a) The baby lion with a chain around its neck in a fancy car.

4. Why did the police take the woman?
Answer: (a) Thailand is trying to stop people from selling wild animals.

5. What does the story of the baby lion show?
Answer: (d) Thailand needs to work harder to protect special animals.

6. What do people who care about animals want?
Answer: (b) Tougher punishments for those who sell animals illegally.

7. Why do people want tougher punishments for those who sell animals illegally?
Answer: (d) To protect animals that are in danger.

8. What do people want more of?
Answer: (b) People to learn how to take care of special animals.
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. Thailand wants to encourage people to sell wild animals that are in danger, so they took the woman into custody. (Answer: False)
2. They parked the lion around a city called Pattaya, and few people stopped to look. (Answer: False)
3. The woman’s name is Sawangjit, and she is friends with the man from Sri Lanka. (Answer: True)
4. In Thailand, people cannot have lions, and they don’t need to tell the government about them. (Answer: False)
5. The video on the internet shows the baby lion with a chain around its neck in a very expensive car. (Answer: True)
6. A woman in Thailand got in trouble for having a baby lion in her fancy car. (Answer: True)
7. The baby lion was with a woman from Sri Lanka, and she is not in Thailand anymore. (Answer: False)
8. Many people are upset and worried about the baby lion and other special animals. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧