A singer named Shakira had to give a lot of money to the people in Spain because they said she did not pay her taxes. She gave them €7.5 million. The people who decide if someone did something wrong wanted to put her in jail for eight years, but she said she did not do anything bad. They said she lived in Spain but told them she lived somewhere else. Shakira said she only gave the money because she loves her kids.

Shakira wants to stop being sad about this money problem. She wants to take care of her kids and sing. She said she makes money from singing in different places, not just Spain. In 2015, she told Spain she lived there and gave them a lot of money for taxes. Shakira used to be with a soccer player named Gerard, and they have two kids. Now, she doesn’t have to go to court and can be happy with her kids and her music.

Original news source: Shakira: Singer settles Spanish tax fraud case with $7.5m fine (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Draw a simple picture on the board representing a key word from the article (e.g., singer, taxes, Spain, jail, money, court, soccer player, music). Divide the class into two teams. One member from each team will come to the board and try to guess the word from the drawing without any verbal clues. The first team to guess the word correctly gets a point.

– News Reporter Role-play
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. One student plays the role of a news reporter, and the other is Shakira. The reporter asks questions about the recent tax issue (e.g., “Why did you have to give money to Spain?”, “How do you feel about the situation?”). Encourage the ‘Shakira’ student to answer using simple sentences and information from the article. Swap roles after a few minutes.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Write a series of simple statements on the board related to the article, such as “People should pay taxes in the country they live in” or “Celebrities are treated unfairly by the media”. Students move to different areas of the classroom to show if they agree, disagree, or are undecided. Then, in small groups, they discuss their opinions using basic English phrases.

– Headline Creation
Instructions: Ask the students to create a catchy newspaper headline that summarizes the main event of the article. Remind them to keep it short and exciting. They can work in pairs or small groups and then share their headlines with the class. Vote on the most effective headline.

– Speed Summarizing
Instructions: Set a timer for 2 minutes. In pairs, students take turns to summarize the article to their partner using only key words and phrases (e.g., “Shakira”, “taxes”, “Spain”, “€7.5 million”, “children”, “court”). Partners listen and try to understand the main points. After both have shared, discuss as a class what the main points of the article are.

Comprehension Questions:

1. What did Shakira have to give to the people in Spain?
2. How much money did Shakira give?
3. How long did the people want to put Shakira in jail for?
4. Why did Shakira give the money?
5. What does Shakira want to do now?
6. When did Shakira tell Spain that she lived there?
7. Who did Shakira have kids with?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A singer (1)______ Shakira had to (2)______ a lot of money to the people in Spain because they said she did not pay her taxes. She gave them €7.5 million. The people who decide if someone did something wrong wanted to put her in jail for eight years, but she said she did not do anything bad. They said she (3)______ in Spain but told them she lived somewhere else. Shakira said she only (4)______ the money because she loves her kids.

Shakira wants to stop being sad about this money problem. She wants to take care of her (5)______ and (6)______. She said she makes money from singing in different places, not just Spain. In 2015, she told Spain she lived there and gave them a lot of (7)______ for taxes. Shakira used to be with a soccer player named Gerard, and they (8)______ two kids. Now, she doesn’t have to go to court and can be happy with her kids and her music.
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Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a singer?
2. Do you like to sing? Why or why not?
3. How would you feel if you had to give your money to someone else?
4. What is money for?
5. Do you think it is important to tell the truth? Why?
6. How do you feel when you are sad?
7. What makes you happy?
8. Do you like to listen to music? What kind?
9. What do you do when you have a problem?
10. Who do you love in your family?
11. Do you think it’s good to take care of kids? Why?
12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. singer
2. money
3. taxes
4. jail
5. Spain
6. kids
7. sad
8. music

Meanings:
(a) Someone who sings songs
(b) Feeling unhappy and crying
(c) Songs that you listen to and dance to
(d) A country in Europe
(e) A place where bad people go when they do something wrong
(f) Children
(g) Coins and paper that you use to buy things
(h) Money that you have to give to the government
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Who had to give a lot of money to the people in Spain?
(a) Gerard
(b) Shakira
(c) Spain
(d) Kids

2. How much money did Shakira give to the people in Spain?
(a) €5 million
(b) €10 million
(c) €7.5 million
(d) €2 million

3. What did the people in Spain want to do to Shakira?
(a) Put her in jail
(b) Give her a reward
(c) Sing with her
(d) Buy her a house

4. Why did Shakira give the money to the people in Spain?
(a) Because she loves Spain
(b) Because she did something bad
(c) Because she wanted to go to jail
(d) Because she loves her kids

5. How does Shakira make money?
(a) Singing in different places
(b) Playing soccer
(c) Selling clothes
(d) Painting pictures

6. What did Shakira tell Spain in 2015?
(a) That she didn’t live there
(b) That she lived there
(c) That she loved Spain
(d) That she wanted to go to jail

7. Who is Shakira’s ex-boyfriend?
(a) Spain
(b) Kids
(c) Gerard
(d) Singer

8. What can Shakira do now?
(a) Go to court
(b) Give more money to Spain
(c) Stop singing
(d) Be happy with her kids and her music

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. Shakira didn’t have to give a lot of money to the people in Spain because they said she did not pay her taxes.
2. In 2015, Shakira didn’t tell Spain she lived there and gave them a lot of money for taxes.
3. Shakira has to go to court now and cannot be happy with her kids and her music.
4. The people who decide if someone did something wrong wanted to put Shakira in jail for eight years.
5. Shakira said she did not do anything bad and that she only gave the money because she loves her kids.
6. Shakira said she doesn’t make money from singing in different places, only Spain.
7. Shakira used to be with a soccer player named Gerard, and they have two kids.
8. Shakira wants to stop being sad about the money problem and take care of her kids and sing.
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. Why did Shakira give money to the people in Spain?
2. How much money did Shakira give to the people in Spain?
3. What did the people who make decisions want to do to Shakira?
4. What does Shakira want to do now instead of being sad?
5. Who did Shakira have two kids with?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What did Shakira have to give to the people in Spain?
Shakira had to give a lot of money to the people in Spain.

2. How much money did Shakira give?
Shakira gave €7.5 million.

3. How long did the people want to put Shakira in jail for?
The people wanted to put her in jail for eight years.

4. Why did Shakira give the money?
Shakira gave the money because she loves her kids.

5. What does Shakira want to do now?
Shakira wants to take care of her kids and sing.

6. When did Shakira tell Spain that she lived there?
Shakira told Spain she lived there in 2015.

7. Who did Shakira have kids with?
Shakira had kids with a soccer player named Gerard.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) named
(2) give
(3) lived
(4) gave
(5) kids
(6) sing
(7) money
(8) have
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. singer
Answer: (a) Someone who sings songs

2. money
Answer: (g) Coins and paper that you use to buy things

3. taxes
Answer: (h) Money that you have to give to the government

4. jail
Answer: (e) A place where bad people go when they do something wrong

5. Spain
Answer: (d) A country in Europe

6. kids
Answer: (f) Children

7. sad
Answer: (b) Feeling unhappy and crying

8. music
Answer: (c) Songs that you listen to and dance to
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Who had to give a lot of money to the people in Spain?
Answer: (b) Shakira

2. How much money did Shakira give to the people in Spain?
Answer: (c) €7.5 million

3. What did the people in Spain want to do to Shakira?
Answer: (a) Put her in jail

4. Why did Shakira give the money to the people in Spain?
Answer: (d) Because she loves her kids

5. How does Shakira make money?
Answer: (a) Singing in different places

6. What did Shakira tell Spain in 2015?
Answer: (b) That she lived there

7. Who is Shakira’s ex-boyfriend?
Answer: (c) Gerard

8. What can Shakira do now?
Answer: (d) Be happy with her kids and her music
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. Shakira didn’t have to give a lot of money to the people in Spain because they said she did not pay her taxes. (Answer: False)
2. In 2015, Shakira didn’t tell Spain she lived there and gave them a lot of money for taxes. (Answer: False)
3. Shakira has to go to court now and cannot be happy with her kids and her music. (Answer: False)
4. The people who decide if someone did something wrong wanted to put Shakira in jail for eight years. (Answer: True)
5. Shakira said she did not do anything bad and that she only gave the money because she loves her kids. (Answer: True)
6. Shakira said she doesn’t make money from singing in different places, only Spain. (Answer: False)
7. Shakira used to be with a soccer player named Gerard, and they have two kids. (Answer: True)
8. Shakira wants to stop being sad about the money problem and take care of her kids and sing. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧