A small cake shop in San Jose, California, had a big problem. They made many small pies for a company called Tesla, but Tesla said they didn’t need them anymore. This made the cake shop lose $2,000. The cake shop owner told everyone on the internet, and Elon Musk, who is in charge of Tesla, said he would give the money back. Many people wanted to help the cake shop, so they had too many orders and couldn’t make more pies for Tesla.

The lady who owns the cake shop was very happy because many people wanted to help. She said thank you to Elon Musk for giving the money back and to everyone who supported her shop. But, because so many people wanted to buy her pies, she couldn’t make enough for Tesla’s new big order. The mayor of the city was also happy and said thank you to everyone for helping the small cake shop. This story shows that when many people come together to help, good things can happen, and it’s important to fix mistakes.

Original news source: Elon Musk eats humble pie over unpaid bakery bill (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into two teams. Write key words from the article on individual slips of paper and put them in a hat. One student from each team will come up to the front and choose a slip of paper. Without speaking, they must act out the word or phrase for their team to guess. The team that guesses correctly earns a point. Continue until all the slips of paper have been used.

– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs, students will take turns summarizing the main points of the article to their partner. They should try to include as much detail as possible. After both partners have shared, they can compare their summaries and discuss any differences.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: In small groups, students will take turns drawing pictures to represent key vocabulary words from the article. The rest of the group must try to guess the word based on the drawing. The student who guesses correctly earns a point. Continue until all the words have been used.

– Keyword Hangman
Instructions: Write key words from the article on the board, leaving out the vowels. Divide the class into two teams. One student from each team will take turns guessing a vowel and a consonant. If their chosen letter is in one of the words, write it in the correct place. If it is not in any of the words, draw a part of the hangman. The first team to correctly guess all the words or the team with the fewest parts of the hangman drawn at the end wins.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions: In small groups, students will discuss the pros and cons of the situation in the article. They should consider both the cake shop’s perspective and Tesla’s perspective. After the discussion, each group can share their ideas with the class and have a class discussion about the different viewpoints.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did the small cake shop lose money?
2. Who is in charge of Tesla?
3. Why was the lady who owns the cake shop happy?
4. Who did the lady say thank you to?
5. Why couldn’t the cake shop make enough pies for Tesla’s new order?
6. Who else was happy about the situation?
7. What does this story teach us?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A small cake shop in San Jose, California, had a big (1)______. They made (2)______ small pies for a company called Tesla, but Tesla said they didn’t need them anymore. This made the cake shop lose $2,000. The cake shop owner told everyone on the internet, and Elon Musk, who is in charge of (3)______, said he would give the money back. Many (4)______ wanted to help the cake shop, so they had too many orders and couldn’t make more pies for Tesla.

The lady who owns the cake shop was very happy because many people wanted to help. She said thank you to Elon Musk for giving the (5)______ back and to everyone who (6)______ her shop. But, because so many people wanted to buy her pies, she couldn’t make enough for Tesla’s new big order. The mayor of the city was also happy and (7)______ thank you to everyone for helping the small (8)______ shop. This story shows that when many people come together to help, good things can happen, and it’s important to fix mistakes.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a cake shop?
2. How would you feel if someone said they didn’t need something you made?
3. Do you like eating cake?
4. Do you think it’s important to help others when they need it?
5. Why do you think the cake shop owner was happy when people wanted to help?
6. What is a mayor?
7. How would you feel if many people wanted to buy something you made?
8. Do you think it’s important to say thank you when someone helps you?
9. Why do you think the cake shop couldn’t make enough pies for Tesla?
10. How would you feel if someone fixed a mistake they made?
11. Why do you think it’s important for people to come together to help?
12. What good things can happen when people come together to help?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. problem
2. company
3. internet
4. support
5. orders
6. pies
7. owner
8. mayor
9. mistake
10. together

Meanings:
(A) Being with others, not alone
(B) A group of people who work together to make or sell things
(C) Yummy round food that you can eat, usually sweet
(D) A place where you can see and learn things on a computer or phone
(E) When people ask you to make or give them something
(F) When something is not right because of an accident or error
(G) When people help you because they like you or your work
(H) The person who helps take care of a city
(I) The person who is in charge of a place, like a shop
(J) When something is wrong or not good
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Who had a big problem?
(a) The small cake shop
(b) The city mayor
(c) Elon Musk
(d) Tesla

2. Who made many small pies for Tesla?
(a) The city mayor
(b) The small cake shop
(c) Elon Musk
(d) The internet

3. How much money did the cake shop lose?
(a) $1,000
(b) $500
(c) $10,000
(d) $2,000

4. Who said they would give the money back?
(a) The small cake shop
(b) The city mayor
(c) Elon Musk
(d) Tesla

5. Why couldn’t the cake shop make more pies for Tesla?
(a) They didn’t want to
(b) They didn’t know how to make pies
(c) They had too many orders
(d) They didn’t have enough money

6. Who was happy because many people wanted to help?
(a) The city mayor
(b) The lady who owns the cake shop
(c) Elon Musk
(d) Tesla

7. Who said thank you to everyone for helping the small cake shop?
(a) The city mayor
(b) Elon Musk
(c) Tesla
(d) The lady who owns the cake shop

8. What does this story show?
(a) When many people come together to help, good things can happen
(b) When many people come together to help, bad things can happen
(c) It’s not important to fix mistakes
(d) It’s important to make mistakes

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. Elon Musk, who is in charge of Tesla, promised to give the money back.
2. A bakery in San Jose, California had a problem because Tesla didn’t want their petite tarts anymore.
3. The bakery owner posted the issue on social media.
4. Many people wanted to help the cake shop.
5. The cake shop owner was happy that many people wanted to help.
6. The bakery gained $2,000 because of Tesla’s decision.
7. The mayor of the city thanked everyone for helping the small cake shop.
8. The bakery received an overwhelming amount of orders and couldn’t fulfill more pie requests for Tesla.
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 was the problem that the small cake shop in California had?
2. Who is in charge of Tesla?
3. What did Elon Musk say he would do to help the cake shop?
4. Why couldn’t the cake shop make more pies for Tesla?
5. Why was the lady who owns the cake shop happy?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why did the small cake shop lose money?
The small cake shop lost money because Tesla said they didn’t need the pies anymore.

2. Who is in charge of Tesla?
Elon Musk is in charge of Tesla.

3. Why was the lady who owns the cake shop happy?
The lady who owns the cake shop was happy because many people wanted to help her.

4. Who did the lady say thank you to?
The lady said thank you to Elon Musk for giving the money back and to everyone who supported her shop.

5. Why couldn’t the cake shop make enough pies for Tesla’s new order?
The cake shop couldn’t make enough pies for Tesla’s new order because they had too many other orders from people who wanted to help.

6. Who else was happy about the situation?
The mayor of the city was also happy about the situation.

7. What does this story teach us?
This story teaches us that when many people come together to help, good things can happen, and it’s important to fix mistakes.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) problem
(2) many
(3) Tesla
(4) people
(5) money
(6) supported
(7) said
(8) cake
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. problem
Answer: (J) When something is wrong or not good

2. company
Answer: (B) A group of people who work together to make or sell things

3. internet
Answer: (D) A place where you can see and learn things on a computer or phone

4. support
Answer: (G) When people help you because they like you or your work

5. orders
Answer: (E) When people ask you to make or give them something

6. pies
Answer: (C) Yummy round food that you can eat, usually sweet

7. owner
Answer: (I) The person who is in charge of a place, like a shop

8. mayor
Answer: (H) The person who helps take care of a city

9. mistake
Answer: (F) When something is not right because of an accident or error

10. together
Answer: (A) Being with others, not alone
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Who had a big problem?
Answer: (a) The small cake shop

2. Who made many small pies for Tesla?
Answer: (b) The small cake shop

3. How much money did the cake shop lose?
Answer: (d) $2,000

4. Who said they would give the money back?
Answer: (c) Elon Musk

5. Why couldn’t the cake shop make more pies for Tesla?
Answer: (c) They had too many orders

6. Who was happy because many people wanted to help?
Answer: (b) The lady who owns the cake shop

7. Who said thank you to everyone for helping the small cake shop?
Answer: (d) The lady who owns the cake shop

8. What does this story show?
Answer: (a) When many people come together to help, good things can happen
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. Elon Musk, who is in charge of Tesla, promised to give the money back. (Answer: True)
2. A bakery in San Jose, California had a problem because Tesla didn’t want their petite tarts anymore. (Answer: False)
3. The bakery owner posted the issue on social media. (Answer: False)
4. Many people wanted to help the cake shop. (Answer: True)
5. The cake shop owner was happy that many people wanted to help. (Answer: True)
6. The bakery gained $2,000 because of Tesla’s decision. (Answer: False)
7. The mayor of the city thanked everyone for helping the small cake shop. (Answer: True)
8. The bakery received an overwhelming amount of orders and couldn’t fulfill more pie requests for Tesla. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧