A man named Amanj Ali had a chicken shop and called it “Tesla Chicken & Pizza.” He wanted his shop to have a cool name like the famous car company, Tesla. But Tesla, the car company, didn’t like that he used their name. They said people might get confused and think the chicken shop was part of their car company. So, they told a special office that decides on names that they didn’t want the chicken shop to use the name “Tesla.” The office agreed with the car company, and now the chicken shop owner has to pay a lot of money.

Amanj Ali liked the name Tesla because it was also the name of a smart man who made many inventions a long time ago. But after a while, the car company said they didn’t want him to use the name for his chicken shop. They went to court, and the court said the car company was right. This made Amanj very sad and worried because he had to spend a lot of money on this problem. He even said he lost sleep and had a hard time working because he was so stressed about it.

Original news source: Bury chicken shop boss loses £12,000 in Tesla trademark row (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Each group will take turns choosing a word or phrase related to the article and acting it out without speaking. The other groups will try to guess what the word or phrase is. The group that guesses correctly gets a point. Play for a designated amount of time and see which group has the most points at the end.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Give each student a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Choose vocabulary words from the article and write them on slips of paper. Each student will take turns choosing a slip of paper and drawing a picture to represent the word. The rest of the class will try to guess what the word is based on the drawing. The student who guesses correctly gets to choose the next word to draw.

– Headline Creation
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Give each group a set of headlines related to the article, such as “Chicken Shop Fights Car Company Over Name” or “Tesla vs. Chicken: Name Battle in Court.” Each group will choose a headline and create a short news article or summary based on the headline. They can then share their articles with the rest of the class.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Write a question on the board related to the article, such as “Do you think the chicken shop should be allowed to use the name Tesla?” Have each student write their answer on a piece of paper and collect them. Discuss the different opinions as a class, allowing students to share their reasons for their answers.

– Future Predictions
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Each group will take turns making predictions about what will happen next in the story. They can base their predictions on the information in the article or use their imagination. Have each group share their predictions with the rest of the class and discuss the likelihood of each prediction.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What did the man name his chicken shop?
2. Why didn’t the car company like that the chicken shop had the same name?
3. Who decided that the chicken shop couldn’t use the name “Tesla”?
4. Why did the man like the name “Tesla”?
5. What happened when the car company and the chicken shop owner went to court?
6. How did the chicken shop owner feel after the court decision?
7. Why did the chicken shop owner have a hard time working?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A man named Amanj Ali had a chicken shop and called it “(1)______ Chicken & Pizza.” He (2)______ his shop to have a cool name like the famous car company, Tesla. But Tesla, the car company, didn’t like that he used their name. They said people might get confused and think the chicken shop was part of their car company. So, they told a special office that (3)______ on names that they didn’t want the chicken shop to use the name “Tesla.” The office (4)______ with the car company, and now the chicken shop owner has to pay a lot of money.

Amanj Ali liked the name Tesla because it was also the name of a smart man who made (5)______ inventions a long time ago. But after a (6)______, the car company said they didn’t want him to use the name for his chicken shop. They went to (7)______, and the court said the car company was right. This made (8)______ very sad and worried because he had to spend a lot of money on this problem. He even said he lost sleep and had a hard time working because he was so stressed about it.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a chicken shop?
2. How would you feel if someone told you that you couldn’t use the name you wanted for your shop?
3. Do you like the name “Tesla Chicken & Pizza”? Why or why not?
4. What is a car company?
5. How do you think Amanj felt when the court said he couldn’t use the name?
6. Do you think it’s fair that Amanj has to pay a lot of money because of the name? Why or why not?
7. What is a court?
8. How do you think Amanj felt when he couldn’t sleep because he was worried about the problem?
9. Have you ever had a problem that made you feel stressed? What was it?
10. Do you think it’s important to have a cool name for a shop? Why or why not?
11. What is an invention?
12. How do you think Amanj will feel now that he can’t use the name “Tesla” for his chicken shop?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. inventions
2. confused
3. court
4. stressed
5. company
6. office
7. agree
8. problem
9. discover
10. famous

Meanings:
(A) Something that is hard to solve or makes things difficult
(B) A group of people who work together to make or sell things
(C) Feeling very worried or upset
(D) Known by a lot of people
(E) When people think the same thing or say “yes” together
(F) A place where people work at desks and talk on phones
(G) To find something for the first time
(H) A place where people decide who is right and who is wrong
(I) Things that someone made for the first time
(J) When your brain can’t understand something clearly
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What was the name of the chicken shop?
(a) Chicken & Pizza
(b) Tesla Chicken & Pizza
(c) Chicken Shop
(d) Pizza Shop

2. Why did Tesla, the car company, not want the chicken shop to use their name?
(a) They didn’t like chicken
(b) They thought people might get confused
(c) They wanted to open their own chicken shop
(d) They didn’t like the taste of the chicken

3. Who was the man who owned the chicken shop?
(a) Amanj Ali
(b) Tesla
(c) The car company
(d) The court

4. What did the court say about using the name “Tesla” for the chicken shop?
(a) The chicken shop was right
(b) Both were right
(c) Neither were right
(d) The car company was right

5. How did Amanj feel after the court said he couldn’t use the name “Tesla”?
(a) Sad and worried
(b) Happy and excited
(c) Angry and frustrated
(d) Confused and curious

6. Why did Amanj like the name Tesla?
(a) It was the name of a famous chicken recipe
(b) It was the name of his favorite car
(c) It was the name of his favorite pizza topping
(d) It was the name of a smart man who made inventions

7. What did the car company do when they didn’t want the chicken shop to use their name?
(a) They opened their own chicken shop
(b) They changed their name to “Tesla Chicken & Pizza”
(c) They went to court
(d) They started selling chicken in their car showrooms

8. What did Amanj have to spend a lot of money on?
(a) Buying a new car
(b) Opening a new chicken shop
(c) The problem with the car company
(d) Making new inventions

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. The court agreed with the car company, which made the chicken shop owner very sad and worried.
2. The car company told a special office that decides on names about the chicken shop.
3. The chicken shop owner enjoyed the name because it was also the name of a clever man who created many inventions.
4. The office agreed with the car company and said the chicken shop couldn’t use the name.
5. The chicken shop owner has to pay a lot of money because of this problem.
6. The car manufacturer mentioned people could get confused and believe the chicken shop was affiliated with their company.
7. A man named Amanj Ali had a chicken shop with a name like a known car brand.
8. The car company approved of the chicken shop using their name.
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 the car company not want the chicken shop to use the name “Tesla”?
2. Who did the car company tell about the chicken shop using their name?
3. What did the special office decide about the chicken shop’s name?
4. How did Amanj Ali feel when the court said the car company was right?
5. Why did Amanj Ali have a hard time working because of this problem?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What did the man name his chicken shop?
The man named his chicken shop “Tesla Chicken & Pizza.”

2. Why didn’t the car company like that the chicken shop had the same name?
The car company didn’t like it because they thought people might get confused and think the chicken shop was part of their car company.

3. Who decided that the chicken shop couldn’t use the name “Tesla”?
A special office that decides on names agreed with the car company and decided that the chicken shop couldn’t use the name “Tesla.”

4. Why did the man like the name “Tesla”?
The man liked the name “Tesla” because it was also the name of a smart man who made many inventions a long time ago.

5. What happened when the car company and the chicken shop owner went to court?
The court said that the car company was right and the chicken shop owner couldn’t use the name “Tesla” for his shop.

6. How did the chicken shop owner feel after the court decision?
The chicken shop owner felt very sad and worried after the court decision.

7. Why did the chicken shop owner have a hard time working?
The chicken shop owner had a hard time working because he was so stressed and lost sleep because of the court problem.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) Tesla
(2) wanted
(3) decides
(4) agreed
(5) many
(6) while
(7) court
(8) Amanj
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. inventions
Answer: (I) Things that someone made for the first time

2. confused
Answer: (J) When your brain can’t understand something clearly

3. court
Answer: (H) A place where people decide who is right and who is wrong

4. stressed
Answer: (C) Feeling very worried or upset

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

6. office
Answer: (F) A place where people work at desks and talk on phones

7. agree
Answer: (E) When people think the same thing or say “yes” together

8. problem
Answer: (A) Something that is hard to solve or makes things difficult

9. discover
Answer: (G) To find something for the first time

10. famous
Answer: (D) Known by a lot of people
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What was the name of the chicken shop?
Answer: (b) Tesla Chicken & Pizza

2. Why did Tesla, the car company, not want the chicken shop to use their name?
Answer: (b) They thought people might get confused

3. Who was the man who owned the chicken shop?
Answer: (a) Amanj Ali

4. What did the court say about using the name “Tesla” for the chicken shop?
Answer: (d) The car company was right

5. How did Amanj feel after the court said he couldn’t use the name “Tesla”?
Answer: (a) Sad and worried

6. Why did Amanj like the name Tesla?
Answer: (d) It was the name of a smart man who made inventions

7. What did the car company do when they didn’t want the chicken shop to use their name?
Answer: (c) They went to court

8. What did Amanj have to spend a lot of money on?
Answer: (c) The problem with the car company
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. The court agreed with the car company, which made the chicken shop owner very sad and worried. (Answer: True)
2. The car company told a special office that decides on names about the chicken shop. (Answer: True)
3. The chicken shop owner enjoyed the name because it was also the name of a clever man who created many inventions. (Answer: False)
4. The office agreed with the car company and said the chicken shop couldn’t use the name. (Answer: True)
5. The chicken shop owner has to pay a lot of money because of this problem. (Answer: True)
6. The car manufacturer mentioned people could get confused and believe the chicken shop was affiliated with their company. (Answer: False)
7. A man named Amanj Ali had a chicken shop with a name like a known car brand. (Answer: False)
8. The car company approved of the chicken shop using their name. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧