A very old painting by a man named Gustav Klimt was found after many, many years. It was a picture of a lady called Fraulein Lieser and no one had seen it since a long time ago. A family had the painting since the 1960s, but they didn’t know it was so special. People who know about art are very excited and say the painting is worth a lot of money, more than 54 million dollars! Soon, people will have a chance to buy the painting when it is sold.

The painting used to belong to a family a long time ago, but they lost it. Now, the family will get money when the painting is sold. The people who sell paintings looked very carefully and found out that no one took the painting in a bad way during a big war. Paintings by Gustav Klimt are very important and can cost a lot of money. This painting is special because people thought it was gone forever, but now it’s back.

Original news source: Gustav Klimt portrait found after almost 100 years (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Sketch It

Instructions: Give each student a piece of paper and a pencil. Ask them to draw a picture of what they think the painting by Gustav Klimt looks like based on the description in the article. After they are finished, have them share their drawings with a partner and explain why they drew it that way.

– Vocabulary Pictionary

Instructions: Write down 10 vocabulary words from the article on separate pieces of paper. Fold the papers and put them in a hat. Divide the class into two teams. One student from each team will come up and choose a word from the hat. They must then draw a picture on the board to represent the word, while their team tries to guess what word it is. The team that guesses correctly gets a point.

– Keyword Hangman

Instructions: Write down 5 important keywords from the article on the board, leaving out some letters. Divide the class into pairs. One student will choose a keyword and draw a hangman scaffold on their paper. Their partner must then guess letters to try and complete the word. If they guess a correct letter, it is filled in. If they guess a wrong letter, a body part is added to the hangman. The goal is for the partner to guess the word before the hangman is completed.

– Pros and Cons

Instructions: Divide the class into two groups. One group will discuss the pros (positive aspects) of finding the painting, while the other group will discuss the cons (negative aspects). Each group will have a few minutes to brainstorm their ideas. Then, one student from each group will present their ideas to the class. Encourage the students to use the vocabulary and phrases from the article.

– Two Truths and a Lie

Instructions: Have each student write down two true statements and one false statement related to the article. They should not reveal which statement is false. Then, students take turns reading their statements aloud to the class. The rest of the class must guess which statement is the lie. After the class has made their guesses, the student reveals the lie and explains why they chose those statements.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. Who painted the old picture that was found?
2. What is the name of the lady in the picture?
3. How long had it been since anyone had seen the painting?
4. Did the family know the painting was special?
5. How much money is the painting worth?
6. Who will get money when the painting is sold?
7. Why is this painting special?
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🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A very old painting by a man (1)______ Gustav Klimt was found after many, many years. It was a picture of a (2)______ called Fraulein Lieser and no one had seen it since a long time ago. A family had the painting since the 1960s, but they didn’t know it was so special. (3)______ who know about art are very excited and say the painting is worth a lot of money, more than 54 million dollars! Soon, people will (4)______ a chance to buy the painting when it is sold.

The painting used to belong to a (5)______ a long (6)______ ago, but they lost it. Now, the family will get money when the painting is sold. The people who sell paintings looked very carefully and found out that no one took the painting in a bad way during a big war. (7)______ by Gustav Klimt are very important and can cost a lot of money. This painting is special because people thought it was (8)______ forever, but now it’s back.
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💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a painting?
2. How do you think the family felt when they found out the painting was worth a lot of money?
3. Do you like art? Why or why not?
4. How would you feel if you lost something very special and then found it again?
5. Do you think it’s important to take care of valuable things? Why or why not?
6. Have you ever found something that you thought was lost? What was it?
7. What would you do if you found a very valuable painting?
8. Do you think it’s fair that the family will get money when the painting is sold? Why or why not?
9. How do you think the people who know about art feel about the painting being found?
10. Do you think it’s important to keep old things? Why or why not?
11. Have you ever seen a painting by Gustav Klimt? What did you think of it?
12. If you had a lot of money, would you buy a painting? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. painting
2. lady
3. excited
4. special
5. art
6. worth
7. lost
8. carefully
9. important
10. forever

Meanings:
(A) For a very, very long time without end
(B) Feeling very happy and full of energy because something good happened
(C) A picture made with paint
(D) A grown-up girl
(E) Something that matters a lot and people think is very good
(F) How much money something can be traded for
(G) Doing something with a lot of attention and not missing any details
(H) Making things like pictures, sculptures, and drawings that look nice
(I) Not like other things; very different and nice
(J) When you can’t find something because it’s not where it should be
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🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Who painted the old painting that was found?
(a) Leonardo da Vinci
(b) Gustav Klimt
(c) Vincent van Gogh
(d) Pablo Picasso

2. What is the name of the lady in the painting?
(a) Fraulein Lieser
(b) Marie Antoinette
(c) Mona Lisa
(d) Queen Elizabeth II

3. How long had it been since anyone had seen the painting?
(a) A few months
(b) One year
(c) Two weeks
(d) Many, many years

4. How much is the painting worth?
(a) More than 54 million dollars
(b) 10 dollars
(c) 100 dollars
(d) 1 million dollars

5. Who had the painting since the 1960s?
(a) A museum
(b) An art collector
(c) A family
(d) The government

6. What will happen when the painting is sold?
(a) The painting will be destroyed
(b) The painting will go to a museum
(c) The family will get money
(d) The painting will be given to the government

7. Why is this painting special?
(a) It was painted by a famous artist
(b) People thought it was gone forever, but now it’s back
(c) It is very big
(d) It is very old

8. What did the people who sell paintings find out about the painting?
(a) It was stolen many times
(b) It was made by a different artist
(c) It is not worth a lot of money
(d) No one took it in a bad way during a big war

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. The family will get money when the painting is sold.
2. A very old painting by a man named Gustav Klimt was found after a long time.
3. People who know about art are not at all excited about the painting.
4. The painting is not special because people thought it was gone forever, and now it’s back.
5. The painting was never owned by a family since the 1960s.
6. The family didn’t know the painting was special.
7. The painting is not worth more than 54 million dollars.
8. The painting is a picture of a lady called Fraulein Lieser.
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 did people find after many years?
2. Who painted the picture of Fraulein Lieser?
3. How long did the family have the painting?
4. How much money is the painting worth?
5. Why is the painting special?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Who painted the old picture that was found?
Gustav Klimt painted the old picture.

2. What is the name of the lady in the picture?
The name of the lady in the picture is Fraulein Lieser.

3. How long had it been since anyone had seen the painting?
It had been a long time since anyone had seen the painting.

4. Did the family know the painting was special?
No, the family didn’t know the painting was special.

5. How much money is the painting worth?
The painting is worth more than 54 million dollars.

6. Who will get money when the painting is sold?
The family will get money when the painting is sold.

7. Why is this painting special?
This painting is special because people thought it was gone forever, but now it’s back.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) named
(2) lady
(3) People
(4) have
(5) family
(6) time
(7) Paintings
(8) gone
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. painting
Answer: (C) A picture made with paint

2. lady
Answer: (D) A grown-up girl

3. excited
Answer: (B) Feeling very happy and full of energy because something good happened

4. special
Answer: (I) Not like other things; very different and nice

5. art
Answer: (H) Making things like pictures, sculptures, and drawings that look nice

6. worth
Answer: (F) How much money something can be traded for

7. lost
Answer: (J) When you can’t find something because it’s not where it should be

8. carefully
Answer: (G) Doing something with a lot of attention and not missing any details

9. important
Answer: (E) Something that matters a lot and people think is very good

10. forever
Answer: (A) For a very, very long time without end
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Who painted the old painting that was found?
Answer: (b) Gustav Klimt

2. What is the name of the lady in the painting?
Answer: (a) Fraulein Lieser

3. How long had it been since anyone had seen the painting?
Answer: (d) Many, many years

4. How much is the painting worth?
Answer: (a) More than 54 million dollars

5. Who had the painting since the 1960s?
Answer: (c) A family

6. What will happen when the painting is sold?
Answer: (c) The family will get money

7. Why is this painting special?
Answer: (b) People thought it was gone forever, but now it’s back

8. What did the people who sell paintings find out about the painting?
Answer: (d) No one took it in a bad way during a big war
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. The family will get money when the painting is sold. (Answer: True)
2. A very old painting by a man named Gustav Klimt was found after a long time. (Answer: True)
3. People who know about art are not at all excited about the painting. (Answer: False)
4. The painting is not special because people thought it was gone forever, and now it’s back. (Answer: False)
5. The painting was never owned by a family since the 1960s. (Answer: False)
6. The family didn’t know the painting was special. (Answer: True)
7. The painting is not worth more than 54 million dollars. (Answer: False)
8. The painting is a picture of a lady called Fraulein Lieser. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧