A plane going to the United States had to go back to Tokyo because a man who had too much to drink bit someone who worked on the plane. The man was 55 years old and from America. When the plane landed, the police took the man. Before this happened, there were other problems with planes in Japan, like a window breaking and two planes bumping into each other.

The plane that had to go back was flying over the big ocean when the man bit the worker. There were 159 people on the plane. People are now talking about being safe on planes in Japan because of this and the other problems. The other problems were a window breaking on a plane flying inside Japan and two planes from different countries touching each other at an airport on an island called Hokkaido.

Original news source: Flight returns to Japan after ‘drunk’ man bites crew member (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a set of vocabulary words related to the article (e.g. plane, Tokyo, United States, drink, police, window, bumping). One student from each group will act out a word without speaking, while their group members try to guess the word. The first group to correctly guess the word gets a point. Repeat with different students and words.

– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs, have students take turns summarizing the main points of the article to their partner. Encourage them to use their own words and focus on the most important information. After both partners have had a chance to summarize, they can compare their summaries and discuss any differences or similarities.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Create a simple survey based on the article, with questions like “Do you think it is safe to travel on planes in Japan?” or “Have you ever had a bad experience on a plane?” Have students go around the class and ask their classmates the survey questions, recording their answers. Afterward, have a class discussion to share and compare the results.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down key vocabulary words from the article on small cards or pieces of paper. Divide the class into two teams. One student from each team will take turns drawing a word from the cards and trying to get their teammates to guess the word without speaking. The team that guesses the most words correctly wins.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Have students think individually about the article for a few minutes, then pair them up with a partner. In pairs, have students take turns sharing their thoughts about the article and discussing any questions or ideas that came up. Afterward, bring the class back together for a whole-group discussion, allowing students to share their partner’s thoughts if they’d like.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did the plane have to go back to Tokyo?
2. What did the man do to the worker on the plane?
3. How old was the man who caused the trouble?
4. Where was the man from?
5. What did the police do when the plane landed?
6. What were some other problems with planes in Japan?
7. How many people were on the plane that had to go back?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A plane going to the United (1)______ had to go back to Tokyo because a man who had too much to drink bit someone who (2)______ on the plane. The man was 55 years old and from America. When the plane landed, the (3)______ (4)______ the man. Before this happened, there were other problems with planes in Japan, like a window breaking and two planes bumping into each other.

The plane that had to go back was flying over the big (5)______ when the man bit the worker. There were 159 people on the (6)______. People are now talking about being safe on planes in Japan because of this and the other problems. The other problems were a window breaking on a plane flying inside (7)______ and two planes from different countries touching each other at an airport on an (8)______ called Hokkaido.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a plane?
2. How would you feel if you were on a plane and someone bit a worker?
3. Do you like flying on planes? Why or why not?
4. What do you think about the man who had too much to drink and bit someone?
5. Have you ever been on a plane? What was it like?
6. How do you think the other people on the plane felt when the man bit the worker?
7. Do you think it’s important to be safe on planes? Why or why not?
8. What do you think about the other problems with planes in Japan?
9. How would you feel if a window broke on a plane you were on?
10. Have you ever seen two planes bump into each other?
11. What do you think the police should do with the man who bit the worker?
12. Do you think the man should be allowed to fly on planes again? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. plane
2. United States
3. Tokyo
4. bit
5. police
6. window
7. safe
8. ocean
9. talking
10. island

Meanings:
(A) A piece of glass in the wall you can see through
(B) When you are not in danger and feel okay
(C) People who help keep everyone following the rules
(D) When someone uses their teeth to grab and hurt
(E) A big city in a country called Japan
(F) Using words to tell someone about something
(G) A country with lots of states where people speak English
(H) A very, very big area of salty water
(I) A piece of land with water all around it
(J) A big flying machine that takes people to different places
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Why did the plane have to go back to Tokyo?
(a) The plane ran out of fuel
(b) The pilot got lost
(c) The weather was bad
(d) A man bit someone who worked on the plane

2. How old was the man who bit the worker?
(a) 20 years old
(b) 40 years old
(c) 55 years old
(d) 70 years old

3. Where was the man from?
(a) Japan
(b) America
(c) China
(d) Australia

4. How many people were on the plane?
(a) 50 people
(b) 100 people
(c) 200 people
(d) 159 people

5. What happened to a window on another plane in Japan?
(a) It broke
(b) It opened
(c) It disappeared
(d) It got bigger

6. Where did two planes bump into each other?
(a) Tokyo
(b) Osaka
(c) Hokkaido
(d) Kyoto

7. What are people talking about now?
(a) Going on vacation
(b) Being safe on planes in Japan
(c) Eating sushi
(d) Playing video games

8. What ocean was the plane flying over when the man bit the worker?
(a) The big ocean
(b) The small ocean
(c) The cold ocean
(d) The warm ocean

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. The plane was not flying over a big ocean when the man bit the worker.
2. People are now talking about being safe on planes in Japan because of these incidents.
3. A woman on a plane bit someone who worked there because she drank too much.
4. The police did not take the man when the plane landed.
5. There were other problems with planes in Japan, like a broken window and two planes bumping into each other.
6. There were 159 people on the plane.
7. The man was 55 years old and from America.
8. The plane did not have to go back to Tokyo because of the incident.
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 man who had too much to drink on the plane?
2. Where did the plane have to go back to?
3. How many people were on the plane?
4. What were some other problems with planes in Japan?
5. Why are people talking about being safe on planes in Japan?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why did the plane have to go back to Tokyo?
The plane had to go back to Tokyo because a man caused trouble on the plane.

2. What did the man do to the worker on the plane?
The man bit the worker on the plane.

3. How old was the man who caused the trouble?
The man who caused the trouble was 55 years old.

4. Where was the man from?
The man was from America.

5. What did the police do when the plane landed?
The police took the man when the plane landed.

6. What were some other problems with planes in Japan?
Some other problems were a window breaking on a plane and two planes bumping into each other.

7. How many people were on the plane that had to go back?
There were 159 people on the plane that had to go back.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) States
(2) worked
(3) police
(4) took
(5) ocean
(6) plane
(7) Japan
(8) island
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. plane
Answer: (J) A big flying machine that takes people to different places

2. United States
Answer: (G) A country with lots of states where people speak English

3. Tokyo
Answer: (E) A big city in a country called Japan

4. bit
Answer: (D) When someone uses their teeth to grab and hurt

5. police
Answer: (C) People who help keep everyone following the rules

6. window
Answer: (A) A piece of glass in the wall you can see through

7. safe
Answer: (B) When you are not in danger and feel okay

8. ocean
Answer: (H) A very, very big area of salty water

9. talking
Answer: (F) Using words to tell someone about something

10. island
Answer: (I) A piece of land with water all around it
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Why did the plane have to go back to Tokyo?
Answer: (d) A man bit someone who worked on the plane

2. How old was the man who bit the worker?
Answer: (c) 55 years old

3. Where was the man from?
Answer: (b) America

4. How many people were on the plane?
Answer: (d) 159 people

5. What happened to a window on another plane in Japan?
Answer: (a) It broke

6. Where did two planes bump into each other?
Answer: (c) Hokkaido

7. What are people talking about now?
Answer: (b) Being safe on planes in Japan

8. What ocean was the plane flying over when the man bit the worker?
Answer: (a) The big ocean
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. The plane was not flying over a big ocean when the man bit the worker. (Answer: False)
2. People are now talking about being safe on planes in Japan because of these incidents. (Answer: True)
3. A woman on a plane bit someone who worked there because she drank too much. (Answer: False)
4. The police did not take the man when the plane landed. (Answer: False)
5. There were other problems with planes in Japan, like a broken window and two planes bumping into each other. (Answer: True)
6. There were 159 people on the plane. (Answer: True)
7. The man was 55 years old and from America. (Answer: True)
8. The plane did not have to go back to Tokyo because of the incident. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧