A place called Turkey has a problem with things costing too much money. To help, they decided to make it more expensive for people to borrow money. They made a big change and now people have to pay 40% more when they borrow. This is because the cost of things keeps going up really fast. The leader of Turkey, who is like the boss, didn’t want to do this before, but now he thinks it’s a good idea.

The people who decide about money in Turkey said they will not make it this expensive to borrow money for a long time. They want to make sure that things don’t keep costing more and more. Turkey used to have lots of money and things were good, but now they have some problems. Last year, they made a mistake and it made things worse. Now they are trying something new to fix it, but we don’t know if it will work yet.

Original news source: Turkey’s central bank raises interest rates to 40% (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions:
1. Read the article to the class or provide a simplified version.
2. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
3. Instruct each group to summarize the main points of the article in their own words.
4. Give each group a few minutes to discuss and write their summary.
5. Ask each group to share their summary with the class.

– Word Association
Instructions:
1. Choose a keyword from the article, such as “Turkey” or “money”.
2. Write the keyword on the board.
3. Ask the class to brainstorm words that they associate with the keyword.
4. Encourage the students to share their ideas and write them on the board.
5. Discuss the connections between the words and the keyword, and how they relate to the article.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions:
1. Select 5-10 key vocabulary words from the article, such as “borrow”, “expensive”, or “cost”.
2. Write each word on a separate piece of paper or index card.
3. Divide the class into teams and give each team a set of vocabulary words.
4. Instruct each team to take turns choosing a word and drawing a picture to represent it.
5. The other teams must guess the word based on the drawing.
6. Award points to the teams that guess correctly.

– Keyword Hangman
Instructions:
1. Choose a keyword from the article, such as “Turkey” or “borrow”.
2. Write the keyword on the board, leaving blanks for each letter.
3. Explain the rules of Hangman to the class.
4. Ask the students to guess letters one at a time.
5. Fill in the blanks with the correct letters as they are guessed.
6. If a student guesses a wrong letter, start drawing the hangman.
7. The game ends when the students guess the keyword or when the hangman is completed.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions:
1. Ask the class a question related to the article, such as “Why do you think borrowing money is becoming more expensive in Turkey?”
2. Give the students a few minutes to think about their answer individually.
3. Instruct the students to pair up with a partner and share their thoughts.
4. After a few minutes, ask some pairs to share their ideas with the class.
5. Facilitate a class discussion based on the different answers and perspectives.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did Turkey make it more expensive for people to borrow money?
2. Who is the leader of Turkey?
3. What happened last year that made things worse for Turkey?
4. Why are the people in charge of money in Turkey making borrowing money more expensive?
5. Did the leader of Turkey want to make borrowing money more expensive before?
6. What is the problem in Turkey with things costing too much money?
7. Do we know if the new plan to fix the problem will work yet?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A place called Turkey has a problem with things costing too much money. To help, they decided to make it more expensive for (1)______ to borrow money. They (2)______ a big change and now people have to pay 40% more when they borrow. This is because the cost of things keeps going up really fast. The leader of Turkey, who is like the boss, didn’t want to do this before, but now he thinks it’s a (3)______ (4)______.

The people who decide about money in Turkey (5)______ they will not make it this expensive to borrow money for a long time. They want to make sure that things don’t keep (6)______ more and more. Turkey used to have lots of money and things were good, but now they have some problems. Last year, they made a mistake and it made things worse. Now they are (7)______ something new to fix it, but we don’t (8)______ if it will work yet.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is borrowing money?
2. How do you feel when things cost too much money?
3. Do you like it when things keep getting more expensive?
4. Do you think it’s a good idea to make it more expensive to borrow money?
5. How would you feel if you had to pay 40% more when you borrow money?
6. Why do you think the leader of Turkey thinks it’s a good idea to make borrowing money more expensive?
7. Do you think it’s fair to make borrowing money more expensive for a long time?
8. What do you think will happen if things keep costing more and more?
9. Why do you think Turkey had lots of money before but now they have some problems?
10. Have you ever made a mistake that made things worse?
11. How do you feel when you try something new to fix a problem?
12. Why or why not do you think the new plan in Turkey will work?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. Turkey
2. expensive
3. borrow
4. change
5. leader
6. money
7. problems
8. fix

Meanings:
(a) The person who tells everyone what to do
(b) When something becomes different
(c) When something costs a lot of money
(d) When something goes wrong and needs to be solved
(e) When you take something from someone and promise to give it back later
(f) A place where people live and work
(g) The thing that people use to buy things
(h) When you try to make something better
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Why did Turkey make it more expensive for people to borrow money?
(a) Because they wanted to help people
(b) Because they had too much money
(c) Because they wanted to make things cheaper
(d) Because things cost too much money

2. Who is the leader of Turkey?
(a) The president
(b) The king
(c) The boss
(d) The prime minister

3. What did the people who decide about money in Turkey say?
(a) They will make it even more expensive
(b) They will make it cheaper
(c) They will not make it this expensive for a long time
(d) They will not change anything

4. Why did Turkey have some problems?
(a) They had too much money
(b) They made a mistake last year
(c) They didn’t have enough money
(d) They didn’t want to borrow money

5. What did Turkey try to do to fix their problems?
(a) Something old
(b) Something new
(c) Nothing
(d) Something expensive

6. How much more do people have to pay when they borrow money now?
(a) 40% more
(b) 10% more
(c) 20% more
(d) 30% more

7. What did the leader of Turkey think about making it more expensive to borrow money?
(a) It’s a bad idea
(b) He didn’t have an opinion
(c) He didn’t want to do it
(d) It’s a good idea

8. What was the problem with the cost of things in Turkey?
(a) It kept going up really fast
(b) It kept going down really fast
(c) It stayed the same
(d) It didn’t change

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. The people who decide about money in Turkey said they will make it more expensive to borrow money for a long time.
2. Turkey has a problem with things costing too much money.
3. People now have to pay 40% more when they borrow money in Turkey.
4. To help with the problem, Turkey made it more expensive for people to borrow money.
5. Turkey used to have plenty of money and things were great, but now they have no problems.
6. The cost of things in Turkey keeps going up really fast.
7. The leader of Turkey wanted to make borrowing money more expensive before, but now he thinks it’s a terrible idea.
8. Last year, Turkey made an exceptional move that improved things, and now they are trying something different to worsen it.
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 is the problem in Turkey?
2. What did Turkey do to try to fix the problem?
3. Why did the leader of Turkey change his mind about borrowing money?
4. What did the people who decide about money in Turkey say?
5. Why is Turkey trying something new to fix the problem?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why did Turkey make it more expensive for people to borrow money?
Turkey made it more expensive for people to borrow money because things were costing too much money and they wanted to stop that.

2. Who is the leader of Turkey?
The leader of Turkey is the boss of the country.

3. What happened last year that made things worse for Turkey?
Last year, Turkey made a mistake that made things worse for them.

4. Why are the people in charge of money in Turkey making borrowing money more expensive?
The people in charge of money in Turkey are making borrowing money more expensive because they want to make sure things don’t keep costing more and more.

5. Did the leader of Turkey want to make borrowing money more expensive before?
No, the leader of Turkey didn’t want to make borrowing money more expensive before.

6. What is the problem in Turkey with things costing too much money?
The problem in Turkey is that things are costing too much money and it’s a big problem for the people.

7. Do we know if the new plan to fix the problem will work yet?
No, we don’t know if the new plan to fix the problem will work yet.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) people
(2) made
(3) good
(4) idea
(5) said
(6) costing
(7) trying
(8) know
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. Turkey
Answer: (f) A place where people live and work

2. expensive
Answer: (c) When something costs a lot of money

3. borrow
Answer: (e) When you take something from someone and promise to give it back later

4. change
Answer: (b) When something becomes different

5. leader
Answer: (a) The person who tells everyone what to do

6. money
Answer: (g) The thing that people use to buy things

7. problems
Answer: (d) When something goes wrong and needs to be solved

8. fix
Answer: (h) When you try to make something better
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Why did Turkey make it more expensive for people to borrow money?
Answer: (d) Because things cost too much money

2. Who is the leader of Turkey?
Answer: (c) The boss

3. What did the people who decide about money in Turkey say?
Answer: (c) They will not make it this expensive for a long time

4. Why did Turkey have some problems?
Answer: (b) They made a mistake last year

5. What did Turkey try to do to fix their problems?
Answer: (b) Something new

6. How much more do people have to pay when they borrow money now?
Answer: (a) 40% more

7. What did the leader of Turkey think about making it more expensive to borrow money?
Answer: (d) It’s a good idea

8. What was the problem with the cost of things in Turkey?
Answer: (a) It kept going up really fast
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. The people who decide about money in Turkey said they will make it more expensive to borrow money for a long time. (Answer: False)
2. Turkey has a problem with things costing too much money. (Answer: True)
3. People now have to pay 40% more when they borrow money in Turkey. (Answer: True)
4. To help with the problem, Turkey made it more expensive for people to borrow money. (Answer: True)
5. Turkey used to have plenty of money and things were great, but now they have no problems. (Answer: False)
6. The cost of things in Turkey keeps going up really fast. (Answer: True)
7. The leader of Turkey wanted to make borrowing money more expensive before, but now he thinks it’s a terrible idea. (Answer: False)
8. Last year, Turkey made an exceptional move that improved things, and now they are trying something different to worsen it. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧