Many roads in the UK have big holes in them. People told the government about these holes more than 600,000 times this year. Cars get broken because of these holes, and it costs a lot of money to fix them. The weather is making it worse, and scientists say it’s because the world is getting warmer. Some smart people are trying to make roads that can fix themselves and robots that can fix the holes.

Smart people at a big school are using computers and cars to find out where the holes are. They want to know how bad the problem is. Other smart people are trying to make robots that can fix the holes. They are also trying to make roads that don’t break easily and can fix themselves. They are even thinking about using special plastic and heat from the ground to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot.

Original news source: Pothole reports hit a five-year high in 2023 (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Write down some key words from the article on small pieces of paper. Divide the class into teams. One person from each team will pick a word and act it out without speaking, while their team members try to guess what word they are acting out. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words and continue until all the words have been used or time runs out.

– Word Association
Instructions: Write down some key words from the article on the board. Have the students take turns saying a word that they associate with each key word. For example, if the key word is “roads”, a student might say “cars”. Encourage the students to explain why they made that association. Continue until all the key words have been used.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down some key words from the article on small pieces of paper. Divide the class into teams. One person from each team will pick a word and draw a picture to represent it on the board, while their team members try to guess what word they are drawing. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words and continue until all the words have been used or time runs out.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Give each group a topic related to the article, such as “self-repairing roads” or “robots that fix holes”. Have the groups discuss the pros and cons of the topic and write them down. After a few minutes, have each group share their ideas with the class.

– Future Predictions
Instructions: Have the students think about the information in the article and make predictions about the future. For example, they could discuss whether they think self-repairing roads will become common in their country, or if robots will be used to fix roads in the future. Encourage the students to explain their reasoning and have a class discussion about their predictions.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. Why do cars get broken when they drive over the holes in the roads?
2. How many times did people tell the government about the holes in the roads this year?
3. Why is the weather making the holes in the roads worse?
4. What are some smart people trying to make to fix the holes in the roads?
5. How are the smart people at the big school trying to find out where the holes are?
6. What are the smart people trying to make the roads out of so they don’t break easily?
7. What are the smart people thinking about using to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

Many roads in the UK have big holes in them. People told the government about these holes (1)______ than 600,000 (2)______ this year. Cars get broken because of these holes, and it costs a lot of money to fix them. The weather is making it worse, and scientists say it’s because the world is getting (3)______. Some smart people are trying to (4)______ roads that can fix themselves and robots that can fix the holes.

Smart people at a big school are (5)______ computers and cars to find out where the holes are. They (6)______ to know how bad the problem is. Other smart people are trying to make robots that can fix the holes. They are also trying to make roads that don’t break easily and can fix themselves. They are even thinking about using (7)______ plastic and heat from the ground to (8)______ the roads from getting too cold or too hot.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a hole in the road?
2. Have you ever seen a hole in the road? Where was it?
3. How would you feel if your car got broken because of a hole in the road?
4. Do you like driving on roads with big holes? Why or why not?
5. Do you think it’s a good idea to make roads that can fix themselves? Why or why not?
6. What do you think about robots that can fix the holes in the roads?
7. How do you think scientists know where the holes are?
8. Why do you think the weather makes the holes in the roads worse?
9. Do you think using special plastic and heat from the ground is a good way to fix the roads? Why or why not?
10. How do you think the roads can be made so they don’t break easily?
11. What other problems do you think the holes in the roads can cause?
12. Why do you think the government needs to know about the holes in the roads?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. government
2. scientists
3. weather
4. robots
5. computers
6. problem
7. plastic
8. heat
9. discover
10. expensive

Meanings:
(A) Something that is not good and needs to be fixed
(B) What it’s like outside, like if it’s sunny, rainy, or snowy
(C) When something costs a lot of money to buy or fix
(D) To find something you didn’t know about before
(E) Very smart people who learn about the world and how things work
(F) Machines that can move and do things like people
(G) The group of people who make rules for a place
(H) How warm something is
(I) Magic boxes that help us think, play, and work
(J) A kind of hard and bendy stuff that toys and bottles are made of
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. How many times did people tell the government about the holes in the UK roads this year?
(a) More than 600,000 times
(b) Less than 100 times
(c) 1,000 times
(d) 10 times

2. Why do cars get broken because of the holes in the roads?
(a) Because the cars are too heavy
(b) Because the holes are big
(c) Because the roads are too bumpy
(d) Because the weather is bad

3. What are scientists saying is making the problem worse?
(a) The world getting colder
(b) The world getting warmer
(c) The world getting wetter
(d) The world getting drier

4. What are smart people trying to make to fix the holes in the roads?
(a) Robots
(b) Computers
(c) Cars
(d) Bicycles

5. What are smart people using to find out where the holes are?
(a) Robots and bicycles
(b) Computers and bicycles
(c) Robots and cars
(d) Computers and cars

6. What are smart people trying to make to prevent the roads from breaking easily?
(a) Roads made of plastic
(b) Roads made of metal
(c) Roads made of wood
(d) Roads that don’t break easily

7. What are smart people thinking about using to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot?
(a) Special metal and heat from the ground
(b) Special wood and heat from the ground
(c) Special plastic and heat from the ground
(d) Special glass and heat from the ground

8. What are smart people trying to make the roads do?
(a) Break themselves
(b) Move themselves
(c) Fix themselves
(d) Clean themselves

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. People have told the government about these holes more than 600,000 times this year.
2. In the UK, there are few big holes in the roads.
3. Scientists say the problem is happening because the world is getting warmer.
4. Cars can get broken because of these holes, and it costs a lot of money to fix them.
5. They are also trying to make roads that don’t break easily and can fix themselves.
6. The weather is making the problem better.
7. Smart people at a small school are using bicycles and buses to find out where the hills are.
8. Some smart people are trying to make robots that can create the holes.
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 with the roads in the UK?
2. How many times did people tell the government about the holes in the roads this year?
3. Why do cars get broken because of the holes in the roads?
4. What are some smart people trying to make to fix the holes in the roads?
5. How are they trying to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why do cars get broken when they drive over the holes in the roads?
Cars get broken because the holes in the roads can damage the tires and other parts of the car.

2. How many times did people tell the government about the holes in the roads this year?
People told the government about the holes in the roads more than 600,000 times this year.

3. Why is the weather making the holes in the roads worse?
The weather is making the holes in the roads worse because the world is getting warmer, and this can cause the roads to crack and break more easily.

4. What are some smart people trying to make to fix the holes in the roads?
Some smart people are trying to make robots that can fix the holes in the roads. They are also trying to make roads that can fix themselves.

5. How are the smart people at the big school trying to find out where the holes are?
The smart people at the big school are using computers and cars to find out where the holes in the roads are.

6. What are the smart people trying to make the roads out of so they don’t break easily?
The smart people are trying to make the roads out of special plastic that is strong and doesn’t break easily.

7. What are the smart people thinking about using to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot?
The smart people are thinking about using heat from the ground to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) more
(2) times
(3) warmer
(4) make
(5) using
(6) want
(7) special
(8) keep
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. government
Answer: (G) The group of people who make rules for a place

2. scientists
Answer: (E) Very smart people who learn about the world and how things work

3. weather
Answer: (B) What it’s like outside, like if it’s sunny, rainy, or snowy

4. robots
Answer: (F) Machines that can move and do things like people

5. computers
Answer: (I) Magic boxes that help us think, play, and work

6. problem
Answer: (A) Something that is not good and needs to be fixed

7. plastic
Answer: (J) A kind of hard and bendy stuff that toys and bottles are made of

8. heat
Answer: (H) How warm something is

9. discover
Answer: (D) To find something you didn’t know about before

10. expensive
Answer: (C) When something costs a lot of money to buy or fix
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. How many times did people tell the government about the holes in the UK roads this year?
Answer: (a) More than 600,000 times

2. Why do cars get broken because of the holes in the roads?
Answer: (b) Because the holes are big

3. What are scientists saying is making the problem worse?
Answer: (b) The world getting warmer

4. What are smart people trying to make to fix the holes in the roads?
Answer: (a) Robots

5. What are smart people using to find out where the holes are?
Answer: (d) Computers and cars

6. What are smart people trying to make to prevent the roads from breaking easily?
Answer: (d) Roads that don’t break easily

7. What are smart people thinking about using to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot?
Answer: (c) Special plastic and heat from the ground

8. What are smart people trying to make the roads do?
Answer: (c) Fix themselves
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. People have told the government about these holes more than 600,000 times this year. (Answer: True)
2. In the UK, there are few big holes in the roads. (Answer: False)
3. Scientists say the problem is happening because the world is getting warmer. (Answer: True)
4. Cars can get broken because of these holes, and it costs a lot of money to fix them. (Answer: True)
5. They are also trying to make roads that don’t break easily and can fix themselves. (Answer: True)
6. The weather is making the problem better. (Answer: False)
7. Smart people at a small school are using bicycles and buses to find out where the hills are. (Answer: False)
8. Some smart people are trying to make robots that can create the holes. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧