A ride at a big park in Japan stopped suddenly and left people hanging in the air. The ride is very high, like a 15-story building, and it stopped because it found something wrong. Workers helped the people get down safely using special stairs, and nobody got hurt. They don’t know yet why the ride stopped, but it started working again after they checked it was safe.

This happened on a Thursday morning and someone took a video of it. The ride moves people all around, like in a circle, and it’s supposed to make you feel like you’re in a movie with dinosaurs. The people who run the park say that the ride stops by itself if something is not right. This shows that it’s important for rides to be safe so that people don’t get hurt.

Even though the ride stopped without warning, everyone was okay and got off the ride without any problems. The video of the ride stopping is now popular on the internet, and it shows everyone stuck up high. The park hasn’t said why the ride found something wrong. People who like to go on rides and those who were there are wondering what happened.

Original news source: Japan: People left dangling as rollercoaster stops mid-ride (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions:
1. Provide the students with a brief summary of the article.
2. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
3. Ask each group to take turns summarizing the article in their own words.
4. Encourage them to include key details and important information.
5. After each group presents their summary, ask the rest of the class if they have any questions or if anything was missed.

– Keyword Hangman
Instructions:
1. Write down key vocabulary words from the article on the board.
2. Divide the class into two teams.
3. Choose a student from one team to come to the front of the class.
4. Choose a word from the board and draw a line for each letter, leaving the vowels blank.
5. The student must guess the letters one at a time.
6. If they guess a correct letter, write it in the corresponding blank space.
7. If they guess a wrong letter, start drawing a hangman.
8. If the student guesses the word correctly before the hangman is complete, their team earns a point.
9. Continue with different students and words until all vocabulary words have been used.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions:
1. Write the following question on the board: “Do you like going on amusement park rides? Why or why not?”
2. Divide the class into pairs.
3. In their pairs, ask the students to discuss their opinions and reasons.
4. After a few minutes, ask each pair to share their opinions with the rest of the class.
5. Encourage the class to ask follow-up questions or share their own opinions.
6. Summarize the different opinions and reasons on the board.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into small groups.
2. Assign each group to discuss the pros and cons of amusement park rides.
3. Ask them to consider factors such as safety, enjoyment, thrill, and cost.
4. After a few minutes, ask each group to present their pros and cons to the class.
5. Encourage the class to ask questions or challenge the presented points.
6. Summarize the different pros and cons on the board.

– Sketch It
Instructions:
1. Provide each student with a blank sheet of paper and some colored pencils or markers.
2. Instruct the students to draw a scene or image related to the article.
3. Remind them to include key details and elements from the article.
4. After a designated time, ask the students to share their drawings with a partner or in small groups.
5. Encourage them to explain their drawings and how they relate to the article.
6. As a class, discuss the different interpretations and connections made through the drawings.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What happened to the ride at the park in Japan?
2. How high is the ride?
3. How did the workers help the people get down from the ride?
4. Did anyone get hurt when the ride stopped?
5. What day of the week did this happen?
6. What kind of video did someone take of the ride?
7. Why do the people who run the park say the ride stops by itself?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A ride at a big park in Japan stopped suddenly and left people hanging in the air. The ride is very (1)______, like a 15-story building, and it stopped because it (2)______ something wrong. Workers helped the people get down safely using special stairs, and nobody got (3)______. They don’t know yet why the ride stopped, but it started working again after they checked it was safe.

This happened on a Thursday morning and someone (4)______ a video of it. The ride (5)______ people all around, like in a (6)______, and it’s supposed to make you feel like you’re in a movie with (7)______. The (8)______ who run the park say that the (9)______ stops by itself if something is not right. This shows that it’s important for rides to be safe so that people don’t get hurt.

Even though the ride stopped without warning, everyone was okay and got off the ride without any (10)______. The video of the ride stopping is now (11)______ on the internet, and it shows everyone stuck up high. The (12)______ hasn’t said why the ride found something wrong. People who like to go on rides and those who were there are wondering what happened.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a ride?
2. How would you feel if you were stuck in the air on a ride?
3. Do you like going on rides? Why or why not?
4. What do workers do to help people get down from a ride?
5. How do you think the people felt when the ride stopped suddenly?
6. Have you ever been on a ride that stopped unexpectedly? How did you feel?
7. Do you think it’s important for rides to be safe? Why or why not?
8. What do you think the people in the ride were thinking while they were stuck up high?
9. How do you think the workers felt when they helped the people down?
10. Have you seen any videos on the internet that were popular? What were they about?
11. Why do you think the park hasn’t said why the ride stopped?
12. Do you think you would still go on that ride after seeing the video? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. suddenly
2. hanging
3. special
4. checked
5. safe
6. warning
7. popular
8. internet
9. dinosaurs
10. important
11. wondering
12. problems

Meanings:
(A) A place where you can find lots of information and watch videos online
(B) Very quickly and without notice
(C) Something that is very needed or must be done
(D) Troubles or difficulties
(E) Looked at something carefully to make sure it’s okay
(F) Not like others, having a unique purpose or use
(G) Staying in the air, not able to move up or down
(H) Liked by a lot of people
(I) Not in danger; protected from harm
(J) A heads-up or alert about something before it happens
(K) Big, scary animals that lived a long, long time ago
(L) Thinking hard about something because you want to know more
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What happened to the ride at the park in Japan?
(a) It went really fast
(b) It broke down completely
(c) It disappeared
(d) It stopped suddenly

2. How high is the ride at the park?
(a) Like a small hill
(b) Like a 15-story building
(c) Like a skyscraper
(d) Like a mountain

3. How did the workers help the people get down from the ride?
(a) Using a helicopter
(b) Using a ladder
(c) Using a slide
(d) Using special stairs

4. Did anyone get hurt when the ride stopped?
(a) No, nobody got hurt
(b) Yes, a few people got hurt
(c) Yes, everyone got hurt
(d) Yes, only the workers got hurt

5. When did this happen?
(a) On a Friday afternoon
(b) On a Saturday night
(c) On a Thursday morning
(d) On a Sunday evening

6. What did the ride make people feel like?
(a) Like they were in a movie with dinosaurs
(b) Like they were flying in the sky
(c) Like they were underwater
(d) Like they were in a haunted house

7. Why did the ride stop by itself?
(a) If it was too hot outside
(b) If something was not right
(c) If it was too crowded
(d) If it was too loud

8. What is the park going to do about the ride stopping?
(a) They are going to close the ride forever
(b) They are going to make the ride faster
(c) They haven’t said yet
(d) They are going to make the ride higher

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. A video of the ride stopping is now unpopular on the internet and shows no one stuck up high.
2. The ride is as short as a 15-story building and it stopped because something was correct.
3. The ride moves people in a circle and makes them feel like they’re in a movie with dinosaurs.
4. The ride stops on its own accord if something is not right, according to the people who run the park.
5. A ride at a small park in Japan gradually stopped and left people hanging on the ground.
6. The park hasn’t said why the ride stopped, and people are curious about what happened.
7. Workers helped the people get down safely using special stairs and nobody got hurt.
8. Even though the ride stopped without warning, everyone was okay and got off safely.
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 ride at the big park in Japan?
2. How high is the ride in the park?
3. How did the workers help the people get down from the ride?
4. Why did the ride stop suddenly?
5. What happened after the ride was checked and found to be safe?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What happened to the ride at the park in Japan?
The ride at the park in Japan stopped suddenly.

2. How high is the ride?
The ride is very high, like a 15-story building.

3. How did the workers help the people get down from the ride?
The workers helped the people get down safely using special stairs.

4. Did anyone get hurt when the ride stopped?
No, nobody got hurt when the ride stopped.

5. What day of the week did this happen?
This happened on a Thursday morning.

6. What kind of video did someone take of the ride?
Someone took a video of the ride stopping.

7. Why do the people who run the park say the ride stops by itself?
The people who run the park say the ride stops by itself if something is not right.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) high
(2) found
(3) hurt
(4) took
(5) moves
(6) circle
(7) dinosaurs
(8) people
(9) ride
(10) problems
(11) popular
(12) park
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. suddenly
Answer: (B) Very quickly and without notice

2. hanging
Answer: (G) Staying in the air, not able to move up or down

3. special
Answer: (F) Not like others, having a unique purpose or use

4. checked
Answer: (E) Looked at something carefully to make sure it’s okay

5. safe
Answer: (I) Not in danger; protected from harm

6. warning
Answer: (J) A heads-up or alert about something before it happens

7. popular
Answer: (H) Liked by a lot of people

8. internet
Answer: (A) A place where you can find lots of information and watch videos online

9. dinosaurs
Answer: (K) Big, scary animals that lived a long, long time ago

10. important
Answer: (C) Something that is very needed or must be done

11. wondering
Answer: (L) Thinking hard about something because you want to know more

12. problems
Answer: (D) Troubles or difficulties
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What happened to the ride at the park in Japan?
Answer: (d) It stopped suddenly

2. How high is the ride at the park?
Answer: (b) Like a 15-story building

3. How did the workers help the people get down from the ride?
Answer: (d) Using special stairs

4. Did anyone get hurt when the ride stopped?
Answer: (a) No, nobody got hurt

5. When did this happen?
Answer: (c) On a Thursday morning

6. What did the ride make people feel like?
Answer: (a) Like they were in a movie with dinosaurs

7. Why did the ride stop by itself?
Answer: (b) If something was not right

8. What is the park going to do about the ride stopping?
Answer: (c) They haven’t said yet
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. A video of the ride stopping is now unpopular on the internet and shows no one stuck up high. (Answer: False)
2. The ride is as short as a 15-story building and it stopped because something was correct. (Answer: False)
3. The ride moves people in a circle and makes them feel like they’re in a movie with dinosaurs. (Answer: True)
4. The ride stops on its own accord if something is not right, according to the people who run the park. (Answer: False)
5. A ride at a small park in Japan gradually stopped and left people hanging on the ground. (Answer: False)
6. The park hasn’t said why the ride stopped, and people are curious about what happened. (Answer: True)
7. Workers helped the people get down safely using special stairs and nobody got hurt. (Answer: True)
8. Even though the ride stopped without warning, everyone was okay and got off safely. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧