The Indian Railways is investigating a crazy incident where a freight train traveled more than 70km without any drivers. Can you believe it? Videos on social media showed the train zooming past a bunch of stations. This all happened between Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and Hoshiarpur district in Punjab. The train was carrying stone chips and had stopped in Kathua for the drivers to switch. But when they got off, the train started moving on its own down a slope. It managed to go through five stations before railway officials stopped it by putting wood blocks on the tracks. They're still trying to figure out why this happened so they can prevent it from happening again.
Original news source: Runaway Indian train travels 70km without driver (BBC)
π§ Listen:
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– Headline Creation
Instructions: Divide the students into pairs or small groups. Give each group a few minutes to come up with a catchy headline for the article. Encourage them to use their creativity and English language skills to create an engaging headline that captures the essence of the incident.
– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Divide the students into two groups. Assign one group to come up with the pros of the incident (e.g. increased publicity for the Indian Railways, no casualties) and the other group to come up with the cons (e.g. potential danger, damage to the train). Give them a few minutes to brainstorm and then have each group present their points and engage in a discussion.
– Synonym Challenge
Instructions: Provide a list of key words from the article (e.g. freight train, drivers, stations, slope) and ask the students to come up with as many synonyms as they can for each word. Encourage them to use their vocabulary knowledge and thesaurus if needed. After a few minutes, have each student or group share their synonyms and discuss any differences in meaning or usage.
– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Ask the students to take a few minutes to think about why they think the train started moving on its own. Then, pair them up and have them discuss their thoughts with their partner. Finally, bring the class back together and ask a few students to share their ideas with the whole group. Encourage them to use English to express their opinions and support their ideas.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups and ask each group to imagine what might happen in the future as a result of this incident. They can consider the impact on the Indian Railways, safety measures, public perception, etc. Give them a few minutes to discuss and then have each group present their predictions to the class. Encourage them to use English to articulate their ideas and explain their reasoning.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
The Indian Railways is a crazy incident where a train more than 70km without any drivers. Can you believe it? on social media showed the train zooming past a bunch of . This all happened between in and Kashmir and Hoshiarpur district in Punjab. The train was stone chips and had stopped in Kathua for the to . But when they got off, the train moving on its own down a slope. It to go through five stations before railway stopped it by wood blocks on the tracks. They're still to figure out why this happened so they can it from happening again.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is a freight train?
2. How would you feel if you saw a train moving without any drivers?
3. Have you ever seen a crazy incident like this before? Can you tell us about it?
4. Do you think it's dangerous for a train to move without any drivers? Why or why not?
5. What do you think the railway officials should do to prevent this from happening again?
6. Have you ever traveled on a train? What was your experience like?
7. Do you think the train should have been carrying stone chips? Why or why not?
8. What would you do if you were one of the drivers and the train started moving on its own?
9. Have you ever been on a train that stopped at multiple stations? How was it different from this incident?
10. Do you think the videos on social media helped the investigation? Why or why not?
11. How do you think the train managed to go through five stations without anyone stopping it?
12. Have you ever been on a train that had to stop suddenly? How did you feel?
13. Do you think the railway officials should be punished for this incident? Why or why not?
14. How do you think the drivers felt when they saw the train moving without them?
15. Do you think this incident will make people afraid to travel by train? Why or why not?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
Click a dot next to a word, then click the dot next to its meaning to draw a line connecting them.
Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
Check your writing now with the best free AI for English writing!












