photo Tara Benwell Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

dateline: 01 June 2016

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Boy Falls Into Cincinnati Gorilla Enclosure

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • enclosure: an area that is closed off from others
  • frantically: without control of one’s emotions
  • moat: a narrow barrier of water
  • tranquilize: to administer a drug that puts an animal to sleep temporarily
  • agitated: showing signs of stress and nervousness

Boy Falls Into Cincinnati Gorilla Enclosure

Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla, was shot and killed by zoo on Saturday after a four-year-old boy into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. The mother of the boy frantically called 911 as the 450-pound gorilla her son through a moat. Zoo officials their decision to kill the animal, saying that tranquilizing him was not an option. The gorilla was already agitated, and a tranquilizer would have resulted in death for the boy.

Comprehension Questions

  1. What is the report mainly about?
  2. What did the mother do?
  3. Why wasn’t a tranquilizer used?

Discussion Questions: Did zoo officials make the right decision by shooting the gorilla, even though it is an endangered species? Why or why not?

show Answershide Answers

Boy Falls into Cincinnati Gorilla Enclosure
Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla, was shot and killed by zoo officials on Saturday after a four-year-old boy slipped into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. The mother of the boy frantically called 911 as the 450-pound gorilla dragged her son through a moat. Zoo officials defended their decision to kill the animal, saying that tranquilizing him was not an option. The gorilla was already agitated, and a tranquilizer would have resulted in certain death for the boy.

  1. The report is mainly about the killing of a gorilla at a zoo in order to save a child’s life.
  2. The mother frantically called 911.
  3. The gorilla was already agitated and the boy would have likely been killed by the agitated animal (a tranquilizer takes a while to kick in).
Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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