Page 15 - American English File Student Book 3B

3 LISTENING

G areth Malone first made his name on TV as a
choirmaster in The Choir, a series in which
he brought together all kinds of different
people who had never sung before and turned
them into accomplished singers.

Last April, Gareth took on what was
maybe an even bigger challenge.
He became an elementary school
teacher for a quarter. His mission
was to teach a group of li-year-
old boys from a mixed elementary
school. Many of the boys weren’t
doing very well at school and, like many
other boys, they were a long way behind the
girls in reading and writing. The result is Gareth
Malone’s Extraordinary School for Boys - a three-part
TV series...

a Look at the photos above. W hat can you see? Now read
about G areth M alone’s Extraordinary School fo r Boys. 4 SPEAKING
In your country, are boys usually behind girls in
reading and w riting? a In groups o f three, each choose one (different) topic
from the list below. Decide if you agree or disagree and
b 4 8))) Listen to P art 1 o f a radio program about the w rite down at least three reasons.
experim ent and answ er the questions.
• Boys and girls both learn better in single-sex schools.
1 How long did Gareth have to teach the boys? • Schools should let children wear whatever they
2 W hat was his aim? w ant at school.
3 W hat three things did he believe were important? • Cooking and housew ork should be taught at school.

c 4 9))) Listen to P art 2. Com plete the chart. • Schools don’t teach children the im portant things
they need to know to be an adult.
Gareth made 1 • Physical education should be optional.
some general
changes, for • School sum m er vacations should be shorter.
example: • Children spend too much time at school on math
and IT and not enough on things like music, art,
2
and drama.
• Private schools are usually better than
public schools.
To improve 1 A competition
their language O Debating a topic: organizing your ideas
skills, he 2 A “World Cup” • The topic I’ve chosen is...
organized: completely agree that...
3 A .thatthe
partly agree
boys (and girls) had to both write and completely disagree
perform
• First of all, (I think that...)
• My second point is that...
d Listen again. How successful were the three activities?
• Another important point is that...
e 4 10))) Now listen to P art 3 to find out what the result • Finally,...
o f the experim ent was. Did the boys’ reading improve?
b Explain to the rest o f your group what you think about
f W hat do you think o f G areth’s ideas? D o you think your topic. T he others in the group should listen. A t the
they are appropriate for girls? A re any o f them used in end, they can vote for w hether they agree or disagree
your country? w ith you and say why.

Online Practice 7A 65