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Weekly Warmer

The Olympic Torch

Level: Intermediate and above
Language Aims: To practice reading for understanding, to practice asking and answering questions, to learn about the Olympics.
Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Preparation: Make copies of the worksheets A or B below so that each student in a pair will have either an A. or B. worksheet.

Procedure:

1. Give half of the students in your class the Student A. worksheet, the other half the Student B. worksheet. Ask the As to sit together and the Bs. to sit together.

2. Ask students to spend a few minutes reading through their worksheets (You may like to discourage them from using dictionaries.) and then ask them to look at the parts of the text that have gaps. They should think about what kind of words will go in the gaps.

3. Tell them to work with other students around them to make a question to ask about the missing information for each gap. Circulate and help with question formation. Students can check their questions with other students who have the same worksheet (e.g. As talking to As.) if you wish.

4. When everyone has had enough time, ask students to find a partner with someone with the other worksheet. Then ask students to sit in their pairs facing each other over a desk or table.

5. Students ask their partner questions to find the words that go in each gap. They answer their partner's questions. Their aim is to complete their worksheet with the correct information.

6. You may like to check answers with the whole class quickly at the end.

Extension: Look at recent news articles about the torch with students.

Student Handout: Student A

One of the highlights of the modern Olympic Games is the Olympic Torch relay during which a torch is lit in __________ and then torchbearers carry the torch until it arrives in the city hosting the Olympics. The torch is used to light the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.

During the ancient Olympics a __________ was kept burning and athletes ran races with fire to honor gods including Prometheus (who stole fire from the gods and brought wisdom and knowledge to humankind).

The flame reappeared at the modern Olympics in __________ in 1928 when a fire was built into an Olympic stadium tower and the first modern Olympic torch relay was introduced for the 1936 Berlin Games. More than __________ torchbearers carried the torch 3,190 kilometers (1,980 miles) from Olympia to Berlin. The Athens Summer Olympics in 2004 saw the first global torch relay through 34 cities in 27 countries.

Several months before the Olympic Games start, the torch is lit at the ruins of the __________, in Olympia, southern Greece, site of the ancient Olympics. Actresses dressed as priestesses use the sun and a parabolic (curved) mirror to light the flame.

Carried on foot to __________ in an urn, the torch is delivered to host city officials at the Greek capital's Panathinaiko Stadium. Shielded in a security lamp, it then travels on to the host city of the Olympics on foot, or via boat, airplane, bicycle, car or train. The torch relay for the 2008 summer Olympics includes a __________-nation world tour leading up to the August 8 opening ceremony in Beijing.

There have been protests surrounding the torch during several Olympic Games including the __________ and the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. In 2008 human rights activists protesting against a Chinese crackdown in Tibet disrupted the torch relay.

Student Handout: Student B

One of the highlights of the modern Olympic Games is the Olympic Torch relay during which a torch is lit in Olympia, Greece and then torchbearers carry the torch until it arrives in the city hosting the Olympics. The torch is used to light the Olympic __________ at the opening ceremony.

During the ancient Olympics a fire was kept burning and athletes ran races with __________ to honor gods including Prometheus (who stole fire from the gods and brought wisdom and knowledge to humankind).

The flame reappeared at the modern Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928 when a fire was built into an Olympic stadium tower and the first modern Olympic torch relay was introduced for the __________. More than 3,300 torchbearers carried the torch 3,190 kilometers (1,980 miles) from Olympia to Berlin. The Athens Summer Olympics in __________ saw the first global torch relay through 34 cities in 27 countries.

Several months before the Olympic Games start, the torch is lit at the ruins of the Temple of Hera, in Olympia, southern Greece, site of the ancient Olympics. Actresses dressed as priestesses use the sun and a parabolic __________ mirror to light the flame.

Carried on foot to Athens in an urn, the torch is delivered to host city officials at the Greek capital's Panathinaiko Stadium. Shielded in a security lamp, it then travels on to the host city of the Olympics on foot, or via ___________________ car or train. The torch relay for the 2008 summer Olympics includes a 20-nation world tour leading up to the August 8 opening ceremony in __________.

There have been protests surrounding the torch during several Olympic Games including the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. In 2008 human rights activists protesting against a Chinese crackdown in Tibet disrupted the torch relay.

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