Academic English

You can learn to understand local and world news reports by predicting the main ideas based on the news headlines. Read the possible headlines below for the four news stories and predict the content for each. Try to guess what key words that would come up in each story.

A. Listen to the news report and select the best title for each news story. 

“catch someone red-handed” = catch someone in the middle of doing something wrong
“Some of the employees caught the president red-handed lying to the media about the company’s financial problems.”

“have a strong stomach” = have a strong ability to endure unpleasant things
“With so much violence in the world, you need to have a strong stomach to listen to the news today.”

The Internet now allows people to search for news stories around the world much easier than before. Use any online service or search engine to find an unusual news event or story in English from a different country than where you presently live. Summarize the main ideas and share it with a partner. Discuss why the event would be of particular local or international interest.