Easy English NEWS. February Cloze Exercises and Tests. To the Teacher. Cloze Exercises

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1 February 2014 Easy English NEWS Cloze Exercises and Tests To the Teacher Cloze Exercises The Olympic Winter Games Susan B. Anthony Abraham Lincoln Addiction in the U.S. (Part 2) Fighting for the Right to Vote With All My Heart Which Word Does Not Belong? Short-Answer Tests Answers The Olympic Winter Games Shopping for Groceries Part 5 Events in February Addiction in the U.S. Fighting for the Right to Vote Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February, Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy these pages for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

2 To the Teacher Thank you for downloading these supplementary tests and exetcises. I m hoping they will save you many hours of work each month and will help expand your students reading skills, vocabulary, and retention of important information. There are dozens of ways to use the tests included in this supplementary packet. Experiment to see which methods work best for your classes, or you can alternate ways you use them to provide more variety in lessons. Some techniques will be better for students with less command of English, and others appropriate for those with greater fluency. CLOZE EXERCISES The purpose of the cloze exercises is to present a small amount of important material in another format to enhance comprehension and retention, and reinforce vocabulary. The cloze exercises may be used before or after reading the article. They are taken directly from articles in the paper so students can check their own or others work by referring back to the article. If you assign a cloze exercise before reading the article, it serves as an introduction to reading the full article. Use this with students with better reading ability. Tell the students that if a word comes at the beginning of a sentence, or if it is part of someones name, or a name that needs a capital letter, they should capitalize it. For advanced students: Cover up the word box at the bottom of the page before duplicating the cloze exercises. Students can work individually, or in pairs or small groups. WHICH WORD DOES NOT BELONG Students think about the four words in each row, and decide how three of the words go together while a fourth one does not fit in the category. The answers to this are not necessarily firm, so it shouldn t be regarded as a written test. It s best to have students circle their choices, and then discuss them in class. Students should be able to give their reasons for choosing a word that doesn t belong. Any good reason makes their answer correct. Students can work in small groups to discuss the reasons for their answers. They can write out their reasons for the decision. Teach the pattern: A, B, and D are all. C is not a. Or, B, C, and D are all kinds of. A is not. Or You can find A, B, and C in a. And so forth. SHORT-ANSWER TESTS. You may give these tests as pretests to learn what students already know about the topic and again as post tests. After reading the article, students can read the questions aloud and give the answers orally. You can let the students do the tests as open book (newspaper) test after reading the article in class or for homework. Students can work in pairs or groups to come up with the answers after having read the article. Students can use the Answer Page to correct their own or others answers. You can give the same test a week or more later to evaluate the retention of the information. As a spelling test: Dictate the sentences including the missing word for the students to write in. As copy practice: Students can copy the entire selection for writing practice, filling in the missing words. Elizabeth Claire, Easy English NEWS. Teachers may photocopy these pages for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

3 Easy English NEWS Cloze Exercises, February 2014 Name Date The Olympic Winter Games Every years, the best in the world compete in the Olympic Games. This year, the Winter Olympics will be from February 7 to 23. Twenty-five hundred athletes from 90 will go to Sochi, Russia. It will be the winter Olympics in history. Many thousands of people will go to to watch the games. Three billion people all over the will be able to see the games on TV. There are 98 different. Some sports are familiar to people: skiing, ice hockey, speed skating, and figure. Other events are biathlon, bobsled, curling, and luge. Some new events will be ski slopestyle and half-pipe. can now compete in ski jumping for the first time. WORD BANK events four women world athletes February countries Sochi biggest skating From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

4 Name Date Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony was on February 15, When she grew up, she became a. Anthony worked very hard to end. After the Civil War, black men got the right to. Anthony thought that should have the right to vote, too. She and her friends tried to vote in an election. The arrested her. Anthony wanted to change the of the United States so women could vote. She worked the rest of her life for this. She made speeches and started a. It was difficult. Men did not think women were enough to vote. In those years, many women the same thing! WORD BANK police newspaper smart thought slavery born Constitution teacher vote women From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

5 Name Date Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, His family was very. They lived in a log. Lincoln s died when he was young. Later, Lincoln a lawyer. He wanted to help make laws. People called him Abe. In 1846, Lincoln was elected to as a representative from Illinois. In 1860, he was elected of the United States. After Lincoln s, eleven southern states seceded from the Union. This was the beginning of the Civil between the North and the South. WORD BANK honest cabin president Congress fair mother became election war poor From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

6 Name Date Addiction in the U.S. Part 2 Can a person become to marijuana? Marijuana affects different in different ways. It may cause pleasant feelings or it may cause. For some people, it stress. It can make things seem funnier. may seem more beautiful. Food may better. Other users have feelings of paranoia and panic attacks that last for a long. A person high on marijuana may do things. A person using marijuana may react more slowly, and make more. They may not well. They may make poor decisions. Drivers high on marijuana cause twice the accidents as non-users. Some people may have hallucinations. Source: National Institute of Health WORD BANK music people remember dangerous addicted mistakes anxiety reduces taste time From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

7 Name Date The Civil War ends slavery Fighting for the Right to Vote The United States had a great Civil War between the North and the South. It lasted from 1861 to The North won the. Northern lawmakers added three to the Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment ended. The Fourteenth Amendment gave to the former slaves. The Fifteenth Amendment gave the to vote to adult citizens of any race. After the war The 11 southern states that the war had to agree to the new amendments. The federal government sent to the South. The soldiers made sure that the newly-freed black people were kept as slaves. They made sure that black men could. WORD BANK male vote lost soldiers war citizenship slavery right not amendments From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

8 Name Date Fighting for the Right to Vote, continued The Freedom Riders The rights movement began in the late 1950s. In 1965, Congress finally passed a voting rights act. It said that may not have laws that take away people s voting rights. Many white people in the did not want this new law. They made it impossible for black men and women to. Television news showed the in the South. People from all over the country down to the South on buses. They were called the Freedom Riders. They helped black people to vote. White mobs burned some of the. They beat the Freedom Riders. In Mississippi, Klan members killed young Freedom Riders. WORD BANK South register civil national three buses states vote injustices went From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

9 Name Date With All My Heart The heart is a symbol of for Valentine s Day. There are many expressions in about hearts. Here are some of them: Absence makes the heart grow. Love becomes stronger when people are not each other. From the of my heart Very much; deeply. To someone s heart To reject or hurt someone who loves you. To have a broken To feel sad because of a lost love. Heartbreaking Very. The ending of the movie was heartbreaking. To have a heart Be kind; give what someone asks for. Have a heart; me. To have a heart of Be a kind person; be generous. WORD BANK English bottom sad gold love fonder heart forgive near break From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

10 Name Date February 2014: Which Word Does Not Belong? Three words in each row go together. One word does not belong with them. Draw a circle around the word that does not belong. Be able to explain your reasons. A B C D 1. athlete insomnia compete Olympics 2. ski jumping figure skating half-pipe security 3. faster higher fonder stronger 4. hallucination panic attack paranoia recreation 5. Freedom Riders grandfather laws poll tax Ku Klux Klan 6. warm-hearted coldhearted loving generous 7. can jar package label 8. Medicare W-2 Form 1099 Form 1040 Form 9. Commander-in-chief president co-founder representative 10. perish pass away prescribe die 11. police mobs soldier security worker 12. bronze meteorite gold silver From February 2014 Easy English NEWS Elizabeth Claire, Inc.

11 Name Date Easy English NEWS Short-Answer Tests, February 2014 I. The Olympic Winter Games 1. What day do the 2014 Winter Olympic Games begin? 2. In what city will the games be? 3. How many different events will there be? 4. What sport will women now be allowed to compete in? 5. The average temperature in Sochi in winter is degrees Fahrenheit. 6. Who is going to Olympic games for the sixth time? 7. On what television network can you watch the Winter Olympics? 8. Who is Russia s leader? 9. How many seats will there be at the stadiums and arenas? 10. Who was the first African-American athlete to win a gold medal in an individual Winter Olympics event? 11. In what sport does Simon Shnapir compete? 12. Where will pieces of meteorite be found on February 15? Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy this quiz for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

12 Name Date II. Shopping for groceries part 5 1. You can find the brand name and description of a product on the package. 2. What is the abbreviation for pound? 3. If a seal is broken on a jar of food, should you buy it? 4. The words Sell by or before 2/10/14 is the date. 5. The things that are in a prepared food (such as pea beans, pork, sugar, molasses, dried onion) are the food s. III. Events in February 1. February is -American History Month. 2. What animal will look for its shadow on February 2? 3. Who got the right to vote after the Civil War? 4. Who worked all her life to get women the right to vote? 5. Which Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote? 6. The Super Bowl is a championship game in what sport? Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy this quiz for use with their own classes.

13 Name Date 7. Which day is a day for sweethearts and people you love? 8. What day is Presidents Day? 9. Who was the first president of the United States? 10. He is often called the of his country. 11. On what two kinds of money can you see his face? 12. What is a favorite dessert on his birthday? 13. What year was Abraham Lincoln elected president of the United States? 14. What war started right after he became president? 15. Where did Lincoln give a speech that became famous? 16. On what money can you see Lincoln s face? 17. What documents do employers give out at the end of January? 18. Where can taxpayers get 1040 tax forms? 19. What is the Olympic motto? Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy this quiz for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

14 Name Date IV. Addiction in the U.S. part 2 1. Does marijuana affect all people in the same way? YES NO 2. Can a person become dependent on marijuana? YES NO 3. What percent of teens who use marijuana may later become addicted? 4. The withdrawal symptoms for some users may be the same as for withdrawal. 5. In twenty states, people may get medical marijuana if they have a doctor s. 6. Which two states have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes? and. 7. How much is the tax on marijuana in the state of Colorado? 8. How many people do police arrest every year for marijuana offenses? 9. What organization wants to make marijuana legal in all the states? 10. What organization is against making marijuana legal? 11. Zero tolerance means that police may arrest someone who is with even a very small amount of marijuana in his or her blood. Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy this quiz for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

15 Name Date V. Fighting for the Right to Vote 1. The Civil War ended in When did it begin? 2. Who won the Civil War? 3. Which amendment to the Constituton ended slavery? 4. Which amendment gave black men the right to vote? 5. Could officers in the Confederate army vote after the war? YES NO 6. Who protected the black men s right to vote after the Civil War? 7. What is a poll tax? 8. Men were able to vote even if they couldn t read or pay a poll tax if their had voted. 9. What terrorist organization beat or killed black men who tried to vote? 10. When did Congress pass a national voting rights act? 11. People from the North who came down to the South in buses to help black people register to vote were called. Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy this quiz for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

16 February 2014 Answers to Easy English NEWS Short-Answer Tests I. The Olympic Winter Games IV. Addiction in the U.S. part 2 1. February 7 2. Sochi, Russia ski jumping Todd Lodwick 7. NBC 8. Vladimir Putin , Shani Davis 11. figure skating 12. in the gold medals II. Shopping for Groceries, Part 5 1. label 2. lb. 3. no 4. expiration date 5. ingredients III. Events in February 1. African 2. groundhog 3. black men 4. Susan B. Anthony 5. 19th Amendment 6. football 7. Valentine s Day 8. February George Washington 10. Father 11. the quarter; the dollar bill 12. cherry pie Civil War 15. Gettysburg 16. the penny and 5 dollar bill 17. W-2 forms or 1099 forms 18. IRS.gov 19. Faster; higher; stronger 1. NO 2. YES 3. 60% 4. cigarette 5. prescription 6. Washington and Colorado 7. 25% , NORML.org 10. Project SAM 11. driving V. Fighting for the Right to Vote the North 3. 13th Amendment 4. 15th Amendment 5. no 6. soldiers (from the North) 7. a tax to vote 8. grandfathers 9. Ku Klux Klan Freedom Riders Elizabeth Claire/Easy English NEWS February Teachers and subscribers to Easy English NEWS may photocopy this quiz for use with their own classes. All other rights reserved.

Pro and Con: Should Congress Pass Stronger Gun-control Laws?

Pro and Con: Should Congress Pass Stronger Gun-control Laws? I. THE FACTS A. Numbers of gun owners and guns in the United States About 30% of adult Americans own a gun. In the past, more than 50% of Americans