Look Closer FirstNews Issue 377 6-12 September 2013 SPORT Bale goes to Madrid for world record fee GARETH Bale has finally got his dream move to Real Madrid. The big-money deal makes the Wales star the first player ever to be sold for 100m ( 85m). Gareth Bale poses for the media and fans at Real Madrid s Santiago Bernabéu stadium I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say, this is my dream come true, he said. Spurs paid just 10m when they bought Bale from Southampton six years ago. Although he was highly rated, some thought that he was too lightweight and wouldn t be able to withstand the tough matches in the Premier League. At the start of his Spurs career, he famously played 24 matches without winning, and was jokingly called a jinx by fans. Bale has now taken over from his new Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo as the world s most expensive player. Madrid paid Man United 80m ( 94m) for Ronaldo in 2009. Madrid have already got rid of Kaka and Mesut Özil to make room in their squad for Bale. It has been reported that Bale will be paid 300,000 per week! Did you know? Former Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson has said that one of his biggest regrets is not signing Gareth Bale when he was younger and still playing for Southampton.
Can you: Find the facts? Interpret the information? Work out why the journalist wrote and presented the story in the way that they did? 1) This article is about the footballer Gareth Bale. Can you work out these key facts from the article? (AF2) The name of the club he is moving to: The country he is moving to:...... The amount that this club have just paid for him:... 2) Can you work out which two British football clubs Bale has played for? (AF2) 1.... 2.... 3) Footballers change clubs all the time. Why is Gareth Bale s move to Real Madrid big news? (AF2) 4) How does Gareth Bale feel about his move to Madrid, and why do you think he feels like this? (AF3) 5) Different parts of a newspaper article have particular names. Can you identify the headline, caption and quotation from these clues? (AF4) This tells you what Gareth Bale thinks about moving to Madrid, using his exact words. This is the first part of the article you read. These eight words summarise the story. This tells you that the photograph shows Gareth Bale in Real Madrid s stadium.
6) The article includes this quotation: I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say, this is my dream come true. Why has the journalist chosen to include this quotation? (AF6) 7) A jinx is a person or a thing which brings bad luck. Why was Gareth Bale called a jinx by fans? (AF2) 8) Find two pieces of evidence from the article which show that Real Madrid must be a football club with a great deal of money? (AF2) 9) The story ends: It has been reported that Bale will be paid 300,000 per week! Why has the journalist included the words It has been reported What do these words tell you? (AF5) 10) Why do you think Spurs Football Club might have both happy and sad feelings about this deal? (AF3)
Can you: Find the facts? Interpret the information? Work out why the journalist wrote and presented the story in the way that they did? 1) This article is about the footballer Gareth Bale. Can you work out these key facts from the article? (AF2) a) The name of the club he is moving to. b) The country he is moving to. c) The amount that this club have just paid for him. 2) Can you work out which two British football clubs Bale has played for? (AF2) 3) Footballers change clubs all the time. Why is Gareth Bale s move to Real Madrid big news? (AF2) 4) How does Gareth Bale feel about his move to Madrid, and why do you think he feels like this? (AF3) 5) Different parts of a newspaper article have particular names. Can you identify the headline, caption and quotation from these clues? (AF4) This tells you what Gareth Bale thinks about moving to Madrid, using his exact words. This is the first part of the article you read. These eight words summarise the story. This tells you that the photograph shows Gareth Bale in Real Madrid s stadium. 6) The article includes this quotation: I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say, this is my dream come true. Why has the journalist chosen to include this quotation? (AF6) 7) A jinx is a person or a thing which brings bad luck. Why was Gareth Bale called a jinx by fans? (AF2) 8) Find two pieces of evidence from the article which show that Real Madrid must be a football club with a great deal of money? (AF2) 9) The story ends: It has been reported that Bale will be paid 300,000 per week! Why has the journalist included the words It has been reported What do these words tell you? (AF5) 10) Why do you think Spurs Football Club might have both happy and sad feelings about this deal? (AF3)
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES A) YOUR OPINION The huge salaries that top footballers are paid are very controversial. 8-15 year olds are given pocket money of about 6 a week on average. A new nurse earns about 21,000 per year. What do you think about Gareth Bale s estimated salary of 300,000 a week? Is it a fair salary? Does he deserve it? Write down your opinion and explain why you have this view. B) SCHOOL NEWS You have just returned to school after a long summer break. Schools often change over the holidays. There might be new teachers, new equipment, new rules or new timetables. Does your school have any school news? Write your school news up as a newspaper article. Can you include a headline, a caption and a quotation in your story? C) FOOTBALL REGRETS Football managers need to spot talent early and build a great team. Have a look at the Did you know? box. Why do you think Sir Alex Ferguson regrets not buying Gareth Bale from Southampton? (Manchester United are another big, successful football club.)
The teacher answers are intended to provide a guide as to the AF strand of the question and possible responses from pupils working at different levels. In the level 4/5 answers we try to provide the most complete answer possible in order to provide teaching points when discussing the answers with pupils. 1) This article is about the footballer Gareth Bale. Can you work out these key facts from the article? The name of the club he is moving to: Real Madrid The country he is moving to: Spain The amount that this club have just paid for him: 85million 2) Can you work out which two British football clubs Bale has played for? 1. Spurs 2. Southampton 3) Footballers change clubs all the time. Why is Gareth Bale s move to Real Madrid big news? Because it is a world record. Because he is so famous. This move is big news because he has been sold for such a huge amount of money. 85 million is the largest amount of money ever paid for a footballer and is a record-breaking transfer fee. 4) How does Gareth Bale feel about his move to Madrid and why do you think he feels like this? AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts L3 simple inference He is really happy about it. It s a dream come true. L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation He is very happy about moving and says that this is a dream come true for him. He is probably very happy about it because he used to support the club when he was a boy, so he has been a fan for a long time, and to actually play for the club was a childhood dream. He might also be happy because he will be earning a very large salary! 5) Different parts of a newspaper article have particular names. Can you identify the headline, caption and quotation from these clues? AF4 identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level Quotation - This tells you what Gareth Bale thinks about moving to Madrid, using his exact words. Headline - This is the first part of the article you read. These eight words summarise the story. Caption -This tells you that the photograph shows Gareth Bale in Real Madrid s stadium. 6) The article includes this quotation: I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say, this is my dream come true. Why has the journalist chosen to include this quotation? AF6 identify and comment on writers purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of on the reader
L3 simple understanding of the journalist s purpose Because Gareth Bale said these words. Because it tells you what he thinks. L4/5 - main purpose identified with comment on overall effect on reader The journalist has chosen this quotation because these are Gareth Bale s words and he is the person that this article is about. Using a quotation means that the reader can find out exactly what Gareth Bale himself thinks about this move. This quote quickly explains how happy the player is to move clubs. 7) A jinx is a person or a thing which brings bad luck. Why was Gareth Bale called a jinx by fans? Because he was bad luck for the team Because he lost so much. He was called a jinx because he lost the first 24 matches that he played with Spurs. The fans joked that he was bringing the team bad luck. 8) Find two pieces of evidence from the article which show that Real Madrid must be a football club with a great deal of money? Two from: Real Madrid paid a record-breaking amount of money for Gareth Bale - 85m. They also paid the previously largest amount of money paid for a player - 80m for Cristiano Ronaldo. They will be paying Bale an estimated 300,000 per week, which is a great deal of money. 9) The article ends: It has been reported that Bale will be paid 300,000 per week! Why has the journalist included the words It has been reported What do these words tell you? AF5 explain and comment on the writer s uses of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level L3 a few basic features of writer s use of language identified That someone reported it. That someone else said it. L4/5 basic/various features identified with simple/more complex comment These words show that this salary isn t a fact. The journalist has included them to warn the reader that other people other reports are saying that this is what the footballer will be paid, but Real Madrid haven t confirmed this. 10) Why do you think Spurs Football Club might have both happy and sad feelings about this deal? AF3 deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts L3 simple inference Because Gareth Bale is leaving. Because he didn t play well for them at first / because he s a jinx. L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation They must be feeling sad because they have lost a very good player, but they might be feeling a little happy they got such a good deal and have just earned 85m. They might be able to spend this huge amount of money on other good players.