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Beavers Return To UK After 400 years

Beavers disappeared from Great Britain over 400 years ago. Hunters killed the last British beavers in the sixteenth century. But now they are back. Last week, several families of beavers were sent to Scotland from Norway. This is part of a project to re-introduce beavers to the wild in Britain. The head of the project said it was a special time for British wildlife. He said it was sad that beavers were extinct in the U.K. But now he is happy. He hopes the new beavers will do the things beavers do well, like clear away branches that fall into rivers.

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I think these beavers are very lucky. They are no longer hunted in Britain, so this time they might survive. It’s lucky beavers were not hunted all over the world. People have killed too many animals. I feel sad that we can’t see many extinct animals and birds. The worst thing is that more and more animals are dying out every day. In the future, we might not have rhinos and pandas and that will be terrible. If people don’t stop hunting elephants and tigers, they might disappear too. I want to say good luck to the new beavers in Scotland.

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PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.	Beavers disappeared	a.	for British wildlife
2	several families of beavers	b.	away branches
3.	a project to re-introduce	c.	from Great Britain
4.	a special time	d.	beavers to the wild
5.	beavers were	e.	were sent to Scotland
6.	clear	f.	extinct in the U.K.

Paragraph 2

1.	They are no	a.	hunting elephants
2	hunted all	b.	dying out
3.	extinct	c.	over the world
4.	more animals are	d.	longer hunted
5.	stop	e.	luck
6.	good	f.	animals

LISTENING GAP FILL

Beavers disappeared from Great Britain __________________. Hunters killed the last British beavers in the sixteenth century. But __________________. Last week, several families of beavers were sent to Scotland from Norway. This is __________________ re-introduce beavers to the wild in Britain. The head of the project said __________________ for British wildlife. He __________________ beavers were extinct in the U.K. But now he is happy. He hopes the new beavers will do the things beavers do well, like __________________ that fall into rivers.

I think these beavers are very lucky. They __________________ in Britain, so this time they might survive. It’s lucky beavers were not hunted __________________. People have killed too many animals. I feel __________________ see many extinct animals and birds. The worst thing is that more and more animals __________________ day. In the future, we might not have rhinos and pandas and __________________. If people don’t stop hunting elephants and tigers, they __________________. I want to say good luck to the new beavers in Scotland.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Beavers disappeared from Great Britain over 400 years ago. Hunters killed the last British beavers in the (1) ____ century. But now they are back. Last week, (2) ____ families of beavers were sent to Scotland from Norway. This is part of a project to re-introduce beavers to the (3) ____ in Britain. The head of the project said it was a special time for British (4) ____. He said it was sad that beavers were extinct in the U.K. But now he is happy. He hopes the new beavers will do the things beavers do well, like clear (5) ____ branches that fall into rivers.

I think these beavers are very lucky. They are no (6) ____ hunted in Britain, so this time they might (7) ____. It’s lucky beavers were not hunted all over the world. People have killed too many animals. I feel sad that we can’t see many extinct animals and birds. The worst (8) ____ is that more and more animals are dying (9) ____ every day. In the future, we might not have rhinos and pandas and that will be terrible. If people don’t stop hunting elephants and tigers, they might disappear too. I want to (10) ____ good luck to the new beavers in Scotland.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	sixteenth	(b)	sixteen	(c)	sixteenths
2.	(a)	severe	(b)	several	(c)	severed
3.	(a)	wildly	(b)	wild	(c)	wilder
4.	(a)	wilderness	(b)	wilds	(c)	wildlife
5.	(a)	away	(b)	as	(c)	above
6.	(a)	length	(b)	longer	(c)	long
7.	(a)	survivor	(b)	survival	(c)	survive
8.	(a)	things	(b)	thingy	(c)	thing
9.	(a)	out	(b)	in	(c)	over
10.	(a)	speak	(b)	tell	(c)	say

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	Beavers rddapeaepis
2.	the sixteenth ctyeurn
3.	a coterpj to re-introduce beavers
4.	British ildeilfw
5.	beavers were cietxtn
6.	clear away rhsbncae
Paragraph 2
7.	very ykclu
8.	no longer neudth
9.	they might seuvriv
10.	animals are iydng out
11.	that will be lrbteier
12.	stop nhtguni elephants

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	out every day. In the future, we might not have rhinos and pandas and that will be terrible. If people don’t stop
( )	century. But now they are back. Last week, several families of beavers were sent to Scotland from Norway. This is part
( )	hunting elephants and tigers, they might disappear too. I want to say good luck to the new beavers in Scotland.
( 1 )	Beavers disappeared from Great Britain over 400 years ago. Hunters killed the last British beavers in the sixteenth
( )	survive. It’s lucky beavers were not hunted all over the world. People have killed too many animals. I feel
( )	I think these beavers are very lucky. They are no longer hunted in Britain, so this time they might
( )	time for British wildlife. He said it was sad that beavers were extinct in the U.K. But now he is
( )	sad that we can’t see many extinct animals and birds. The worst thing is that more and more animals are dying
( )	happy. He hopes the new beavers will do the things beavers do well, like clear away branches that fall into rivers.
( )	of a project to re-introduce beavers to the wild in Britain. The head of the project said it was a special

SCRAMBLED SENTENCES

With a partner, put the words back into the correct order.

1.	Hunters the British killed last beavers.
2.	A project to re - introduce beavers to the wild.
3.	beavers was the were sad U.K. extinct that It in.
4.	things do the beavers well Do.
5.	rivers into fall that branches away Clear.
6.	very are beavers these think I lucky.
7.	hunted all Beavers over were the not world.
8.	can’t many animals We see extinct.
9.	out dying are animals More day every.
10.	I want to say good luck to the new beavers.

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

WRITING

Write about wildlife for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

______________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information about beavers. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about beavers. Include an imaginary interview with a beaver.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story.