The e-Book

1,000 IDEAS & ACTIVITIES FOR
LANGUAGE
TEACHERS

News English Lessons
FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes - Pink Slime
(11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)

Home
Donate

E-mail this lesson to
a student /colleague

COPYRIGHT:
Please write to
me for permission.

Man fired because of "pink slime" (24 December, 2012)

A worker who was fired from an American beef company is suing the famous celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. 58-year-old Bruce Smith is angry because Oliver called the beef product at his company "pink slime". This made the public worry about the safety of the meat. Many schools in America stopped using it in their children's lunches. Jamie Oliver first said that the beef was dangerous in a TV show. He said the meat contained chemicals that were bad for humans and that you could get "mad cow disease" if you ate it.

Advertisements

"Pink slime" is meat from around the bones of the cow. The factory where Mr Smith worked made it into a paste. They used the chemical ammonium hydroxide to kill all the bacteria in it. It was originally used for pet food and in cooking oil, and not for consumption by humans. Many fast food restaurants in America used it in their menus. Hamburger giant Macdonald's said it used the meat product in its burgers and nuggets, but they stopped using it from February this year because of health concerns.

Advertisements

PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.	A worker who was	a.	lunches
2	suing the famous	b.	celebrity chef
3.	worry about the	c.	if you ate it
4.	children's	d.	for humans
5.	chemicals that were bad	e.	safety of the meat
6.	you could get "mad cow disease"	f.	fired

Paragraph 2

1.	meat from around the	a.	for pet food
2	kill all the	b.	by humans
3.	It was originally used	c.	bones of the cow
4.	not for consumption	d.	concerns
5.	Hamburger	e.	bacteria
6.	health	f.	giant Macdonald's

LISTENING GAP FILL

A worker who was fired from an (1) ____________________ is suing the (2) ________________ Jamie Oliver. 58-year-old Bruce Smith is angry because Oliver (3) ____________________ at his company "pink slime". (4) ____________________ about the safety of the meat. (5) ________________ stopped using it in their children's lunches. Jamie Oliver first said that the beef was dangerous in a TV show. He said the meat contained (6) ________________ for humans and that you could get "mad cow disease" if you ate it.

"Pink slime" is (7) ________________of the cow. The factory where Mr Smith worked made it into a paste. They used the (8) ____________________hydroxide to kill all the bacteria in it. It was (9) ____________________ and in cooking oil, and not for consumption by humans. (10) ____________________in America used it in their menus. (11) ____________________ said it used the meat product in its burgers and nuggets, but they stopped using it from (12) ________________because of health concerns.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

A worker who was fired from an American (1) ___ company is suing the famous celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. 58-year-old Bruce Smith is (2) ___ because Oliver called the beef (3) ___ at his company "pink slime". This made the public worry about the (4) ___ of the meat. Many schools in America stopped using it in their children's lunches. Jamie Oliver first said that the beef was dangerous in a TV show. He said the meat (5) ___ chemicals that were bad for humans and that you could get "mad cow (6) ___ " if you ate it.

"Pink slime" is meat from around the (7) ___ of the cow. The factory where Mr Smith worked made it into a paste. They used the (8) ___ ammonium hydroxide to kill all the bacteria in it. It was originally used for pet food and in cooking oil, and not for (9) ___ by humans. Many fast food restaurants in America used it in their menus. Hamburger (10) ___ Macdonald's said it used the meat product in its burgers and nuggets, but they (11) ___ using it from February this year because of health (12) ___.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	meet	(b)	beef	(c)	cow
2.	(a)	angry	(b)	anger	(c)	angers
3.	(a)	produce	(b)	production	(c)	product
4.	(a)	safe	(b)	safety	(c)	safely
5.	(a)	corrected	(b)	commanded	(c)	contained
6.	(a)	sick	(b)	disease	(c)	ill
7.	(a)	bone	(b)	beef	(c)	meat
8.	(a)	chemical	(b)	hydroxide	(c)	chemistry
9.	(a)	contraption	(b)	competition	(c)	consumption
10.	(a)	giant	(b)	monster	(c)	beast
11.	(a)	stops	(b)	stoppage	(c)	stopped
12	(a)	consumption	(b)	concerns	(c)	production

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	an American beef company is sgniu
2.	famous rceleytbi chef
3.	the beef was ogndsuare
4.	the meat incdantoe
5.	ihccsmela that were bad for humans
6.	"mad cow eadessi"
Paragraph 2
7.	The afcorty where Mr Smith worked
8.	kill all the biraacte
9.	It was laniilrgoy used for pet food
10.	not for otmnpisconu
11.	Many fast food aenurstsrat
12.	using it from rayeruFb

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	chemicals that were bad for humans and that you could get "mad cow disease" if you ate it.
( )	was originally used for pet food and in cooking oil, and not for consumption by
( )	"Pink slime" is meat from around the bones of the cow. The factory where Mr Smith worked made it
( )	humans. Many fast food restaurants in America used it in their menus. Hamburger giant
( )	Macdonald's said it used the meat product in its burgers and nuggets, but they stopped using
( )	into a paste. They used the chemical ammonium hydroxide to kill all the bacteria in it. It
( )	Jamie Oliver called the beef product at his company "pink slime". This made the
( 1 )	A worker who was fired from an American beef company is suing the famous celebrity chef,
( )	public worry about the safety of the meat. Many schools in America
( )	stopped using it in their children's lunches. Jamie Oliver
( )	first said that the beef was dangerous in a TV show. He said the meat contained
( )	it from February this year because of health concerns.

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

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

1.	A worker who was fired from an American beef company.
2.	Suing the famous celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver.
3.	This made the public worry about the safety.
4.	Jamie Oliver first said that the beef was dangerous.
5.	Meat contained chemicals that were bad for humans.
6.	The factory where Mr Smith worked made it into a paste.
7.	They used the chemical ammonium hydroxide.
8.	It was originally used for pet food and cooking oil.
9.	Hamburger giant Macdonald's said it used the meat.
10.	They stopped using it from February this year.

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 meat 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. BEEF: Search the Internet and find more information about beef. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about "pink slime". Include an imaginary interview with Jamie Oliver. 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. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

5. LETTER: Write a letter to a beef expert. Ask him/her three questions about beef. Give him/her three of your opinions on beef. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner will answer the questions you asked.

Back to the top

News English Lessons FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes - Pink Slime (11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)