The weekly column

Article 74, September 2001

HEAVEN & HELL

By Michael Berman

Level: Intermediate

Target Audience: Secondary / Adults

Language / Skills Focus: Listening & Speaking

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheet. Photocopies of the story to hand out at the end of the session (optional).


IN CLASS

1. Pre-listening: "They say that the English love their pets more than children. How far do you agree with this?"

2. "When it's time to eat, who would you serve first - your family and friends or your pets? Give reasons for the choice you make."

3. Post-listening: "What would heaven on earth be for you and what would hell on earth be for you? Tell the person sitting next to you."

4. Hand out copies of the worksheet and invite the learners to work on the ordering activity in pairs or small groups

ANSWERS: 1-i 2-h 3-c 4-g 5-o 6-m 7-n 8-k 9-b 10-j 11-e 12-d 13-f 14-a 15-l 5.

5. If you would like to use the story as a lead-in to the topic of Pets / Animals, you could then go on to the questionnaire.

ANSWERS: 1. True. 2. True. 3. False. It's actually bright pink. 4. False. They have half the number of taste buds that pigs have. 5. True. 6. False. It's blue. 7. True. 8. True. 9. False. They taste with their feet. 10. True.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The story is based on an anecdote in The Devil and Miss Prym by Paolo Coelho published by Harper Collins 2001.

 

 

WORKSHEET

Match the numbers on the left with the letters on the right to find explanations for the new language in the story:

1. abandoning a. drank until they weren't thirsty any more
2. apparently b. exploit your name
3. do us a great favour c. help us a lot
4. exhausted d. just the opposite
5. flanked by trees e. a movement of the head to indicate yes
6. heaven f. a place where water comes out of the ground
7. hell g. really tired
8. in the shade of h. seemingly
9. take your name in vain i. showing no consideration towards
10. lightning j. a sudden flash of light in the sky during a storm
11. a nod k. under the protection of
12. on the contrary l. walking slowly with heavy steps
13. a spring m. where God is said to live
14. quenched their thirst n. where the Devil is said to live
15. trudging o. with trees on either side

 

 

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANIMALS?

Decide whether the following statements are True or False:

. A giraffe can survive longer without water than a camel.

2. A crocodile has so much acid in its stomach that it can even digest steel.

3. Hippopotamus milk is bright blue in colour.

4. Humans have around 8,000 taste buds, twice the number of taste buds that pigs have.

5. The creature with the best hearing is probably the owl. It can hear a mouse stepping on a twig 20 metres away.

6. The tongue of a giraffe is green in colour.

7. Birds of prey have the best eyesight and can spot a small rodent on the ground when they are flying at more than 15,000ft.

8. The tongue of a blue whale weighs as much as a full-grown African elephant.

9. Butterflies taste with their noses.

10. The anopheles mosquito, which carries malaria, is believed to have been responsible for half of all human deaths - barring wars and accidents - since the Stone Age.

 

 

HEAVEN & HELL

Once upon a time, a man, his horse and his dog were travelling along a road. As they passed by a huge tree, it was struck by lightning and they all died. But the man didn't realize that he was dead so he continued walking with his two animal companions, just as before.

It was a long, uphill walk, the sun was beating down on them and they were all hot and thirsty. At a bend in the road they saw a magnificent marble gateway that led into a gold-paved square. And in the centre of the square was a fountain overflowing with crystal-clear water.

"Good morning. What is this place?"

"It's Heaven," the guard at the entrance replied.

"Well I'm very glad to see it, I can tell you, because we're extremely thirsty."

"You're welcome to come in and drink all the water you want."

"My horse and dog need water too."

"I'm terribly sorry," said the guard, "but animals are not allowed in here."

Although the man was really thirsty, he was not prepared to drink alone. So he thanked the guard and went on his way. Exhausted after more trudging uphill, they eventually reached an old gateway that opened on to a dirt road flanked by trees. A man, his hat pulled down over his face, was stretched out in the shade of one of the trees, apparently asleep.

"Good morning," said the traveller.

The other man greeted him with a nod.

"We're very thirsty - me, my horse and my dog."

"There's a spring over there amongst those rocks," said the man indicating the spot. You can drink as much as you want."

So they went to the spring, quenched their thirst and the traveler then returned to thank the man.

"By the way, what's this place called?"

"Heaven."

"Heaven. But the guard at the marble gateway told me that was Heaven!"

"That's not Heaven, that's Hell."

The traveller was puzzled. "You shouldn't let others take your name in vain, you know! False information can lead to all kinds of confusion!"

"On the contrary, they do us a great favour. The ones who stay there are those who have proved themselves capable of abandoning their dearest friends and have no place here anyway."

 

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