Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

dateline: 24 October 2018

NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈

Explosive Devices Mailed to Obama, Clinton, and Others

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • suspicious: mysterious or unknown; potentially harmful
  • explosive: a device that can explode, a bomb
  • secretary of state: the head of foreign affairs in the US
  • CIA: Central Intelligence Agency, the US foreign intelligence agency
  • CNN: Cable News Network, a US news channel
  • intercept: to block or prevent someone or something from reaching its destination
  • intended: planned
  • FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation; the US domestic intelligence and security agency

Explosive Devices Mailed to Obama, Clinton, and Others

Several suspicious packages containing homemade explosives were mailed to high-profile this week, including former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and CIA director John Brennan. The package for Mr. Brennan was mailed to CNN where he was expected to make an appearance on Wednesday. Some of the packages were intercepted at a mail sorting facility. All of the intended are believed to be critics of President Trump. The president released a statement saying that political and threats have no place in America. A major FBI investigation is underway.

Comprehension Questions

  1. What is this report mainly about?
  2. Why does the report mention CNN?
  3. What is implied about the sender of the packages?

Discussion Questions

Many critics of President Trump accuse him of being a divisive leader. President Trump, in contrast, blames the media for setting a negative political tone. What can and should the president do to try to unify the nation and prevent further political attacks? Do you agree that the media is partly to blame for the political divide in America?

show Answers

Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
© EnglishClub.com
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