英语听力精选进阶版 11216（在线收听）

Keep your English  

up to date 

Teacher’s pack 

Lesson plan and student worksheets  

with answers 

Lesson 4  

GM 

CONTENTS 

1.  Level, topic, language, aims, materials 

2.  Lesson stages 

3.  Answers 

4.  Tapescripts 

5.             Student worksheets 1, 2, 3 

Level:       Intermediate and above 

Topic:       Abbreviations: especially from science and technology 

Language:   Abbreviations: GM 

Aims:       Listening skills – A short talk 

Materials:   Worksheet 1             –  Introductory speaking and vocabulary exercises,  

listening section 1 

                Worksheet 2             -   Listening section 2 

                Worksheet 3             –  Extra work: Vocabulary and language 

                Tapescript                –  Available in teacher’s notes 

LESSON STAGES 

A 

Explain to the students that they are going to listen to a talk by Professor David Crystal 

about the way the English language changes. This particular talk is about abbreviations, 

science and technology. 

B 

Hand out Student Worksheet 1. Students do Speaking Exercise 1 in small groups or 

pairs. There is some information about the genetic engineering examples in the answers. 

C 

Students do the Vocabulary Exercise 2, without dictionaries at first. 

Practise the pronunciation of the vocabulary, as they will hear it in the talk. 

D 

Students read Listening Exercise 3 and then listen to Section 1 of the talk. 

They answer the questions. 

Students listen again and answer Listening Exercise 4 

E 

Hand out Student Worksheet 2 

Students answer Listening Exercise 5 

Students listen to section 2 of the talk and check their answer for Listening exercise 5 

F 

Students try to answer Listening Exercises 6. They listen again to Listening Section 2 to 

check/complete their answers. 

G 

If you wish to do some extra work with the class, hand out Student Worksheet 3 

For the vocabulary exercise, give the students copies of the tapescript and play the 

complete talk as they read. 

For the language, make sure the grammatical functions of GM are clear to the students. 

TAPESCRIPTS 

Listening Section 1 

In the mid-1990s there was a new big, controversy that came in, wasn’t there, about 

genetically modified foods:  foodstuffs containing genetically altered plant or animal 

material. And it wasn’t long before an abbreviation came along to summarise all these: 

genetically modified – G.M. or "genetic modification". Now that’s a pretty technical 

abbreviation; you might not expect to encounter it very often, but actually, you do. 

Because it was controversial at the time and people didn’t know whether to put this stuff 

into their foods or not (and it still is controversial), you began to see it on signs – 

Listening Section 2 

Because it was controversial at the time and people didn’t know whether to put this stuff 

into their foods or not (and it still is controversial), you began to see it on signs – 

especially after 1996, when the food labelling regulations came in, and they applied in 

Britain in, 1999 I think it was – and from that point on, people had to say, if you were a 

restaurant owner or a café owner, you had to say whether your foods had G.M. in them or 

not – and so you walk into a restaurant these days, and you might well see a sign on the 

wall saying "no G.M. foods here" or "the following foodstuffs have G.M. products inside".  

And people I've often asked them often asked you know, what do you think G.M. means?  

And they guess all sorts of things. Some people have told me it means "good morning 

food". Somebody else told me it was a "gold medal" food. Well – it doesn’t mean any of 

those things. It means "genetically modified", that’s all! 

BBC Learning English – Keep your English Up to Date 

Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes 

Lesson 4: GM 

ANSWER KEY 

SPEAKING 

1.  

b.  Biology, biochemistry, genetics, genetic engineering, biotechnology 

c.  Dolly the sheep was a clone produced in the UK in 

The strawmato is a cross between a strawberry and a tomato 

The liger is a cross between a lion and a tiger 

Clones are genetically identical copies of living beings, produced artificially 

VOCABULARY 

2.  

a.  controversial                  likely to cause disagreement 

b.  to modify something   to change or alter something 

c.  technical                      connected to science 

d.  a label   a note which tells you what something is 

e.  regulations                     laws or rules 

f.  A gold medal                  the top prize in a competition 

LISTENING SECTION 1 

3.  

a.  GM 

b.  i. Genetically modified (adjective) and ii. Genetic modification (noun) 

4. 

a.  True – mid 1990s 

b.  False – it was a big controversy 

c.  False – It is still controversial 

LISTENING SECTION 2 

5. 

b.  State clearly when they used GM foods 

6. 

a.  False – he does not mention bar owners 

b.  True – a sign on the wall 

c.  False 

BBC Learning English – Keep your English Up to Date 

Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes 

Lesson 4: GM 

Keep your English Up to Date  ? BBC Learning English 

Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes  Page 6 of 11 

bbclearningenglish.com 

EXTRA WORK 

VOCABULARY 

1. 

a.  altered 

b.  to encounter something 

c.  from that point on 

LANGUAGE 

2. 

LASER       Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation – a powerful light 

beam 

CD           Compact Disc – a disc for storing digital information, often music 

DVD         Digital Versatile Disc – a disc for storing digital information, often movies 

VHS         Video Home System – a system for recording information on magnetic tape 

RADAR      Radio Detection and Ranging – a system used to find planes in the air 

SCUBA       Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus – a system for diving 

EMAIL       Electronic Mail – a means of communication of digital information 

WWW         World Wide Web – and address or space on the internet 

3. 

GM is a noun (for the concept or idea) and an adjective 

4. 

a.  genetic modification 

b.  genetically modified 

c.  genetically modified 

d.  genetic modification 

e.  genetically modified

WORKSHEET 1 

You are going to listen to a short talk given by Professor David Crystal about language 

change and new developments in English. 

SPEAKING 

1.  Discuss these questions with other students 

a.  Can you name four important scientific inventions or discoveries? 

Why do you think they are so important? 

b.  Which science do you connect with DNA? 

c.  Do you know of any results from genetic experimentation? 

Have you heard of these things? 

Dolly the sheep       The strawmato          The liger          clones 

VOCABULARY 

2.  Match these words and phrases to their definitions 

a. controversial   the top prize in a competition 

b. to modify something   a note which tells you what something is 

c. technical  likely to cause disagreement 

d.  a label   connected to science 

e. regulations   to change or alter something 

f.   a gold medal   laws or rules 

LISTENING SECTION 1 

3.  Now, listen to Professor Crystal talking about an abbreviation that has come 

from the modern science of genetic engineering. 

a.       What is the abbreviation? __ __ 

b.       Which two things can the abbreviation stand for? 

i.   genetically modified 

ii.   genetic modified 

iii.   genetically modification 

iv.   genetic modification  

c.   Which one is a noun and which is an adjective? 

4.  Listen again and decide if the following statements are true or false, according 

to Professor Crystal. 

a.  GM food first appeared around 1995 

b.  People were happy to accept GM food 

c.  GM food is not controversial now 

WORKSHEET 2 

LISTENING SECTION 2 

5.  GM foods are controversial. Special regulations were introduced. What do you 

think food producers and restaurant owners had to do? 

a.   Not sell or use GM foods 

b.   State clearly when they used GM foods 

c.   Have a license to use GM foods 

Listen to Section 2 of the talk and check your ideas. Were you correct? 

6.  Are the following sentences true or false? Listen and check. 

a.   Professor Crystal talks about restaurant, café and bar owners 

b.   You might read a notice about GM foods in a restaurant 

c.   Everyone knows what GM means 

WORKSHEET 3 - EXTRA WORK 

VOCABULARY 

1.   Look at the tape script and find words or phrases that mean the following. 

a.    changed or modified 

b.    meet or come across  

c.    from that time 

LANGUAGE 

2.   Science and technology provides many abbreviations that enter the general 

language. Do you recognise these abbreviations? 

LASER     CD     DVD     VHS     RADAR    SCUBA   EMAIL   WWW 

3.  These abbreviations above are all nouns for things. Only Email is also a verb.  

  What is unusual about GM? 

4.   Put the correct form of GM in the sentences below – genetic modification or 

genetically modified? 

a.    Our essay title is, ‘ Is ______ _____ a good thing for human kind? 

b.    I don’t want bread which is made from _____ _____ flour 

c.    _____ _____ rice could be grown more easily 

d.    I think ____ ____ should be allowed, after more tests 

e.    If a farmer uses ____ ____ seeds, he must tell the government officials 

DISCUSSION 

5.    Discuss the following with your partner or in a small group 

a.   What are the possible benefits of GM food – think about farmers, pesticide, 

consumers, private companies, nature, poorer nations, richer nations 

b.   What are the possible drawbacks of GM food – think about nature and the 

environment, trusting science, private companies, poorer and richer nations 

c.   What is the situation with regard to GM food in your country? 

i.  Is it a controversial topic? Was it before? 

ii.   Can farmers produce GM crops? 

iii.   Is your food labelled to tell you about the GM content?