Welcome to the CBC Newscast Lesson!
The CBC EAL Newscast is a listening lesson for students who are learning English.
The lessons are for students who are at Canadian Language Benchmarks 3 and 4 (high
beginner / low intermediate). Each newscast has a lesson file and an audio file.
The Lesson File
You will need to print the lesson file first. Here’s what you will find in each lesson.
1. A vocabulary match exercise for each story
Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it easier for you to understand the
story.
2. Questions on the main ideas or details of each story
Can you listen to a news story and understand the main ideas? Are you hearing the
most important details? Answer the questions and find out!
3. A transcript for the newscast
If you are having difficulty understanding the story when you listen, you can use the
transcript to help you.
4. Answers to the questions in the lesson
The answers are at end of the lesson on page 5.
5. An internet link or other resource suggestion
Some stories will have an internet link or suggest another resource you can use to
find more information.
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external websites)
The Audio File
Click on this file to hear three real world news stories read by a CBC news reader. The
first is a Manitoba story. The second is a Canadian story. The third is an international
story. All of the stories are in the same audio file
There are new stories and lessons every Thursday.
Now you are ready to begin. Read on!
Story 1: Food prices in northern Manitoba could be decreased
Step 1: Learn new vocabulary. Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it
easier for you to understand the story. Can you match these vocabulary
words with their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Vocabulary Word
1. _e to decrease
a)
Meaning
the government of Canada
2. __ to be expensive
b)
to make larger in size, number or amount
3. __ the federal
government
c)
to cost a lot of money
4. __ to expand
d)
an area where people live that is far away
from towns and cities; an isolated community
5. __ a remote area
e)
to become less or go down to a lower lever;
e.g. to reduce the cost of something
Step 2: Listen to the first story in the audio file. Focus on listening for the main ideas
and key information. Listen as many times as you need to.
Step 3: Answer questions about the story. Fill in the blank with the correct word from the
box below. The first one is completed for you as an example.
1. The Manitoba government wants to _________ the cost of food and milk in Northern
_____________ in the province.
2. Items like ________ are much more _________ in northern communities.
3. Four ________ of milk can ________ twenty dollars.
4. The Premier would like the _________ government to _________ its Nutrition North
Program.
5. The program helps reduce the cost of ________ foods in _________ areas in
Canada.
litres cost
government
communities
milk
expand
federal
remote
decrease
healthy
expensive
To find out more:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/06/10/mb-northern-food-pricesmanitoba.html
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Story 2: Fitness industry wants calorie information on menus
Step 1: Learn new vocabulary. Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it
easier for you to understand the story. Can you match these vocabulary
words with their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Vocabulary Word
1. _c the Fitness Industry
Council
a)
Meaning
a list of the foods/meals available at a
restaurant
2. __ a calorie
b)
a chemical substance that exists in salt
3. __ a menu
c)
the organization that represents fitness
facilities (e.g. gyms) and promotes ideas to
make Canadians more fit and healthy
4. __ to provide something
d)
to have to do something because of a law or
rule
5. __ nutrition information
e)
a unit that measures the amount of energy a
food produces, e.g. an average sized potato
has 90 of these units
6. __ to be required to do
something
f)
facts about the healthy
substances/ingredients in foods
7. __ sodium
g)
to give something to someone; to make
something available
Step 2: Listen to the first story in the audio file. Focus on listening for the main ideas
and key information. Listen as many times as you need to.
Step 3: Answer questions about the story. Does option a) or option b) make the
sentence correct? Underline or circle your answer. The first one is completed
for you as an example.
1.
The Fitness Industry Council is
asking the federal government
to_____.
a) require all restaurants to have calorie
information on their menus
b) require restaurants with ten or more
locations to have calorie information on
their menus
2.
There is concern that restaurant
meals ______.
a) have no nutritional value
b) contain a lot of sodium and fat
3.
The fitness industry believes that
providing calorie and nutritional
information on menus will _______.
a) help people make better food choices
when they eat out
b) persuade people to eat at home instead
of at a restaurant
To find out more:
www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/06/12/calorie-count-restaurant-menus.html
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Story 3: U.S. policy changes help prevent deportations
Step 1: Learn new vocabulary. Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it
easier for you to understand the story. Can you match these vocabulary words with
their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Vocabulary Word
1. _f to prevent something
a)
Meaning
rules that say who can enter another
country and live there permanently.
2. __ to be deported
b)
a document proving you have basic high
school level skills and knowledge
3. __ immigration laws
c)
to complete a degree or a course
4. __ to prove something
d)
to be impacted/influenced by something
5. __ to graduate
e)
to provide facts to show something is true
6. __ to have a criminal history
f)
to stop something from happening
7. __ a GED (General
Education Development)
certificate
g)
to be forced to leave a country and go
back to your home country; to not have the
legal documents you need to stay
8. __ a work permit
h)
to make something continue for a longer
period of time; to keep something going
9. __ to renew something
repeatedly
i)
to have committed a crime in the past
10. __ to be affected by
something
j)
a document allowing you to work in a
country
Step 2: Listen to the third story in the audio file. Focus on listening for the main ideas
and key information. Listen as many times as you need to.
Step 3: Answer questions about the story. Which of the following statements about
the story are true? Which are false? Underline or circle the correct answer.
The first one is completed for you as an example.
1.
The U.S. is changing its immigration laws.
True False
2.
The changes affect immigrants who are over sixteen years of age
and under thirty years of age.
True False
3.
The changes will allow 80,000 immigrants to stay in the country.
True False
4.
Immigrants must be able to prove they were brought to the U.S.
before they turned sixteen.
True False
5.
The policy changes allow the young people affected to obtain work
permits for two years. The permits cannot be renewed.
True False
To find out more:
www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/06/15/obama-immigration-policy-change.html
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Hi, this is Heather Wells. You’re listening to Learning English with CBC newscast for the
week of June 11th.
Here is our first news story.
Food prices in northern Manitoba could be decreased
The Manitoba government wants to find ways to decrease the cost of food and milk in
northern communities. They want to work with stores in northern Manitoba communities
to lower the cost of healthy food. Items like milk can be much more expensive in
northern communities than they are in the rest of Manitoba. For example, four litres of
milk can cost as much as twenty dollars. Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said he
would like the federal government to expand the Nutrition North Canada program. The
program helps lower the cost of healthy foods in remote areas across Canada.
And in Canadian news,
Fitness industry wants calorie information on menus
Members of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada want the federal government to
make restaurants provide calorie and nutrition information on menus. The fitness
industry believes restaurants with ten or more locations should be required to have this
information on their menus. Many people are concerned about the amount of calories,
sodium, and fat in restaurant meals. The fitness industry believes if this information is
included on menus, people will be able to make better choices about what they eat.
And in international news,
U.S. policy changes help prevent deportations
U.S. President Barack Obama announced changes to American immigration laws last
week. The changes will allow about eight-hundred thousand immigrants to stay in the
country, go to school or work and not live in fear that they could be deported at any
time. To stay in the U.S., they must prove they were brought to the country before they
turned sixteen, are younger than thirty, have lived in America for at least five years and
do not have a criminal history. Young immigrants must also graduate from high school
or have a GED, or have served in the military. Under the policy changes, they will be
able to obtain work permits for two years. The permits can be renewed repeatedly.
The young people affected by the changes hope to obtain citizenship one day.
Answers for Story 1
Vocabulary:
Questions:
1) e; 2) c; 3) a; 4) b; 5) d
1) government, decrease, communities 2) milk, expensive 3) litres, cost
4) federal, expand 5) healthy, remote
Answers for Story 2
Vocabulary: 1) c; 2) e; 3) a; 4) g; 5) f; 6) d; 7) b
Questions:
1) b; 2) b; 3) a
Answers for Story 3
Vocabulary:
Questions:
1) f; 2) g; 3) a; 4) e; 5) c; 6) i; 7) b; 8) j; 9) h; 10) d
1) T; 2) T; 3) F; 4) T; 5) F
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