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FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes on Speeding Fines
(11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)

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Driver Gets Million-Dollar Speeding Fine (12th August, 2010)

A Swedish driver has received a world record million-dollar speeding fine for driving at nearly 300 kph. The 37-year-old Swede was in his Mercedes super car when police in Switzerland stopped him. A traffic policeman said he was going so fast he needed 500 metres to stop. Courts fined him 1,080,000 Swiss francs, which is just over one million dollars. His car is worth almost a quarter of the fine, at $234,000. The driver joked about his speed when the police stopped him. He said: “I think the speedo on the car is faulty.”

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Driving at high speeds on roads is crazy. People don’t understand that the car becomes a deadly weapon. People will die if there is an accident. Many drivers think they won’t crash. They think they are good drivers and nothing will happen to them. However, the best drivers in the world cannot stop quickly when they are driving too fast. Most governments don’t do enough about speeding. People who speed are criminals. They break the law every time they go over the speed limit, and sometimes they kill others.

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PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.	a world record million-	a.	metres to stop
2	he was going	b.	about his speed
3.	he needed 500	c.	faulty
4.	worth almost a	d.	dollar speeding fine
5.	The driver joked	e.	so fast
6.	the car is	f.	quarter

Paragraph 2

1.	Driving at	a.	the law
2	a deadly	b.	limit
3.	nothing will	c.	high speeds
4.	driving too	d.	happen
5.	break	e.	weapon
6.	go over the speed	f.	fast

LISTENING GAP FILL

A Swedish ______________________ world record million-dollar speeding ______________________ nearly 300 kph. The 37-year-old Swede was in his Mercedes super car when police in Switzerland stopped him. A traffic policeman ___________________ fast he needed 500 metres to stop. Courts fined him 1,080,000 Swiss francs, ___________________ million dollars. His car is worth almost a quarter of the fine, at $234,000. The driver ______________________ when the police stopped him. He said: “I think the speedo _________________.”

Driving at high ______________________. People don’t understand that the car becomes a deadly weapon. People will die ______________________. Many drivers think they won’t crash. They think they are good drivers ______________________ to them. However, the best drivers in the ______________________ when they are driving too fast. Most governments don’t do enough about speeding. People who speed are criminals. They ______________________ time they go over the speed limit, and sometimes they kill others.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

A Swedish driver has (1) ____ a world record million-dollar speeding fine for driving (2) ____ nearly 300 kph. The 37-year-old Swede was in his Mercedes super car when police in Switzerland stopped him. A traffic policeman said he was going (3) ____ fast he needed 500 metres to stop. Courts fined him 1,080,000 Swiss francs, which is just over one million dollars. His car is (4) ____ almost a quarter of the fine, at $234,000. The driver joked about his speed when the police stopped him. He said: “I think the speedo on the car is (5) ____.”

Driving at high speeds on roads is crazy. People don’t understand that the car becomes a (6) ____ weapon. People will (7) ____ if there is an accident. Many drivers think they won’t crash. They think they are good drivers and nothing will happen to them. However, the best drivers in the world cannot stop quickly when they are (8) ____ too fast. Most governments don’t do enough about speeding. People who speed are criminals. They (9) ____ the law every time they (10) ____ over the speed limit, and sometimes they kill others.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	received	(b)	receive	(c)	receiving
2.	(a)	at	(b)	on	(c)	by
3.	(a)	such	(b)	so	(c)	to
4.	(a)	worthless	(b)	worthy	(c)	worth
5.	(a)	fault	(b)	faulty	(c)	faultless
6.	(a)	deadly	(b)	dead	(c)	deaths
7.	(a)	dead	(b)	death	(c)	die
8.	(a)	driven	(b)	driving	(c)	drives
9.	(a)	take	(b)	do	(c)	break
10.	(a)	go	(b)	push	(c)	let

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	world docerr
2.	alnrey 300kmh
3.	A faifrtc policeman
4.	rtoCus fined him 1,080,000 Swiss francs
5.	worth almost a aeqtrru
6.	the car is yfluat
Paragraph 2
7.	Driving at high pedses
8.	a dyldae weapon
9.	there is an cidnetac
10.	nothing will pneahp
11.	eakbr the law
12.	go over the speed tilmi

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	the law every time they go over the speed limit, and sometimes they kill others.
( )	about his speed when the police stopped him. He said: “I think the speedo on the car is faulty.”
( )	Driving at high speeds on roads is crazy. People don’t understand that the car becomes a deadly
( )	old Swede was in his Mercedes super car when police in Switzerland stopped him. A traffic policeman said he
( )	drivers and nothing will happen to them. However, the best drivers in the world cannot stop quickly when
( )	they are driving too fast. Most governments don’t do enough about speeding. People who speed are criminals. They break
( )	over one million dollars. His car is worth almost a quarter of the fine, at $234,000. The driver joked
( 1 )	A Swedish driver has received a world record million-dollar speeding fine for driving at nearly 300 kph. The 37-year-
( )	was going so fast he needed 500 metres to stop. Courts fined him 1,080,000 Swiss francs, which is just
( )	weapon. People will die if there is an accident. Many drivers think they won’t crash. They think they are good

THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

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

1.	world speeding record fine million - A dollar.
2.	metres fast 500 stop so needed to Going he.
3.	fine His car is worth almost a quarter of the.
4.	his driver about speed The joked.
5.	is car the on speedo The faulty.
6.	on Driving roads at is high crazy speeds.
7.	if accident die an will is People there.
8.	the stop The in cannot drivers world quickly best.
9.	speeding enough don’t Most about do governments.
10.	over go limit they speed time the Every.

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

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about speeding. Include imaginary an interview with the driver. 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 the. Ask him three questions about speeding. Give him three of your opinions on speeding. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner will answer the questions you asked.

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News English Lessons FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes on Speeding Fines (11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)