4_5850522433915718478 (1).pdf

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
Level: Advanced
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Warmer
a. If someone desperately needs to go on these journeys but doesn’t have enough money for the
air, rail or coach fare and doesn’t have a car, what other options (however dangerous, crazy or
illegal) are open to them?
• Madrid to Berlin
• New York to Los Angeles
• London to Dublin
Key words
a. Find words in the article that match the definitions below. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.
1. a large wooden box used for moving or storing goods (para 1)
2. feeling sad and alone because you are far from home (para 3)
3. goods that are carried by vehicles (para 4)
4. with the top part at the bottom (two words, para 4)
5. someone who at that time was doing the work of the usual person in a particular job while they
were not there (two words, para 10)
(two words,
(para 12)
(para 12)
(para 13)
(para 13)
(two
(para 18)
(para 19)
6. actions taken in court to settle a legal matter
para 10)
7. a piece of equipment that finds and measures radioactivity
(two words, para 11)
8. suddenly frightened or surprised by something
9. ask questions in a threatening way to get information
10. a round, hard place in a piece of wood where a branch grew
11. a large strong heavy box used for moving or storing things
12. people who express their good wishes or sympathy
words, para 16)
13. a room that you rent that is used for both living and sleeping in
14. after a process or activity has ended
15. something exciting or dangerous that someone is involved in (para 19)
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Thinking inside the box: the Welsh teen who tried to post himself home from Australia

Level: Advanced
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b. Use some of the key words above to complete these sentences.
1. I was to see a face suddenly appear at the window.
2. Her efforts were bound to fail.
3. The medical supplies were shipped as air to Jordan.
4. Thousands of lined the streets of London to watch the car
drive past.
5. Looking back, he could see it was nothing more than a silly childhood
.
6. The suspects were by local police.
7. The car landed in a ditch.

Level: Advanced
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Homesick and unable to
afford
the airfare, Brian Robson

embarked on a crate escape to
Wales. Now he’s looking for the
two Irish men who nailed it shut
Naaman Zhou
8 April, 2021
A Welsh man has issued a public call to help
find two Irish men who helped him return home
from Australia in 1965 by packing him up and
posting him in a crate.
Brian Robson, a 75-year-old from Cardiff, is
looking for two men he only knew as Paul
and John.
Robson was a 19-year-old working for Victorian
Railways when he became homesick. But the
airfare would have cost about £700 and he only
made £40 a month.
So he came up with a “stupid” plan, to buy
a small wooden crate and have himself sent
as freight. Robson said the “quite horrific
experience” had taken four days, and he had
been repeatedly stored upside down.
Nearly 60 years later, Robson said he wanted
to get in touch with the men to thank them and
to buy them a drink.
“I’m 99% sure that they were called Paul and
John,” he said. “Paul really was 100% against
it … but John said, ‘Don’t worry about it.
I’ll persuade him.’ And so, they both went
ahead and helped.”
Robson bought a box “the size of a mini-fridge”
and packed it with pillows, a suitcase, a book of
Beatles songs and two bottles – one for water
and one for urine. His friends then nailed it shut
and booked Robson as cargo on a Qantas
flight from Melbourne to London.
But their plan came unstuck. The flight was full,
so Robson was transferred to a PanAm flight
that instead took him to Los Angeles.
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A newspaper report from May, 1965, written by
Reuters and Australian Associated Press, said
Robson had labelled himself “a computer”.
The then-acting minister for immigration, Leslie
Bury, said the Australian government would not
take any action against him, after another MP,
Dan Mackinnon, called for legal proceedings
against “this apparently useless young man”.
The prime minister, Robert Menzies, when
asked if custom officials should be looking
more closely at outgoing crates said: “They
could use a Geiger counter.”
In the US, Robson was discovered by startled
customs officials and then interrogated by
the FBI.
He told the BBC that a man had “looked
through a hole in a wood knot in the chest and
we caught each other eye to eye”.
“He jumped back a mile and said, ‘There’s a
body in there.’”
After questioning, he was cleared and flown to
London on a regular passenger flight, before
resuming his life in the UK.
AAP reported at the time that Robson had to
“push his way past well-wishers” who greeted
him at LA airport, and had still been “stiff and
limping” when he flew to London.
Robson said he had written to the men to thank
them but they never responded.
“We got on famously,” he said. “They used to
come to my bedsit, or I would go to see them,
almost on a daily basis.”
But he admitted to the BBC that ultimately the
crate escapade had been “stupidity”.
“If my kids tried it, I would kill them. But it was a
different time.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 08/04/2021
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Level: Advanced
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Find the information and comprehension check
a. Find the following names in the text.
1. the central person in the story
2. the two men who helped him ,
3. three politicians , ,
4. two airlines ,
5. two capital cities ,
6. two more major (but not capital) cities ,
7. a national press agency
8. a national public service broadcaster
9. an international news organization
b. Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the article? Correct any that are false.
1. A Welsh man is hoping to meet up with two men who helped him carry out a daring
escapade in the 60s. T / F
2. The men convinced him to post himself from Australia to Wales to save the air fare. T / F
3. Robson was nailed into a crate and labelled it as containing a ‘mini-fridge’. T / F
4. He might have successfully travelled the whole way in the crate if the flight
hadn’t been rerouted due to bad weather. T / F
5. He was discovered in the USA by FBI officials. T / F
6. When he left LA to travel the last part of his journey as a passenger,
many people came to see him depart and wish him a good journey. T / F

Home Adults General English NEWS LESSONS
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Level: Advanced
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Using key language
a. Find the following phrases in the article.
1. used to say that someone did something even though they were not sure if it was the right thing to
do (para 6)
2. the thing they wanted to do failed (para 8)
3. suddenly moved away from something because it shocked or surprised you
(para 14)
4. had a very good relationship (or friendship) with each other (para 18)
b. Use the phrases to talk about the article.
c. Now use each phrase to talk about something relevant to your own life.
Discussion
a. Discuss these questions.
• What was the most difficult or awkward thing you have ever sent, or might want to send, by post?
• What did/might you pack it in?
• How much did/might it cost to send?
• Did/Might it arrive safely and were you/might you be happy with the service you received?
In your own words
a. Talk about why people might want to send the following items from one country to another and
then research the ‘correct’ way to send each one.
• a 100-year-old classic car from Europe to the USA
• a young elephant from Africa to Europe
• a two-metre high sculpture from the USA to China
• a racehorse from the Middle East to Australia
Extra reading
a. Read and then discuss the following article from the Guardian about other successful or
disastrous attempts people have made to stow away on planes.
Out of thin air: the mystery of the man who fell from the sky

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Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
Article summary: A man who posted himself
home in a box in 1965 is looking for the two
men who helped him all those years ago.
Time: 90 minutes +
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language focus: Vocabulary
Materials needed: One copy of the
worksheet per student
1. Warmer
a. Ask students to brainstorm ways that a person could
undertake the journeys mentioned despite not being
able to afford the ‘usual’ fare. Encourage them to
think of as many ways as possible, regardless of
whether they are safe or dangerous, legal or illegal,
crazy or sensible. Some possible ideas: hitchhiking;
becoming a stowaway in a lorry or on a plane or
ship; walking; using a makeshift raft; cycling.
2. Key words
a. Students find words in the article that match the
definitions and write them onto the lines provided.
Tell students the definitions are in the same order as
the words appear in the article. Remind them that
they are sometimes looking for two words, not just
one, and that a hyphenated word is counted here as
two words.
Key:
1. crate
2. homesick
3. freight
4. upside down
5. then-acting
6. legal proceedings
7. Geiger counter
8. startled
9. interrogated
10. knot
11. chest
12. well-wishers
13. bedsit
14. ultimately
15. escapade
b. Before reading the article carefully, students
use some of the key words to fill the gaps in the
sentences to ensure that they understand and know
how the words are used in other contexts.
Key:
1. startled
2. ultimately
3. freight
4. well-wishers
5. escapade
6. interrogated
7. upside down
3.
Find the information and
comprehension check
a. Students find basic information that is central to the
story and which will aid their understanding of the
finer details.
Key:
1. Brian Robson
2. John and Paul
3. Robert Menzies, Leslie Bury, Dan Mackinnon
4. Qantas, PanAm
5. Cardiff, London (You might want to explain that
Cardiff is the capital of a country (Wales) but
that the country is not a sovereign state.)
6. Melbourne, Los Angeles
7. Australian Associated Press
8. BBC
9. Reuters
b. Students decide whether the statements are true
or false according to the article and correct any that
are false.
Key:
1. True.
2. False. He convinced them to help him post
himself from Australia to Wales as he couldn’t
afford the air fare.
3. False. Robson was nailed into a crate and
labelled it as containing a ‘computer.
4. False. He might have successfully travelled the
whole way in the crate if the flight hadn’t been
full causing him to be transferred onto a different
route and different airline.
5. False. He was discovered in the USA by
customs officials and then interrogated by
the FBI.
6. True.

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Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
4. Using key language
a. Students look for phrases in the article.
Key:
1. went ahead
2. their plan came unstuck
3. jumped back a mile
4. got on famously
b. They use them in sentences about the article.
c. Then they use them to talk about something relevant
to their own lives.
5. Discussion
a. Students tell a story about something unusual that
they once sent by post or something they might want
to send.
6. In your own words
a. Students work in groups or with a partner to
compete the tasks. Ask them to look at one of the
consignments more closely, find out more details
such as costs and insurance, and then present their
results to the rest of the class.
7. Extra reading
a. Students may also be interested in this ‘long read’
article from the Guardian about other successful or
disastrous attempts people have made to stow away
on planes. Have them search for: Out of thin air: the
mystery of the man who fell from the sky.

4_5850522433915718478 (1).pdf

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