way2go! 7. Coursebook, Schulbuch

19 Discuss the following questions in small groups: 1 What is the main source of income for professional athletes? 2 Why do you think these athletes make so much money only because their fans are watching them on TV? 3 Which examples does the author give to explain how athletes might be overpaid? 4 How does the author feel about funding the athletes? Read the statements below and decide which of them give the main facts of the article. 1 The author tries to give answers as to why athletes earn so much money. 2 The article deals with the fact that professional athletes are overpaid. 3 Athletes invest a lot of time in improving their skills. 4 Most of the athletes’ salaries come from TV contracts, sales and merchandise. 5 Athletes earn more than the president of the USA. 6 The author confesses that he enjoys funding his favourite teams, although he admits that they might be overpaid. Having read the article ‘Are athletes getting paid far too much?’, you have decided to start a blog on this topic. In your blog post you should: outline the main facts of the article explain why professional athletes should or should not be funded convince your readers that female athletes should earn as much as male athletes Write around 250 words. Use some linking devices from 26. Underline them in your blog post. See Writing coach, Blog post , p. 180. Expand your vocabulary: Collocations – part 2 You are going to do a pair discussion on whether professional athletes are overpaid. The following collocations should help you find good arguments. Match the adjectives, verbs and phrases to the keywords and write the collocations in your notebook. There is more than one correct answer. You can find an example below the table. SPEAKING 27 READING 28 WRITING 29 LANGUAGE 30 Verbs Adjectives Phrases Keywords (nouns) A achieve B damage C deserve D increase E recover from F require G risk H suffer from I waste 1 considerable 2 excellent 3 exceptional 4 immense 5 long-term 6 physical 7 poor 8 pure 9 severe a in professional sports b a form of c a great deal of d an increase in e a drop in f bad for one’s g the peak of one’s career effort entertainment health injury popularity salary talent Example: career: a career in professional sports; an exceptional/a long-term/a poor career; to risk/waste your career; (to be at) the peak of your career; bad for your career, … Have a discussion with a partner. Student A argues that professional athletes are overpaid, student B argues that they deserve the money they earn. Throw the dice to determine who is A and who is B. Prepare for 2 to 3 minutes before you start the discussion. Tick off the collocations you used. SPEAKING 31 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv