T E A C H E R

’ S N O T E S A N D K E Y

October 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009

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S

TARTING OFF

/F

IRST READING

There are two tasks here and it would probably be wise to do the first task with the learners, in order to ensure that all

understand the vocabulary. The questions can then be discussed in small groups. The questions are designed to lead

into the text but are not related to it directly and do not form part of any of the reading tasks, so a feedback stage here is

optional.

S

ECOND READING

This is a prediction/scanning task so the reading itself should be done at speed, possibly with a time limit. Remember to

tell the learners that they will have the chance to read more carefully later on. Key:

1. a warning about the show

2. a strange announcement

3. some weather reports

4. an interview with an
astronomer

5. calm music

6. a reporter reporting live

7. panic

8. anger

V

OCABULARY

1

Key:

1. impact

2. assume

3. defeat

4. peering

5. subside

6. unremarkable

7. ominous

8. jammed

9. hysterical

10. untoward

V

OCABULARY

1

Key:

1. untoward

2. ominous

3. unremarkable

4. peered

5. hysterical

6. subsided

7. defeat

8. defeat

9. defeat

10. impact

T

EXT COHESION

This is a challenging task which will take the learners some time. It is a worth spending some time on this, however, as

the task requires them to consider the text from many angles - grammatical, lexical, stylistic etc. You might wish to do the

first example with the learners to ensure that they have the right idea, especially if this is the first time they have done a

task of this type. Be sure to get the learners to justify their choices in feedback so you can highlight cohesion within the

text.

The answers are marked on the teacher‟s copy of the text.

S

PEAKING

The discussion task is quite personalised: it is based on the learners‟ own experience and feelings to a large extent.

Therefore all learners will have valid contributions if they choose to make them and you should be careful to ensure that

all have the opportunity to contribute and that the stronger or more confident learners do not dominate the interaction.

E

XTENSION

An interesting extension would be a creative writing task asking the learners to write about some entirely unexpected and

remarkable event using the conventions of a radio broadcast, using the description in the text as a guide and combining

music choices, advertisements, reports and interviews. The mini-dramas could be prepared in groups and then performed

once ready.

© Pearson Longman 2009

- 2 -

No ordinary radio programme

"We know now that in the early years of the
twentieth century this world was being watched
closely by intelligences greater than man's…"

This strange announcement was followed by some

unremarkable

weather reports (from “the Government

Wea

ther Bureau”), some music, some chat - in other words,

the broadcast continued as it always did, just an ordinary
radio programme. This programme, however, on the 30

th

of

October, 1938, was far from ordinary. There were some
interesting interviews: an astronomer speaking from an
observatory described seeing explosions on the surface of
Mars, but the music continued and nothing

untoward

seemed to be happening. Then another astronomer - a
„Professor Pierson‟ - described a meteorite

impact

near

Princeton, in New Jersey.

More music followed. Calm music. Music for dancing. Then
the music was interrupted once again. This time it was a
reporter, Carl Phillips, speaking from the site of the
„meteorite‟ impact. His words were far from calm.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most terrifying thing I
have ever witnessed. . . . Wait a minute! Someone's
crawling. Someone or . . . something. I can see

peering

out

of that black hole two luminous disks . . . are they eyes? It
might be a face…”

Moments later the panicking reporter described the
appearance of a creature which attacked and killed
the people gathered around. His last words before
his report suddenly ended and the radio fell for a moment
into

ominous

silence:

“Now the whole field's caught fire. The woods . . . the
barns . . . the gas tanks of automobiles . . it's spreading
everywhere. It's coming this way. About twenty yards to my
right...

”

The programme continued, describing the terrible
invasion, and final

defeat

, of the alien creatures. It was,

of course

, fiction: a dramatisation of H. G. Wells‟ novel

„War of the Worlds‟ by the great actor and director Orson
Welles.

The radio station had, in fact, announced before the start
of the broadcast that what the listeners were about to
hear was not real. The warning was repeated in the
middle of the programme and at the end, but many
listeners did not hear or did not pay any attention to it. All
across the United States people panicked. Thousands
called radio and television stations, newspapers,
hospitals, the

police, the fire brigades… telephone

networks were

jammed

. People were

hysterical

.

Thousands jumped into their cars and tried to escape or
gathered in churches to pray. Only hours later did the
panic

subside

– and the anger, at being fooled, begin to

rise.

Perhaps, in the end, a lesson was learned. People had
always

assumed

that the media - radio, television and

newspapers - were to be trusted; that they always told
the truth. Welles‟ broadcast, possibly, taught them a
valuable lesson and the Americans who returned home
may have been angry, but may also have been a little
less naive and a little wiser for their experience.

A great actor: Orson Welles

Welles has been described as the
greatest director of all time. His first full-
length film, which Welles co-wrote,
produced, directed and starred in, was
„Citizen Kane‟, still generally regarded
as one of, if not the, greatest films ever
made. His

production of „War of the

Worlds

‟ made Welles famous, if not

popular, and started his great career.