Learning Objective: This is a news reading and comprehension and conversation class. At the end of the session, the participants are expected to be able to practice reading properly, enhance comprehension and recall and answer the questions about the article.


Story Proper

Denmark has introduced the world's first tax on fatty food. Danish shoppers will now have to pay extra when they buy foods that are high in the cholesterol-packed fat. The new tax is at a rate of $2.87 per kilo of saturated fat. This means 250 grams of butter will go up in price from $2.78 to $3.25 and the cost of a packet of potato chips will rise by 15 cents. Milk, cheese, pizza, meat and oil will also cost more. Many shoppers tried to buy this food before the prices went up.

The new tax will help people eat less fatty food. Around 10 per cent of Danes are overweight but the government wants to reduce this number. Doctors say four per cent of deaths in Denmark are because of saturated fats. Other European countries are looking at Denmark’s fat tax to see if it works. Britain has obesity rates of over 20 per cent, the highest in Europe. British doctors say taxing food that is high in fat will help cut the number of people who die from heart attacks.


Activity Proper

1. Fatty food. Discuss about fatty food. What can you say about fatty food?

2. Favorite word. Choose your favorite word from the article.

3. Identify. Try to identify the most popular fatty food in the market in your country.

4. Pros and Cons. Is it a good idea to impose tax on fatty food?

5. Add-ons. Enumerate more food which should be taxed.



"Online activities, the mp3 and printable handouts are available for this lesson at http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com"