Topical News Lessons

Match the words with the definitions: 
1. whale
2. whaling
3. whale meat
4. whaleburger
5. anti-whaling campaigners
6. whale sushi
a. hunting and killing whales
b. a burger made with whale meat
c. meat from whales
d. a dish made with rice and whale meat
e. people who protest against whaling
f. a very large sea animal that looks like a fish but breathes air through a hole on the
top of its head.
KEY WORD: 
check that you understand the meaning of
ban
. If there is a
ban
on an
activity it means there is an official statement ordering people not to do it. In New
York City, for example, there is a
ban
on smoking in all workplaces, including bars
and restaurants.
Look in the text and find this information as quickly as possible: 
1. How much did the writer pay for his whaleburger?
2. What time of day was it when he bought it?
3. How many different kinds of hamburger does the restaurant serve?
4. What kind of meat is in a “Ghengis Khan” burger?
5. What percentage of Japanese people are against a whaling ban?
6. What percentage of Japanese people are in favour of a whaling ban?

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©
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005

Taken from the
Magazine
section in
www.onestopenglish.com
Savouring the whale 
By Eric Johnston 
Foreigners who visit Japan can find a
variety of sandwiches which they cannot
find in fast food restaurants back home,
but one group of restaurants called Lucky
Pierrot in the port of Hakodate is now
selling whaleburgers, burgers made with
whale meat.
The restaurant serves 16 different varieties
of hamburgers and 10 different kinds of
curry and 12 different kinds of ice cream.
It's nearly 3.30pm and almost everyone in
the shop, near the waterfront in Hakodate,
is young.
I go to the counter and order a
whaleburger. After paying for the order
and receiving a ticket (number 97), I sit
down and wait for my number to come up.
When the whaleburger arrives, it is fried
and on a bun with lettuce and mayonnaise.
It is black and tough. The cost is 380 yen
($3.35). I look around to see if I am the
only one eating a whale. Yes, I am the
only one. Later I tried whale sushi. It was
red, tender, juicy and tasty.
Earlier this year Lucky Pierrot sent out a
letter to ask customers what new foods
they wanted to see on the menu. Most
people replied that they wanted "Ghengis
Khan" burgers. In Japanese-English, this
means barbecued lamb, which is very
popular in Japan. The second choice was
whale.
Whaling has a long history in Japan, and it
is easy to find whale meat in any port,
such as Hakodate. Now the city is very
popular with Japanese tourists, who want
to escape the very hot summers in other