A growing library of level-graded English lessons for classroom or self-study, with reading, listening, vocabulary, activities, and discussion practice from A1 to B2.
Lesson Info
In this lesson:
- Warm-up
- Vocab List
- Reading and Audio
- True or False Check understanding.
- Put Events in Order Arrange events from the story into the order they happened.
- Vocab Match Connect words to meanings.
- Sentence Completion Complete sentence frames with the best language.
- Discussion Questions Open speaking questions for discussion (or writing practice).
- Answers Answer key for the printed tasks.
Think Ahead: What do you think makes this birth unusual?
a) The baby is born in a car.
b) The baby is born on an airplane.
c) The baby is born in a restaurant kitchen.
Ask: (1) Do you ride in a car or a bus more often? (2) Is there a hospital near your home? How far is it?
VOCAB LIST
Reading
San Francisco has special taxis. The taxis have no driver. The taxis are self-driving. They are called Waymos. Alphabet is a company. Alphabet owns Google. It owns Waymo, too.
A woman in San Francisco was in a Waymo. She went to the hospital but she was late. She had a baby in the Waymo. Waymo workers knew something was wrong. The workers called her. They called 911, too. How did the Waymo workers know? Alphabet did not explain this.
The taxi got to the hospital. The mother and baby were safe. Waymo said this was not the first baby. More than one baby was born in a Waymo. Waymo is happy. They help riders. Riders can be very young. Riders can be very old.
Baby Born in Waymo Taxi
Warm-up ā Read & Listen ā Check Understanding ā Language ā Use It
Think Ahead: What do you think makes this birth unusual?
a) The baby is born in a car.
b) The baby is born on an airplane.
c) The baby is born in a restaurant kitchen.
Ask: (1) Do you ride in a car or a bus more often? (2) Is there a hospital near your home? How far is it?
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Taxi (n.)
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Hospital (n.)
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Worker (n.)
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Company (n.)
-
Driver (n.)
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Safe (adj.)
San Francisco has special taxis. The taxis have no driver. The taxis are self-driving. They are called Waymos. Alphabet is a company. Alphabet owns Google. It owns Waymo, too.
A woman in San Francisco was in a Waymo. She went to the hospital but she was late. She had a baby in the Waymo. Waymo workers knew something was wrong. The workers called her. They called 911, too. How did the Waymo workers know? Alphabet did not explain this.
The taxi got to the hospital. The mother and baby were safe. Waymo said this was not the first baby. More than one baby was born in a Waymo. Waymo is happy. They help riders. Riders can be very young. Riders can be very old.
Listen and Fill Gaps
Listen to the audio and complete the gaps below:
Loading listening activity...
Listen and Fill Gaps
Listen to the audio on eslnewsstories.com and complete the gaps below:
San Francisco has special taxis. The taxis have no (1) . The taxis are self-driving. They are called Waymos. Alphabet is a company. Alphabet owns Google. It owns Waymo, too.
A woman in San Francisco was in a Waymo. She went to the (2) but she was late. She had a baby in the Waymo. Waymo workers knew something was wrong. The workers called her. They called 911, too. How did the Waymo workers know? Alphabet did not (3) this.
The taxi got to the hospital. The mother and baby were (4) . Waymo said this was not the first baby. More than one baby was born in a Waymo. Waymo is happy. They help riders. Riders can be very young. Riders can be very old.
True or False
Answer each question by selecting True or False, then click CHECK to see your results.
True or False
1. A woman had a baby in a Waymo taxi. TRUEFALSE True
2. The taxi had a driver. TRUEFALSE False
3. She went to the hospital but she was late. TRUEFALSE True
4. Waymo workers called her and 911. TRUEFALSE True
5. Alphabet explained how the taxi knew. TRUEFALSE False
6. This was the first baby in Waymo taxis. TRUEFALSE False
Put Events in Order
Put the events in the order they happened, from first to last.
- 1 A woman rides in a Waymo taxi.
- 2 She has the baby in the taxi.
- 3 The taxi gets to the hospital.
Put Events in Order
Put the events from the story in the correct order from first (1) to last (3):
- A woman rides in a Waymo taxi.
- She has the baby in the taxi.
- The taxi gets to the hospital.
- A woman rides in a Waymo taxi.
- She has the baby in the taxi.
- The taxi gets to the hospital.
Vocab Match
Drag each vocabulary word to its matching definition, or select a word and then select its definition:
Loading vocabulary activity...
Vocab Match
Write each vocabulary word next to its matching definition.
1. Taxid) A car you pay to ride in.
2. Hospitalc) A place for sick people.
3. Workerb) A person who does a job.
4. Companya) A business or group that makes or sells things.
a) A business or group that makes or sells things.
b) A person who does a job.
c) A place for sick people.
d) A car you pay to ride in.
Sentence Completion
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Use the past tense.
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Use the past tense.
Sentence Completion
Choose the correct word for each gap:
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The woman A) a baby in the taxi.
Use the past tense.
The woman had a baby in the taxi.
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The taxi B) to the hospital.
Use the past tense.
The taxi went to the hospital.
Discussion Questions
- Are taxis or buses better for you? Why?
- When did you take a taxi? Where did you go?
- Do you like talking to a taxi driver?
- Do you want to ride in a car with no driver? Why or why not?
- Do you have a baby? Do you want to have a baby?
- Where is a good place to have a baby?
- The emergency telephone number in the USA is 911. What is it in your country?
Discussion Questions
- Are taxis or buses better for you? Why?
- When did you take a taxi? Where did you go?
- Do you like talking to a taxi driver?
- Do you want to ride in a car with no driver? Why or why not?
- Do you have a baby? Do you want to have a baby?
- Where is a good place to have a baby?
- The emergency telephone number in the USA is 911. What is it in your country?
Answers
Think Ahead: a
Listening: (1) driver, (2) hospital, (3) explain, (4) safe
True or False:
- True. She had the baby in the taxi.
- False. The taxi had no driver.
- True. She went to the hospital but she was late.
- True. They called her and 911.
- False. Alphabet did not explain this.
- False. It was not the first baby in Waymo taxis.
Put Events in Order:
- A woman rides in a Waymo taxi.
- She has the baby in the taxi.
- The taxi gets to the hospital.
Vocabulary:
- Taxi: A car you pay to ride in.
- Hospital: A place for sick people.
- Worker: A person who does a job.
- Company: A business or group that makes or sells things.
Sentence Completion:
- A) had
- B) went