Here is a Little Story written and recorded by Albina Krasnova of Samara, Russia.
Step 1
Before engaging students in the listening task below, you might want to involve them in some pair discussions on the subject of pizza.
1. Do you like pizza? When was the last time you had a pizza?
2. What kinds of fish do you like?
3. What kind of fish or seafood is good on pizza?
4. Have you ever been surprised by an ingredient that appeared on your pizza? Describe.
5. Take a moment to think of your ideal pizza. What ingredients would it have?
Step 2
12 words have been blanked out in the text below. Listen and write them.
The Anchovy Story
The word anchovy (анчоус in Russian) has always (1) __________ magic to my ear but I never had a chance to (2) __________ them. I would associate the word with something really special that no (2) __________ people could have access to. It (4) __________ be something (5) __________ by people belonging to (6) __________ society or the Tsar’s family in Russia, but not people like me. It (7) __________ until I tried my first (and last!) anchovy pizza during my (8) __________ my first days in America that I realized it was (9) __________ more than килька, a (10) __________that normal Russian families would (11) __________ for their cats! All the (13) __________ was gone!
Key: (1) sounded, (2) taste, (3) ordinary, (4) would, (5) consumed, (6) royal, (7) wasn’t, (8) first, (9) nothing, (10) fish, (11) buy, (12) magic
