Maryland high school listed for sale as senior prank

Nick's ESL News Lessons

A printable worksheet for news-based English conversation classes.

Date: 2023/05/27

Difficulty: Upper Intermediate B2

PDF: Maryland high school listed for sale as senior prank
YouTube: Maryland high school listed for sale as senior prank

Vocabulary Match

amenities -   - representative
praise -   - compliment
vacant -   - funny
absolutely -   - totally
hilarious -   - empty
spokesperson -   - features

Article

Meade Senior High School in Fort Meade, Maryland was listed for sale on Zillow for $42,069 as a senior prank. The listing praised the school's amenities, including a "nice spacious kitchen and dining room," a "private basketball court," and a "private study." The school is 356,787 square feet, so the price per square foot is only 12 cents.

A spokesperson for Anne Arundel County Public Schools called the prank "incredibly creative advertising" and said that "everyone is taking it in the spirit of a fun, harmless prank." This is not the first time that students in Anne Arundel County have listed a school for sale. Last year, Broadneck High School was listed for sale with a giant "FOR SALE" sign that listed the school's features and said that the building was vacant since March due to the pandemic. The spokesperson said that the prank was "absolutely hilarious."

Quiz

  1. What are some of the amenities listed in the sale?
  2. Has this happened before in Anne Arundel County?
  3. What did the spokesperson say about the prank?

Conversation

A: You hear about that prank at Meade Senior High?
B: Yeah, the Zillow listing, right? Totally harmless fun.
A: Exactly. Now compare that to the school in North Carolina.
B: Oh, right. The trashing? That was awful. The kids destroyed the place!
A: It's crazy that the principal gave them the keys. The teachers were in tears.
B: Yeah, makes you appreciate the creative, non-destructive pranks, right?

Discussion

  1. What's the best prank you've ever heard of?
  2. If you could list anything for sale as a prank, what would it be?
  3. Do you think schools should punish students for harmless pranks?

Vocabulary Answers

amenities → features
praise → compliment
vacant → empty
absolutely → totally
hilarious → funny
spokesperson → representative

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. A "nice spacious kitchen and dining room," a "private basketball court," and a "private study."
  2. Yes, last year with Broadneck High School.
  3. The spokesperson said it was "absolutely hilarious."

Source Material

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/meade-high-school-zillow-prank-7WYY7Z5X6VHM7A7WGHZKKF7EQM/


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