Ugly lawn wins international contest

Nick's ESL News Lessons

A printable worksheet for news-based English conversation classes.

Date: 2024/01/26

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: Ugly lawn wins international contest

Vocabulary Match

drought -   - water shortage
bandicoots -   - cut
withering -   - small mammals
secondhand -   - dying
ruining -   - used
mowed -   - damaging

Article

Kathleen Murray from Tasmania has won the first 'World's Ugliest Lawn' contest. The town of Gotland in Sweden started this competition two years ago to save water during a big drought. This year, people from the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, and Croatia joined in.

Murray's lawn has yellow grass, withering plants, and holes from bandicoots. She joked with The Guardian, "My garden now looks like the game Hungry Hungry Hippo." She got a secondhand T-shirt saying, "Proud owner of the World's Ugliest Lawn."

Murray said she used to worry about the bandicoots ruining her lawn, but now she's happy she doesn't have to cut the grass anymore. She hasn't mowed the lawn since her ex-husband took the lawnmower back in 2016.

Quiz

  1. Who won the first 'World's Ugliest Lawn' contest?
  2. Why was the competition started in Gotland, Sweden?
  3. What does Kathleen Murray's lawn look like?
  4. How does she feel about not having to cut the grass anymore?

Conversation

Friend: Hey Kathleen, have you seen this 'Ugliest Lawn' contest?
Kathleen: No, what's that?
Friend: It's for lawns like yours, you know?
Kathleen: Are you saying my lawn is ugly?
Friend: Well, it's perfect for this contest!
Kathleen: Hmm, maybe I should enter it then.

Discussion

  1. Do you have a lawn? Is it well-kept or in bad shape?
  2. What do you think about this contest as a way to conserve water?
  3. Do you ever buy secondhand clothes? Why or why not?
  4. Can you think of other unusual contests, real or imaginary?

Vocabulary Answers

drought → water shortage
bandicoots → small mammals
withering → dying
secondhand → used
ruining → damaging
mowed → cut

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. Kathleen Murray won the first 'World's Ugliest Lawn' contest.
  2. It was started to save water during a big drought.
  3. Her lawn has yellow grass, withering plants, and holes from bandicoots.
  4. She's happy about not having to cut the grass anymore.

Source Material

https://news.yahoo.com/look-australian-woman-wins-worlds-172755016.html

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