Famous People Lessons: English Lesson on Cristiano Ronaldo

THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in 1985. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. The legendary Dutch genius Johan Cruyff said he’s one of the best ever. He became a soccer superstar playing for English team Manchester United, and for Portugal. He plays in midfield, from where he regularly scores spectacular goals.

Ronaldo started kicking a ball around when he was three. His skill was obvious then and by ten years old, two of Portugal’s top clubs wanted to sign him. He joined Sporting Lisbon and became the only player in their history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team within one season. His skills soon attracted Europe’s big teams.

Manchester United decided Ronaldo was the perfect replacement for David Beckham. He signed for a fee of $25 million and was given the famous number 7 shirt on his arrival. Many of the greatest Manchester legends wore that same number. Ronaldo said it motivated him: “I was forced to live up to such an honour,” he said.

Ronaldo has set the English Premier League alight in his time there. He has won everything there is to win at club level, including many player of the year awards. He has dazzled soccer fans everywhere with his quick feet and wonderful skills. He is a firm favourite of Manchester’s fans and is the envy of other clubs’ supporters. He is currently the hottest property in football.

246 words

Flesch Kinkaid 8.0

SYNONYM MATCH

Match the words from the article on the left with their synonyms on the right. Are your answers the same as other students’?

Paragraphs 1 and 2
1.	regarded	a.	frequently
2	legendary	b.	caught the attention of
3.	regularly	c.	famous
4.	obvious	d.	inside
5.	within	e.	considered
6.	attracted	f.	clear
Paragraphs 3 and 4
7.	perfect	g.	inspired
8.	fee	h.	jealousy
9.	motivated	i.	at the moment
10.	dazzled	j.	ideal
11	envy	k	amazed
12	currently	l	cost

PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article:

1.	widely regarded as one	a.	for David Beckham
2	The legendary Dutch	b.	Europe’s big teams
3.	His skill was	c.	clubs’ supporters
4.	top clubs wanted to	d.	of the best players
5.	His skills soon attracted	e.	property in football
6.	the perfect replacement	f.	sign him
7.	He signed for a fee	g.	to such an honour
8.	forced to live up	h.	genius Johan Cruyff
9.	the envy of other	i.	obvious then
10.	He is currently the hottest	j.	of $25 million

LISTENING GAP FILL

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in 1985. He ____________________ one of the best players in the world. The ____________________ Johan Cruyff said he’s one of the best ever. He became a soccer superstar playing for English team Manchester United, and for Portugal. He plays in midfield, from where ____________________ spectacular goals.

Ronaldo started ____________________ when he was three. His skill was obvious then and by ten years old, two of Portugal’s top clubs ____________________. He joined Sporting Lisbon and became the only player in their history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team within one season. His ____________________ Europe’s big teams.

Manchester United decided Ronaldo was ____________________ for David Beckham. He ____________________ $25 million and was given the famous number 7 shirt on his arrival. Many of the greatest Manchester legends wore that same number. Ronaldo said it motivated him: “I was ____________________ such an honour,” he said.

Ronaldo has set the English Premier League ____________________. He has won everything there is to win at club level, including many player of the year awards. ____________________ fans everywhere with his quick feet and wonderful skills. He is a firm favourite of Manchester’s fans and is the envy of other clubs’ supporters. He is currently ____________________ football.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD

Delete the wrong word in each of the pairs in italics.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in 1985. He is narrowly / widely regarded as one of the best player / players in the world. The legendary Dutch genius Johan Cruyff said he’s one of the best even / ever. He became a soccer superstar playing for English team Manchester United, and for Portugal. He plays in midfield, from where / while he regularly scores spectacular goals.

Ronaldo started kicking a ball around when he was three. His skill was obvious / obviously then and by ten years old, two of Portugal’s top clubs wanted to signal / sign him. He joined Sporting Lisbon and became the only player in their history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team with / within one season. His skills soon attractive / attracted Europe’s big teams.

Manchester United decided Ronaldo was the perfected / perfect replacement for David Beckham. He signed for a fee of $25 million and was given / gave the famous number 7 shirt on his arrival. Many of the greatest Manchester legends worn / wore that same number. Ronaldo said it motivated him: “I was forced to live up / down to such an honour,” he said.

Ronaldo has set the English Premier League alight / fire in his time there. He has won everything there is to won / win at club level, including many player of the year awards. He has dazzled soccer fans everywhere with his quick feet and wonderful skills. He is a firm favourite of Manchester’s fans and is the envious / envy of other clubs’ supporters. He is currently the hottest property in / on football.

SPELLING

The underlined, jumbled words are from the text. Spell them correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	widely redagerd as one of the best
2.	The legendary Dutch uisnge
3.	He became a soccer tpsuearrs
4.	he eagrulrly scores spectacular goals
Paragraph 2
5.	Ronaldo started kicking a ball onudra when he was three
6.	His skill was svoouib then
7.	He ndojie Sporting Lisbon
8.	His skills soon dteaattcr Europe’s big teams
Paragraph 3
9.	the reectpf replacement
10.	He ngisde for a fee of $25 million
11.	the greatest Manchester edsegnl
12.	it eaitmotdv him
Paragraph 4
13.	Ronaldo has set the English Premier League ihlatg
14.	at club vleel
15.	his quick feet and wonderful klisls
16.	the hottest rrteyppo in football

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	of $25 million and was given the famous number 7 shirt on his arrival. Many of the greatest Manchester legends
( )	as one of the best players in the world. The legendary Dutch genius Johan Cruyff said he’s one of the best
( )	ever. He became a soccer superstar playing for English team Manchester United, and for Portugal. He plays in
( )	skills. He is a firm favourite of Manchester’s fans and is the envy of other clubs’ supporters. He is currently
( )	Ronaldo started kicking a ball around when he was three. His skill was obvious then and by
( )	midfield, from where he regularly scores spectacular goals.
( )	the hottest property in football.
( )	player in their history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team within
( )	Manchester United decided Ronaldo was the perfect replacement for David Beckham. He signed for a fee
( )	Ronaldo has set the English Premier League alight in his time there. He has won everything there
( )	ten years old, two of Portugal’s top clubs wanted to sign him. He joined Sporting Lisbon and became the only
( )	wore that same number. Ronaldo said it motivated him: “I was forced to live up to such an honour,” he said.
( 1 )	Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in 1985. He is widely regarded
( )	one season. His skills soon attracted Europe’s big teams.
( )	is to win at club level, including many player of the year awards. He has dazzled soccer fans everywhere with his quick feet and wonderful

SCRAMBLED SENTENCES

With your partner, put the words back into the correct order.

1.	of widely the regarded best as He one is
2.	spectacular regularly goals scores he
3.	he Ronaldo a when three kicking around was started ball
4.	skill then was His obvious
5.	soon Europe’s teams skills attracted big His
6.	of signed $ for 25 a million fee He
7.	said him it Ronaldo motivated
8.	set has Ronaldo alight League Premier English the
9.	there everything won has He win to is
10.	property hottest the currently is He football in

CRISTIANO RONALDO DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	What do you know about Cristiano Ronaldo?
2.	Would you like to meet Cristiano Ronaldo?
3.	What would you like to know about Cristiano Ronaldo and why?
4.	___________________________________________________
5.	___________________________________________________
6.	___________________________________________________
7.	___________________________________________________
8.	___________________________________________________

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	What did you learn from this text about Cristiano Ronaldo?
2.	What questions would you like to ask Cristiano Ronaldo?
3.	What would his answers be to those questions?
4.	___________________________________________________
5.	___________________________________________________
6.	___________________________________________________
7.	___________________________________________________
8.	___________________________________________________

CRISTIANO RONALDO SURVEY

Write five questions about Cristiano Ronaldo in the table. Do this in pairs/groups. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

Without your partner, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Return to your original partner(s) and share and talk about what you found out. Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WRITING

Write about Cristiano Ronaldo for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

______________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information about Cristiano Ronaldo. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CRISTIANO RONALDO POSTER: Make a poster showing the different stages of the life of Cristiano Ronaldo. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about Cristiano Ronaldo. Include an imaginary interview with him. Write about what he does every day and what he thinks about.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Cristiano Ronaldo. Ask him three questions about his life. Give him three suggestions on what he should do in his future. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your “Cristiano Ronaldo expert” partner(s) will try and answer your questions.

ANSWERS

SYNONYM MATCH:

Paragraphs 1 and 2
1.	regarded	a.	considered
2	legendary	b.	famous
3.	regularly	c.	frequently
4.	obvious	d.	clear
5.	within	e.	inside
6.	attracted	f.	caught the attention of
Paragraphs 3 and 4
7.	perfect	g.	ideal
8.	fee	h.	cost
9.	motivated	i.	inspired
10.	dazzled	j.	amazed
11	envy	k	jealousy
12	currently	l	at the moment

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	widely regarded as one	a.	of the best players
2	The legendary Dutch	b.	genius Johan Cruyff
3.	His skill was	c.	obvious then
4.	top clubs wanted to	d.	sign him
5.	His skills soon attracted	e.	Europe’s big teams
6.	the perfect replacement	f.	for David Beckham
7.	He signed for a fee	g.	of $25 million
8.	forced to live up	h.	to such an honour
9.	the envy of other	i.	clubs’ supporters
10.	He is currently the hottest	j.	property in football

ALL OTHER EXERCISES:

Look at the text in "THE READING / TAPESCRIPT" section at the top of this page.

Famous People Lessons.com English Lesson Plan on Cristiano Ronaldo