Reading_B1_Farmer accidentally moves Belgium-France border
Read the article below and be sure to highlight and note any new vocabulary words.
Prepare a 2 minute presentation about the details of the story for the beginning of next class.
Complete the exercises at the end of the article to further improve your English vocabulary and skills.
Farmer accidentally moves Belgium-France border
Source: Breaking News English
Governments, army leaders, and diplomats spend months, years, or even decades creating borders between countries. A farmer in Belgium did not need so long. It took him just a few minutes to change the border between Belgium and France. He made Belgium about 1,000 square meters bigger and France about 1,000 square meters smaller. How? He moved a 150-kilogram boundary stone 2.29 meters inside France. A boundary stone shows where the border between two countries or areas lies. The stone the farmer relocated was laid down in 1819 to mark the French-Belgian border. The farmer did not move the stone for political reasons. He did it to make it easier to drive his tractor around his field.
Moving the border between two countries could easily create a major diplomatic incident or even lead to war. Luckily, diplomats in Belgium and France saw the funny side of this. They avoided an international crisis in a friendly manner. The mayor of the Belgian town said: "The stone was placed there in 1819 following the defeat of Napoleon. The situation should be resolved tomorrow. We will find the person who moved the stone so we can avoid any trouble. I still have to verify who the landowner is." The mayor added: "We know exactly where the stone was before. It was right next to a tree." The mayor of the town across the border in France said: "I fully trust my Belgian counterpart, who did what was necessary."
Vocabulary: Match the vocabulary words to the correct definitions below:
Paragraph 1
1. diplomat 2. decade 3. square meters 4. boundary 5. relocated
6. political 7. tractor
A. The area of somewhere in m2.
B. A powerful farm vehicle (usually red in color) with very big wheels at the back.
c. Moved to a new place and established one's home or business there.
d. Someone who represents his/her country in a different country.
e. Relating to the government or the public affairs of a country.
f. A period of ten years.
g. A line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line.
Paragraph 2
8. create 9. major 10. incident 11. resolved 12. avoid 13. verify 14. trust
h. Firmly determined to do something.
i. Prevent (stop) from happening.
j. Believe in the reliability, truth, ability of someone.
k. Important, serious, or significant.
l. Make sure or demonstrate that something is true.
m. An event or occurrence.
n. Make; bring something into existence.
3. Writing & Opinion: Which idea do you agree with more? Why?
A borderless world is better than a world with borders.
A world with borders is much better than a world without borders.
Email your response to your English Coach for review, edits and grammar suggestions.
4. Bonus: Do you know about any other border issues? What are the problems? What are possible solutions?
Email your response to your English Coach for review, edits, and grammar suggestions.
