Issues Now in the News is a course book designed to improve useful language skills for advanced-level learners while raising awareness about world issues and current events.
Each of the 25 units contains an authentic news text from Voice of America, a multimedia broadcasting service funded by the US government. These texts highlight a wide variety of regional and global issues grouped into five themes: International Concerns, World Affairs, Life & Trends, Environment & Health, and Culture & Entertainment.
Each unit begins by introducing students to background and cultural information relevant to the news story. In addition to reading comprehension activities, new vocabulary, idioms, and expressions are reviewed after each text. Finally, each unit ends with thought-provoking questions designed to ignite class discussion.
Key features include:
(1) Authentic news texts from Voice of America
(2) Useful vocabulary, idioms, and expressions for advanced-level learners
(3) Exercises to support vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension
(4) Topics for discussion
(5) Full answer key for all exercises
(6) An MP3 Audio CD that provides full audio recordings of the articles.
