Lesson Topics: economic growth, Europe, the United States, AI
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: europe-united-states-economy-advanced-012025.docx
- After warm-up questions, students read a 251-word reading passage based on a thread by Ole Lehmann, a German entrepreneur. The passage describes Lehmann's view on how Europe has committed "economic suicide" due to its anti-entrepreneur mindset and focus on regulation. Lehmann contrasts Europe's stagnancy with the economic growth of the United States, which has produced nine of the top ten countries of the world. The passage contains visuals related to economic growth.
- The passage is followed by comprehension questions on Lehmann's claims..
- Next, students review 10 vocabulary items from the passage and match them to their corresponding definitions.
- After vocabulary matching, students form discussion questions with the target vocabulary.
- There are two debate topics: one on whether it is better to be a European or American, and the second on the relationship between economic strength and the quality of life of citizens.
- The lesson has two role-play activities. The first is between a European entrepreneur and her husband; they debate whether to leave or stay in Europe for the sake of their new company. The second roleplay is a debate about AI regulation. It pits Marc Andreeson, a Silicon Valley investor, against Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission.
- Next, the lesson presents a few famous quotations about regulation and innovation.
- Finally, the lesson ends with a review of vocabulary and collocations before presenting some final discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on the European & U.S. Economies
Warm-up-Questions
- How has the economic and political situation in Europe changed in the past two decades?
- How have they changed in the United States?
- What are some cultural and ideological differences between the two regions?
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-- This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension Question Answer Key
- …
- The reasons: 1) brain-drain, 2) cultural differences in how people view entrepreneurs, 2) regulations and taxes
- The U.S. prioritizes innovation and advancement by building and integrating new technologies like AI and cryptocurrency. In contrast, Europe focuses on debating the ethics of these technologies, which slows progress.
- …
- …
Vocabulary: 1-f, 2-g, 3-b, 4-c, 5-h, 6-j, 7-e, 8-d, 9-a, 10-i
Collocations 1-e, 2-b, 3-f, 4-c, 5-d, 6-a
[1] https://x.com/itsolelehmann/status/1878820269323886695
[2] https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/international/2024/10/02/macron-warns-that-eu-needs-radical-change-is-lagging-china-us/