ESL WORKSHEET - Tetris

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

TEENAGER BECOMES FIRST PERSON

TO BEAT TETRIS

LinguaHouse
Jan. 13, 2024

Level: Mixed Levels (B1-B2 and B2-C1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Breaking News; Hobby; Entertainment; 16-18 Years Old; 13-15 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Incredible Stories; Article Based
Publication date: 01/13/2024

A breaking news lesson about a teenager who recently became the first person to beat the video game Tetris, with a news report detailing the story and an article focusing on four games that have had an impact on our culture. Students will learn related vocabulary, practice reading and listening skills and reinforce their new vocabulary with conversation practice (by David J Marriott).

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English (L4)
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English (L5)
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English (L4).
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English (L5).
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English (L4).
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English (L5).
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English (L4).
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English (L5).
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audios (Am/Br English).

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

A teenager from Oklahoma in the US is believed to be the first person ever to beat Tetris. It took thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson thirty-eight minutes to reach level one hundred and fifty-seven in the game, with a score of 999999.Previously, AI bots had been used to force the game to reach its “kill screen” – the point at which blocks fall so fast that the game crashes.
Tetris was released in 1985 by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. It has appeared on a variety of games consoles, including Nintendo’s Game Boy, a handheld gaming system. The Game Boy version has sold over thirty-five million copies worldwide. Tetris is available on over sixty-five platforms and can be downloaded as an app for mobile phones. In order to play the game, players must maneuver a series of colored blocks to create horizontal lines, which deletes the blocks and awards points. As the player advances, the blocks fall more quickly. Gibson, who has been playing Tetris for two years, practices for twenty hours a week, and dedicated the achievement to his father, who died recently. In addition to beating the game, the teenager broke the record for the highest-ever Tetris score.
Until a few years ago, it was believed that the maximum level of Tetris was twenty-nine. The game has had a notable effect on popular culture, and has been referenced by movies, music and other video games, even inspiring academic research. In 2023, a movie about the founding of the game – also known as Tetris – was made available on Apple TV+.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/teenager-becomes-first-person-to-beat-tetris. Accessed on January 23, 2024. © 2008–2024 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.