This week we will have two activities, one to introduce you to the choices available in our newspaper and another to help you develop your vocabulary-building skills. You can find dozens more vocabulary activities on our Internet website, incidentally.

Starting next week, we will add a third activity – Premier League Geography – which I think you will find enjoyable. Premier League Geography is based on a very popular column in the United States which appears in more than 100 newspapers across the country. That column, however, features American professional football and basketball, so I thought I would write my own column based on a sport which is popular here.

This week, let’s begin with one of our newspaper’s main strengths: its huge variety. You might be surprised to find out just how many different kinds of stories there are in the Bangkok Post. The exercise that follows will give you just a small taste of what there is.

Actually, there has to be a lot of variety. The newspaper is not a textbook. People don’t read it because they have to, but because they want to. Thus, the newspaper must contain information that interests many different types of people.

What does this mean for you? It means you have a big choice. And this week’s lesson is designed to show you some of the choices you have. Each of the items that follows is an excerpt (small part) of a longer story. Quickly look at each one. Then decide the following?

1. Does this particular story seem interesting enough for you to read?
2. Is this the kind of story, you would like to read (or be able to read)?

Finally, when you are finished looking through all the stories, rank them according to how they interest you, i.e., put 1 for the most interesting, 2 for the second, etc.

Students agree drugs doing a brisk business on campus Sirikul Bunnag Scores of students and staff members of the Rajabhat Institute Chankasem have backed a minister’s allegation that business in methamphetamine pills on campus is brisk. Earlier, Deputy Agriculture Minister Pairote Lohsuntorn came under fire for echoing an MP's allegation that a large number of students at the college were either using, selling or buying speed pills on the school campus. A third-year student from the Rajabhat Institute Chankasem's faculty of management science who requested anonymity said reports about drug abuse and trafficking were true. Serbs storm parliament Belgrade, AP Demonstrators took control of parliament, hurling pictures of President Slobodan Milosevic into the streets, and police fought protesters amid clouds of tear gas yesterday as hundreds of thousands of people swarmed Belgrade to demand the Yugoslav leader accept electoral defeat. Opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica told cheering supporters the opposition had defeated Mr Milosevic. "Good evening, liberated Serbia," said Mr Kostunica, who has claimed victory in the Sept 24 presidential election. "Serbia has hit the road of democracy and where there is democracy there is no place for Slobodan Milosevic." Posh hate mail Posh Spice Victoria Adams has said she is depressed by a hate campaign that some English soccer fans have waged against her and her husband, Manchester United star David Beckham. Britain’s top-selling Sun tabloid said taunts against the couple, who have a baby son Brooklyn, have included "We hope your kid dies of cancer" and "Your wife’s a prostitute". "It’s a horrible thing to happen," the 26-year-old Spice Girl told the paper in an interview. Chalerm’s tirade draws lawsuit Wassayos Ngarmkham Chalerm Yubamrung’s public tirade against police following a pub brawl early yesterday involving one of his sons, Duangchalerm, could backfire. The national police chief said the deputy New Aspiration leader will be charged with defamation and taken to court for his attack against the officers handling the case. The MP’s comments were widely carried on TV news reports. Big turnout at airport as Olympic athletes return home Wijan Ponlid, Thailand's gold medal boxing hero at the Sydney Olympics, returned home last night to a warm welcome as well-wishers turned up in force at the airport. The 24-year-old policeman is expected to be given more than 20 million baht from sponsors and well-wishers in rewards for bringing fame to the country. Also coming his way are 5.3kg of gold ornaments, a house, a promotion to sub-lieutenant, and one year's worth of free flights on Bangkok Airways. ARIES March 21-April 19 Some of your major wishes could be fulfilled. Make fresh start in new direction. You will be romanced by sentimental Leo. Caution! GEMINI May 21-June 20 Emphasise humour, versatility. Don’t give up the ship. Element of luck is present, you ultimately win in spectacular fashion. Sagittarian becomes ally. Zico fails to shine in trial at Crystal Palace Post Reporters Thai soccer star Kiatisak "Zico" Senamuang has been undergoing a trial at English First Division club Crystal Palace but failed to impress during a match for the reserves. Zico, who is still under contract with fellow First Division club Huddersfield Town, turned out for the Eagles' reserves in their 1-0 defeat against Northampton Town last Wednesday, according to the Teamtalk website. However Palace are unlikely to take their interest in Zico any further after the trial game. The Thai star came on as a second-half substitute but it would appear he didn't do enough to impress Palace manager Alan Smith. Zico has been unable to gain a first-team place at Huddersfield since he joined them last year and has not even played for the Terriers' reserves this season. Huddersfield have told Zico that he can move on if he can get himself fixed up with another club. COSMETICS: New facial and skin care products The four easy do-it-yourself steps to improve your skin’s health start with cleansing to remove all dirt, followed by toning or rehydrating to cool and refresh the skin, exoliating to remove dead cells and finally moisturising to provide a broad spectrum sunscreen day and night for your skin. Launched in Bangkok recently were lines of new facial and skin care products from the world’s leading cosmetics makers. The House of Elizabeth Arden has come up with twin facial products – the wake up formula Good Morning Skin Serum (1,460 baht) and the intensely hydrating Good Night’s Sleep Restoring Cream (1,980 baht). Christian Dior Laboratories are stepping up their anti-wrinkle strategy with the launch of a day-time offensive, Phenomenon-A Jour (2,250). Better to marry for the sake of the child Dear Ann: When I was 17, 1 met the man I intended to marry. When I was 20, we moved in together, and I became pregnant. We do plan to get married someday, but we are in no hurry. Here’s the problem, and I don’t know how to deal with it. My mother, who is very religious, was horrified when she found out I was expecting a baby. She always hated that we were living together, and she demanded to know when we were going to get married. I told her in a very nice way, "Someday, but not now." That was three years ago. Since then, she has made no effort to see her grandson. I am very hurt by this. How can I explain to my mother that she needs to accept her grandson? Wounded in LA Dear Wounded: Your mother is "punishing" you because you are living with the father of your child and seem to be in no hurry to marry. She finds this unacceptable, and frankly, I can see her point. While I do not condone her refusal to see you or her grandson, I, too wonder why you don’t legalise your relationship for the child’s sake.

Each week this term we are going to examine a word that is often found in newspaper headlines or in news stories. Instead of just giving you its meaning, however, I am going to let you guess its meaning. I will put the word in a series of sentences and let you see for yourself what its various forms are and how they are commonly used. baffle (BAF ul) Police say they are baffled as to how the prisoners managed to escape and why it took more than five hours before anyone noticed they were gone. We were all baffled by his unusual behaviour and some even suspected he must have taken drugs. Former Olympic 400-metre champion Marie-Jose Perec’s sudden and mysterious decision to leave Sydney baffled even her best friends. Their methods seemed baffling to outsiders, but the scientists clearly understood exactly what they were doing. After the accident, he stood for a long time shaking his head in bafflement over how such an experienced driver could make such a stupid mistake. 1.Which one of the following is the best meaning for baffle? to cause to be very excited to cause to be unable to understand or explain to cause to be worried without having a good reason to cause to be angry 2. Baffle is a verb. Does it ever seemed to be used in the passive voice? 3. What kind of word is baffling (i.e., adjective, verb, noun, etc.) 4. What kind of word is bafflement? Go to, then bookmark our words in the news so you can check out new words six days a week. TEACHER'S NOTE In the first part of the lesson, stress that your students should make their own choices about what is interesting and what is not. After all, people make such choices every day in the real world when they open their newspapers. The difference between question 1 and question 2 might not be clear to some of your students. You might want to use the story about Wijan Polid as an example. They might find that particular story interesting, but they normally would not like to read stories about sports heroes or sports in general. Thus, they would answer "yes" to question one and "no" to question two. Don’t forget to get next Friday’s edition of post tips. It will contain a large map that you can use the rest of term. Go back to the top Starting next week: Premier League Geography It seems that just about everyone in Thailand follows the football teams in the English Premier league. But how many people have any idea exactly where these teams play? And what are the cities like where they are based? For example, can you answer these questions? Where’s Manchester? Does Aston Villa play in a city called Aston Villa? Is West Ham United from the western part of England? Why doesn’t London have a team – or does it? Starting next week, you’ll learn to answer these questions and many more with a term-long series entitled "Premier League Geography". Next week’s lesson will give you a larger map of England clearly showing where all 20 Premier League teams are located. Like all lessons in the series, there will also be a fun set of exercises which will give you many insights into both the geography of the country and its fascinating football culture. Shhh: Here’s a secret for those of you who hate English football. You don’t need to care or know anything about football to have fun with the exercises.