7 The Palio

Summary At home
A teenager takes us to see this famous race in Siena where we 5 Write a description of an important sports
are introduced to the rider, Alberto, and his horse, Zodiac, as they
event from your country.
prepare for the event. We see the competition and find out what
happens to Alberto and Zodiac in the race. • Tell students to write about a famous sports event in their
country.
• Brainstorm information that students could include in their
Background descriptions, e.g. the name of the event, when it began,
The world palio comes from the Latin pallium meaning ‘covering’. where it takes places and why it is important.
It refers to a cloth given to the winner of the horse race in Siena. • Collect and check students’ work in the next lesson.

Before you watch 6 Find out about another famous sporting

events.
1 Answer the question. • Ask students to find out about when the following sports
• Ask the class: Can you name any famous horse races?
events started, where and when they takes place, and
• Elicit students’ answers and write them on the board.
anything else about the events that interests them:
a Wimbledon
Suggested answers b The Super Bowl
the Gazi Race in Turkey, the Kentucky Derby in the USA, c The Tour de France
the Grande Prêmio in Brasil • They can share what they find out with a partner at the
beginning of the next class.

While you watch Background

2 Watch and complete. Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world.
• Write the following gapped sentences on the board: It started in London in 1877. The tournament takes place every
1 The Palio takes place in ______ . year over two weeks in late June and early July.
2 The Palio is ______ years old. The Super Bowl is the final game at the end of of the football
3 ______ riders take part. season in the United States. It started in 1920. It is usually played
4 Alberto’s horse is called ______ . on the first Sunday in February and is watched by millions of
5 The race lasts ______ seconds. Americans on TV.
• Tell students they are going to watch the first part of a video The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that takes place
about a famous Italian horse race. mostly in France but also occasionally passes through nearby
• Play the video up to 02.16. countries. It usually takes place in July. It first started in 1903.
• Students watch and complete the sentences.
• Check answers with the class.

Answers
1 Siena 2 700 3 10 4 Zodiac 5 90

3 What happens next? Watch and check. The Palio

• Put students into pairs and ask them to guess what will A few weeks ago, I went to Siena, in the north of Italy, to see
happen next in the video, e.g. I think Alberto and Zodiac will a very special event called the Palio. There were 60,000 people
win the race. there! The Palio is a very old tradition in Siena. It started about
• Ask some pairs to tell the class their ideas. 700 years ago, in the Middle Ages. So what is the Palio exactly?
• Play the recording for students to check. Well, it’s a horse race! Ten riders from ten different areas of the
• Find out if any pairs correctly predicted what happened next city compete in the race. Everyone supports the rider from their
in the video. area of Siena. This is Alberto.
He’s from the area of Lupa in Siena, like my grandparents. He and
After you watch his horse, Zodiac, trained every day for a year for this race. The race
is only 90 seconds, but it’s not easy. The track is a difficult shape,
4 Work with a partner. Answer the questions. and it’s dangerous for the horses and the riders.
• Put students into pairs to answer the following questions: On the day of the race, there was a big parade. Lots of people
a Would you like to see the Palio? Why? Why not? celebrated the tradition of the Palio together. People dressed up in
b Would you like to ride in the Palio? Why? Why not? clothes from the Middle Ages and played traditional music.
• Ask some students to report back to the class on their The parade finished at the track in Sienna’s central square.
partner’s ideas. Everybody was excited. We waited for the race to begin.
And then they were off! The crowd shouted … and the horses
ran! They all ran very fast. Then something terrible happened. One
of the riders fell right in front of Alberto and Zodiac. So they fell,
too. Everyone was OK. But in the end, Antonio Russo and his horse
won. The people from his area ran onto the track and celebrated.
They sang and carried their prize home. It was a banner, a symbol
of their good luck. You really must go to the Palio one day. It’s a
wonderful celebration and a great tradition!

130 Language focus 1 video activities and key