Camel Racing

Camel Racing

Lessons 13-14 on pages 13-14 of the Coursebook

1 People are already leaving the race track after two hours of watching some of the fastest camels in the region and before the desert temperatures begin to soar.

2 Some people watch the events on their TVs. But many people don’t know that the camels taking part in the races have actually been ridden by robots! And how long do you think this has been going on? Well, … for the last ten years, at least! 

• Instead of human jockeys controlling the animals – using whips and their voices – a dummy (robot) jockey is used, operated by a remote control. And what has been activating this remote control? The trainer’s voice has been activating it – a voice that the camel recognises – so this device ‘drives’ the camels.

So, when we have watched cars driving along the side of the race track, what have we been watching? Well, we can be quite sure that we have been watching the trainers. They have been following the race and ‘talking’ to their camels as they go. The camels have been responding to their owners’ instructions, which are usually telling them to run faster! 

• The camel is fitted with another device controlled by a pushbutton. This button activates a whip. So, by combining talking to the camel with controlling the whip, the owner is able to fine-tune what they want their camels to do. 

 These child-jockeys were light and enabled the camel to run faster. But the racing wasn’t safe for the children, so a new law was introduced that banned anyone under 16 from racing. Another issue with human jockeys was the tendency to whip the camels hard to get them to run faster. This often resulted in injuring the camels and leaving them with scars. So what could they do …?

 And through designing these, they found that the camels responded very quickly to the push-button whip. This meant the animals were hit less and not so forcefully by the human jockeys, and the camels would finish the race free from injuries or scars. 

They are much lighter and this usually means that the camels run much faster.

Apparently, the robots can be made from almost anything. And some of them have shock absorbers and GPS trackers! But the most important factor is that they are really light.

Open Ended

Why does the racing finish so early?

Open Ended

What is a robot jockey?

Open Ended

How is the remote control activated?

Open Ended

What is a push-button used for?

Open Ended

Why were child jockeys banned?

Open Ended

What other devices do some robot jockeys have?

Multiple Select

Read and match.

1 How long have you been watching the race?

• For about two years, I think.

• They’ve been trying on lots of clothes!

• For two hours.

Multiple Select

What have you both been doing?

• For two hours.

• We’ve been trying to start the car!

• I’ve been trying to mend my whip. It’s broken!

Multiple Select

Have you been running? You seem out of breath!

• No, I haven’t. I’ve been playing tennis.

• Yes, he has.

• For about two years, I think.

Multiple Select

What have you been talking about?

• We’ve been trying to start the car!

• We’ve been talking about our next holiday.

• Yes, he has.

present perfect continuous tense

When you start something in the past and are still doing it.

Present Perfect Continuous - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZppgbVBwoE

Multiple Choice

What ________ today?

• have you been doing

• been doing

Multiple Choice

________ reading a good book?

• Have you been

• Are you been

Multiple Choice

______ telling stories?

• Is you been

• Have you been

Multiple Choice

I _____________ watching a film.

• have been

• is been

Multiple Choice

They ______ not _____ finishing their work.

• have - not

• is - not

Multiple Choice

I _____________ watching a film.

• have been

• is been