More people died taking selfies in India last year than anywhere else in the world

Before you read: some questions to help you think about the topic and the words you might need.

What could be dangerous about taking photos?

How could someone die from taking a photo of themselves?

India may have a selfie-loving prime minister, Narendra Modi, but Indians mostly seem to be bad at taking selfie photos safely.

Of the deaths that happened when taking selfies around the world last year, about half occurred in India.

In 2015, Indians taking selfies died while posing in front of an oncoming train, in a boat that rolled over at a picnic, on a cliff that broke into pieces and into a 20 meter cliff and on the dangerous edge of a scenic river edge. Also, in September, a Japanese tourist trying to take a selfie fell down steps at the Taj Mahal. The tourist died from hitting his head.

Mumbai police said this week that they had named more than 12 common dangerous places. These places are now "no-selfie zones" around India's largest city. This happened after three young girls were washed away into the Arabian Sea by the strong water while taking selfies in a rocky part by the sea. One of the young women is presumed to have drowned. And also a man who jumped in to save them drowned too.

A Mumbai police spokesman, Dhananjay, said that the police would be asking city officers to take steps to reduce the danger of selfies at popular tourist spots such as the city's famous Marine Drive. And are also deploying life-guards and making warning signs. Police would also be giving warnings, government officials said.

Last year, no-selfie zones were also made in some special areas of the huge Hindu religious meeting called the Kumbh Mela because organizers were worried and had fear about bottlenecks caused by selfie-takers that could spark large groups running over other people as they tried to get out of a situation.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=7, B=1, C=3, D=5, E=8, F=2, G=4, H=6

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. The World Cup occurs every four years.

2. The model posed for 8 hours for the painter.

3. You can presume that because a lot of people came to the shopping center that they made a lot of money.

4. The government should take steps to help young people get jobs.

5. The army is deploying soldiers to the DMZ to watch North Korea.

6. The streets in Gangnam are a big bottleneck as people go into different places of entertainment.

7. The cigarette sparked a fire in the hotel.

8. You can buy these selfie sticks for only 5,000 won.

    

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Do you know of accidents occurring because of people taking selfie photos? If this was occurring in your home city, what actions should the city government deploy?

2. How do you like to pose in front of famous tourist sites?

3. Why would the person in the story be presumed to have drowned?

4. Do you feel it is wrong to presume things about people before you know them? Why?

5. If you are traveling to a country like India, what steps should you take to keep safe?

6. What steps should your country or city take to reduce bottlenecks from too many cars.

7. Does using a phone camera and selfies spark your interest to learn how to take better photos?