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Michael Artiaga is 16 years old. He beat Tetris on Sunday. He was live streaming on Twitch using the name “dogplayingtetris” when he beat the game.
Michael finished the game in 82 minutes. He cleared the highest level, 255 with a score of 29.4 million points. The game reset to level 0, and Michael was shocked.
Michael played a special Nintendo version of Tetris. This version does not crash at level 155. Other players have problems with game crashes.
Recently, another teen, Willis “Blue Scuti” Gibson, reached level 157. His game crashed after 38 minutes.
Tetris was made in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It is a popular game with many versions.
Michael was a Tetris champion at age 13. He won the Classic Tetris World Championship in 2020.
On YouTube, he thanked his supporters and said, “It’s finally over.”
Vocabulary
- Beat – to defeat an opponent or win a competition; to win a match/game against another person/team; to complete a game successfully
- Live – Happening “now”; happening in real time
- Live stream – To show something happening in real-time over the internet
- Stream – a song or video that is available on the internet without downloading it;
- Clear – To finish something successfully, especially a level or stage in a game
- Score – Points in a game; A number that shows how well someone did in a game
- Million – 1,000,000 = one-million
- Point – A unit of scoring in a game; A score in a game or competition
- Reset – To start something over from the beginning;
- Shocked – very surprised
- Version – a copy of something that has been changed so it’s a little different; something a little different from others of the same type
- Crash – a sudden failure that stops a computer or electronic device; to stop working/functioning
- Recently – Not long ago
- Soviet Union – A former country/union that was in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Russia was the largest part of the Soviet Union.
- Popular – Liked by many people; something many people like; common; frequent
- Champion – the winner 🏆
- Championship – A big competition to find the best team or player; The biggest prize in a sport
- Supporter – someone who cheers for or follows a team/person
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Tetris is still a popular game?
- Have you ever played Tetris? What do you think of the game? Are you good at it?
- What would you do if your game crashed after reaching a high level?
- Do you like live streams of people playing video games? Why or why not?
- English teachers looking for teaching ideas, check out my post on using easy news articles for lessons.
- English learners looking for study ideas, check out my post on using news stories for English practice.
Original Story
Fill-in-the-Blank Listening Practice
Michael Artiaga is _____ years old. He beat Tetris on Sunday. He was _____ streaming on Twitch using the name “dogplayingtetris” when he _____ the game.
Michael finished the game in _____ minutes. He cleared the highest level, 255 with a score of _____ million points. The game reset to _____ 0, and Michael was shocked.
Michael played a special Nintendo _____ of Tetris. This version does not crash at level 155. _____ players have problems with game crashes.
_____, another teen, Willis “Blue Scuti” Gibson, reached level _____. His game crashed after 38 minutes.
Tetris was _____ in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It is a popular _____ with many versions.
Michael was a Tetris _____ at age 13. He won the Classic Tetris World Championship in _____.
On YouTube, he _____ his supporters and said, “It’s finally _____.”
