Egyptian police are holding in custody a biochemist from England’s Leeds University in connection with the London bombings. Magdy Al-Nashar, a 33-year-old PhD graduate is wanted by British police, who believe he is the bomb maker and mastermind behind the atrocities in London. Dr. Al-Nashar has strenuously denied having any involvement with terror organizations or the London attacks. Egypt’s crack anti-terrorist police swooped on the Cairo home of Dr. Al-Nashar as part of a global search, which involved Interpol and the FBI. He is currently being interrogated in Cairo to aid the investigation of British police, who may request his extradition back to London.

Dr. Al-Nashar’s arrest is currently based on circumstantial evidence rather than concrete facts. He lives very near three of the London bombers and entered and left the U.K. just before and after the attacks. It is also believed he handed the attackers the keys to his apartment, which police raided and found highly volatile and potentially dangerous chemicals. Police evacuated 600 residents before conducting a detailed search of the rented premises. It is likely Dr. Al-Nashar would have the know-how to assemble the homemade explosive devices that were used in the attacks. The bombs bear all the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda. They could have been made with chemicals purchased from any community drugstore.

WARM-UPS

1. LONDON BOMBINGS: In pairs / groups, talk about your knowledge of the terrorist attacks in London. Do you watch or read the news every day? What are your feelings about the attacks? What do you think of the police investigation so far?

2. INTERPOL: You are members of Interpol, the world’s secret, international police force. Write down your current mission. Talk to the other Interpol members in the class (the other students and teacher) about your mission, your work and your life as an Interpol officer.

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Egypt / biochemistry / English universities / having a PhD / British police / bomb makers / the FBI / circumstantial evidence / dangerous chemicals / know-how

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. BOMB: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “bomb”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. FINISH TERROR SENTENCES: In pairs / groups, finish the following sentences with endings you both / all agree on:

1. Al-Qaeda ______________________________________________________.
2. The war on terror will ___________________________________________.
3. Islam is ______________________________________________________.
4. George W. Bush must ___________________________________________.
5. The London bombings ___________________________________________.
6. Suicide bombers ________________________________________________.
7. The West has to ________________________________________________.
8. The answer is __________________________________________________.

Change partners and compare your sentences. Talk about them.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Egyptian police are detaining a suspected London bomber.	T / F
b.	The man is believed to have masterminded the bombings.	T / F
c.	The man has admitted he made the bombs.	T / F
d.	Many international police agencies were involved in the arrest.	T / F
e.	There is concrete evidence linking the man to the attacks.	T / F
f.	Dangerous chemicals were found in the man’s UK apartment.	T / F
g.	He is unlikely to have the know-how necessary to make bombs.	T / F
h.	The bombs were made with explosives stolen from the military.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	custody	vigorously
b.	atrocities	property
c.	strenuously	descended
d.	swooped	questioned
e.	interrogated	temperamental
f.	circumstantial	knowledge
g.	volatile	inconclusive
h.	premises	detention
i.	know-how	telltale signs
j.	hallmarks	barbarity

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	police are holding	denied having any involvement
b.	mastermind	circumstantial evidence
c.	strenuously	in custody
d.	anti-terrorist police swooped	all the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda
e.	request his extradition	behind the atrocities in London
f.	based on	facts
g.	concrete	home made explosive devices
h.	highly	back to London
i.	the know-how to assemble the	volatile
j.	The bombs bear	on the Cairo home

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the correct spaces.

London bomb suspect held in Cairo

Egyptian police are holding in ________ a biochemist from England’s Leeds University in ________ with the London bombings. Magdy Al-Nashar, a 33-year-old PhD graduate is wanted by British police, who believe he is the bomb maker and ________ behind the atrocities in London. Dr. Al-Nashar has ________ denied having any involvement with terror organizations or the London attacks. Egypt’s ________ anti-terrorist police ________ on the Cairo home of Dr. Al-Nashar as part of a global search, which involved Interpol and the FBI. He is currently being ________ in Cairo to aid the investigation of British police, who may request his ________ back to London.		crack mastermind extradition connection interrogated custody swooped strenuously
Dr. Al-Nashar’s arrest is currently based on circumstantial ________ rather than ________ facts. He lives very near three of the London bombers and entered and left the U.K. just before and after the attacks. It is also believed he ________ the attackers the keys to his apartment, which police raided and found highly ________ and potentially dangerous chemicals. Police evacuated 600 residents before conducting a detailed search of the rented ________. It is likely Dr. Al-Nashar would have the know-how to ________ the homemade explosive ________ that were used in the attacks. The bombs ________ all the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda. They could have been made with chemicals purchased from any community drugstore.		handed devices assemble bear concrete evidence volatile premises

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘master’ and ‘mind’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT INTERPOL SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Interpol, the FBI and international policing.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

custody wanted behind swooped involved extradition

concrete handed volatile premises hallmarks drugstore

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. What was your initial reaction to this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. Are you following the events of the London bombings every day?
4. What are your thoughts on the people of London?
5. What do you think about the police investigation so far?
6. Would you travel to London or do you think it’s too dangerous?
7. Why do you think London was not attacked until four years after the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center?
8. How were young British Muslims being turned into suicide bombers?
9. How can the world learn to live together in peace?
10. Why is religion making people kill instead of making them accept each other?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. How shocking is it that the suicide bombers were British citizens?
4. Do you think the British police will totally solve this crime?
5. Do you think Al-Qaeda was behind the attacks?
6. Would you like to work in anti-terrorism?
7. Are you being more vigilant as you go about your everyday life?
8. Are you more suspicious of people now?
9. If you did a PhD, what would you like to study?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

KNOW-HOW:

Are you knowledgeable about many things? Do you have a lot of know-how?

Complete the following table according to your current and desired levels of know-how and how important you think know-how in that skill is.
1 = no ability / no desired ability / not at all important for me;
10 = very able / really want to learn / highly important.
 

SKILL	CURRENT ABILITY	DESIRED ABILITY	IMPORTANCE
Make bread
Drive a car
Speak English
Design a website
Play the piano
Make people laugh
Use a digital camera
Discuss world issues

Talk to your partner about your answers.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

London bomb suspect held in Cairo

Egyptian police are ________ __ custody a biochemist from England’s Leeds University in connection with the London bombings. Magdy Al-Nashar, a 33-year-old ___ ________ is wanted by British police, who believe he is the bomb maker and mastermind behind ___ __________ in London. Dr. Al-Nashar has strenuously denied having any involvement with terror organizations or the London attacks. Egypt’s ______ anti-terrorist police ________ on the Cairo home of Dr. Al-Nashar as part of a global search, which involved Interpol and the FBI. He is currently being interrogated in Cairo __ ____ ___ investigation of British police, who may request his ___________ back to London.

Dr. Al-Nashar’s arrest is currently based on circumstantial evidence rather than ________ ______. He lives very near three of the London bombers and entered and left the U.K. just before and after the attacks. It is also believed __ ______ the attackers the keys to his apartment, which police raided and found highly ________ and potentially dangerous chemicals. Police ________ 600 residents before conducting a detailed search of the rented ________. It is likely Dr. Al- Nashar would have the know-how to assemble the homemade explosive ________ that were used in the attacks. The bombs bear all ___ _________ __ Al-Qaeda. They could have been made with chemicals purchased from any community drugstore.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the investigation into the London bombings. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. KNOW-HOW: Make a poster on something about which you have a lot of know-how. Show your poster to your classmates in your next lesson and explain what you know.

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the head of Interpol. Explain what Interpol needs to do in the war on terror. Read your letter to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	custody	detention
b.	atrocities	barbarity
c.	strenuously	vigorously
d.	swooped	descended
e.	interrogated	questioned
f.	circumstantial	inconclusive
g.	volatile	temperamental
h.	premises	property
i.	know-how	knowledge
j.	hallmarks	telltale signs

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	police are holding	in custody
b.	mastermind	behind the atrocities in London
c.	strenuously	denied having any involvement
d.	anti-terrorist police swooped	on the Cairo home
e.	request his extradition	back to London
f.	based on	circumstantial evidence
g.	concrete	facts
h.	highly	volatile
i.	the know-how to assemble the	home made explosive devices
j.	The bombs bear	all the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda

GAP FILL:

London bomb suspect held in Cairo

Egyptian police are holding in custody a biochemist from England’s Leeds University in connection with the London bombings. Magdy Al-Nashar, a 33-year-old PhD graduate is wanted by British police, who believe he is the bomb maker and mastermind behind the atrocities in London. Dr. Al-Nashar has strenuously denied having any involvement with terror organizations or the London attacks. Egypt’s crack anti-terrorist police swooped on the Cairo home of Dr. Al-Nashar as part of a global search, which involved Interpol and the FBI. He is currently being interrogated in Cairo to aid the investigation of British police, who may request his extradition back to London.

Dr. Al-Nashar’s arrest is currently based on circumstantial evidence rather than concrete facts. He lives very near three of the London bombers and entered and left the U.K. just before and after the attacks. It is also believed he handed the attackers the keys to his apartment, which police raided and found highly volatile and potentially dangerous chemicals. Police evacuated 600 residents before conducting a detailed search of the rented premises. It is likely Dr. Al-Nashar would have the know-how to assemble the homemade explosive devices that were used in the attacks. The bombs bear all the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda. They could have been made with chemicals purchased from any community drugstore.

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