London police have shot and killed an apparent suspect in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 armed, plainclothes police officers and disobeyed orders to stop, according to petrified passengers. He was bundled to the ground by three officers and shot in the head five times at point blank range. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was pandemonium. It was like an execution, reminiscent of a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they were in pursuit of a man they believed had explosives strapped to his body. They have yet to confirm speculation about whether the man was one of the failed suicide bombers.

The killing is unprecedented for London, where ordinary police officers do not carry guns. Police have been issued with revised “shoot to kill” rules of engagement following the deadly bombings on July 7. Previously, police were under the strictest of regulations to aim for the chest when apprehending a suspect. However, a heightened state of alert and the hunt for the perpetrators of terror in London has hastened the advent of police being empowered with the option of aiming for the head. An unnamed source said: “To shoot in the chest area increases the likelihood of detonating a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An independent inquiry into the killing is now being conducted.

WARM-UPS

1. POLICE OFFICERS: You are a police officer in your country. You carry a gun. Talk to the other “police officers” in the class about your job, your gun and the occasions you have used it.

2. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think police officers should not carry guns. Students B think it is essential that police officers carry guns. Change partners often.

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

London police / “shoot to kill” / plainclothes police / guns / police powers / Hollywood action movies / states of alert / terrorist threats

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

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

5. WHO TO SHOOT: In pairs / groups, agree on which of the following people you think it is OK for police to shoot if they are resisting arrest or running away. Decide if police should also be allowed to shoot to kill these people:

1. An armed bank robber.
2. A suspected suicide bomber.
3. A drug dealer.
4. A corrupt CEO who has cheated his employees of their $11 billion pension fund.
5. An airplane hijacker.
6. English soccer hooligans.
7. A 13-year-old child with a machine gun.
8. Four kidnappers who are carrying their 3-month-old hostage.

Change partners and talk about what you discussed.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	London police have been practicing to shoot and kill criminals.	T / F
b.	London police shot a man in the head five times at close range.	T / F
c.	The scene was an action sequence in a new Hollywood movie.	T / F
d.	London police have confirmed they killed a suspected suicide bomber.	T / F
e.	London police often shoot their suspects.	T / F
f.	London police previously had orders to shoot at the legs only.	T / F
g.	New terror laws mean London police can now aim at someone’s head.	T / F
h.	The police detonated a bomb that was taped to the suspect’s body.	T / F

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

a.	apparent	chaos
b.	petrified	expedited
c.	bundled	unheard-of
d.	pandemonium	capturing
e.	reminiscent	frightened
f.	unprecedented	updated
g.	revised	under way
h.	apprehending	supposed
i.	hastened	similar
j.	being conducted	manhandled

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

a.	shot and killed	of a man
b.	bundled to the ground	blank range
c.	at point	of terror
d.	they were in pursuit	of engagement
e.	yet to	unprecedented for London
f.	The killing is	an apparent suspect
g.	rules	inquiry into the killing
h.	apprehending a	by three officers
i.	perpetrators	suspect
j.	An independent	confirm speculation

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

London police shoot to kill

London police have shot and killed an _______ suspect in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 _______, plainclothes police officers and disobeyed orders to stop, according to _______ passengers. He was bundled to the ground by three officers and shot in the head five times at point _______ range. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was pandemonium. It was like an _______, reminiscent of a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they were in _______ of a man they believed had _______ strapped to his body. They have yet to confirm speculation about whether the man was one of the _______ suicide bombers.		armed pursuit blank failed apparent explosives petrified execution
The killing is _______ for London, where ordinary police officers do not carry guns. Police have been _______ with revised “shoot to kill” _______ of engagement following the deadly bombings on July 7. Previously, police were under the _______ of regulations to aim for the chest when apprehending a suspect. However, a _______ state of alert and the hunt for the perpetrators of terror in London has _______ the advent of police being empowered with the option of aiming for the head. An unnamed source said: “To shoot in the chest area increases the _______ of detonating a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An independent _______ into the killing is now being conducted.		strictest inquiry issued likelihood heightened unprecedented hastened rules

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 “GUNS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about police and guns.

• 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:

apparent plainclothes blank reminiscent pursuit speculation

unprecedented engagement heightened empowered likelihood conducted

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. What do you think of police shooting people?
4. Do the police use guns regularly in your country?
5. Have you ever seen a police shoot-out?
6. When do you think it is OK for police to shoot to kill?
7. Do you think police should use guns on a crowded subway train?
8. Have you ever fired a gun?
9. Is there a gun problem in your country?
10. Do you think the world is becoming more like a Hollywood action movie?

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. What would you do if 20 armed police officers stormed onto your train and shot someone at point blank range?
4. What is your opinion of London’s police officers?
5. Would you try to tackle a suspect that police were chasing?
6. Is a danger of police officers being “trigger happy”?
7. Would you like to work as an anti-terrorism police officer?
8. Do you think you could shoot to kill if you were a police officer?
9. A commentator has said the war on terror will last decades. What do you think of this?
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

PUBLIC RESPONSE: Talk about the following with your partner(s).

1. What should you do in the following situations?

2. What would you do in these situations?

1. You see a man wearing a thick jacket on a subway train. There are wires visible at the bottom of his jacket. It is summer.
2. You hear an explosion in a subway station. Seconds later you see a man running towards you being chased by police.
3. You overhear a conversation on a bus between two men who say there is a bomb under the seat that will detonate in one minute. You have a mobile phone.
4. You visit a friend’s house. You notice there is an open web page on his/her computer with instructions on how to make a bomb. While your friend is in the toilet, you look into his/her bedroom. You see lots of wires and chemicals.
5. There is a backpack on an empty seat opposite you. The owner of the backpack headed in the direction of the toilet seven minutes ago.
6. You are standing next to someone with a backpack on a rush-hour train. You can hear ticking inside the backpack.
7. A policeman is fighting on the floor of your train with a terrorist. The terrorist is winning. The policeman’s gun lands at your feet.
8. You see a group of four men in a subway station. They spend a long time checking their watches. They then all shake hands and head off in different directions. They all have backpacks.

Change partners and share what you heard from your earlier partner(s). Who is the bravest?

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

London police shoot to kill

London police have shot and killed an ________ _______ in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 _____, plainclothes police officers and disobeyed orders to stop, according to __________ passengers. He was bundled to the ground by three officers and shot in the head five times at _____ ______ range. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was pandemonium. It was like an execution, reminiscent of a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they were __ ________ ___ a man they believed had explosives strapped to his body. They have yet to confirm speculation _____ ________ the man was one of the failed suicide bombers.

The killing is unprecedented for London, _____ ________ police officers do not carry guns. Police have been issued with _______ “shoot to kill” rules of engagement following the deadly bombings on July 7. Previously, police were ______ ___ strictest of regulations to aim for the chest when apprehending a suspect. However, __ ____________ state of alert and the hunt for the perpetrators of terror in London has hastened the ______ of police being empowered with the option of aiming for the head. An unnamed source said: “To shoot in the ______ _____ increases the likelihood of detonating a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An independent inquiry into the killing is now being ___________.

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 London’s Metropolitan Police. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. SHOOT TO KILL POLICY: Make some recommendations to your government on the circumstances in which it is OK for police to shoot to kill. Show your recommendations to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all think about similar things?

4. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: Imagine you were a passenger on the subway train in which police chased and shot the terror suspect. Write an account of what you saw for the independent inquiry into the shooting. Read your account to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	apparent	supposed
b.	petrified	frightened
c.	bundled	manhandled
d.	pandemonium	chaos
e.	reminiscent	similar
f.	unprecedented	unheard-of
g.	revised	updated
h.	apprehending	capturing
i.	hastened	expedited
j.	being conducted	under way

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	shot and killed	an apparent suspect
b.	bundled to the ground	by three officers
c.	at point	blank range
d.	they were in pursuit	of a man
e.	yet to	confirm speculation
f.	The killing is	unprecedented for London
g.	rules	of engagement
h.	apprehending a	suspect
i.	perpetrators	of terror
j.	An independent	inquiry into the killing

GAP FILL:

London police shoot to kill

London police have shot and killed an apparent suspect in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 armed, plainclothes police officers and disobeyed orders to stop, according to petrified passengers. He was bundled to the ground by three officers and shot in the head five times at point blank range. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was pandemonium. It was like an execution, reminiscent of a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they were in pursuit of a man they believed had explosives strapped to his body. They have yet to confirm speculation about whether the man was one of the failed suicide bombers.

The killing is unprecedented for London, where ordinary police officers do not carry guns. Police have been issued with revised “shoot to kill” rules of engagement following the deadly bombings on July 7. Previously, police were under the strictest of regulations to aim for the chest when apprehending a suspect. However, a heightened state of alert and the hunt for the perpetrators of terror in London has hastened the advent of police being empowered with the option of aiming for the head. An unnamed source said: “To shoot in the chest area increases the likelihood of detonating a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An independent inquiry into the killing is now being conducted.

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