Osama bin Laden has sent his first taped message to the United States in over a year. The recording ends rumors that the world’s most wanted man had died. The White House says it will not raise security levels because of the new tape, even though bin Laden says al-Qaeda is planning more attacks. Anti-terror agents said they have no intelligence from communications networks to suggest an attack is coming. The tape also contained an offer of a long-term truce with America. US Vice President Dick Cheney firmly rejected this, saying: “We don't negotiate with terrorists. I think you have to destroy them.”

Bin Laden sent the audiotape to the Qatari television network al-Jazeera. The fact that it was just his voice and not video suggests that the fugitive is seriously ill. CIA agents tested the recording and confirmed that it was bin Laden’s voice. The tape comes just days after a US missile attack killed four senior al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Security officials are guessing Bin Laden’s call for a truce is because of the killings. Bin Laden said: “We do not mind offering you a truce that is fair and long-term…so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan…there is no shame in this solution…It prevents wasting billions of dollars.”

WARM-UPS

1. WAR ON TERROR: In pairs / groups, talk about the war on terror. Talk about your earliest recollections of it. Talk about the rights and wrongs of it. Where do you think it will go from here? What have the biggest headlines been? Where were you and what were you doing when these headlines were made?

2. MY COUNTRY: Talk with your partner(s) about your country and its position on the war on terror. Do you agree with your government’s policy on Iraq and Afghanistan? What do you want your government to do in the future?

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

Recorded messages / rumors / security levels / Western targets / intelligence / truces / negotiating / fugitives / missile attacks / guessing / Iraq / Afghanistan

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

4. BIN LADEN HEADLINES: Talk about the following future “headlines” with your partner(s). Do you think they could come true? Would you like them to come true? How would the world change if these headlines came true?

1. Osama bin Laden surrenders to the US Army.
2. Bush and bin Laden awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
3. George W. Bush invites Osama bin Laden to his ranch for truce talks.
4. Osama bin Laden dies.
5. Pakistan captures bin Laden.
6. Bin Laden to stand trial at the International Criminal Court.
7. Bin Laden becomes new Afghan president.
8. George W. Bush declares war on terror over.

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

6. SENTENCE STARTERS: In pairs / groups, agree on endings to the following sentence starters. Change partners and talk about your sentences.

1. Osama bin Laden is ________________________________________________.
2. Osama bin Laden should ____________________________________________.
3. Osama bin Laden promotes __________________________________________.
4. Osama bin Laden did _______________________________________________.
5. Osama bin Laden must _____________________________________________.
6. Osama bin Laden can’t _____________________________________________.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Osama bin Laden has visited the White House for talks with Mr. Bush.	T / F
b.	Washington is raising security levels over a bin Laden message.	T / F
c.	The CIA says it has intelligence that an attack will come soon.	T / F
d.	Dick Cheney said America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.	T / F
e.	Bin Laden looked as fit as a fiddle in a video message sent to the US.	T / F
f.	CIA agents doubt whether the voice on the tape is bin Laden’s.	T / F
g.	Bin Laden has offered a truce that he says is fair and long term.	T / F
h.	Bin Laden said calling a truce would save billions of dollars.	T / F

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

a.	rumors	stops
b.	raise	information
c.	intelligence	kill
d.	negotiate with	outlaw
e.	destroy	speculation
f.	just	ceasefire
g.	fugitive	only
h.	guessing	increase
i.	truce	reckoning
j.	prevents	talk to

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

a.	his first taped message to the US	with America
b.	Anti-terror agents said they	billions of dollars
c.	an offer of a long-term truce	with terrorists
d.	Dick Cheney firmly	in this solution
e.	We don't negotiate	have no intelligence
f.	it was just his voice	rejected this
g.	…confirmed that it was	because of the killings
h.	Bin Laden’s call for a truce is	in over a year
i.	…there is no shame	bin Laden’s voice
j.	It prevents wasting	and not video

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Osama bin Laden calls for a truce

Osama bin Laden has sent his first ________ message to the United States in over a year. The recording ends ________ that the world’s most wanted man had died. The White House says it will not ________ security levels because of the new tape, even ________ bin Laden says al-Qaeda is planning more attacks. Anti-terror agents said they have no intelligence from communications networks to ________ an attack is coming. The tape also ________ an offer of a long-term truce with America. US Vice President Dick Cheney ________ rejected this, saying: “We don't negotiate with terrorists. I think you have to ________ them.”		contained rumors though taped destroy suggest raise firmly
Bin Laden sent the audiotape to the Qatari television ________ al-Jazeera. The fact that it was just his voice and not video suggests that the ________ is seriously ill. CIA agents tested the recording and confirmed that it was bin Laden’s voice. The tape ________ just days after a US missile attack killed four ________ al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Security officials are ________ Bin Laden’s call for a truce is because of the killings. Bin Laden said: “We do not ________ offering you a truce that is ________ and long-term…so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan…there is no ________ in this solution…It prevents wasting billions of dollars.”		guessing fugitive shame network fair senior comes mind

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Osama bin Laden calls for a truce

Osama bin Laden has sent his first ______ message to the United States in over a year. The recording ends ______ that the world’s most wanted man had died. The White House says it will not raise security levels because of the new tape, even ______ bin Laden says al-Qaeda is planning more attacks. Anti-terror agents said they have no intelligence from communications networks to ______ an attack is coming. The tape also contained an offer of a long-term ______ with America. US Vice President Dick Cheney ______ rejected this, saying: “We don't negotiate with terrorists. I think you have to ______ them.”

Bin Laden sent the audiotape to the Qatari television network al-Jazeera. The fact that it was ______ his voice and not video suggests that the fugitive is seriously ill. CIA agents ______ the recording and confirmed that it was bin Laden’s voice. The tape comes ______ days after a US missile attack killed four ______ al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Security officials are guessing Bin Laden’s call for a truce is because of the killings. Bin Laden said: “We do not ______ offering you a truce that is fair and long-term…so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan…there is no ______ in this solution…It prevents wasting billions of dollars.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 activity. 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 “OSAMA BIN LADEN” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Osama bin Laden and the war on terror.

• 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:

taped rumors planning networks truce negotiate

voice seriously missile killings fair solution

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What adjectives describe your feelings towards Osama bin Laden?
3. What do you think he has been doing in the past year?
4. Do you think he will ever be caught?
5. Where do you think trial should be if he is caught?
6. What do you think of his offer of a truce?
7. What would you say to Osama bin Laden if you met him?
8. Do you think the US is right to reject bin Laden’s offer of a truce?
9. How much support or power do you think bin Laden has around the world?
10. How do you think bin Laden would like to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Do you think bin Laden is planning more attacks on Western targets?
4. Do you think the war on terror is being won?
5. Why do you think Osama bin Laden waited a year before sending a message to the US?
6. Do you think you can and should negotiate with terrorists?
7. If bin Laden is serious about a truce, should the US negotiate with him?
8. Do you think worldwide support for al-Qaeda is decreasing?
9. Do you think bin Laden’s call to stop wasting billions of dollars is a message to the American people?
10. Did you like this discussion?

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

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

THOUGHTS: Your job is to guess what Osama bin Laden is thinking. You have to submit a report to the chief intelligence officer of your country. In pairs / groups, agree on what you think Osama’s thoughts are about the things in the left hand column. Write down any possible evidence for these thoughts in the right hand column.

	THOUGHTS	POSSIBLE EVIDENCE
George W. Bush
Iraq
The war on terror
Pervez Musharraf
Islam

Change partners and talk about your thoughts and evidence. Give each other feedback.

Return to your original partners and discuss the feedback you received from your earlier partners.

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 Osama bin Laden. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. SOLUTION: Write an essay describing what you think the solution is to the war on terror. Read your essay to your partner(s) in your next class. Did you all write about similar things?

4. A DAY IN THE LIFE: You are Osama bin Laden. Write an account of one day in your life. What are your thoughts on what is happening in the world today? Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone have similar days and thoughts?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	rumors	speculation
b.	raise	increase
c.	intelligence	information
d.	negotiate with	talk to
e.	destroy	kill
f.	just	only
g.	fugitive	outlaw
h.	guessing	reckoning
i.	truce	ceasefire
j.	prevents	stops

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	his first taped message to the US	in over a year
b.	Anti-terror agents said they	have no intelligence
c.	an offer of a long-term truce	with America
d.	Dick Cheney firmly	rejected this
e.	We don't negotiate	with terrorists
f.	it was just his voice	and not video
g.	…confirmed that it was	bin Laden’s voice
h.	Bin Laden’s call for a truce is	because of the killings
i.	…there is no shame	in this solution
j.	It prevents wasting	billions of dollars

GAP FILL:

Osama bin Laden calls for a truce

Osama bin Laden has sent his first taped message to the United States in over a year. The recording ends rumors that the world’s most wanted man had died. The White House says it will not raise security levels because of the new tape, even though bin Laden says al-Qaeda is planning more attacks. Anti-terror agents said they have no intelligence from communications networks to suggest an attack is coming. The tape also contained an offer of a long-term truce with America. US Vice President Dick Cheney firmly rejected this, saying: “We don't negotiate with terrorists. I think you have to destroy them.”

Bin Laden sent the audiotape to the Qatari television network al-Jazeera. The fact that it was just his voice and not video suggests that the fugitive is seriously ill. CIA agents tested the recording and confirmed that it was bin Laden’s voice. The tape comes just days after a US missile attack killed four senior al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Security officials are guessing Bin Laden’s call for a truce is because of the killings. Bin Laden said: “We do not mind offering you a truce that is fair and long-term…so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan…there is no shame in this solution…It prevents wasting billions of dollars.”