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Denmark recalls diplomats over cartoonsDate: Feb 13, 2006Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (1:52 - 219.1 KB - 16kbps)
THE ARTICLEIn spite of reassurances from Jakarta, the Danish government has withdrawn its ambassador and aides to Indonesia citing security reasons. This comes amid “credible and concrete threats” of reprisals against Danish nationals in the wake of an outpouring of protest against the controversial publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he was at pains to understand the withdrawal, which he termed as “hasty”, especially given the increased level of protection afforded Denmark’s diplomatic staff. The Danish government reported it would return to Jakarta once political sensitivities had quelled. A spokesman refused to be drawn on the issue of a government apology over the cartoons. The cartoons, which were first published and caused offence back in September, have triggered angry protests in cities around the globe and have caused great offence to many Muslims. It has indeed further embroiled the Muslim and Christian worlds into yet another battle of ideologies. On the one hand, the Danish cartoonists maintain anything is “fair game” in satire, while Muslims see the caricatures of the Prophet with a time bomb above his head as profane and insulting to the entire Islamic world. The usual suspects have taken the usual sides in the ensuing debate, with Britain’s Tony Blair and President George W. Bush calling the publications unfortunate but going no further. Now would seem an appropriate time to recognize that a whole religion has been affronted and that the Western concept of free speech may need boundaries. WARM-UPS1. ANGRY: Talk about the times in the past week or two where you have become angry. What happened? How angry did you get? What were the reasons? What were the reactions? Were there any resolutions? 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 3. FREE SPEECH: For which of these subjects do you think there should be rules regarding free speech? Is it OK for anyone to say anything about these subjects??
4. OPINIONS: Do you agree with these opinions on the Danish cartoons?
5. OFFENCE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “offence”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text. Denmark recalls diplomats over cartoons
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. Denmark recalls diplomats over cartoonsIn spite of ____________ from Jakarta, the Danish government has withdrawn its ambassador and aides to Indonesia citing security reasons. This comes amid “________ and concrete threats” of reprisals against Danish nationals in the wake of an ___________ of protest against the controversial publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he was at _______ to understand the withdrawal, which he termed as “hasty”, especially given the increased level of protection __________ Denmark’s diplomatic staff. The Danish government reported it would return to Jakarta once political sensitivities had __________. A spokesman refused to be drawn on the issue of a government apology over the cartoons. The cartoons, which were first published and caused __________ back in September, have triggered angry protests in cities around the globe and have caused great offence to many Muslims. It has indeed further __________ the Muslim and Christian worlds into yet another battle of __________. On the one hand, the Danish cartoonists maintain anything is “fair game” in satire, while Muslims see the __________ of the Prophet with a time bomb above his head as profane and insulting to the entire Islamic world. The usual suspects have taken the usual sides in the __________ debate, with Britain’s Tony Blair and President George W. Bush calling the publications unfortunate but going no further. Now would seem an appropriate time to __________ that a whole religion has been affronted and that the Western concept of free speech may need __________. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘concrete’ and ‘threat’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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 “CARTOONS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about the cartoons.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
SPEAKINGINSULTS: In pairs / groups, talk about how you would react if someone insulted the things in the table. Is this different from how you think you should react?
Change partners / groups. Tell each other what your previous partner(s) said. HOMEWORK1. 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 information about this story. Look at views from both the Muslim press and non-Muslim press. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things? 3. FREE SPEECH: Write the new United Nations Convention on Free Speech. Include in it what can be the subject of satire, humor, criticism etc and what cannot. Show your convention to your partner(s) in your next class. Did you all write about similar things? 4. LETTER: Write a letter from the Danish government addressed to all Muslims. Explain in it why your government can or cannot issue an apology over the publication of the cartoons. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone write about similar things? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Denmark recalls diplomats over cartoonsIn spite of reassurances from Jakarta, the Danish government has withdrawn its ambassador and aides to Indonesia citing security reasons. This comes amid “credible and concrete threats” of reprisals against Danish nationals in the wake of an outpouring of protest against the controversial publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he was at pains to understand the withdrawal, which he termed as “hasty”, especially given the increased level of protection afforded Denmark’s diplomatic staff. The Danish government reported it would return to Jakarta once political sensitivities had quelled. A spokesman refused to be drawn on the issue of a government apology over the cartoons. The cartoons, which were first published and caused offence back in September, have triggered angry protests in cities around the globe and have caused great offence to many Muslims. It has indeed further embroiled the Muslim and Christian worlds into yet another battle of ideologies. On the one hand, the Danish cartoonists maintain anything is “fair game” in satire, while Muslims see the caricatures of the Prophet with a time bomb above his head as profane and insulting to the entire Islamic world. The usual suspects have taken the usual sides in the ensuing debate, with Britain’s Tony Blair and President George W. Bush calling the publications unfortunate but going no further. Now would seem an appropriate time to recognize that a whole religion has been affronted and that the Western concept of free speech may need boundaries.
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