North Korea shocked its neighbors on July 5^th when it fired seven test missiles. One of the missiles was powerful enough to reach the USA. Most countries around the world are angry at the sudden testing. International leaders believe North Korea is a danger to world peace and that testing missiles makes the world more dangerous. The White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters: "The North Koreans have again clearly isolated themselves." Japan is very worried. A government spokesman Shinzo Abe had strong words for Pyongyang. He said: "This is a [serious] problem in terms of peace and stability - not only for Japan but also for international society."

Pyongyang launched the missiles in the early hours of Wednesday morning and continued until the evening. The tests are the first made by North Korea since 1998, when it fired a missile over the Japanese island of Honshu. North Korean missiles can easily reach Japan within seven minutes from leaving their launch pads. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and his colleagues quickly met for high-level talks. They immediately decided to ban all North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports. Japan may also take further action to try and stop the launch of other missiles. Mr. Koizumi told reporters that it was possible North Korea would fire more missiles over the next few days.

WARM-UPS

1. NORTH KOREA SEARCH: Walk around the class and talk to as many students as you can about North Korea. Sit with a partner and share your findings. Change partners to share more.

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

Neighbors / missiles / anger / White House / being worried / strong words / peace / Wednesday morning / islands/ high-level talks / bans / ships / the next few days

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

3. NUCLEAR WEAPONS: With your partner(s), decide which of these countries should have nuclear weapons. Put them in order of who you trust most. Change partners and compare your answers.

____ The USA ____ China ____ Pakistan ____ France

____ Russia ____ Iran ____ North Korea ____ Great Britain

4. DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS: Write down the names of three countries you think are dangerous neighbors. Talk about them with your partner(s). Change partners and find out which countries would be the most dangerous neighbors.

5. MISSILE TESTING: Which of these ideas do you agree with? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. N. Korea has a right to have missiles for self defense.
2. Other countries have missiles. There’s nothing wrong with N. Korea’s testing.
3. North Korea cannot be trusted to have missiles.
4. North Korea is a peaceful country, which has never attacked its neighbors.
5. N. Korea needs weapons because of America’s aggressive attitude.
6. The North Korean economy needs the weapons industry.
7. North Korea just wants world attention and come in from the cold.
8. North Korea should be attacked and have its weapons destroyed.

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	North Korea launched seven missiles that could reach the USA.	T / F
b.	Most countries around the world paid no attention to the testing.	T / F
c.	The White House press secretary isolated himself from North Korea.	T / F
d.	Japan’s leader said the testing did not worry him.	T / F
e.	North Korea has tested missiles regularly over the past ten years.	T / F
f.	A North Korean missile hit the Japanese mainland in 1998.	T / F
g.	The Japanese government met for urgent talks.	T / F
h.	The Japanese prime minister said more missiles could be fired.	T / F

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

a.	shocked	co-workers
b.	powerful	journalists
c.	reporters	fired
d.	isolated	strong
e.	in terms of	inside
f.	launched	prevent
g.	within	concerning
h.	colleagues	stop
i.	ban	surprised
j.	stop	cut off

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

a.	powerful enough	of Wednesday morning
b.	testing missiles makes	but also for international society
c.	spokesman Shinzo Abe had strong	and his colleagues
d.	a serious problem in	words for Pyongyang
e.	not only for Japan	ban all North Korean ships
f.	in the early hours	terms of peace and stability
g.	reach Japan within seven minutes	the world more dangerous
h.	Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi	to reach the USA
i.	They immediately decided to	action
j.	take further	from leaving their launch pads

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

North Korea tests seven missiles

North Korea shocked its _______ on July 5th when it fired seven test missiles. One of the missiles was _______ enough to reach the USA. Most countries around the world are angry at the _______ testing. International leaders believe North Korea is a _______ to world peace and that testing missiles makes the world more dangerous. The White House _______ secretary Tony Snow told reporters: "The North Koreans have again clearly _______ themselves." Japan is very worried. A government spokesman Shinzo Abe had _______ words for Pyongyang. He said: "This is a [serious] problem in terms of peace and _______ - not only for Japan but also for international society."		stability sudden press neighbors strong powerful danger isolated
Pyongyang launched the missiles in the _______ hours of Wednesday morning and continued until the evening. The tests are the first _______ by North Korea since 1998, when it fired a missile over the Japanese island of Honshu. North Korean missiles can easily _______ Japan within seven minutes from leaving their _______ pads. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and his colleagues quickly met for high-_______ talks. They immediately decided to _______ all North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports. Japan may also take _______ action to try and stop the launch of other missiles. Mr. Koizumi told reporters that it was possible North Korea would fire more missiles _______ the next few days.		ban over made level reach early further launch

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

North Korea tests seven missiles

North Korea ________ its neighbors on July 5^th when it fired seven test missiles. One of the missiles was powerful enough to ________ the USA. Most countries around the world are angry at the sudden testing. International leaders ________ North Korea is a danger to world peace and that testing missiles ________ the world more dangerous. The White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters: "The North Koreans have again ________ isolated themselves." Japan is very worried. A government spokesman Shinzo Abe had ________ words for Pyongyang. He said: "This is a [serious] problem in ________ of peace and stability - not only for Japan but also for international society."

Pyongyang launched the missiles in the early ________ of Wednesday morning and continued ________ the evening. The tests are the first made by North Korea since 1998, when it fired a missile over the Japanese island of Honshu. North Korean missiles can ________ reach Japan within seven minutes from leaving their ________ pads. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and his colleagues quickly met for high-level talks. They immediately decided to ________ all North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports. Japan may also take further action to try and stop the launch of ________ missiles. Mr. Koizumi told reporters that it was possible North Korea would fire more missiles ________ the next few days.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 “MISSILES” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about missiles and the North Korean testing.

• 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:

shocked sudden clearly danger isolated terms

early 1998 seven minutes talks further few

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 do you think of the testing?
3. Do you think North Korea has the right to test missiles?
4. Do you think missiles fired from N. Korea could reach the USA?
5. What are relations like with your country’s neighbors?
6. Would you support an invasion of N. Korea to destroy its missiles?
7. What do you think will happen on the Korean peninsular?
8. Should N. Korea be allowed to sell its weapons technology?
9. What question would you like to ask N. Korea’s leader?
10. How do you think he would answer that question?

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 countries that have nuclear weapons can be angry with North Korea?
4. What are the dangers of North Korea having missiles?
5. Do you think the UN should be stricter with North Korea than it is with Iran?
6. Should China be stronger and tell North Korea to stop testing?
7. What do you think are the aims of North Korea’s leadership?
8. Will there always be “problem” states like North Korea?
9. How would you feel if your neighboring country test-fired missiles?
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

MISSILE-TESTING ROLE PLAY: Role play the following people. Have a discussion about the North Korean missile tests. Team up with classmates who have the same role as you. Develop your roles and discuss ideas before the role play begins.

Role A (North Korea’s leader) You are tired at being told what to do by America and Japan. The USA and many countries have missiles so there is no problem with N. Korea having them. They are important to stop America from attacking your country. You don’t want N. Korea to be another Iraq.

Role B (George W. Bush) You believe North Korea is a dangerous country. You think its leader is a monster who cares more about weapon than feeding the millions of hungry North Koreans. It is your mission to bring freedom and democracy to N. Korea. You will use force if you have to.

Role C (Average North Korean person) You are tired with North Korea shown on the news as a dangerous state. You are also tired of other countries trying to control N. Korea. You believe the N. Korean people are hardworking and just want to be left alone. Your leader knows what he is doing. N. Korea must be strong.

Role D (Average Japanese person) You are very worried at the missile testing. There were many Japanese ships in the area the missiles landed. You believe your neighbor wants to attack you. You do not want a repeat of the nuclear attacks that ended WWII. You strongly believe all of the world’s nuclear weapons should be destroyed – including America’s.

Change roles and repeat the role play. Comment in groups about the differences between the two role plays.

After the role play, talk about whether you believed what you were saying in your roles.

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 information about the North Korean missiles issue. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s).

3. NUCLEAR COUNTRIES: Make a poster showing which countries in the world have nuclear weapons and which are trying to get them. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Which poster(s) did you like most and why?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Tell him what you think of the latest testing and advise him on what to do in the future. Show your letter to your classmates in the next lesson. Your classmates will write a reply.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	shocked	surprised
b.	powerful	strong
c.	reporters	journalists
d.	isolated	cut off
e.	in terms of	concerning
f.	launched	fired
g.	within	inside
h.	colleagues	co-workers
i.	ban	stop
j.	stop	prevent

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	powerful enough	to reach the USA
b.	testing missiles makes	the world more dangerous
c.	spokesman Shinzo Abe had strong	words for Pyongyang
d.	a serious problem in	terms of peace and stability
e.	not only for Japan	but also for international society
f.	in the early hours	of Wednesday morning
g.	reach Japan within seven minutes	from leaving their launch pads
h.	Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi	and his colleagues
i.	They immediately decided to	ban all North Korean ships
j.	take further	action

GAP FILL:

North Korea tests seven missiles

North Korea shocked its neighbors on July 5^th when it fired seven test missiles. One of the missiles was powerful enough to reach the USA. Most countries around the world are angry at the sudden testing. International leaders believe North Korea is a danger to world peace and that testing missiles makes the world more dangerous. The White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters: "The North Koreans have again clearly isolated themselves." Japan is very worried. A government spokesman Shinzo Abe had strong words for Pyongyang. He said: "This is a [serious] problem in terms of peace and stability - not only for Japan but also for international society."

Pyongyang launched the missiles in the early hours of Wednesday morning and continued until the evening. The tests are the first made by North Korea since 1998, when it fired a missile over the Japanese island of Honshu. North Korean missiles can easily reach Japan within seven minutes from leaving their launch pads. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and his colleagues quickly met for high-level talks. They immediately decided to ban all North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports. Japan may also take further action to try and stop the launch of other missiles. Mr. Koizumi told reporters that it was possible North Korea would fire more missiles over the next few days.

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