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Date: Jun 28, 2007
THE ARTICLENew threats to kill BBC journalistThe militant group holding the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has renewed its threats to execute the British journalist, who has been held captive in Gaza since March 12. The group, Army of Islam, made the threat after they blamed rival faction Hamas for kidnapping two members of its gang. A spokesman said Hamas’ abduction amounted to a declaration of war. Hamas has confirmed that it arrested two men with links to Army of Islam. A brief statement from Army of Islam seems to link the detention of its members with the renewed threat to Johnston's life – Hamas leaders have been active in seeking the safe release of Mr Johnston. This latest communication also contained a demand for Britain to free radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who Britain describes as an “inspiration” for the terrorists behind the September 11 attacks. The Army of Islam posted a video of Mr Johnston wearing what looks like a vest packed with explosives. The group said they would detonate it and kill the reporter if any group tried to release him by force. In the video, the journalist said: "I do appeal to the Hamas movement and the British government not to resort to the tactics of force in an effort to end this." He warned that his captors would turn their hideout into a "death zone" if any rescue attempt were made. His release had seemed imminent after Hamas seized control of the whole of Gaza but events have since taken a turn for the worse. Johnston, 45, joined the BBC in 1991. He reported in a video released at the beginning of June he was being treated well and was in good health. News agencies around the world are holding daily vigils, hoping for his safe return. WARM-UPS1. THE BBC: Walk around the class and find out from other students what they know about the BBC. Is it better than CNN? Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. JOURNALISM: In pairs / groups, discuss which of the areas in the table you would like to report on. What are the good and bad things about each of them? Rank them in order of which you’d most like to cover.
4. I’M A JOURNALIST: Your partner will decide what kind of journalist you are. You are an internationally famous reporter in that area. Walk around the class and talk to the other “journalists” about life as a journalist. 5. KIDNAPPED: Talk with your partner(s) about what you think it’s like to be kidnapped. Use these words to guide your conversation. Change partners and share what you said and heard.
6. GAZA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Gaza. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 7. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think journalists should stop reporting in Gaza because it’s too dangerous. Students B think it’s important to have journalists in Gaza. Change partners often. Share your findings. 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 into the gaps in the text. New threats to kill BBC journalist
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. New threats to kill BBC journalistThe militant group holding the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has ____________________________ the British journalist, who has been held captive in Gaza since March 12. The group, Army of Islam, made the threat ____________________________ Hamas for kidnapping two members of its gang. A spokesman said Hamas’ abduction ___________________________ war. Hamas has confirmed that it arrested two men with links to Army of Islam. A brief statement from Army of Islam ________________________ of its members with the renewed threat to Johnston's life – Hamas leaders have been active in seeking the safe release of Mr Johnston. This latest communication ____________________________ Britain to free radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who Britain describes as an “inspiration” for ____________________________ September 11 attacks. The Army of Islam posted a video of Mr Johnston ______________________ vest packed with explosives. The group said they would detonate it and kill the reporter if any group ________________________ force. In the video, the journalist said: "I do appeal to the Hamas movement and the British government ____________________________ force in an effort to end this." He warned that his captors would turn their hideout into a "death zone" if ____________________________. His release had seemed imminent after Hamas seized control of the whole of Gaza but events have since taken a turn for the worse. Johnston, 45, joined the BBC in 1991. He reported in a video released at the beginning of June ____________________________ and was in good health. News agencies around the world are holding daily vigils, hoping for his safe return. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘brief’ and ‘statement’.
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. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
STUDENT KIDNAPPING SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about KIDNAPPING in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
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.
LANGUAGECORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article. New threats to kill BBC journalistThe militant group (1) ____ the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has renewed its (2) ____ to execute the British journalist, who has been held captive in Gaza since March 12. The group, Army of Islam, (3) ____ the threat after they blamed rival faction Hamas for kidnapping two members of its gang. A spokesman said Hamas’ abduction (4) ____ to a declaration of war. Hamas has confirmed that it arrested two men with links to Army of Islam. A brief statement from Army of Islam seems to link the detention of its members with the renewed threat to Johnston's life – Hamas leaders have been active in (5) ____ the safe release of Mr Johnston. This latest communication also contained a demand for Britain to free radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who Britain describes as an “inspiration” for the terrorists (6) ____ the September 11 attacks. The Army of Islam (7) ____ a video of Mr Johnston wearing what looks like a vest packed with explosives. The group said they would detonate (8) ____ and kill the reporter if any group tried to release him by force. In the video, the journalist said: "I (9) ____ appeal to the Hamas movement and the British government not to resort to the tactics of force in an effort to end (10) ____." He warned that his captors would turn their hideout into a "death zone" if any rescue attempt were made. His release had seemed imminent after Hamas (11) ____ control of the whole of Gaza but events have since taken a turn for the worse. Johnston, 45, joined the BBC in 1991. He reported in a video released at the beginning of June he was being treated well and was (12) ____ good health. News agencies around the world are holding daily vigils, hoping for his safe return.
WRITING:Write about journalism for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 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 more information about Alan Johnston’s kidnapping. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. GAZA: Make a poster on relations between the different factions operating in Gaza. Show your posters to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things? 4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about the effects of being kidnapped. Describe what someone might do in captivity. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why? 5. LETTER: Write a letter to Alan Johnston’s kidnappers. Ask them questions about the kidnapping. Give three suggestions about what they can do to release him. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: New threats to kill BBC journalistThe militant group holding the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has renewed its threats to execute the British journalist, who has been held captive in Gaza since March 12. The group, Army of Islam, made the threat after they blamed rival faction Hamas for kidnapping two members of its gang. A spokesman said Hamas’ abduction amounted to a declaration of war. Hamas has confirmed that it arrested two men with links to Army of Islam. A brief statement from Army of Islam seems to link the detention of its members with the renewed threat to Johnston's life – Hamas leaders have been active in seeking the safe release of Mr Johnston. This latest communication also contained a demand for Britain to free radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who Britain describes as an “inspiration” for the terrorists behind the September 11 attacks. The Army of Islam posted a video of Mr Johnston wearing what looks like a vest packed with explosives. The group said they would detonate it and kill the reporter if any group tried to release him by force. In the video, the journalist said: "I do appeal to the Hamas movement and the British government not to resort to the tactics of force in an effort to end this." He warned that his captors would turn their hideout into a "death zone" if any rescue attempt were made. His release had seemed imminent after Hamas seized control of the whole of Gaza but events have since taken a turn for the worse. Johnston, 45, joined the BBC in 1991. He reported in a video released at the beginning of June that he was being treated well and was in good health. News agencies around the world are holding daily vigils, hoping for his safe return. LANGUAGE WORK
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