Breaking News English

WARM-UPS

1. FOOTBALL: Walk around the class and talk to other students about football. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

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

football teams / tournaments / ambush / serious injuries / government decisions / accusing people / dangers of travelling / fighting / terrorism / security / independence

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. TRAVEL DANGERS: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and talk about what you wrote. Change again and share what you heard.

Travel…	Danger(s)	How to reduce it (them)
by air
in the jungle
alone
on a shoestring
in Afghanistan
in the USA

4. TOURNAMENT: Students A strongly believe the African Cup of Nations should have been cancelled to respect the dead; Students B strongly believe the tournament should go ahead.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. TRANSPORT: Which of these are most dangerous? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner – most dangerous at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

a 50-year-old airplane a bus in rebel areas roller skates on city roads a canoe on the Amazon

a snowmobile in Antarctica an F1 car the Space Shuttle an elephant

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Togo will not be taking part in the African Cup of Nations.	T / F
b.	One of the players from Togo’s team died in a deadly ambush.	T / F
c.	Rebels attacked the Togo team bus with clubs and knives.	T / F
d.	Togo players wanted to play in the Cup in memory of their coach.	T / F
e.	Togo has said host nation Angola failed to protect its football team.	T / F
f.	Angola told all competing teams to travel by road.	T / F
g.	Angola’s government blamed the bus ambush on terrorists.	T / F
h.	African football’s chief has promised an increase in security measures.	T / F

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

1.	following	a.	surprise
2	deadly	b.	badly
3.	took place	c.	occurrence
4.	seriously	d.	blamed
5.	abide by	e.	fatal
6.	accused	f.	happened
7.	criticisms	g.	promised
8.	astonishment	h.	follow
9.	incident	i.	after
10.	guaranteed	j.	attacks

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	the deadly ambush	a.	with bullets
2	took place in the	b.	independence
3.	Rebels sprayed the bus	c.	decision
4.	play in honour of	d.	protect the players
5.	we will abide by the	e.	north of Angola
6.	failing to	f.	their astonishment
7.	warned of	g.	of terrorism
8.	They expressed	h.	of their bus
9.	an act	i.	the dangers
10.	fighting for	j.	their assistant coach

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

The Togo football team is to ____________ the African Cup of Nations tournament following the ____________ ambush of their bus on January the 8th. The attack on the Togo team took place in the north of Angola. The team’s assistant coach, their press officer and the bus driver were ____________ in the ambush. Many players and team officials were injured, some seriously. Rebels sprayed the bus with ____________ for 20 minutes. The Togo government has ____________ the team to leave Angola. Many players wanted to ____________ and play in honour of their assistant coach. However, captain Emmanuel Adebayor of English Premier League ____________ Manchester City said: "We are children of Togo and we will abide by the ____________ of our government.”		stay killed quit ordered decision deadly side bullets
Togo has accused Angola, the ____________ nation of the competition, of failing to ____________ the players. The Togolese government has asked Angola to explain why it was not ____________ of the dangers of travelling in northern Angola. Angolan officials have ____________ Togo’s criticisms. They said all teams were advised to travel only by air. They ____________ their astonishment that Togo’s team travelled by road from their base in the Republic of Congo. The Angolan government called the ____________ an "act of terrorism". They blamed the attack on militants who are ____________ for independence. Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou has guaranteed ____________ security for the competition, which started on January the 10th.		rejected greater protect expressed host fighting warned incident

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The Togo football team ________________ African Cup of Nations tournament following the deadly ambush of their bus on January the 8th. The attack on the Togo team __________________ of Angola. The team’s assistant coach, their press officer and the bus driver were killed in the ambush. Many players and team officials were ___________________. Rebels ________________ with bullets for 20 minutes. The Togo government has ordered the team to leave Angola. Many players wanted to stay and __________________ their assistant coach. However, captain Emmanuel Adebayor of English Premier League side Manchester City said: "We are children of Togo and we will __________________ of our government.”

Togo has accused Angola, the __________________ competition, of failing to protect the players. The Togolese government has asked Angola to explain why it was ________________ dangers of travelling in northern Angola. Angolan officials have rejected Togo’s criticisms. They said all teams were __________________ by air. They expressed their astonishment that Togo’s team travelled by road from their base in the Republic of Congo. The Angolan government called the incident an "________________". They blamed the __________________ who are fighting for independence. Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou has ____________________ for the competition, which started on January the 10th.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

fatal

shooting

• 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. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

quit north assistant sprayed ordered decision

host warned rejected base blamed greater

STUDENT FOOTBALL SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about football 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘football’?
c)	What did you think when you first heard about this news?
d)	Do you think it’s right that Togo quit the tournament?
e)	Do you think the whole tournament should be called off?
f)	Does this attack mean anything for the FIFA World Cup to be held in neighbouring South Africa this summer?
g)	Why do you think rebels attacked a football team?
h)	What do you know about the African Cup of Nations?
i)	What advice would you give to Togo’s players to get over this horror?
j)	Would you have played in the tournament if you were a Togo player?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think Angola was at fault for the shooting?
c)	Do you think the tournament should be held in a safer country?
d)	What should African football do to remember those who died?
e)	Why do you think the Togo team ignored the Angolan government’s advice?
f)	Do you think people who fight for it should get independence?
g)	What three adjectives would you use to describe this incident?
h)	What will happen now between the Angolan and Togolese governments?
i)	Do you think there can ever be enough security at these events?
j)	What questions would you like to ask African Football president Issa Hayatou?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The Togo football team is to quit the African Cup of Nations tournament (1) ____ the deadly ambush of their bus on January the 8th. The attack on the Togo team (2) ____ place in the north of Angola. The team’s assistant coach, their press officer and the bus driver were killed in the ambush. Many players and team officials were injured, some (3) ____. Rebels (4) ____ the bus with bullets for 20 minutes. The Togo government has ordered the team to leave Angola. Many players wanted to stay and play in honour of their (5) ____ coach. However, captain Emmanuel Adebayor of English Premier League side Manchester City said: "We are children of Togo and we will abide (6) ____ the decision of our government.”

Togo has accused Angola, the host nation of the competition, of failing (7) ____ protect the players. The Togolese government has asked Angola to explain why it was not warned (8) ____ the dangers of travelling in northern Angola. Angolan officials have rejected Togo’s criticisms. They said all teams were (9) ____ to travel only by air. They (10) ____ their astonishment that Togo’s team travelled by road from their base in the Republic of Congo. The Angolan government called the incident an "act of terrorism". They blamed the attack (11) ____ militants who are fighting for independence. Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou has guaranteed greater (12) ____ for the competition, which started on January the 10th.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	following	(b)	follows	(c)	followers	(d)	followed
2.	(a)	takes	(b)	took	(c)	taken	(d)	taking
3.	(a)	serious	(b)	seriousness	(c)	seriously	(d)	series
4.	(a)	fired	(b)	washed	(c)	painted	(d)	sprayed
5.	(a)	assisted	(b)	assist	(c)	assists	(d)	assistant
6.	(a)	on	(b)	for	(c)	by	(d)	from
7.	(a)	to	(b)	at	(c)	of	(d)	by
8.	(a)	at	(b)	of	(c)	by	(d)	so
9.	(a)	advice	(b)	advise	(c)	advised	(d)	advisory
10.	(a)	expressed	(b)	expression	(c)	expressive	(d)	express
11.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	to	(d)	on
12.	(a)	secure	(b)	security	(c)	secures	(d)	secured

WRITING

Write about football for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 out more about the African Cup of Nations. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. FOOTBALL: Make a poster about terrorism and sport. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. PLAY: Write a magazine article about the Togo bus shooting. Include imaginary interviews with a Togo government minister who wanted the team to come home and a player who wanted to play.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to African Football president Issa Hayatou. Ask him three questions about football. Give him three suggestions on how to make the tournament safer. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

F

c.

F

d.

T

e.

T

f.

F

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	following	a.	after
2	deadly	b.	fatal
3.	took place	c.	happened
4.	seriously	d.	badly
5.	abide by	e.	follow
6.	accused	f.	blamed
7.	criticisms	g.	attacks
8.	astonishment	h.	surprise
9.	incident	i.	occurrence
10.	guaranteed	j.	promised

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	the deadly ambush	a.	of their bus
2	took place in the	b.	north of Angola
3.	Rebels sprayed the bus	c.	with bullets
4.	play in honour of	d.	their assistant coach
5.	we will abide by the	e.	decision
6.	failing to	f.	protect the players
7.	warned of	g.	the dangers
8.	They expressed	h.	their astonishment
9.	an act	i.	of terrorism
10.	fighting for	j.	independence

GAP FILL:

Togo to quit African Cup after fatal shooting

The Togo football team is to quit the African Cup of Nations tournament following the deadly ambush of their bus on January the 8th. The attack on the Togo team took place in the north of Angola. The team’s assistant coach, their press officer and the bus driver were killed in the ambush. Many players and team officials were injured, some seriously. Rebels sprayed the bus with bullets for 20 minutes. The Togo government has ordered the team to leave Angola. Many players wanted to stay and play in honour of their assistant coach. However, captain Emmanuel Adebayor of English Premier League side Manchester City said: "We are children of Togo and we will abide by the decision of our government.”

Togo has accused Angola, the host nation of the competition, of failing to protect the players. The Togolese government has asked Angola to explain why it was not warned of the dangers of travelling in northern Angola. Angolan officials have rejected Togo’s criticisms. They said all teams were advised to travel only by air. They expressed their astonishment that Togo’s team travelled by road from their base in the Republic of Congo. The Angolan government called the incident an "act of terrorism". They blamed the attack on militants who are fighting for independence. Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou has guaranteed greater security for the competition, which started on January the 10th.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - c

4 - d

5 - d

6 - c

7 - a

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - d

12 - b

 

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