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GAMES


Russian Spy Wants to Stay in USA (4th July, 2010)


 

Anna Chapman, the woman accused of being a Russian spy, says she wants to stay in the United States. Her lawyer Robert Baum told the Associated Press news agency that she fears being deported. Ms Chapman, 28, is one of 10 suspected spies uncovered by U.S. agencies. According to the FBI, they had been living undercover in the USA for up to 20 years. Chapman had only been in America for a few years. U.S. authorities are charging her with “conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government”. If she is found guilty, she could go to prison for five years. Chapman, who was born Anna Kushchenko, was caught by FBI agents at a Starbucks accepting a fake US passport from an undercover agent. On her father’s advice, she handed it in to a local police station.

Chapman says she is shocked about photos and information being posted on the Internet. She says the media are portraying her to be some kind of Mata Hari spy. Mr Baum said: "She was embarrassed by some of the photos that were obviously taken from her Facebook pages. The truth is, she is probably no different than your typical single 28-year-old woman in New York City. She runs a successful business, goes out at night. She dates men and enjoys a social life." Anna’s ex-husband, English businessman Alex Chapman, told Britain’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper: “Anna was an extremely passionate, caring and loving woman. She is also extremely intelligent. She has an IQ of 162 and it showed, because she was able to juggle so many things at once and make them a success.”


 
 

WARM-UPS

1. SPYING: Walk around the class and talk to other students about spying. 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.

 

being accused of things / lawyers / spies / undercover / guilty / fake passports / information on the Internet / embarrassed / typical / social life / passionate / juggle

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SPIES: What damage can they do? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.


Area

The damage

Politics

 

Sport

 

War

 

Business

 

School

 

Friends

 

4. UNDERCOVER: Students A strongly believe spying will disappear in the future; Students B strongly believe spying will be around forever.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. SPY STUFF: What’s important? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Change partners and share your rankings again.

  • Camera
  • Gun
  • Black clothes
  • Foreign languages
  • Black belt in karate
  • A lovely smile
  • Ability to lie well
  • Patience

6. EMBARRASSED: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘embarrassed’. 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.

A suspected female spy does not want to leave the USA.

T / F

b.

Anna Chapman has been living in the USA for 20 years.

T / F

c.

She could spend as long as five years in prison.

T / F

d.

Her father told her to give a fake passport in at a police station.

T / F

e.

Chapman isn’t happy that photos of her life are posted on the Internet.

T / F

f.

Her lawyer says Chapman is just like any other woman of 28.

T / F

g.

Chapman is very shy, rarely goes out and dislikes socializing.

T / F

h.

Chapman was once a very successful juggler in a Russian circus.

T / F

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


1.

accused

a.

banished

2.

deported

b.

loving

3.

suspected

c.

scheming

4.

conspiring

d.

ashamed

5.

handed

e.

blamed

6.

portraying

f.

manage

7.

embarrassed

g.

showing

8.

typical

h.

gave

9.

passionate

i.

characteristic

10.

juggle

j.

believed

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


1.

the woman accused of

a.

of 162

2.

she fears being

b.

she could go to prison

3.

living undercover

c.

single 28-year-old

4.

If she is found guilty,

d.

deported

5.

accepting a fake

e.

posted on the Internet

6.

information being

f.

being a Russian spy

7.

no different than your typical

g.

successful business

8.

She runs a

h.

so many things

9.

She has an IQ

i.

in the USA

10.

she was able to juggle

j.

US passport


WHILE READING / LISTENING


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


Anna Chapman, the woman ____________ of being a Russian spy, says she wants to stay in the United States. Her lawyer Robert Baum told the Associated Press news agency that she ____________ being deported. Ms Chapman, 28, is one of 10 suspected spies uncovered by U.S. agencies. According to the FBI, they had been living ____________ in the USA for up to 20 years. Chapman had only been in America for a few years. U.S. ____________ are charging her with “conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of a ____________ government”. If she is found ____________, she could go to prison for five years. Chapman, who was born Anna Kushchenko, was caught by FBI agents at a Starbucks accepting a ____________ US passport from an undercover agent. On her father’s ____________, she handed it in to a local police station.

 

 

guilty
undercover
foreign
fears
advice
accused
fake
authorities

Chapman says she is ____________ about photos and information being posted on the Internet. She says the ____________ are portraying her to be some kind of Mata Hari spy. Mr Baum said: "She was embarrassed by some of the photos that were ____________ taken from her Facebook pages. The truth is, she is probably no different than your ____________ single 28-year-old woman in New York City. She runs a successful business, goes out at night. She dates men and enjoys a ____________ life." Anna’s ex-husband, English businessman Alex Chapman, told Britain’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper: “Anna was an extremely ____________, caring and loving woman. She is also extremely intelligent. She has an ____________ of 162 and it showed, because she was able to ____________ so many things at once and make them a success.”

 

 

typical
IQ
obviously
passionate
shocked
media
juggle
social

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps


Anna Chapman, the woman ___________________ Russian spy, says she wants to stay in the United States. Her lawyer Robert Baum told the Associated Press news agency that she ___________________. Ms Chapman, 28, is one of 10 suspected spies uncovered by U.S. agencies. According to the FBI, they had been ___________________ the USA for up to 20 years. Chapman had only been in America for a few years. U.S. authorities are charging her with “___________________ an unregistered agent of a foreign government”. If she is found guilty, she could go to prison for five years. Chapman, who was born Anna Kushchenko, was caught by FBI agents at a Starbucks ___________________ US passport from an undercover agent. On her father’s advice, she ___________________ police station.
Chapman says she is ___________________ and information being posted on the Internet. She says the ___________________ her to be some kind of Mata Hari spy. Mr Baum said: "She was embarrassed by some of the photos that were obviously taken from her Facebook pages. The truth is, she is probably no different than ___________________-year-old woman in New York City. She runs a successful business, goes out at night. She dates men ___________________." Anna’s ex-husband, English businessman Alex Chapman, told Britain’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper: “Anna was an ___________________ and loving woman. She is also extremely intelligent. She ___________________ and it showed, because she was able to juggle so many things at once and make them a success.”


 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING


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


under

cover
 
 
 

  • 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:

  • accused
  • fears
  • 20
  • guilty
  • fake
  • local
  • shocked
  • obviously
  • typical
  • enjoys
  • ex-
  • 162

STUDENT SPIES SURVEY


Write five GOOD questions about Spies 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.

SPIES 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 ‘spy’?

c)

What do you know about the story of the 10 suspected Russian spies?

d)

What punishments do you think spies should get?

e)

How similar are real-life spies to James Bond?

f)

What do you think a spy does every day?

g)

What are Anna Chapman’s chances of staying in the USA?

h)

Do you think Anna Chapman is a real spy?

i)

Do you think you’d be a good spy?

j)

Will this story affect US-Russian relations?


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


a)

Did you like reading this article?

b)

Is it wrong for news agencies to put someone’s Facebook photos online?

c)

Are you worried about the photos you have online?

d)

Tell me about the most famous spy you know?

e)

Are you typical?

f)

What three adjectives best describe this story and why?

g)

How did Anna hide the fact she was a spy from her English husband?

h)

What’s the most exciting thing about being a spy?

i)

Give me an example of how you can juggle many things at once?

j)

What questions would you like to ask Anna Chapman?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE


Anna Chapman, the woman accused (1) ____ being a Russian spy, says she wants to stay in the United States. Her lawyer Robert Baum told the Associated Press news agency that she (2) ____ being deported. Ms Chapman, 28, is one of 10 suspected spies uncovered by U.S. agencies. According to the FBI, they had been living undercover in the USA for (3) ____ to 20 years. Chapman had only been in America for a few years. U.S. authorities are (4) ____ her with “conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government”. If she is (5) ____ guilty, she could go to prison for five years. Chapman, who was born Anna Kushchenko, was caught by FBI agents at a Starbucks accepting a fake US passport from an undercover agent. On her father’s (6) ____, she handed it in to a local police station.
Chapman says she is shocked about photos and information being posted on the Internet. She says the media (7) ____ portraying her to be some kind of Mata Hari spy. Mr Baum said: "She was embarrassed (8) ____ some of the photos that were obviously taken from her Facebook pages. The truth is, she is probably no different than your (9) ____ single 28-year-old woman in New York City. She runs a successful business, goes out at night. She (10) ____ men and enjoys a social life." Anna’s ex-husband, English businessman Alex Chapman, told Britain’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper: “Anna was an extremely passionate, caring and loving woman. She is also extremely intelligent. She has an (11) ____ of 162 and it showed, because she was able to (12) ____ so many things at once and make them a success.”
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.


1.

(a)

for

(b)

on

(c)

by

(d)

of

2.

(a)

fears

(b)

afraid

(c)

frightens

(d)

phobias

3.

(a)

often

(b)

up

(c)

down

(d)

as

4.

(a)

changing

(b)

changed

(c)

charging

(d)

charged

5.

(a)

find

(b)

finds

(c)

found

(d)

finding

6.

(a)

advisory

(b)

advice

(c)

advising

(d)

advised

7.

(a)

did

(b)

have

(c)

is

(d)

are

8.

(a)

by

(b)

on

(c)

of

(d)

to

9.

(a)

typically

(b)

typical

(c)

typing

(d)

typo

10.

(a)

dotes

(b)

duties

(c)

dittos

(d)

dates

11.

(a)

HQ

(b)

IOU

(c)

IQ

(d)

OK

12.

(a)

juggle

(b)

trapeze

(c)

tightrope

(d)

tumble

WRITING


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

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 this spying case in the USA. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. SPIES: Make a poster about spies. Include information about some really famous ones. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. SPYING: Write a magazine article about spying. Include interviews with imaginary spies.
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 a spy. Ask him/her three questions about spying. Give him/her three pieces of advice on how to keep their identity a secret. 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.

T

d.

T

e.

T

f.

T

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:


1.

accused

a.

blamed

2.

deported

b.

banished

3.

suspected

c.

believed

4.

conspiring

d.

scheming

5.

handed

e.

gave

6.

portraying

f.

showing

7.

embarrassed

g.

ashamed

8.

typical

h.

characteristic

9.

passionate

i.

loving

10.

juggle

j.

manage

PHRASE MATCH:


1.

the woman accused of

a.

being a Russian spy

2.

she fears being

b.

deported

3.

living undercover

c.

in the USA

4.

If she is found guilty,

d.

she could go to prison

5.

accepting a fake

e.

US passport

6.

information being

f.

posted on the Internet

7.

no different than your typical

g.

single 28-year-old

8.

She runs a

h.

successful business

9.

She has an IQ

i.

of 162

10.

she was able to juggle

j.

so many things

GAP FILL:

Russian spy wants to stay in USA

Anna Chapman, the woman accused of being a Russian spy, says she wants to stay in the United States. Her lawyer Robert Baum told the Associated Press news agency that she fears being deported. Ms Chapman, 28, is one of 10 suspected spies uncovered by U.S. agencies. According to the FBI, they had been living undercover in the USA for up to 20 years. Chapman had only been in America for a few years. U.S. authorities are charging her with “conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government”. If she is found guilty, she could go to prison for five years. Chapman, who was born Anna Kushchenko, was caught by FBI agents at a Starbucks accepting a fake US passport from an undercover agent. On her father’s advice, she handed it in to a local police station.
Chapman says she is shocked about photos and information being posted on the Internet. She says the media are portraying her to be some kind of Mata Hari spy. Mr Baum said: "She was embarrassed by some of the photos that were obviously taken from her Facebook pages. The truth is, she is probably no different than your typical single 28-year-old woman in New York City. She runs a successful business, goes out at night. She dates men and enjoys a social life." Anna’s ex-husband, English businessman Alex Chapman, told Britain’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper: “Anna was an extremely passionate, caring and loving woman. She is also extremely intelligent. She has an IQ of 162 and it showed, because she was able to juggle so many things at once and make them a success.”
LANGUAGE WORK


1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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