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Egyptian Joy as Mubarak Resigns (12th February, 2011)

Celebrations have erupted across Egypt after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president. His resignation came after 18 days of pro-democracy protests in which millions of Egyptians voiced their desire for change. The end for Mubarak was a U-turn. On Thursday night he vowed to continue in power until September elections. Just 24 hours later, vice president Omar Suleiman announced to the nation that Mr. Mubarak had gone. The announcement brought wild scenes of joy in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the rest of the country. A protestor speaking on Al Jazeera TV said there was an “explosion of happiness”. Fireworks lit the sky and car horns continued all night as people partied in the streets. Most people were too overcome with emotion to express their feelings.

News of Mubarak’s fall from power was welcomed across the world. There was dancing in the streets outside the Egyptian Embassy in London and parties in many major cities. People across the Middle East took to the streets in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters. Egypt’s revolution took inspiration from Tunisia’s and was three days faster. The Associated Press quoted Tunis resident Safia Ruwees, who said: "These are democracies that we are bringing with our hands, no one has brought them to us, not America, not France, no one." An Egyptian in Beirut, Issam Allawi, said: "We are very happy today that we were able to overcome the dictator Hosni Mubarak. Tomorrow, the next dictators throughout the entire Arab world."


WARM-UPS

1. EGYPT’S REVOLUTION: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Egypt’s Revolution. 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.

 

celebrations / resigned / democracy / change / elections / joy / happiness / partied / fall from power / dancing in the streets / revolution / inspiration / dictators / Arab

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

3. REVOLUTION: What did these things play in it? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

 

What they did

How it worked

peaceful protest

 

 

Twitter

 

 

Egypt’s people

 

 

The U.S.A.

 

 

Egypt’s Army

 

 

Al Jazeera, CNN…

 

 

4. CHANGE: Students A strongly believe other Middle East countries will experience revolution; Students B strongly believe that won’t happen.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. HAPPINESS: What do you thing Egyptians are happiest about? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the most important at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

  • Mubarak has gone
  • they can protest in the streets
  • the future is bright
  • freedom of speech
  • they won
  • they made peaceful protest work
  • they showed the world
  • they feel they have power

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

Celebrations in Egypt only took place in Cairo and Alexandria.

T / F

b.

The revolution to overthrow Mubarak took just over three weeks.

T / F

c.

A protestor told Al Jazeera a bomb exploded after Mubarak resigned.

T / F

d.

The majority of Egyptians could easily put their feelings into words.

T / F

e.

People danced in the streets outside the Egyptian Embassy in London.

T / F

f.

People in the Middle East were afraid to celebrate and stayed at home.

T / F

g.

A Tunisian said Arabs are getting democracy without American help.

T / F

h.

An Egyptian said other Arab leaders will now be toppled.

T / F

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

1.

erupted

a.

promised

2

protests

b.

broke out

3.

vowed

c.

encouragement

4.

wild

d.

demonstrations

5.

express

e.

greeted

6.

welcomed

f.

defeat

7.

solidarity

g.

communicate

8.

inspiration

h.

absolute ruler

9.

overcome

i.

crazy

10.

dictator

j.

unity

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

1.

Celebrations have

a.

a U-turn

2

18 days of pro-

b.

our hands

3.

he end for Mubarak was

c.

with emotion

4.

The announcement brought wild

d.

dictator

5.

people were too overcome

e.

across the world

6.

Mubarak’s fall from power was welcomed

f.

erupted across Egypt

7.

People across the Middle East took

g.

from Tunisia’s

8.

Egypt’s revolution took inspiration

h.

democracy protests

9.

democracies that we are bringing with

i.

to the streets

10.

we were able to overcome the

j.

scenes of joy

 


 
 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Celebrations have (1) ____________ across Egypt after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president. His resignation came after 18 days of pro-democracy protests (2) ____________ which millions of Egyptians (3) ____________ their desire for change. The end for Mubarak was a U-turn. On Thursday night he (4) ____________ to continue in power until September elections. Just 24 hours later, vice president Omar Suleiman announced to the nation that Mr. Mubarak had gone. The announcement brought wild (5) ____________ of joy in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the rest of the country. A protestor speaking on Al Jazeera TV said there was an “explosion of (6) ____________”. Fireworks lit the sky and car horns continued all night as people (7) ____________ in the streets. Most people were too (8) ____________ with emotion to express their feelings.

 

 

 

scenes
in
overcome
happiness
erupted
vowed
partied
voiced

News of Mubarak’s (9) ____________ from power was (10) ____________ across the world. There was dancing in the streets outside the Egyptian Embassy in London and parties in many major cities. People across the Middle East (11) ____________ to the streets in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters. Egypt’s revolution took (12) ____________ from Tunisia’s and was three days faster. The Associated Press (13) ____________ Tunis resident Safia Ruwees, who said: "These are democracies that we are (14) ____________ with our hands, no one has brought them to us, not America, not France, no one." An Egyptian in Beirut, Issam Allawi, said: "We are very happy today that we were able to (15) ____________ the dictator Hosni Mubarak. Tomorrow, the next dictators throughout the (16) ____________ Arab world."

 

 

overcome
took
entire
inspiration
fall
bringing
welcomed
quoted

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Celebrations ____________________ Egypt after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president. His resignation came after 18 days of pro-democracy protests in which millions of Egyptians ____________________ change. The end for Mubarak was a U-turn. On Thursday night ____________________ in power until September elections. Just 24 hours later, vice president Omar Suleiman announced to the nation that Mr. Mubarak had gone. The announcement brought ____________________ in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the rest of the country. A protestor speaking on Al Jazeera TV said there was an “____________________”. Fireworks lit the sky and car horns continued all night as people partied in the streets. Most people ____________________ with emotion to express their feelings.

News of Mubarak’s fall from power ____________________ the world. There was dancing in the streets outside the Egyptian Embassy in London and parties in many major cities. People across the Middle East ____________________ in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters. Egypt’s revolution ____________________ Tunisia’s and was three days faster. The Associated Press quoted Tunis resident Safia Ruwees, who said: "These are democracies ____________________ with our hands, no one has brought them to us, not America, not France, no one." An Egyptian in Beirut, Issam Allawi, said: "We are very happy today that we were ____________________ the dictator Hosni Mubarak. Tomorrow, the next dictators ____________________ Arab world."


 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

Egypt

revolution

 

 

 

  • 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:

  • erupted
  • voiced
  • vowed
  • wild
  • sky
  • express
  • fall
  • streets
  • inspiration
  • hands
  • happy
  • entire

STUDENT EGYPT’S REVOLUTION SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Egypt’s Revolution 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.

EGYPT’S REVOLUTION 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 ‘Egypt’?

c)

Where were you and what were you doing when you found out Hosni Mubarak had gone?

d)

How did you feel?

e)

What is your message for the Egyptian people?

f)

What do you think Hosni Mubarak is feeling right now?

g)

What scenes about the revolution do you remember most ?

h)

What now for Egypt?

i)

How significant is people power bringing down Mubarak?

j)

Why can’t Egyptians put their emotions into words?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

a)

Did you like reading this article?

b)

What three adjectives describe this news? Why?

c)

Why did people around the world welcome this news?

d)

How will Mubarak’s fall affect other countries in the Middle East?

e)

Is the fall of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt similar to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1979?

f)

Did the U.S.A. play any part in ending Mubarak’s 30-year rule?

g)

What does the peaceful, dignified and courageous way the people protested tell you about Egyptians?

h)

What do you hope for Egypt now?

i)

What part did social networking sites play in Egypt’s revolution?

j)

What questions would you like to ask (fellow) Egyptians?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Celebrations have (1) ____ across Egypt after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president. His resignation came after 18 days of pro-democracy protests in which millions of Egyptians (2) ____ their desire for change. The end for Mubarak was a U-turn. On Thursday night he (3) ____ to continue in power until September elections. Just 24 hours later, vice president Omar Suleiman announced to the nation that Mr. Mubarak had gone. The announcement brought (4) ____ scenes of joy in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the rest of the country. A protestor (5) ____ on Al Jazeera TV said there was an “explosion of happiness”. Fireworks lit the sky and car horns continued all night as people partied in the streets. Most people were too (6) ____ with emotion to express their feelings.

News of Mubarak’s (7) ____ from power was welcomed across the world. There was dancing in the streets outside the Egyptian Embassy in London and parties in many major cities. People across the Middle East (8) ____ to the streets in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters. Egypt’s revolution took inspiration from Tunisia’s and was three days faster. The Associated Press (9) ____ Tunis resident Safia Ruwees, who said: "These are democracies that we are (10) ____ with our hands, no one has brought them to us, not America, not France, no one." An Egyptian in Beirut, Issam Allawi, said: "We are very happy today that we were able to (11) ____ the dictator Hosni Mubarak. Tomorrow, the next dictators throughout the (12) ____ Arab world."

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

1.

(a)

erupts

(b)

eruption

(c)

erupting

(d)

erupted

2.

(a)

spoken

(b)

voiced

(c)

talked

(d)

conversed

3.

(a)

vowed

(b)

wowed

(c)

bowed

(d)

rowed

4.

(a)

wildly

(b)

wilds

(c)

wild

(d)

wilderness

5.

(a)

speaks

(b)

spoken

(c)

speaking

(d)

speak

6.

(a)

coming over

(b)

overcome

(c)

overcame

(d)

came over

7.

(a)

fall

(b)

decrease

(c)

drop

(d)

reduction

8.

(a)

taken

(b)

takes

(c)

taking

(d)

took

9.

(a)

quotation

(b)

quoted

(c)

quoting

(d)

quote

10.

(a)

brought

(b)

brings

(c)

bring

(d)

bringing

11.

(a)

overcoming

(b)

overcomes

(c)

overcome

(d)

overcame

12.

(a)

entire

(b)

all

(c)

every

(d)

whole of


 
 

WRITING

Write about Egypt’s Revolution 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 Egypt’s Revolution. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. EGYPT’S REVOLUTION: Make a poster about Egypt’s Revolution. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. TAHRIR SQUARE: Write a magazine article about Cairo’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square. Include imaginary interviews with protestors who demonstrated for democracy.

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 Egypt’s new leader. Ask him three questions about Egypt’s future. Give him three ideas on what he should do. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.


 


 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

F

e.

T

f.

F

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.

erupted

a.

broke out

2

protests

b.

demonstrations

3.

vowed

c.

promised

4.

wild

d.

crazy

5.

express

e.

communicate

6.

welcomed

f.

greeted

7.

solidarity

g.

unity

8.

inspiration

h.

encouragement

9.

overcome

i.

defeat

10.

dictator

j.

absolute ruler

PHRASE MATCH:

1.

Celebrations have

a.

erupted across Egypt

2

18 days of pro-

b.

democracy protests

3.

The end for Mubarak was

c.

a U-turn

4.

The announcement brought wild

d.

scenes of joy

5.

people were too overcome

e.

with emotion

6.

Mubarak’s fall from power was welcomed

f.

across the world

7.

People across the Middle East took

g.

to the streets

8.

Egypt’s revolution took inspiration

h.

from Tunisia’s

9.

democracies that we are bringing with

i.

our hands

10.

we were able to overcome the

j.

dictator

GAP FILL:

Egyptian joy as Mubarak resigns

Celebrations have (1) erupted across Egypt after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president. His resignation came after 18 days of pro-democracy protests (2) in which millions of Egyptians (3) voiced their desire for change. The end for Mubarak was a U-turn. On Thursday night he (4) vowed to continue in power until September elections. Just 24 hours later, vice president Omar Suleiman announced to the nation that Mr. Mubarak had gone. The announcement brought wild (5) scenes of joy in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the rest of the country. A protestor speaking on Al Jazeera TV said there was an “explosion of (6) happiness”. Fireworks lit the sky and car horns continued all night as people (7) partied in the streets. Most people were too (8) overcome with emotion to express their feelings.

News of Mubarak’s (9) fall from power was (10) welcomed across the world. There was dancing in the streets outside the Egyptian Embassy in London and parties in many major cities. People across the Middle East (11) took to the streets in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters. Egypt’s revolution took (12) inspiration from Tunisia’s and was three days faster. The Associated Press (13) quoted Tunis resident Safia Ruwees, who said: "These are democracies that we are (14) bringing with our hands, no one has brought them to us, not America, not France, no one." An Egyptian in Beirut, Issam Allawi, said: "We are very happy today that we were able to (15) overcome the dictator Hosni Mubarak. Tomorrow, the next dictators throughout the (16) entire Arab world."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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