Breaking News English

        

1. LIBYA: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Libya. 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.

disregarded / arrest warrant / obstacle to peace / colonialism / discriminatory / crimes / defiant / bombing campaign / brave people / military targets / issuing threats

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

3. OBSTACLES TO PEACE: Where? Why? How to overcome? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners & share what you wrote. Change & share again.

Obstacles	Where?	Why?	How to overcome?
Leaders
Religion
Borders
Oil
Money
Imperialism

4. GADDAFI: Students A strongly believe Gaddafi will stay in power; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. RESOLVED: Which of these countries will be first to have democracy, peace and security? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

Libya Afghanistan North Korea Myanmar

Bahrain Pakistan Syria Somalia

6. ARREST: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘arrest’. 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.	The African Union said the ICC arrest warrant hindered peace.	T / F
b.	The AU said the ICC action resembled colonialism.	T / F
c.	The International Criminal Courts only goes after bad African leaders.	T / F
d.	The ICC is part of the same organization that runs Guantanamo Bay.	T / F
e.	Gaddafi said he would attack Europe within 24 hours.	T / F
f.	Gaddafi said he’d attack Europe with deadly bees and locusts.	T / F
g.	Hillary Clinton said Gaddafi should resign instead of giving threats.	T / F
h.	Clinton said Gaddafi should think more about the well-being of Libyans.	T / F

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

1.	disregarded	a.	barrier
2	obstacle	b.	rebellious
3.	pursues	c.	representative
4.	committed	d.	resign
5.	spokesman	e.	quit
6.	defiant	f.	ignored
7.	halt	g.	stop
8.	regard	h.	chases
9.	resign	i.	view
10.	step down	j.	done

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

1.	an obstacle	a.	based court
2	It also condemns the	b.	targets
3.	the Hague-	c.	the African leaders
4.	ignores crimes	d.	to peace
5.	It's only against	e.	defiant and raised the stakes
6.	Gaddafi remained	f.	of locusts or bees
7.	halt its bombing	g.	down from power
8.	like a swarm	h.	committed by Western powers
9.	legitimate military	i.	campaign
10.	he should step	j.	call for Gaddafi’s arrest

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

The 53-member  African Union (AU) has disregarded the arrest warrant (1) ____________ for Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It says the                (2) ____________ by the ICC is an (3) ____________ to peace in Libya. It also condemns the call for Gaddafi’s arrest as              (4) ____________ colonialism. AU official Jean Ping said the ICC is "discriminatory" because it only pursues Africans. He said the Hague-based court (5) ____________ crimes committed by Western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim (6) ____________, saying: “The ICC is a European Guantanamo Bay. It's only        (7) ____________ the African leaders. It never (8) ____________ with the crimes committed by the United States of America."		ignores obstacle against issued deals move agreed being
Gaddafi remained defiant and (9) ____________ the stakes by promising he would attack Europe. In a radio announcement he (10) ____________ NATO to halt its bombing campaign or      (11) ____________ seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees”. He said: “Retreat, you have no chance of beating this (12) ____________ people…They can attack your homes… and your families, which will become military (13) ____________, just as you have transformed our…houses and children into what you regard as (14) ____________ military targets.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded by saying Gaddafi should (15) ____________ instead of issuing threats. “He should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step (16) ____________ from power,” she said.		brave urged down resign raised targets risk legitimate

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The 53-member  African Union (AU) ____________________ arrest warrant issued for Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It says the move by the ICC is ____________________ in Libya. It also condemns the call for Gaddafi’s arrest as being colonialism. AU official Jean Ping said the ICC is "discriminatory" ____________________ Africans. He said the Hague-based ____________________ committed by Western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim agreed, saying: “The ICC is a European Guantanamo Bay. It's only against the African leaders. ____________________ the ____________________ the United States of America."

Gaddafi remained defiant and ____________________ by promising he would attack Europe. In a radio announcement he ____________________ its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan ____________________ Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees”. He said: “Retreat, you have no chance of ____________________ people…They can attack your homes… and your families, which will become military targets, just as you have transformed our…houses and children into ____________________ legitimate military targets.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded by saying Gaddafi should resign ____________________ threats. “He should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step down from power,” she said.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

arrest

warrant

• 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:

issued obstacle pursues ignores agreed deals

raised halt chance transformed resign step

STUDENT LIBYA SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Libya 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.

LIBYA 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 ‘Libya’?
c)	Do you think the African Union is right to reject the ICC arrest warrant?
d)	Is the arrest warrant really an “obstacle to peace” in Libya?
e)	Do you think Gaddafi is a part of any solution in Libya?
f)	How much is the arrest warrant like colonialism?
g)	Why did the AU say the ICC only pursues Africans?
h)	Does the ICC ignore crimes committed by Western powers?
i)	What crimes do Western powers commit?
j)	Is the ICC a good thing?

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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 Gaddafi will attack Europe?
c)	What three adjectives would you use to describe Gaddafi (and why)?
d)	Is Gaddafi right in saying NATO has “no chance” in beating the “brave” Libyans?
e)	What do you think Libya will be alike a year from now?
f)	If Gaddafi fell, would other people in the region rise up more?
g)	Is Hillary Clinton right in telling Gaddafi to resign?
h)	Has the “Arab Spring” stalled?
i)	What advice would you give to ordinary Libyans?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the head of the African Union?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The 53-member  African Union (AU) has (1) ____ the arrest warrant issued for Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It says the (2) ____ by the ICC is an obstacle to peace in Libya. It also condemns the (3) ____ for Gaddafi’s arrest as being colonialism. AU official Jean Ping said the ICC is "discriminatory" because it only pursues Africans. He said the Hague-(4) ____ court ignores crimes committed by Western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim (5) ____, saying: “The ICC is a European Guantanamo Bay. It's only against the African leaders. It never (6) ____ with the crimes committed by the United States of America."

Gaddafi (7) ____ defiant and raised the stakes by promising he would attack Europe. In a radio announcement he urged NATO to (8) ____ its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a (9) ____ of locusts or bees”. He said: “Retreat, you have no chance of beating this brave people…They can attack your homes… and your families, which will become military targets, just  (10) ____ you have transformed our…houses and children into what you regard as legitimate military targets.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded (11) ____ saying Gaddafi should resign instead of issuing threats. “He should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should (12) ____ down from power,” she said.

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

1.	(a)	disoriented	(b)	disowned	(c)	disengaged	(d)	disregarded
2.	(a)	movement	(b)	moving	(c)	move	(d)	mover
3.	(a)	shout	(b)	call	(c)	speak	(d)	talk
4.	(a)	based	(b)	basted	(c)	biased	(d)	boasted
5.	(a)	greed	(b)	said	(c)	agreed	(d)	suggested
6.	(a)	waits	(b)	displays	(c)	offers	(d)	deals
7.	(a)	retrained	(b)	remained	(c)	regained	(d)	retimed
8.	(a)	halt	(b)	hire	(c)	hinder	(d)	hint
9.	(a)	flock	(b)	swarm	(c)	pride	(d)	herd
10.	(a)	was	(b)	has	(c)	as	(d)	is
11.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	of	(d)	to
12.	(a)	put	(b)	get	(c)	kneel	(d)	step

 
 

WRITING

Write about Libya 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 Union. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. LIBYA: Make a poster about Libya. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. ICC: Write a magazine article about the arrest warrant. Include imaginary interviews with the head of the ICC and Colonel Gaddafi.

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 the head of the African Union. Ask him three questions about Libya. Give him three solutions to bring about peace. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

T

c.

F

d.

F

e.

F

f.

F

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	disregarded	a.	ignored
2	obstacle	b.	barrier
3.	pursues	c.	chases
4.	committed	d.	done
5.	spokesman	e.	representative
6.	defiant	f.	rebellious
7.	halt	g.	stop
8.	regard	h.	view
9.	resign	i.	quit
10.	step down	j.	resign

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	an obstacle	a.	to peace
2	It also condemns the	b.	call for Gaddafi’s arrest
3.	the Hague-	c.	based court
4.	ignores crimes	d.	committed by Western powers
5.	It's only against	e.	the African leaders
6.	Gaddafi remained	f.	defiant and raised the stakes
7.	halt its bombing	g.	campaign
8.	like a swarm	h.	of locusts or bees
9.	legitimate military	i.	targets
10.	he should step	j.	down from power

GAP FILL:

Africa rejects ICC Gaddafi arrest warrant

The 53-member  African Union (AU) has disregarded the arrest warrant (1) issued for Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It says the (2) move by the ICC is an (3) obstacle to peace in Libya. It also condemns the call for Gaddafi’s arrest as (4) being colonialism. AU official Jean Ping said the ICC is "discriminatory" because it only pursues Africans. He said the Hague-based court (5) ignores crimes committed by Western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim (6) agreed, saying: “The ICC is a European Guantanamo Bay. It's only (7) against the African leaders. It never (8) deals with the crimes committed by the United States of America."

Gaddafi remained defiant and (9) raised the stakes by promising he would attack Europe. In a radio announcement he (10) urged NATO to halt its bombing campaign or (11) risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees”. He said: “Retreat, you have no chance of beating this (12) brave people…They can attack your homes… and your families, which will become military (13) targets, just as you have transformed our…houses and children into what you regard as (14) legitimate military targets.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded by saying Gaddafi should (15) resign instead of issuing threats. “He should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step (16) down from power,” she said.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 - c

11 - a

12 - d

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