The Reading / Listening - Level 2

Israel has OK'd a bill to make mosques quieter. If the bill becomes law, Israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers during the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens five times a day. The first time is at dawn and the last is after sunset. The bill has to pass several more stages to become law. It says loudspeakers at mosques are too loud and damage the quality of life for people who live near mosques. The Israeli politician who made the bill said, "hundreds of thousands of Israelis suffer regularly and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

Israel's Prime Minister supports the bill. He said: "Israel is committed to freedom of religion, but it must also protect citizens from the noise of the announcements." An Arab politician said the bill was, "another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an atmosphere of hatred…against the Arab public". Another critic said the bill would, "create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony] between Jews and Arabs". Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's population, while Jews make up around 75 per cent.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Level 0 Level 1   or  Level 3

Sources
  • http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.752956
  • http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/benjamin-netanyahu-backs-bill-stop-mosque-noise-161113183806099.html
  • https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/11/13/israeli-pm-backs-quietening-muslim-call-to-prayer
  • http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ministers-approve-bill-muffling-muezzins-call-to-prayer-472519


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. Israel has OK'd a bill to make
  2. The call to prayer happens
  3. The first time is at dawn and the
  4. It says loudspeakers at mosques
  5. damage the quality of
  6. The Israeli politician who
  7. hundreds of
  8. prayer calls
  1. thousands of Israelis
  2. are too loud
  3. from mosques
  4. five times a day
  5. mosques quieter
  6. last is after sunset
  7. made the bill
  8. life

Paragraph 2

  1. Israel's Prime Minister
  2. freedom of
  3. protect citizens
  4. another law in a series
  5. hatred
  6. create noise that will
  7. establish harmony between
  8. Arabs make up roughly
  1. Jews and Arabs
  2. of racist laws
  3. 20 per cent
  4. religion
  5. from the noise
  6. supports the bill
  7. against the Arab public
  8. hurt all of society

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Israel has OK'd (1) ___________________ mosques quieter. If the bill becomes law, Israel's mosques will (2) ___________________ use loudspeakers during the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens (3) ___________________ day. The first time is at dawn and the last is after sunset. The bill has (4) ___________________ more stages to become law. It says loudspeakers at mosques are too loud and damage the (5) ___________________ for people who live near mosques. The Israeli politician who made the bill said, "hundreds of thousands of Israelis (6) ___________________ and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

Israel's Prime Minister (7) ___________________. He said: "Israel is committed to freedom of religion, but it (8) _________________ citizens from the noise of the announcements." An Arab politician said the bill was, "another (9) ___________________ of racist…laws that only aim to create an atmosphere of hatred…against the Arab public". Another (10) _________________ bill would, "create noise that will hurt all of society and (11) ___________________ establish [harmony] between Jews and Arabs". Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's population, while Jews (12) ___________________ 75 per cent.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

IsraelhasOK'dabilltomakemosquesquieter.Ifthebillbecomeslaw,Isr
ael'smosqueswillnotbeabletouseloudspeakersduringthecalltopraye
r.Thecalltoprayerhappensfivetimesaday.Thefirsttimeisatdawnandt
helastisaftersunset.Thebillhastopassseveralmorestagestobecomela
w.Itsaysloudspeakersatmosquesaretooloudanddamagethequalityo
flifeforpeoplewholivenearmosques.TheIsraelipoliticianwhomadethe
billsaid,"hundredsofthousandsofIsraelissufferregularlyanddailyfro
mnoisecausedbythe[prayer]callsfrommosques".Israel'sPrimeMinist
ersupportsthebill.Hesaid:"Israeliscommittedtofreedomofreligion,b
utitmustalsoprotectcitizensfromthenoiseoftheannouncements."An
Arabpoliticiansaidthebillwas,"anotherlawinaseriesofracist…lawstha
tonlyaimtocreateanatmosphereofhatred…againsttheArabpublic".An
othercriticsaidthebillwould,"createnoisethatwillhurtallofsocietyandt
heeffortstoestablish[harmony]betweenJewsandArabs".Arabsmake
uproughly20percentofIsrael'spopulation,whileJewsmakeuparound
75percent.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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