Date: February 28, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

The world's first anti-tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, went into effect yesterday with 167 countries signed up to it and 57 countries ratifying it. The United States and China are still yet to ratify it, which raises fears the overall effectiveness of the treaty may be weakened. Ratifying it means the Framework is legally binding and countries must follow strict regulations for tobacco products, including banning advertising and controlling smoking in public places. It is hoped that the treaty will greatly reduce the number of deaths from smoking worldwide. Adults will be persuaded to kick the habit and children will be dissuaded from starting it. The World Health Organization believes smoking accounts for five million deaths a year. It is the second leading cause of preventable deaths. The WHO's coordinator of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Douglas Bettcher, says the treaty could do much to reduce global passion for smoking, "It is an historical moment and we are very confident that this treaty is going to save lives. ... It has already started off a powerful process globally and we are very confident that it is going to continue to do so and it is going to prove itself as a very effective public health tool to really curb this unacceptable burden of disease and death."

WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about cigarettes / cigars / smoking / Marlboro / tobacco advertising / …

To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. CIGARETTE BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘cigarette'. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:

1. Smoking should not be banned in public places vs. It should.
2. Smokers have rights vs. They don’t.
3. Passive smoking doesn’t kill people vs. It does.
4. Smoking doesn’t kill you; vs. It does.
5. You can’t ban smoking in pubs and bars vs. You can.
6. This treaty will not work. vs. It will.
7. Smoking will completely disappear one day. vs. It won’t.
8. This treaty isn’t fair on smokers. vs. Tough.

4. 'FILTHY' HABIT: Talk about other ‘filthy’ / bad / unsociable / unhealthy habits. Compare the following with smoking:

1. drinking (alcohol)
2. spitting in the street
3. graffiti
4. showing gum as you chew it
5. peeing (urinating) in the street
6. littering
7. using a loud Walkman on the train
8. wearing strong perfume in a crowded area
9. talking loudly on a mobile phone
10. using bad language

5. SMOKERS I KNOW: Write down the names of three smokers you know. Tell each other about these smokers.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘anti’ and ‘tobacco’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. Every country in the world has signed up to an anti-tobacco treaty.  T / F
2. The United States of America has signed up to an anti-tobacco treaty.  T / F
3. The treaty means it will become law in the countries that ratify it.  T / F
4. The treaty outlines strict controls on smoking in public places.  T / F
5. Adults will be persuaded to kick the habit.  T / F
6. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world..  T / F
7. Fifty million people a year die because of smoking.  T / F
8. The World Health Organization is confident that this treaty is going to save lives.  T / F

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

(a)	treaty	quit
(b)	ratify	harness
(c)	overall	talked out of
(d)	legally binding	rubber stamp
(e)	regulations	millstone
(f)	kick the habit	controls
(g)	dissuaded	agreement
(h)	preventable	stoppable
(i)	curb	general
(j)	burden	the law

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	went into	effectiveness
(b)	The US and China are still	for five million deaths a year
(c)	raises	yet to ratify it
(d)	overall	habit
(e)	legally	deaths
(f)	kick the	to do so
(g)	smoking accounts	effect yesterday
(h)	preventable	moment
(i)	It is an historical	binding
(j)	it is going to continue	fears

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

Anti-tobacco treaty begins

The world's first anti-tobacco __________, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, went into effect yesterday with 167 countries signed up to it and 57 countries ratifying it. The United States and China are still yet to ratify it, which __________ fears the overall effectiveness of the treaty may be weakened. Ratifying it means the Framework is legally binding and countries must follow __________ regulations for tobacco products, including banning advertising and controlling smoking in public places. It is hoped that the treaty will greatly reduce the number of deaths from smoking worldwide. Adults will be __________ to kick the habit and children will be __________ from starting it. The World Health Organization believes smoking accounts for five million deaths a year. It is the second leading cause of __________ deaths. The WHO's coordinator of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Douglas Bettcher, says the treaty could do much to reduce global passion for smoking, "It is an historical moment and we are very confident that this treaty is going to save lives. ... It has already started off a __________ process globally and we are very confident that it is going to continue to do so and it is going to prove itself as a very effective public health tool to really __________ this unacceptable burden of disease and death."

strict dissuaded powerful raises treaty curb preventable persuaded

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS:  Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH:  Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ‘ANTI’/ ‘TOBACCO’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:  Students ask each other the following questions:

1. What do you think of this article?
2. Will the treaty work?
3. Why haven’t the United States and China ratified the treaty?
4. Should tobacco be classed as an illegal drug?
5. What thing do you hate most about smoking?
6. What do you do / think when your friends smoke?
7. Does smoking look cool?
8. Why are tobacco ads full of sexy, healthy-looking people doing exercise?
9. Are tobacco companies killers?
10. Where is the worst place to smell cigarette smoke?
11. Are there any people you really want to persuade to kick the habit?
12. How would you feel if a younger brother / sister started to smoke?
13. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. WHY SMOKE?: Students talk in pairs/groups about the following quotes relating smoking:

Knowledge and education:

"The less educated you are, the more likely you are to smoke"
Professor Richard Peto, researcher for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund

Advertising and the media:

The tobacco industry has been accused of targeting groups like young people, women, and ethnic minorities:

"We don't smoke that shit.  We just sell it.  We just reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid."

Tobacco company executive in 1990, quoted in a BBC documentary

"We try to tap the emerging independence and self-fulfillment of women, to make smoking a badge to express that.

"Advertiser working for a 'feminine' cigarette brand in the 1980s

Stress and lifestyle:

"Lung cancer rates are 5 times higher among the unemployed than professionals. It's not because stress causes lung cancer, it's because stress causes smoking"

Professor Richard Peto, researcher for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund

Other:

Role models and peer group?  Money?  Self-confidence? Family attitudes to smoking?

8. FLYER: Design and make a handout for parents to read on smoking trends.  Here you can mix words, pictures and graphic information.

9. SMOKE OPERA: Improvise a scene from a soap opera. First decide on a cast of characters, including a variety of people (age, sex, work, personality, religion etc) as you would get in a soap opera.  Use the smoke opera character sheet below to help you prepare what they are like. (Explain what a soap opera is). Then act out a scene from an episode where the owner of the local meeting place (e.g. a café) decides on a smoking ban.  Role play the arguments which develop between your characters

(SMOKE OPERA CHARACTER FILE)

• Name:
• Age:
• Job, or school/college details:
• Personality type:
• Any scandal or gossip on my character:
• Likes and dislikes:
• Hobbies and interests:
• Who I get on with/argue with in the soap:
• Love life:
• Who I live with:
• Health profile:
• Non-smoker?:
• Never or ex-smoker?
• Attitudes to smoking?
• Smoking :
• How many ?
• Why and when started?
• Attitude to cigarettes?
• Quit attempts?

 

10. SMOKER’S VIEW: What do you think of the pro-smoking arguments?:

FOREST (a smokers' rights group funded by the tobacco industry) says employers shouldn't ban smoking at work because:

* it gives the company a bad image if employees smoke outside the door

* workers won't be able to be contacted if they are outside smoking

* fire risks are more likely from sneaky smoking (e.g. in the toilet)

* employees who smoke will feel tense and angry

* it might divide the workforce

An American survey looked at 18,000 employees following smoking bans at work - and found that the number of smokers went down by 5%, and that smokers smoked 10% fewer cigarettes as a result.

A smoker who takes a 10-minute cigarette break, 9 times a day, loses a whole working day per week.

FOREST argues that people like restaurant managers should decide on smoking policies - "according to the needs of their business".

11. SMOKING LAWS ON TRIAL: Role-play characters in the following court cases. After the role plays, come out of your roles and discuss the arguments presented.

The Cases:

Case 1 -

Lung cancer - who's responsible?

A 60-a-day smoker wants to sue the tobacco company which makes the cigarettes she has been smoking since she was 15 years old. Now she's 52, and has a year to live because she's got lung cancer.

Would you give the smoker compensation?

Would you make the tobacco company pay a punishment fine?

Case 2 -

A smoke-free night out - your right?

An asthma sufferer goes to a rock concert. She becomes ill due to people smoking, and  is forced to leave.

Who, if anyone, is to blame?

Should the asthma sufferer get compensation?

Case 3 -

Cigarette sales to children - who's responsible?

A shop keeper is caught selling cigarettes to an under-16 year old. The child has been  sent under-cover to the shop by the local council.

Should the shop keeper be fined?

What should happen to a child under-16 caught buying cigarettes?

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB 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 more information on the treaty. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. LETTER: Write a letter to a tobacco company executive explaining your views on cigarettes.

4. PUBLIC POLICY: You are the leader of your country. Create a list of rules about when and where smokers can smoke, complete with penalties for not following these rules.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. Every country in the world has signed up to an anti-tobacco treaty.  F
2. The United States of America has signed up to an anti-tobacco treaty.  F
3. The treaty means it will become law in the countries which ratify it.  T
4. The treaty outlines strict controls on smoking in public places.  T
5. Adults will be persuaded to kick the habit.  T
6. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world.  F
7. Fifty million people a year die because of smoking.  F
8. The World Health Organization is confident that this treaty is going to save lives.  T

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	treaty	agreement
(b)	ratify	rubber stamp
(c)	overall	general
(d)	legally binding	the law
(e)	regulations	controls
(f)	kick the habit	quit
(g)	dissuaded	talked out of
(h)	preventable	stoppable
(i)	curb	harness
(j)	burden	millstone

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	went into	effect yesterday
(b)	The US and China are still	yet to ratify it
(c)	raises	fears
(d)	overall	effectiveness
(e)	legally	binding
(f)	kick the	habit
(g)	smoking accounts	for five million deaths a year
(h)	preventable	deaths
(i)	It is an historical	moment
(j)	it is going to continue	to do so

GAP FILL:

Anti-tobacco treaty begins

The world's first anti-tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, went into effect yesterday with 167 countries signed up to it and 57 countries ratifying it. The United States and China are still yet to ratify it, which raises fears the overall effectiveness of the treaty may be weakened. Ratifying it means the Framework is legally binding and countries must follow strict regulations for tobacco products, including banning advertising and controlling smoking in public places. It is hoped that the treaty will greatly reduce the number of deaths from smoking worldwide. Adults will be persuaded to kick the habit and children will be dissuaded from starting it. The World Health Organization believes smoking accounts for five million deaths a year. It is the second leading cause of preventable deaths. The WHO's coordinator of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Douglas Bettcher, says the treaty could do much to reduce global passion for smoking, "It is an historical moment and we are very confident that this treaty is going to save lives. ... It has already started off a powerful process globally and we are very confident that it is going to continue to do so and it is going to prove itself as a very effective public health tool to really curb this unacceptable burden of disease and death."