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

THE ARTICLE

The European Union commissioner Louis Michel has had what he calls “very effective” talks with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, saying he had a “very good impression” of Castro. The meeting between the two leaders is to re-energize EU-Cuban relations and strengthen ties between them. Mr. Michel’s visit is the first by high level European diplomats for two years. Cuba-EU relations were strained in March, 2003 after the EU imposed sanctions on Cuba for executing three hijackers and imprisoning 75 political activists. Many of the sanctions have since been lifted following the release of 14 of the prisoners. Human rights and Cuba’s remaining political prisoners are still sticking points between Europe and Cuba. Although the EU is currently Cuba’s largest trading partner, Mr. Castro has indicated that Venezuela and China are more important to Cuba. This seems to contradict Mr. Michel’s final analysis that Cuba must choose between closer global integration or risk becoming a pariah state. Relations between Cuba and the USA have been frozen, if not openly hostile, since the imposition of a trade embargo in 1961.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about the EU/ Cuba / Fidel Castro / political prisoners / hijackers / communism / cigars / Che Guevara / global integration / Cuba-US relations…

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 increase conversation.

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

3. CUBAN “I KNOW THAT…”: Write down five sentences about Cuba or Fidel Castro. Begin each with the sentence starter “I know that in Cuba…”. Examples could be,

- I know that in Cuba people …
- I know that in Cuba they …
- I know that in Cuba there is …
- I know that in Cuba the weather …
- I know that in Cuba cigars are …

Use your sentences to start conversations with your partner/group. If you liked this activity, you could repeat it with a Fidel Castro “I know that…” one.

4. OPINIONS: Talk about these with your partner.

1. Cuba belongs in the “axis of evil”.
2. Fidel Castro is an enigmatic and wonderful leader.
3. Cuba is working proof that a country does not have to be capitalist to be successful.
4. America’s trade embargo on Cuba is totally wrong.
5. Cuba is not a democratic country. You need more than one party to be democratic.
6. Castro banned the US dollar in Cuba – that’s funny.
7. Improved EU-Cuba relations is a sign that Cuba doesn’t need the USA.
8. Political prisoners, executions and torture mean Castro should go. It’s time for a new leader.
9. Cuba seems a fascinating place to visit.
10. Communism is history and Castro is a dinosaur.

PRE-READING IDEAS

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

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

1. European Union leaders met with Cuban president Fidel Castro.  T / F
2. A meeting took place to re-energize EU-Cuban relations.  T / F
3. The EU visit is the first by high-level European diplomats for twenty-two years.  T / F
4. In 2003 Cuba executed three hijackers and imprisoned 75 political activists.  T / F
5. The EU imposed has lifted all of its sanctions on Cuba.  T / F
6. Cuban human rights is no longer a sticking point with the European Union.  T / F
7. China is currently Cuba’s largest trading partner.  T / F
8. Internationally, Cuba is a pariah state.  T / F

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

(a)	commissioner	top ranking
(b)	impression	bone of contention
(c)	strengthen	feeling
(d)	high level	embargo
(e)	strained	solidify
(f)	sanctions	outcast
(g)	sticking point	top dog
(h)	contradict	antagonistic
(i)	pariah	negate
(j)	hostile	tense

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

(a)	European Union	relations
(b)	very good	point
(c)	re-energize EU-Cuban	been lifted
(d)	strengthen	impression
(e)	relations	Mr. Michel’s final analysis
(f)	the sanctions have since	ties
(g)	a sticking	state
(h)	Cuba’s largest trading	commissioner
(i)	This seems to contradict	partner
(j)	risk becoming a pariah	were strained

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the words on the right into the gaps.

EU has “good impression” of Castro

The European Union commissioner Louis Michel has had what he calls “very __________” talks with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, saying he had a “very good impression” of Castro. The meeting between the two leaders is to __________ EU-Cuban relations and strengthen __________ between them. Mr. Michel’s visit is the first by high level European diplomats for two years. Cuba-EU relations were strained in March, 2003 after the EU __________ sanctions on Cuba for executing three hijackers and imprisoning 75 political activists. Many of the sanctions have since been __________ following the release of 14 of the prisoners. Human rights and Cuba’s remaining political prisoners are still __________ points between Europe and Cuba. Although the EU is currently Cuba’s largest trading partner, Mr. Castro has indicated that Venezuela and China are more important to Cuba. This seems to __________ Mr. Michel’s final analysis that Cuba must choose between closer global integration or risk becoming a __________ state. Relations between Cuba and the USA have been frozen, if not openly hostile, since the imposition of a trade embargo in 1961.

lifted ties re-energize contradict sticking imposed pariah effective

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. ‘HIGH’ / ‘LEVEL’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What was interesting in this article?
2. Were you surprised by anything in this article?
3. What do you know about Fidel Castro?
4. What do you know about Che Guevara?
5. What is your image of Fidel Castro?
6. What is your image of Cuba?
7. Would you like to go to Cuba?
8. Is America too strict with Cuba?
9. Should Fidel Castro ask America to leave Guantanamo Bay?
10. Is the EU policy of improving relations with Cuba a good one?
11. Do you think Cuba belongs on the “axis of evil”?
12. What is Cuba famous for?
13. Is it a problem that Cuba is a communist country?
14. Should America’s trade embargo be lifted?
15. Is Cuba’s human rights record so bad, compared with its neighbours?
16. Did you like this discussion?
17. Teacher / Student additional questions.

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 information on Fidel Castro. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. CUBA: Create a factfile poster on Cuba.

4. LETTER TO FIDEL: Write a letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro telling him what you think about his leadership.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. European Union leaders met with Cuban president Fidel Castro.  T
2. A meeting took place to re-energize EU-Cuban relations.  T
3. The EU visit is the first by high-level European diplomats for twenty-two years.  F
4. In 2003 Cuba executed three hijackers and imprisoned 75 political activists.  T
5. The EU imposed has lifted all of its sanctions on Cuba.  F
6. Cuban human rights is no longer a sticking point with the European Union.  F
7. China is currently Cuba’s largest trading partner.  F
8. Internationally, Cuba is a pariah state.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	commissioner	top dog
(b)	impression	feeling
(c)	strengthen	solidify
(d)	high level	top ranking
(e)	strained	tense
(f)	sanctions	embargo
(g)	sticking point	bone of contention
(h)	contradict	negate
(i)	pariah	outcast
(j)	hostile	antagonistic

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	European Union	commissioner
(b)	very good	impression
(c)	re-energize EU-Cuban	relations
(d)	strengthen	ties
(e)	relations	were strained
(f)	the sanctions have since	been lifted
(g)	a sticking	point
(h)	Cuba’s largest trading	partner
(i)	This seems to contradict	Mr. Michel’s final analysis
(j)	risk becoming a pariah	state

GAP FILL:

EU has “good impression” of Castro

The European Union commissioner Louis Michel has had what he calls “very effective” talks with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, saying he had a “very good impression” of Castro. The meeting between the two leaders is to re-energize EU-Cuban relations and strengthen ties between them. Mr. Michel’s visit is the first by high level European diplomats for two years. Cuba-EU relations were strained in March, 2003 after the EU imposed sanctions on Cuba for executing three hijackers and imprisoning 75 political activists. Many of the sanctions have since been lifted following the release of 14 of the prisoners. Human rights and Cuba’s remaining political prisoners are still sticking points between Europe and Cuba. Although the EU is currently Cuba’s largest trading partner, Mr. Castro has indicated that Venezuela and China are more important to Cuba. This seems to contradict Mr. Michel’s final analysis that Cuba must choose between closer global integration or risk becoming a pariah state. Relations between Cuba and the USA have been frozen, if not openly hostile, since the imposition of a trade embargo in 1961.