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THE ARTICLE

The inaugural South American-Arab summit opened on May 10 in Brazil, aimed at strengthening South American and Arab ties. The two-day meeting, between leaders from 22 Arab and twelve South American countries, has a challenging agenda, top of which is trade and political cooperation. Brazil’s President Lula da Silva hopes to outline a “new international economic geography” by focusing on how countries from the two regions can reduce their reliance on the United States and Europe. He said: “We are pursuing not just economic goals but also the democratization of international organizations so that the voices of developing nations can also be heard.” He continued: “We’re seeking fair and just trade, free of subsidies imposed by rich countries.”

The topic of terrorism has overshadowed the summit’s main issues. A proposed declaration supports the right of countries to resist and fight occupations by foreign troops. This seemingly condones attacks against American and coalition forces in Iraq and by Palestinian militants against Israel. Algeria’s President Bouteflika did stress that this was “not against anyone”, as he tried to quell U.S. and Israeli concerns. However, it is expected a final declaration will call on Israel to withdraw from land it has occupied since the 1967 Six-day War. President Bouteflika will ask for international recognition of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Summit leaders will also request a U.N. conference be held to define what constitutes a “terrorist crime”.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics you are interested in, which do not look interesting and which look really boring:

South America / Arab nations / Brazil / President Lula da Silva / free trade / terrorism / East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital / What is a “terrorist crime”?

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. BRAZIL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Brazil. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. ONE FACT: Choose ten of the countries that are attending the summit. You must write down one fact for each country you choose. Talk to as many different students as you can and ask for information. After you have finished, sit with a partner / group and share your information. If there is time left, try to fill in information on all countries.

SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES

Argentina. Brazil. Bolivia. Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay, Venezuela.

ARAB COUNTRIES            

Algeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Comores, Djibouti, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia.

4. OPINIONS: Look at the following comments on the South American-Arab summit and talk with your partner / group about whether you agree or disagree with them. Change the comment so that it reflects your opinion.

1. This summit has the potential to change the lives of 600 million people in the two regions.
2. I don’t understand why such a meeting has never happened before.
3. These two regions will really have the clout to challenge America and Europe.
4. This summit is a waste of time. Nothing will be achieved.
5. I like the “East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital” declaration.
6. But the regions have nothing in common.
7. Why isn’t Africa part of this?
8. Brazil may now realize its great potential to become a world leader.
9. Half of the leaders from the countries at the summit didn’t come. That’s not very good.
10. This summit will be full of left wing politics and hot air.
11. South America and the Middle East will become economic powerhouses.
12. It’s just a chance for undemocratic countries that sponsor terror, to have a chat and pose for photo shoots with big smiles.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘political’ and ‘cooperation’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

1. The inaugural South American-Arab summit opened on May 10 in Brazil.  T / F
2. Top of the summit’s agenda are terrorism and oil prices.  T / F
3. The two regions want to lessen their dependence on the USA and Europe.  T / F
4. Summit nations want to erect trade barriers against rich countries.  T / F
5. Terrorism will not be discussed in any great detail.  T / F
6. The summit will support the right for Iraqis to fight against U.S. forces.  T / F
7. Leaders will ask Israel to change its borders within six days.  T / F
8. The summit will discuss what constitutes a “terrorist crime”.  T / F

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

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

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. WORD ORDER: Put the underlined words back in the correct order.

First S. American-Arab summit opens

The inaugural South American-Arab summit opened on May 10 in Brazil, aimed at strengthening South American and Arab ties. The two-day meeting, between leaders from 22 Arab and twelve South American countries, has a challenging agenda, which of top trade is and political cooperation. Brazil’s President Lula da Silva hopes to outline a “new international economic geography” by focusing on regions from two countries the how can reduce their reliance on the United States and Europe. He said: “We are pursuing not just economic goals but also the democratization of international organizations so that nations of developing the voices can also be heard.” He continued: “We’re seeking fair and just trade, free subsidies of countries rich by imposed.”

The topic of terrorism has overshadowed the summit’s main issues. A proposed declaration supports countries to fight and resist the right of occupations by foreign troops. This attacks condones against seemingly American and coalition forces in Iraq and by Palestinian militants against Israel. Algeria’s President Bouteflika did stress that this was “not against anyone”, quell he as tried to U.S. and Israeli concerns. However, it is expected a final declaration will call on Israel to withdraw from land it has occupied since the 1967 Six-day War. President Bouteflika will ask for international recognition of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Summit leaders will also request a U.N. conference define to be constitutes what held a “terrorist crime”.

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. WORD ORDER: In pairs / groups, check your answers to this exercise.

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share.

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

4. STUDENT SUMMIT SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down questions about the South American-Arab summit. Ask other classmates your questions and report back to your original partner/ group to compare your findings.

5. ‘POLITICAL’ / ‘COOPERATION’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1. Ask your partner / group your questions.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What did you think of this article?
2. Did anything in this article make you optimistic or pessimistic?
3. Did you raise your eyebrows at anything you read in the article?
4. What do you think of the South American-Arab summit?
5. What do you think will be achieved?
6. What needs to be discussed in the two days?
7. Should terrorism overshadow a summit on trade and political cooperation?
8. Can these regions move to make trade more fair and just?
9. Are South American and Arab nations assuming a more dominant role in world affairs?
10. What are the similarities between South American and Arab countries?
11. Which leaders from the two regions have the charisma and vision to create change?
12. What do you think is the “new international economic geography” the Brazilian President talks of?
13. What can South American and Arab nations do with all their oil?
14. Need America and Europe be concerned about this summit?
15. Is it OK for Iraqis and Palestinians to fight against American or Israeli forces?
16. Should Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders in accordance with U.N. resolution 242?
17. What do you think of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital city?
18. What do you think constitutes a “terrorist crime”?
19. Did you like this discussion?
20. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. SUMMIT ATTENDEES: You are delegates at the South American-Arab summit. It is your job to create a policy on the issues below. Do this in pairs / groups.

Change partners. With new partners, discuss each other’s recommendations. Discuss again with your new partners and make compromises so that your recommendations are in alignment.

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 the South American-Arab summit. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. ONE COUNTRY: Choose one country from those attending the summit and write a short article about it. Show your article to your classmates in your next lesson.

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the leader of the summit telling him / her what you think should be achieved by the discussions. Show your letters to the class next lesson. Discuss the points you wrote about.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. The inaugural South American-Arab summit opened on May 10 in Brazil.  T
2. Top of the summit’s agenda are terrorism and oil prices.  F
3. The two regions want to lessen their dependence on the USA and Europe.  T
4. Summit nations want to erect trade barriers against rich countries.  F
5. Terrorism will not be discussed in any great detail.  F
6. The summit will support the right for Iraqis to fight against U.S. forces.  T
7. Leaders will ask Israel to change its borders within six days.  F
8. The summit will discuss what constitutes a “terrorist crime”.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

WORD ORDER:

First S. American-Arab summit opens

The inaugural South American-Arab summit opened on May 10 in Brazil, aimed at strengthening South American and Arab ties. The two-day meeting, between leaders from 22 Arab and twelve South American countries, has a challenging agenda, top of which is trade and political cooperation. Brazil’s President Lula da Silva hopes to outline a “new international economic geography” by focusing on how countries from the two regions can reduce their reliance on the United States and Europe. He said: “We are pursuing not just economic goals but also the democratization of international organizations so that the voices of developing nations can also be heard.” He continued: “We’re seeking fair and just trade, free of subsidies imposed by rich countries.”

The topic of terrorism has overshadowed the summit’s main issues. A proposed declaration supports the right of countries to resist and fight occupations by foreign troops. This seemingly condones attacks against American and coalition forces in Iraq and by Palestinian militants against Israel. Algeria’s President Bouteflika did stress that this was “not against anyone”, as he tried to quell U.S. and Israeli concerns. However, it is expected a final declaration will call on Israel to withdraw from land it has occupied since the 1967 Six-day War. President Bouteflika will ask for international recognition of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Summit leaders will also request a U.N. conference be held to define what constitutes a “terrorist crime”.