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Irish rock musician and anti-poverty campaigner Sir Bob Geldof has announced plans for five superstar-studded concerts as follow-ups to the Live Aid famine relief events held in 1985. The concerts will be held on July 2 to focus attention on the need for “political justice” by reducing global poverty and the debt of impoverished developing nations. The free events will take place simultaneously in Berlin, London, Paris, Philadelphia and Rome. The new concerts are titled “Live 8” in reference to the Group of Eight (G8) countries, which is scheduled to hold its annual summit in Scotland from July 6 - 8. Geldof also wants a million people to take part in a protest in Edinburgh to coincide with the G8 summit. He said the driving force behind his efforts is that: “Still 20 years on, it strikes me as morally repulsive that people die of want in a world of surplus.”

The upcoming concerts will be different than the Live Aid bashes of two decades ago. Unlike Geldof’s previous musical and charity extravaganzas, this year’s events will not have fundraising as a primary goal. Instead, Sir Bob wants to increase the world’s awareness of global economic injustices. He said: “The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough.…Charity will never really solve the problems.…It is time for justice, and 20 years after Live Aid people now demand it.” He outlined his plan to reduce world poverty: “By doubling aid, fully canceling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.”

WARM-UPS

1. STARS: Here is a list of some of the stars that will sing at the Live 8 concerts. Talk about the ones you know and like. Which ones would you pay to go and see?

Bon Jovi, Coldplay, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Duran Duran, Jamiroquai, Lauren Hill, Madonna, P. Diddy, Paul McCartney, Placebo, REM, Robbie Williams, Spice Girls, Stevie Wonder, U2, Will Smith and Youssou N'Dour.

2. POVERTY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “poverty”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them.

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Irish people / Sir Bob Geldof / Live Aid 1985 / Live 8 2005 / rock concerts / poverty / G8 countries / developing world debt / enough is enough

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

4. AWARENESS: In pairs / groups, Write down the names of some world famous people. Talk about how they can raise awareness of problems in the world. What could famous people do to change the world?

Here are some people you could add to your list:

J.K Rowling George W. Bush Nelson Mandela Ichiro Suzuki

Your country’s leader Koffi Anan Ronaldo Pope Benedict

5. LIVE 8 OPINIONS: In pairs/ groups, talk about how far you agree with these opinions.

1. Sir Bob Geldof should become a saint for all the good work he does.
2. The Live 8 concerts will not help the world’s poor.
3. The leaders of the G8 countries will never listen to a bunch of rock musicians.
4. It’s fantastic that rock music can show a caring side, instead of stories of sex and drugs.
5. I will definitely contribute as much money as I can to this cause.
6. These concerts are more of a publicity stunt by trendy, left-wing pop stars.
7. I would sell my grandmother to get hold of a ticket.
8. I think the G8 leaders know best how to help the world’s poor.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Musician Sir Bob Geldof is going on an 8-country world tour.	T / F
b.	Eight superstar-studded concerts are to be held worldwide.	T / F
c.	Musicians will sing to raise awareness of political justice.	T / F
d.	Protests are scheduled to coincide with this year’s G8 summit.	T / F
e.	The Live 8 concerts have the same aim as the Live Aid concerts.	T / F
f.	Raising lots of cash for charity is not the main goal.	T / F
g.	Sir Bob said charity will solve most of the world’s problems.	T / F
h.	Sir Bob suggests doubling debt and canceling aid.	T / F

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

a.	campaigner	excess
b.	famine	reshape
c.	simultaneously	approaching
d.	repulsive	concurrently
e.	surplus	alleviate
f.	upcoming	champion
g.	extravaganzas	grit
h.	alter	offensive
i.	will	spectaculars
j.	reduce	hunger

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

a.	anti-poverty	is enough
b.	impoverished	of surplus
c.	the driving	developing nations
d.	morally	extravaganzas
e.	a world	campaigner
f.	musical and charity	within their power
g.	leaders have it	force behind his efforts
h.	alter	aid
i.	enough	repulsive
j.	doubling	history

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the correct spaces.

Geldof announces “Live 8” concerts

Irish rock musician and anti-poverty ________ Sir Bob Geldof has announced plans for five superstar-________ concerts as ________ to the Live Aid famine relief events held in 1985. The concerts will be held on July 2 to focus attention on the need for “political justice” by reducing global poverty and the debt of ________ developing nations. The free events will take place simultaneously in Berlin, London, Paris, Philadelphia and Rome. The new concerts are titled “Live 8” in ________ to the Group of Eight (G8) countries, which is scheduled to hold its annual summit in Scotland from July 6 - 8. Geldof also wants a million people to take part in a protest in Edinburgh to ________ with the G8 summit. He said the driving force behind his efforts is that: “Still 20 years on, it strikes me as ________ repulsive that people die of want in a world of ________.”		coincide reference follow-ups campaigner surplus morally studded impoverished
The ________ concerts will be different than the Live Aid ________ of two decades ago. Unlike Geldof’s previous musical and charity ________, this year’s events will not have fundraising as a primary goal. Instead, Sir Bob wants to increase the world’s awareness of global economic ________. He said: “The G8 leaders have it within their power to ________ history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that ________ is enough.…Charity will never really solve the problems.…It is time for justice, and 20 years after Live Aid people now demand it.” He ________ his plan to reduce world poverty: “By doubling ________, fully canceling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.”		alter bashes aid injustices upcoming outlined enough extravaganzas

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 gap fill. 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. STUDENT “LIVE 8” SURVEY: In pairs / groups write down questions about Live 8 and world poverty.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make a mini-presentation to another group / the class on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

campaigner follow-ups simultaneously summit driving repulsive

bashes primary alter enough outlined millions

 DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you understand by the headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What do you know about Sir Bob Geldof?
4. Do you think he should be made a saint?
5. Do you remember or know about the 1985 Live Aid concerts?
6. Why do you think it is left to rock stars to raise awareness of poverty? Shouldn’t presidents and prime ministers be doing this?
7. Would you like to join the protest at the G8 summit?
8. Will this event change the world?
9. Do you agree that “enough is enough” regarding world poverty?
10. Will Sir Bob “alter history”?

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

1. Did you like reading the article?
2. What did you think of this news?
3. Would you like to go to one of the concerts?
4. Do you think Live 8 will have any effect on changing the minds of the leaders of G8 nations?
5. Are G8 nations concerned about world poverty?
6. Do you also think it is morally repulsive that people die of want in a world of surplus?
7. Is there the will within rich nations to end hunger and poverty?
8. Shouldn’t the Live 8 concerts also be held in Africa and Asia?
9. What do you understand by the term “political justice”?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

LIVE 8: Imagine you are the chief organizer of a “side event” to the Live 8 concerts. Five world famous people have volunteered to be at your service. In pairs / groups, decide who they are and what you think each of these people could do to increase awareness of world poverty or other global concerns.

Famous person	What they can do (The basic idea)	How it will work (The outlined plan)	Chances of success
A sports star
George W. Bush
Pope Benedict
A movie star
Person X (Decide on one other famous person.)

After you have finished, change partners / groups. Tell your new partner(s) about the famous people and your plans for them. Give advice on how your respective plans could be made better.

Change partner(s) again. Discuss which plan is likely to be most successful.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Geldof announces “Live 8” concerts

Irish rock musician and ____ ______ _________ Sir Bob Geldof has announced plans for five _______ ______ ________ as follow-ups to the Live Aid famine relief events held in 1985. The concerts will be held on July 2 to focus attention on the need for “political justice” by reducing global poverty and the ____ __ ____________ developing nations. The free events will take place simultaneously in Berlin, London, Paris, Philadelphia and Rome. The new concerts are titled “Live 8” in reference to the Group of Eight (G8) countries, which is __________ __ ____ its annual summit in Scotland from July 6 - 8. Geldof also wants a million people to take part in a protest in Edinburgh to coincide with the G8 summit. He said the driving force behind his efforts is that: “Still 20 years on, it strikes me as _______ __________ that people die of want in a world of surplus.”

The upcoming concerts will be different than the Live Aid bashes of two decades ago. Unlike Geldof’s previous musical and ______ __________, this year’s events will not have ____________ __ __ _______ goal. Instead, Sir Bob wants to increase the world’s awareness of global economic injustices. He said: “The G8 leaders have it within their
_____ __ _____ _______. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that _______ __ _______.…Charity will never really solve the problems.…It is time for justice, and 20 years after Live Aid people now demand it.” He outlined his plan to reduce world poverty: “By doubling aid, _____ _________ _____, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.”

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 more information on the Live 8 concerts. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. GLOBAL POVERTY: Write a short essay on world poverty and whether or not G8 and other rich nations have a duty to help eradicate it. Read your essay to your classmates (or tell them the main points) in your next lesson. Discuss your ideas.

4. LETTER TO SIR BOB: Write a letter to Live 8 organizer Sir Bob Geldof telling him what you think of him and his ideas. Read your letters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did your classmates have similar thoughts?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	campaigner	champion
b.	famine	hunger
c.	simultaneously	concurrently
d.	repulsive	offensive
e.	surplus	excess
f.	upcoming	approaching
g.	extravaganzas	spectaculars
h.	alter	reshape
i.	will	grit
j.	reduce	alleviate

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	anti-poverty	campaigner
b.	impoverished	developing nations
c.	the driving	force behind his efforts
d.	morally	repulsive
e.	a world	of surplus
f.	musical and charity	extravaganzas
g.	leaders have it	within their power
h.	alter	history
i.	enough	is enough
j.	doubling	aid

GAP FILL:

Geldof announces “Live 8” concerts

Irish rock musician and anti-poverty campaigner Sir Bob Geldof has announced plans for five superstar-studded concerts as follow-ups to the Live Aid famine relief events held in 1985. The concerts will be held on July 2 to focus attention on the need for “political justice” by reducing global poverty and the debt of impoverished developing nations. The free events will take place simultaneously in Berlin, London, Paris, Philadelphia and Rome. The new concerts are titled “Live 8” in reference to the Group of Eight (G8) countries, which is scheduled to hold its annual summit in Scotland from July 6 - 8. Geldof also wants a million people to take part in a protest in Edinburgh to coincide with the G8 summit. He said the driving force behind his efforts is that: “Still 20 years on, it strikes me as morally repulsive that people die of want in a world of surplus.”

The upcoming concerts will be different than the Live Aid bashes of two decades ago. Unlike Geldof’s previous musical and charity extravaganzas, this year’s events will not have fundraising as a primary goal. Instead, Sir Bob wants to increase the world’s awareness of global economic injustices. He said: “The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough.…Charity will never really solve the problems.…It is time for justice, and 20 years after Live Aid people now demand it.” He outlined his plan to reduce world poverty: “By doubling aid, fully canceling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.”

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