Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame discarded his business suit for jungle fatigues on June 25 to take part in a naming ceremony of 30 babies in a national park. The names and their recipients were a little out of the ordinary as all of the infants were rare mountain gorillas. Among them was a set of year-old twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, translated as ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages who also participated in designating names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said: “This is a wonderful day. We hope our gorillas will thrive and that the international attention will keep poachers away.”

The naming ceremony was certainly no monkey business: the primate youngsters are part of an endangered species, with only 700 known to zoologists. They all live in the jungles of central Africa and none lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas and the annual naming ceremony of their young will revive Rwanda’s flagging tourism industry. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year and top of the list of most travel itineraries is an excursion to see the world’s largest primates. The great apes are seen as key to help revive Rwanda’s international image following the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s.

WARM-UPS

1. JUNGLE LIFE: The classroom is now a jungle and all students are primates. Choose whether you want to be a gorilla, chimpanzee or some other monkey or ape. Introduce yourself to your fellow primates. Discuss life in the jungle and the things that are important to you. What are the main issues of the day? What do you think of those strange humans who live in the cities?

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

Rwanda / Paul Kagame / business suits / jungle fatigues / national parks / baby names / gorillas / gorilla names / poachers / endangered species / tourism / ethnic cleansing

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

3. GORILLAS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with gorillas. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

4. PREDICTION: Look at all of the words in the “Chat” section. In pairs / groups, use all of these words in order to create the story you think you will read in the article. Find a new partner. Tell each other the outline of your predicted stories. Give each other feedback on the bits you think will and will not be in the article.

5. TWO-MINUTE GORILLA DEBATES: With a partner, engage in these fun 2-minute debates. Students A firmly believe in the opinions on the left, Students B support the opinions on the right. Change partners often.

1. Gorillas are the greatest animals in the world. vs. I don’t think so.
2. A gorilla would be a great pet. vs. You are totally crazy.
3. Gorillas and humans can talk to each other. vs. Not in the jungle.
4. We descended from gorillas. vs. Humans and gorillas are totally different.
5. Gorillas should be kept in zoos. vs. Gorillas belong in the jungle.
6. Tours to see gorillas are great for tourism. vs. Gorillas should be left alone.
7. The gorilla should be on the WWF* logo. vs. The panda is best for that logo.
8. Frogs are more important for conservation. vs. Gorillas should be top of all conservation lists.

* World Wildlife Fund

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	The Rwandan president has renamed his country’s soccer team.	T / F
b.	The Rwandan president named baby gorillas in the jungle.	T / F
c.	The thirty gorillas were all twins – 15 pairs.	T / F
d.	A Rwandan girl hoped poachers would stay away from the gorillas.	T / F
e.	There was a lot of monkey business to be conducted.	T / F
f.	There are 70,000 mountain gorillas in the African jungles.	T / F
g.	The gorillas are seen as a major draw for tourism in Rwanda.	T / F
h.	The president hopes the gorillas will cast Rwanda in a positive light.	T / F

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

a.	discarded	mischievousness
b.	fatigues	flourish
c.	out of the ordinary	military uniforms
d.	designating	illegal hunters
e.	poachers	threatened
f.	monkey business	genocide
g.	endangered	tossed aside
h.	flagging	assigning
i.	thrive	sagging
j.	ethnic cleansing	unusual

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

a.	discarded his business suit	away
b.	a little out	tourism industry
c.	designating	cleansing
d.	We hope our gorillas will	of the ordinary
e.	keep poachers	business
f.	monkey	for jungle fatigues
g.	none lives	thrive
h.	revive Rwanda’s flagging	apes
i.	the great	in captivity
j.	ethnic	names

WHILE READING / LISTENING

SYNONYM FILL: Place the number of the synonym group in the correct gap (It is not important to guess a correct word - any of the synonyms from each group could be put into the relevant gap).

Rwandan president names gorillas

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame ____ his business suit for jungle fatigues on June 25 to take part in a naming ceremony of 30 babies in a national park. The names and their recipients were a little out of the ordinary as all of the ____ were rare mountain gorillas. Among them was a set of year-old twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, translated as ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages who also participated in ____ names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said: “This is a wonderful day. We hope our gorillas will ____ and that the international attention will keep poachers away.”

The naming ceremony was certainly no monkey business: the primate youngsters are part of an ____ species, with only 700 known to zoologists. They all live in the jungles of central Africa and none lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas and the annual naming ceremony of their young will revive Rwanda’s ____ tourism industry. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year and top of the list of most travel ____ is an excursion to see the world’s largest primates. The great apes are seen as ____ to help revive Rwanda’s international image following the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s.

1 thrive flourish prosper get there	2 itineraries plans schedules courses	3 discarded tossed aside abandoned dispensed with	4 endangered threatened imperiled jeopardized
5 key pivotal primary indispensable	6 infants young babes tots	7 designating assigning nominating choosing	8 flagging sagging ailing slumping

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. SYNONYM FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the synonym 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 RWANDA / MOUNTAIN GORILLA SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Rwanda, mountain gorillas or both.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups 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:

discarded recipients infants translated designating poachers

monkey business zoologists captivity flagging excursion key

 DISCUSSION

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

1. What images went through your mind when you read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the story?
3. What adjective would you use to describe this story?
4. Are you interested in stories on wildlife?
5. Would you rather read stories on gorillas or on President Bush?
6. Would you like to go to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas?
7. What would you do if you saw goods made from gorillas in a store?
8. Have you ever given money to the WWF or other conservation charities?
9. What do you know about mountain gorillas?
10. Have you seen the movie or read the book Gorillas in the Mist?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. What do you know about Rwanda?
4. What do you think about gorillas?
5. Which do you think are more interesting, gorillas or chimpanzees?
6. What are the similarities between gorillas and humans?
7. What would you think if (when?) gorillas became extinct one day?
8. Do you think endangered mountain gorillas should be part of a country’s tourism attractions?
9. What name would you give to a baby gorilla?
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

BABY NAMES: You have been chosen to name the following babies. In pairs / groups, decide on the names and the reasons for choosing them.

BABY	NAME	REASONS
Mountain gorilla
Elephant
Human boy
Human girl
Frog
Cockroach
Your choice

Change partners and compare the names you chose. Tell each other the reasons behind the names. Provide feedback on the choices and reasons.

Have a class discussion and vote to decide which is the best name for each baby.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Rwandan president names gorillas

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame discarded his business suit
___ ______ ________ on June 25 to take part in a naming ceremony of 30 babies in a national park. The names ___ _____ __________ were a little out of the ordinary as __ __ ___ _______ were rare mountain gorillas. Among them was a set __ ____-___ _____, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, translated as ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages who also ____________ __ ___________ names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said: “This is a wonderful day. We hope our ________ ____ ______ and that the international attention will ____ ________ ____.”

The naming ceremony was ________ __ ______ _______: the primate youngsters are part of an endangered species, with only 700
_____ __ _________. They all live in the jungles of central Africa and none lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas and the annual naming ________ __ _____ _____ will revive Rwanda’s ________ _______ ________. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year and top of the list of most travel __________ __ __ _________ to see the world’s _______ ________. The great apes ___ ____ __ ___ to help revive Rwanda’s international image following the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s.

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 Rwanda’s mountain gorillas. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. ENDANGERED SPECIES: Create a fact sheet on one of the world’s endangered species. Include ideas on how to better protect these animals. Show and explain your fact sheet to your classmates in your next lesson.

4. LETTER: Write a letter to Rwandan president Paul Kagame about his idea to increase tourism through the annual baby gorilla naming ceremony. Read your letter to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all give similar advice?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	discarded	tossed aside
b.	fatigues	military uniforms
c.	out of the ordinary	unusual
d.	designating	assigning
e.	poachers	illegal hunters
f.	monkey business	mischievousness
g.	endangered	threatened
h.	flagging	sagging
i.	thrive	flourish
j.	ethnic cleansing	genocide

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	discarded his business suit	for jungle fatigues
b.	a little out	of the ordinary
c.	designating	names
d.	We hope our gorillas will	thrive
e.	keep poachers	away
f.	monkey	business
g.	none lives	in captivity
h.	revive Rwanda’s flagging	tourism industry
i.	the great	apes
j.	ethnic	cleansing

SYNONYM FILL:

Rwandan president names gorillas

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame ---3--- his business suit for jungle fatigues on June 25 to take part in a naming ceremony of 30 babies in a national park. The names and their recipients were a little out of the ordinary as all of the ---6--- were rare mountain gorillas. Among them was a set of year-old twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, translated as ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages who also participated in ---7--- names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said: “This is a wonderful day. We hope our gorillas will ---1--- and that the international attention will keep poachers away.”

The naming ceremony was certainly no monkey business: the primate youngsters are part of an ---4--- species, with only 700 known to zoologists. They all live in the jungles of central Africa and none lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas and the annual naming ceremony of their young will revive Rwanda’s ---8--- tourism industry. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year and top of the list of most travel ---2--- is an excursion to see the world’s largest primates. The great apes are seen as ---5--- to help revive Rwanda’s international image following the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s.

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