People in India are shocked at the moment because of television pictures of two policewomen attacking a young woman on a date. The attack happened in the northern town of Meerat. Her “crime” was to cuddle her boyfriend in the local park. Authorities have already suspended the officers. They were part of a police campaign called “Operation Romeo”, which aimed to stamp out kissing in public. Women’s groups nationwide have sent strong protests to the Meerat police and dozens of students protested in the streets in Delhi. They want an immediate end to the police attacks on young lovers.

The couple at the center of the beating disappeared after their faces appeared on television. The sweethearts have suddenly become national heroes. Indians are deeply interested in both sides of the story. They are both shocked at the beating and concerned about the safety of the couple. There are concerns the two lovers may hide forever because they feel ashamed of their romantic activities. An angry Meerat resident shouted at local police officers. She asked them: “Is falling in love wrong? Who gave the police the right to beat and hit people and misbehave in such a manner?

WARM-UPS

1. MY DATING HISTORY: Are you a romantic? In pairs / groups, talk about your history of dating. Talk about your best and worst dates. Does romance last? Do you kiss and cuddle in the park?

2. KISSING: How does your society view kissing in public? With your partner(s), discuss whether it is OK for lovers to kiss in the following places. Are there limits to the kind of kissing that might take place at these places / occasions?

In a park On a busy rush hour train In the back row at the movies In MacDonald’s At a church, temple, mosque…

During an English lesson In an elevator At a family party In a library In the toy section of a department store

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

Shock / India / policewomen / going on dates / cuddling / scandals / Romeo / kissing in public / lovers / national heroes / romantic activities / falling in love

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

4. ROMANTIC QUESTIONS: Point to one of the words below and ask your partner to ask you a question using it. Takes turns in choosing and pointing.

Romance Kissing Darling Lover

Decency Immoral Hugging Heavy petting

Dating Public displays of affection Falling in love Holding hands

5. KISS OPINIONS: Discuss these comments with your partner(s). Who do you think might have these opinions?

1. People should not kiss in public. Not everyone wants to see such behavior.
2. Kissing in public is a basic human need.
3. People should never kiss in front of their parents.
4. Kissing is over-rated.
5. Kissing should only take place after marriage.
6. People can kiss when and where they want and for how long they want.
7. The French are the best kissers.
8. The phrase “kiss and make up” is an important one to remember for couples.

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Two Indian policewomen attacked a young woman on a date.	T / F
b.	The policewomen were jealous of the woman having a boyfriend.	T / F
c.	There is a police campaign to make kissing illegal in India.	T / F
d.	Students protested in the streets of Delhi over the incident.	T / F
e.	The young couple spoke on television about the attack.	T / F
f.	The Indian public is deeply shocked by kissing in public.	T / F
g.	The young lovers may hide forever.	T / F
h.	A local resident said police should beat young couples who fall in love.	T / F

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

a.	shocked	hug
b.	pictures	way
c.	cuddle	complaints
d.	stamp out	very
e.	protests	end
f.	center	upset
g.	deeply	citizen
h.	concerned	heart
i.	resident	images
j.	manner	worried

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

a.	People in India are shocked at	out kissing in public
b.	Her “crime” was to cuddle	the police attacks on young lovers
c.	…which aimed to stamp	center of the beating
d.	groups nationwide have sent strong	in love wrong?
e.	They want an immediate end to	her boyfriend in the local park
f.	The couple at the	of their romantic activities
g.	The sweethearts have suddenly	both sides of the story
h.	Indians are deeply interested in	the moment
i.	they feel ashamed	protests to the Meerat police
j.	Is falling	become national heroes

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Indian policewomen slap dating couples

People in India are _________ at the _________ because of television pictures of two policewomen attacking a young woman on a _________. The attack happened in the northern town of Meerat. Her “_________” was to cuddle her boyfriend in the local park. Authorities have already _________ the officers. They were part of a police campaign called “Operation Romeo”, which aimed to _________ out kissing in public. Women’s groups nationwide have sent _________ protests to the Meerat police and dozens of students protested in the streets in Delhi. They want an immediate _________ to the police attacks on young lovers.		crime stamp moment end shocked suspended date strong
The couple at the _________ of the beating disappeared after their faces appeared on television. The sweethearts have _________ become national heroes. Indians are deeply interested in both _________ of the story. They are both shocked at the beating and _________ about the safety of the couple. There are concerns the two lovers may hide _________ because they feel ashamed of their romantic activities. An angry Meerat _________ shouted at local police officers. She asked them: “Is _________ in love wrong? Who gave the police the right to beat and hit people and misbehave in such a _________?		manner suddenly resident forever center sides falling concerned

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Indian policewomen slap dating couples

People in India are shocked at the _________ because of television pictures of two policewomen attacking a young woman on a date. The attack happened in the _________ town of Meerat. Her “crime” was to cuddle her boyfriend in the local park. Authorities have already _________ the officers. They were part of a police campaign called “Operation Romeo”, which aimed to ______-___ kissing in public. Women’s groups nationwide have sent strong protests to the Meerat police and _________ of students protested in the streets in Delhi. They want an _________ end to the police attacks on young lovers.

The couple at the _______ ___ the beating disappeared after their faces appeared on television. The sweethearts have suddenly become national heroes. Indians are _________ interested in both sides of the story. They are both shocked at the beating and _________ about the safety of the couple. There are concerns the two lovers may hide forever because they feel _________ of their romantic activities. An angry Meerat resident shouted at local police officers. She asked them: “Is falling in love wrong? Who gave the police ____ ______ to beat and hit people and _________ in such a manner?

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 activity. 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 “DATING” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about the things we should and shouldn’t do in public when dating.

• 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:

moment northern crime stamp groups immediate

center suddenly safety forever resident falling

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What adjectives describe your feelings about this story?
3. Do you think it’s right that the policewomen were suspended?
4. What do you think of “Operation Romeo”?
5. Do you think more senior police officers should lose their jobs over this incident?
6. Don’t you think it’s good that authorities are protecting India’s culture, in which kissing and cuddling aren’t common?
7. Are you surprised by the public reaction in India?
8. What rules would you male about kissing in public?
9. Do you think stamping out kissing in public might be a good thing?
10. What do you think of other cultures in which kissing in public is common / unacceptable?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Do you think it’s OK to kiss and cuddle in a park?
4. What do you think the boyfriend did while his girlfriend was being slapped by the policewoman?
5. What would you do if two police officers slapped your partner because you were cuddling in the park?
6. Public kissing was rare before movies came along. Do you think kissing in movies changed society?
7. Have you ever been shocked by people kissing in public?
8. How and when do you think French kissing first started?
9. What country has world’s biggest romantics?
10. Did you like this discussion?

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

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

KISSING RULES: You are the new Secretary of Cuddling Kissing (SOCK) for your government. Team up with your SOCK partner(s) and decide the rules for kissing in your country. In the table below, write two reasons why kissing is wrong in the places below or give two reasons for when it is OK.

PLACE	WRONG	OK IF…
A Library	1. 2.	1. 2.
MacDonald’s	1. 2.	1. 2.
A place of worship	1. 2.	1. 2.
On a train	1. 2.	1. 2.
In an English lesson	1. 2.	1. 2.
In the street	1. 2.	1. 2.

Change partners and compare your rules and decisions.

Role play a discussion between a SOCK and a SACK (Secretary Against Cuddling and Kissing). SOCKs think kissing is OK anywhere. SACKs think it should be totally banned.

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 this story. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. EYEWITNESS: Imagine you were in the Indian park and witnessed the police attack on the young lover. Write your eyewitness account of what happened. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the head of the Indian police. Tell him/her what you think of the attack on the lovers in the park. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	shocked	upset
b.	pictures	images
c.	cuddle	hug
d.	stamp out	end
e.	protests	complaints
f.	center	heart
g.	deeply	very
h.	concerned	worried
i.	resident	citizen
j.	manner	way

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	People in India are shocked at	the moment
b.	Her “crime” was to cuddle	her boyfriend in the local park
c.	…which aimed to stamp	out kissing in public
d.	groups nationwide have sent strong	protests to the Meerat police
e.	They want an immediate end to	the police attacks on young lovers
f.	The couple at the	center of the beating
g.	The sweethearts have suddenly	become national heroes
h.	Indians are deeply interested in	both sides of the story
i.	they feel ashamed	of their romantic activities
j.	Is falling	in love wrong?

GAP FILL:

Indian policewomen slap dating couples

People in India are shocked at the moment because of television pictures of two policewomen attacking a young woman on a date. The attack happened in the northern town of Meerat. Her “crime” was to cuddle her boyfriend in the local park. Authorities have already suspended the officers. They were part of a police campaign called “Operation Romeo”, which aimed to stamp out kissing in public. Women’s groups nationwide have sent strong protests to the Meerat police and dozens of students protested in the streets in Delhi. They want an immediate end to the police attacks on young lovers.

The couple at the center of the beating disappeared after their faces appeared on television. The sweethearts have suddenly become national heroes. Indians are deeply interested in both sides of the story. They are both shocked at the beating and concerned about the safety of the couple. There are concerns the two lovers may hide forever because they feel ashamed of their romantic activities. An angry Meerat resident shouted at local police officers. She asked them: “Is falling in love wrong? Who gave the police the right to beat and hit people and misbehave in such a manner?

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