Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

The United States is putting pressure on China and Russia to do more against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. President Bush said they “have got to understand” the world will suffer if Iran decides to build nuclear weapons. The US and European Union have continually warned the world of the threat of Iran building its own nuclear arsenal. They have urged the United Nations to impose tough penalties on Iran if it continues with its nuclear programme. Bush attacked Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. He said: “The world has spoken…and yet they’re constantly ignoring the demands. My view is that we need to strengthen our sanctions.” He plans to try and convince Chinese and Russian leaders that “an Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing for the world.”

Iran’s nuclear plans are also unsettling its neighbours, who are now pushing ahead with their own nuclear ambitions. Almost a dozen Middle East countries are already in talks with UN experts, who will provide guidance to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries control nearly half of the world’s oil reserves and they need alternative energies for when their oil runs out. There are fears that this will lead to a scramble for nuclear weapons in the region. The Arab world may feel such a need to counter a nuclear-armed Iran. Mostafa Alani, a security expert in the Gulf, said: "We tell the Iranians, 'We have no problem with you developing civilian nuclear energy, but if you're going to turn your nuclear program into a weapons program, we'll do the same.’”

WARM-UPS

1. NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about nuclear weapons. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out.

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

pressure / ambitions / world suffering / tough penalties / uranium / sanctions / neighbours / the Middle East / oil reserves / alternative energies / security

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. NUCLEAR CLUB: With your partner(s), talk about these nuclear (or soon-to-be) powers. How dangerous is each one. Agree on a rank for them: 10 = very dangerous; 1 = very safe. Change partners and tell each other your rankings.

USA
Russia
China
India
Iran

Great Britain
Israel
France
North Korea
India

4. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: What will your country do for energy in the future? What of these alternative energies do you think your country will use?

nuclear energy
thermal energy
solar power
wind power

wave / tidal power
biofuels
hydrogen fuel
other not-yet-invented fuel

5. HEADLINES? With your partner(s), decide if these headlines could come true. Develop their stories. Change partners and share your stories.

US invades Iran
USA and UK to destroy all their nuclear weapons
Country number 162 no with nuclear arms
China, Russia and US jointly develop new nuclear super weapon
Swaziland becomes the world’s weapons superpower
Iran invades USA

6. QUICK DEBATE: Have this quick debate with your partner(s). Students A think Iran should develop nuclear weapons; students B think a nuclear-armed Iran would make the world a much more dangerous place. Change partners and topics every two minutes.

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 USA wants Chinese and Russian help to limit an arms race.	T / F
b.	The European Union has no problem with Iran having nuclear arms.	T / F
c.	President Bush wants Iran to enrich much more uranium.	T / F
d.	Bush thinks Iranian nuclear weapons would stabilize the world.	T / F
e.	Iran’s neighbours are not happy with Iran’s nuclear plans.	T / F
f.	The Arabian Gulf countries control over 80% of the world’s oil.	T / F
g.	The Arab world is encouraging Iran’s nuclear weapons plans.	T / F
h.	A Gulf security expert said the Gulf countries will never go nuclear.	T / F

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

a.	putting	respond to
b.	suffer	nonmilitary
c.	arsenal	advice
d.	penalties	troubling
e.	incredibly	rush
f.	unsettling	sanctions
g.	guidance	applying
h.	scramble	unbelievably
i.	counter	be damaged
j.	civilian	arms

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

a.	putting pressure on China	arsenal
b.	the world will suffer if Iran	nuclear-armed Iran
c.	building its own nuclear	the world
d.	impose tough	of the world’s oil reserves
e.	incredibly destabilizing for	and Russia to do more
f.	Iran’s nuclear plans are also	talks with UN experts
g.	Middle East countries are already in	for nuclear weapons
h.	These countries control nearly half	decides to build nuclear weapons
i.	fears that this will lead to a scramble	penalties on Iran
j.	feel such a need to counter a	unsettling its neighbours

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

The United States is putting ________ on China and Russia to do more against Iran’s nuclear ________. President Bush said they “have got to understand” the world will suffer if Iran ________ to build nuclear weapons. The US and European Union have ________ warned the world of the threat of Iran building its own nuclear arsenal. They have urged the United Nations to ________ tough penalties on Iran if it continues with its nuclear programme. Bush attacked Iran for its ________ to suspend uranium enrichment. He said: “The world has spoken…and yet they’re ________ ignoring the demands. My view is that we need to ________ our sanctions.” He plans to try and convince Chinese and Russian leaders that “an Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing for the world.”

constantly
impose
ambitions
continually
refusal
pressure
strengthen
decides

Iran’s nuclear plans are also ________ its neighbours, who are now pushing ahead with their own nuclear ambitions. Almost a ________ Middle East countries are already in talks with UN experts, who will provide ________ to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries control nearly half of the world’s oil reserves and they need ________ energies for when their oil ________ out. There are fears that this will lead to a scramble for nuclear weapons in the region. The Arab world may feel such a need to ________ a nuclear-armed Iran. Mostafa Alani, a security expert in the Gulf, said: "We tell the Iranians, 'We have no problem with you developing ________ nuclear energy, but if you're going to turn your nuclear program into a weapons program, we'll do the ________.’”

counter
guidance
unsettling
same
alternative
civilian
dozen
runs

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

The United States ________________________ China and Russia to do more against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. President Bush said they “have got to understand” the world will suffer ________________________ nuclear weapons. The US and European Union have continually warned the world ________________________ building its own nuclear arsenal. They have urged the United Nations to impose tough penalties on Iran if it continues with its nuclear programme. Bush attacked ________________________ suspend uranium enrichment. He said: “The world has spoken…and yet they’re constantly ignoring the demands. My ________________________ strengthen our sanctions.” He plans to try and convince Chinese and Russian leaders that “an Iran with a nuclear ________________________ destabilizing for the world.”

Iran’s nuclear plans ________________________ neighbours, who are now pushing ahead with their own nuclear ambitions. Almost a dozen Middle East countries ________________________ UN experts, who will provide guidance to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These ________________________ the world’s oil reserves and they need alternative energies ________________________. There are fears that this will lead to a scramble for nuclear weapons in the region. The Arab world ________________________ counter a nuclear-armed Iran. Mostafa Alani, a security expert in the Gulf, said: "We tell the Iranians, 'We have no problem with you developing civilian nuclear energy, but if you're going ________________________ into a weapons program, we'll do the same.’”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

nuclear

weapon

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

pressure
suffer
urged
refusal
constantly
incredibly

unsettling
dozen
half
scramble
expert
turn

STUDENT SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about NUCLEAR WEAPONS in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

DISCUSSION

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
Do you think a Middle East arms race will happen?
Will the world suffer if Iran has nuclear arms?
Do you think George W. Bush interferes too much around the world?
Why do you think China and Russia aren’t putting so much pressure on Iran?
How do you think Iranians view George W. Bush?
Do you think it’s OK for Iran to have nuclear weapons?
Who enjoys great popularity in your country or in the world?
What kind of sanctions do you think would work against Iran?
How does your country view Iran’s nuclear ambitions?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Did you like reading this article?
Do you have any nuclear neighbours? Do they scare you?
Do you think all nuclear armed countries should disarm?
What differences could countries make in the world if they spent arms budgets on helping people?
What will your country do when the oil runs out?
Do you think it’s OK for the six Gulf countries to have nuclear power and nuclear weapons?
Do countries with nuclear arms have the right to tell other countries not to build them?
Do you think most countries will be nuclear armed one day?
Do you think it’ll be easy for terrorists to get nuclear arms?
Did you like this discussion?

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

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

SPEAKING

UN SPEECH:

You have to make a speech at the United Nations about Iran and its nuclear programme. With your partner(s), plan your speech. Use the table to help you with your points and notes.

Points	Notes
Your general ideas about nuclear energy
Your general ideas about nuclear weapons
Your general ideas about Iran
Reasons why Iran should have nuclear power stations
Reasons why Iran should not have nuclear power stations
Your conclusion

Change partners and share your ideas. Give each other feedback on how to make your speeches better.
Give your speeches. Answer questions. Vote on the best speech.

LANGUAGE

CORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article.

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

The United States is (1) ____ pressure on China and Russia to do more against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. President Bush said they “have got to understand” the world will (2) ____ if Iran decides to build nuclear weapons. The US and European Union have (3) ____ warned the world of the threat of Iran building its own nuclear arsenal. They have (4) ____ the United Nations to impose tough penalties on Iran if it continues with its nuclear programme. Bush attacked Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. He said: “The world has spoken…and yet they’re (5) ____ ignoring the demands. My view is that we need to strengthen our sanctions.” He plans to try and convince Chinese and Russian leaders that “an Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing (6) ____ the world.”

Iran’s nuclear plans are also unsettling its neighbours, who are now pushing ahead (7) ____ their own nuclear ambitions. Almost a dozen Middle East countries are already (8) ____ talks with UN experts, who will provide guidance to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries control nearly half of the world’s oil reserves and they need alternative energies for when their oil runs (9) ____. There are fears that this will lead to a (10) ____ for nuclear weapons in the region. The Arab world may feel (11) ____ a need to counter a nuclear-armed Iran. Mostafa Alani, a security expert in the Gulf, said: "We tell the Iranians, 'We have no problem with you developing civilian nuclear energy, but if you're going to (12) ____ your nuclear program into a weapons program, we'll do the same.’”

1.	(a)	put	(b)	putting	(c)	puts	(d)	putty
2.	(a)	suffer	(b)	suffers	(c)	suffering	(d)	sufferer
3.	(a)	continuity	(b)	continuation	(c)	continually	(d)	continued
4.	(a)	the urge	(b)	an urge	(c)	urge	(d)	urged
5.	(a)	constantly	(b)	constant	(c)	consistent	(d)	continent
6.	(a)	fork	(b)	for	(c)	form	(d)	fort
7.	(a)	which	(b)	whether	(c)	by	(d)	with
8.	(a)	over	(b)	on	(c)	in	(d)	under
9.	(a)	down	(b)	out	(c)	in	(d)	up
10.	(a)	scramble	(b)	scrambler	(c)	scrambled	(d)	scram
11.	(a)	couch	(b)	touch	(c)	much	(d)	such
12.	(a)	turning	(b)	turn up	(c)	turn	(d)	turnout

WRITING:

Write about nuclear weapons for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_______________________________________________________________________

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 about Iran’s nuclear programme. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. NUCLEAR POSTER: Make a poster about the different countries around the world that have nuclear weapons. Show your poster to your class in the next lesson. Vote on the best one(s).

4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about the dangers we will face if half the countries in the world have nuclear weapons.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Iran’s leader. Ask him three questions about his nuclear ambitions. Give him three pieces of advice about being a responsible nuclear power. Tell him how to deal with George W. Bush. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. F

d. F

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	putting	applying
b.	suffer	be damaged
c.	arsenal	arms
d.	penalties	sanctions
e.	incredibly	unbelievably
f.	unsettling	troubling
g.	guidance	advice
h.	scramble	rush
i.	counter	respond to
j.	civilian	nonmilitary

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	putting pressure on China	and Russia to do more
b.	the world will suffer if Iran	decides to build nuclear weapons
c.	building its own nuclear	arsenal
d.	impose tough	penalties on Iran
e.	incredibly destabilizing for	the world
f.	Iran’s nuclear plans are also	unsettling its neighbours
g.	Middle East countries are already in	talks with UN experts
h.	These countries control nearly half	of the world’s oil reserves
i.	fears that this will lead to a scramble	for nuclear weapons
j.	feel such a need to counter a	nuclear-armed Iran

GAP FILL:

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

The United States is putting pressure on China and Russia to do more against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. President Bush said they “have got to understand” the world will suffer if Iran decides to build nuclear weapons. The US and European Union have continually warned the world of the threat of Iran building its own nuclear arsenal. They have urged the United Nations to impose tough penalties on Iran if it continues with its nuclear programme. Bush attacked Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. He said: “The world has spoken…and yet they’re constantly ignoring the demands. My view is that we need to strengthen our sanctions.” He plans to try and convince Chinese and Russian leaders that “an Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing for the world.”

Iran’s nuclear plans are also unsettling its neighbours, who are now pushing ahead with their own nuclear ambitions. Almost a dozen Middle East countries are already in talks with UN experts, who will provide guidance to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries control nearly half of the world’s oil reserves and they need alternative energies for when their oil runs out. There are fears that this will lead to a scramble for nuclear weapons in the region. The Arab world may feel such a need to counter a nuclear-armed Iran. Mostafa Alani, a security expert in the Gulf, said: "We tell the Iranians, 'We have no problem with you developing civilian nuclear energy, but if you're going to turn your nuclear program into a weapons program, we'll do the same.’”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - b

2 - a

3 - c

4 -d

5 - a

6 -b

7 - d

8 -c

9 -c

10 - b

11 -a

12 - d

Breaking News English

THE ARTICLE

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

LISTENING

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT SURVEY

DISCUSSION

SPEAKING

LANGUAGE

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

WRITING:

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

Nuclear race possible in Middle East

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