Breaking News English

        

1. ONLINE PIRACY: Walk around the class and talk to other students about online piracy. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

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

Intellectual / property / prominent / Wikipedia / piracy / web browser / copyright / doubtful / senators / entertainment / industries / entrepreneurs / economic growth

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

3. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Copyrighted	How bad is pirating it?	How do we protect them?
songs
movies
software
books
games
operating systems

4. ONLINE PIRACY: Students A strongly believe it cannot be stopped; Students B strongly believe it can.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. INTERNET: What are the worst things about the Internet? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

piracy identity theft losing passwords pop-ups

phishing cyber-bullying spam mail other _______________

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A bill has been announced in the U.S. to protect online pirates.	T / F
b.	Several famous websites protested against piracy.	T / F
c.	The eBay site switched off for 24 hours to protest.	T / F
d.	Many credit card services are being targeted as being pirates.	T / F
e.	The anti-piracy bill doesn’t have a good chance of being passed.	T / F
f.	Internet site owners believe an anti-piracy bill would be censorship.	T / F
g.	1,200 tech executives signed a letter to the U.S. Congress.	T / F
h.	Wikipedia said on its website that it hasn’t finished protesting.	T / F

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

1.	prominent	a.	law
2	proposed	b.	offenders
3.	legislation	c.	unsure
4.	allow	d.	mistreat
5.	abuse	e.	worries
6.	doubtful	f.	leading
7.	crucial	g.	let
8.	violators	h.	states
9.	concerns	i.	vital
10.	declares	j.	suggested

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	Several prominent	a.	browser
2	protest against the proposed anti-	b.	done yet
3.	owner of the Firefox web	c.	abuse copyright
4.	would allow U.S. copyright holders	d.	websites
5.	Sites that	e.	piracy legislation
6.	It is now	f.	violators
7.	copyright	g.	without free knowledge
8.	hurt economic growth and	h.	to get court orders
9.	We're not	i.	doubtful
10.	imagine a world	j.	chill innovation

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Several (1) ____________ websites like Wikipedia and Reddit went 'dark' on Wednesday to protest against the (2) ____________ anti-piracy legislation called SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act). Many other sites (3) ____________ SOPA but did not “go dark” in Wednesday’s 24-hour protest. These include Mozilla (owner of the Firefox web (4) ____________), Facebook, eBay and Google. A similar bill in the US Senate, the Protection of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would allow U.S. copyright holders to get (5) ____________ orders against foreign websites that steal from them. Sites that (6) ____________ copyright would not be able to use many online advertising networks or credit card services. It is now (7) ____________ the bill will get the support of the sixty senators it needs in a crucial (8) ____________ on Tuesday, January 24th.		doubtful proposed court vote prominent oppose abuse browser
The entertainment, pharmaceutical and fashion industries (9) ____________ support the bills. They lose billions of dollars every year to (10) ____________ violators. Internet companies oppose the bills, saying they will lead to (11) ____________ that would damage the Internet by discouraging new online (12) ____________-ups. A letter to Congress signed by 130 technology entrepreneurs and executives (13) ____________ their concerns. It said SOPA and PIPA would "hurt economic growth and (14) ____________ innovation in legitimate services that help people create, communicate, and make money online". Wikipedia has said it would continue the fight. It (15) ____________ on its front page: "We're not done yet." It also said: “More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world (16) ____________ free knowledge.”		chill strongly censorship expressed start copyright without declares

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

_________________________ like Wikipedia and Reddit went 'dark' on Wednesday to protest against the _________________________ legislation called SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act). Many other sites oppose SOPA but did not “go dark” in Wednesday’s 24-hour protest. These include Mozilla (_________________________ web browser), Facebook, eBay and Google. A similar bill in the US Senate, the Protection of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would allow U.S. _________________________ get court orders against foreign websites that steal from them. Sites that abuse copyright would not be able to use many _________________________ or credit card services. It is now doubtful the bill will get the support of the sixty senators it needs _________________________ on Tuesday, January 24th.

The entertainment, pharmaceutical and fashion _________________________ the bills. They lose billions of dollars every year to copyright violators. Internet companies oppose the bills, saying they will _________________________ that would damage the Internet by discouraging new online start-ups. A letter to Congress signed by 130 technology entrepreneurs and executives _________________________. It said SOPA and PIPA would "hurt economic growth and chill innovation in legitimate services that _________________________, communicate, and make money online". Wikipedia has said it would continue the fight. It _________________________ page: "We're not done yet." It also said: “More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world _________________________.”

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

online

piracy

• 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 how they were used in the text:

several anti- 24 similar orders services

support vote lead expressed continue free

ONLINE PIRACY SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about online piracy 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.

ONLINE PIRACY DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘piracy’?
c)	What do you think about what you read?
d)	Do you think intellectual copyright should be protected?
e)	Do you ever download things that you shouldn’t?
f)	If no one pays for music, games and movie, people won’t make them, or won’t make them as good. What do you think of this?
g)	Do you think SOPA and PIPA will get passed?
h)	What do you think of Wikipedia’s action in “going dark” for 24 hours?
i)	What punishment should sites that host or share pirated stuff?
j)	What do you think of the closure of the site Megaupload.com?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	It is likely the actions of Internet companies like Wikipedia will defeat the bills in Congress. Is this kind of power in the hands of sites good?
c)	How can the entertainment and fashion industries better protect their copyrighted material (movies, songs, etc.)?
d)	What punishment should be given to copyright violators?
e)	So many people nowadays think downloading is a way of life and don’t see the illegality of it. Is it too late to go back?
f)	Would a bill protecting intellectual copyright lead to greater censorship?
g)	Would the proposed bills “hurt economic growth and chill innovation”?
h)	Is charging 99 cents for songs and similalry low prices the way to go ?
i)	What would a world without free knowledge be like?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s boss?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Several (1) ____ websites like Wikipedia and Reddit went 'dark' on Wednesday to protest against the (2) ____ anti-piracy legislation called SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act). Many other sites (3) ____ SOPA but did not “go dark” in Wednesday’s 24-hour protest. These include Mozilla (owner of the Firefox web browser), Facebook, eBay and Google. A (4) ____ bill in the US Senate, the Protection of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would allow U.S. copyright holders to get court orders against foreign websites that steal (5) ____ them. Sites that abuse copyright would not be able to use many online advertising networks or credit card services. It is now doubtful the bill will get the support of the sixty senators it needs in a (6) ____ vote on Tuesday, January 24th.

The entertainment, pharmaceutical and fashion industries (7) ____ support the bills. They lose billions of dollars every year to copyright violators. Internet companies oppose the bills, saying they will lead (8) ____ censorship that would damage the Internet by discouraging new online (9) ____-ups. A letter to Congress signed by 130 technology entrepreneurs and executives expressed their concerns. It said SOPA and PIPA would "hurt economic growth and (10) ____ innovation in legitimate services that help people create, communicate, and make money online". Wikipedia has said it would continue the fight. It (11) ____ on its front page: "We're not done yet." It also said: “More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without (12) ____ knowledge.”

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	promenade	(b)	promiscuous	(c)	prompt	(d)	prominent
2.	(a)	proposal	(b)	proposed	(c)	proposition	(d)	proposing
3.	(a)	oppose	(b)	propose	(c)	against	(d)	anti-
4.	(a)	same	(b)	simpleton	(c)	similar	(d)	simile
5.	(a)	for	(b)	of	(c)	from	(d)	by
6.	(a)	crux	(b)	crucial	(c)	cruciate	(d)	crucible
7.	(a)	strongly	(b)	strength	(c)	strong	(d)	strongest
8.	(a)	a	(b)	by	(c)	of	(d)	to
9.	(a)	begin	(b)	start	(c)	commence	(d)	launch
10.	(a)	cold	(b)	air-condition	(c)	freezing	(d)	chill
11.	(a)	whispers	(b)	fonts	(c)	declares	(d)	orates
12.	(a)	free	(b)	freely	(c)	freedom	(d)	frees

 
 

WRITING

Write about online piracy for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 out more about online piracy. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. ONLINE PIRACY: Make a poster about online piracy. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SOPA: Write a magazine article about the SOPA bill. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to an intellectual property expert. Ask him/her three questions about online piracy. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

F

d.

F

e.

T

f.

T

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	prominent	a.	leading
2	proposed	b.	suggested
3.	legislation	c.	law
4.	allow	d.	let
5.	abuse	e.	mistreat
6.	doubtful	f.	unsure
7.	crucial	g.	vital
8.	violators	h.	offenders
9.	concerns	i.	worries
10.	declares	j.	states

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	Several prominent	a.	websites
2	protest against the proposed anti-	b.	piracy legislation
3.	owner of the Firefox web	c.	browser
4.	would allow U.S. copyright holders	d.	to get court orders
5.	Sites that	e.	abuse copyright
6.	It is now	f.	doubtful
7.	copyright	g.	violators
8.	hurt economic growth and	h.	chill innovation
9.	We're not	i.	done yet
10.	imagine a world	j.	without free knowledge

GAP FILL:

Internet piracy bill in trouble

Several (1) prominent websites like Wikipedia and Reddit went 'dark' on Wednesday to protest against the (2) proposed anti-piracy legislation called SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act). Many other sites (3) oppose SOPA but did not “go dark” in Wednesday’s 24-hour protest. These include Mozilla (owner of the Firefox web (4) browser), Facebook, eBay and Google. A similar bill in the US Senate, the Protection of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would allow U.S. copyright holders to get (5) court orders against foreign websites that steal from them. Sites that (6) abuse copyright would not be able to use many online advertising networks or credit card services. It is now (7) doubtful the bill will get the support of the sixty senators it needs in a crucial (8) vote on Tuesday, January 24th.

The entertainment, pharmaceutical and fashion industries (9) strongly support the bills. They lose billions of dollars every year to (10) copyright violators. Internet companies oppose the bills, saying they will lead to (11) censorship that would damage the Internet by discouraging new online (12) start-ups. A letter to Congress signed by 130 technology entrepreneurs and executives (13) expressed their concerns. It said SOPA and PIPA would "hurt economic growth and (14) chill innovation in legitimate services that help people create, communicate, and make money online". Wikipedia has said it would continue the fight. It (15) declares on its front page: "We're not done yet." It also said: “More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world (16) without free knowledge.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

 

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