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U.S. President Barack Obama has outlined a new policy in the controversial use of drones to kill suspected terrorists. Drones are unmanned aircraft that can be controlled from the U.S. as well as from bases in or near war zones. Both the U.S. military and the CIA use drones in their operations. Around 800 drone strikes have taken place in Afghanistan in the past two years. The CIA's use of drones is shrouded in secrecy. Experts believe the agency has conducted around 350 drone strikes in Pakistan and fewer than 100 in Yemen and Somalia since 2004. Around 3,000 people have been killed by drones since 2004. The New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 per cent of those killed were civilians.
President Obama said the U.S. would now only use drone strikes as a last resort, when there is a "continuing and imminent" threat to the American people, and that there must be "near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured". Kenneth Roth from Human Rights Watch said: "A mere promise that the US will work within established guidelines that remain secret provides little confidence that [it] is complying with international law." Shahzad Akbar, a Pakistani lawyer working for drone victims' families, said: "The problem remains the same because there is no transparency and accountability for the CIA because it will remain inside the system and not be visible to outsiders." Sources:
WARM-UPS 1. DRONES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about drones. Change partners often 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.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. UNMANNED / UNWOMANNED: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.
4. ROBOTS: Students A strongly believe all future walls will be fought with robots and drones; Students B strongly believe humans will always fight wars. Change partners again and talk about your conversations. 5. REMOTE CONTROL: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.
6. MILITARY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'military'. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
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BEFORE READING / LISTENING 1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)
GAP FILL
LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.
LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps U.S. President Barack Obama (1) __________________ in the controversial use of drones to kill suspected terrorists. Drones are unmanned aircraft that can be controlled from the U.S. (2) __________________ in or near war zones. Both the U.S. military and the CIA use drones in their operations. Around 800 drone (3) __________________ place in Afghanistan in the past two years. The CIA's use of drones (4) __________________. Experts believe (5) ___________________ around 350 drone strikes in Pakistan and fewer than 100 in Yemen and Somalia since 2004. Around 3,000 people have been killed by drones since 2004. The New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 per cent of (6) ____________________. President Obama said the U.S. (7) __________________ drone strikes as a last resort, when there is a "continuing and imminent" threat to the American people, and that there must be "(8) __________________ civilians will be killed or injured". Kenneth Roth from Human Rights Watch said: "A (9) __________________ US will work within established guidelines that remain secret provides little confidence (10) __________________ with international law." Shahzad Akbar, a Pakistani lawyer working for drone victims' families, said: "The problem (11) __________________ because there is no transparency and accountability for the CIA because it will remain inside the system and not (12) __________________."
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ
ROLE PLAY
AFTER READING / LISTENING 1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'war' and 'zone'.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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:
DRONES SURVEY Write five GOOD questions about drones 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.
DRONES DISCUSSION STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MULTIPLE CHOICE - LANGUAGE U.S. President Barack Obama has (1) ____ a new policy in the controversial use of drones to kill suspected terrorists. Drones are unmanned aircraft that can be controlled from the U.S. as well as from (2) ____ in or near war zones. Both the U.S. military and the CIA use drones in their (3) ____. Around 800 drone strikes have taken place in Afghanistan in the past two years. The CIA's use of drones is shrouded (4) ____ secrecy. Experts believe the agency has (5) ____ around 350 drone strikes in Pakistan and fewer than 100 in Yemen and Somalia since 2004. Around 3,000 people have been killed by drones since 2004. The New America Foundation estimates that (6) ____ 21 per cent of those killed were civilians. President Obama said the U.S. would now only use drone strikes as a last (7) ____, when there is a "continuing and (8) ____" threat to the American people, and that there must be "near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured". Kenneth Roth from Human Rights Watch said: "A (9) ____ promise that the US will work within established guidelines that remain secret provides (10) ____ confidence that [it] is complying with international law." Shahzad Akbar, a Pakistani lawyer working for drone victims' families, said: "The problem (11) ____ the same because there is no transparency and accountability for the CIA because it will remain inside the system and not be (12) ____ to outsiders." Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
SPELLING
PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER Number these lines in the correct order.
PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER
CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS) U.S. President Barack Obama has outlined / lined a new policy in the controversial used / use of drones to kill suspected terrorists. Drones are unmanned aircraft that can be controlled / controlling from the U.S. as well as from basis / bases in or near war zones. Both the U.S. military and the CIA use drones in their operatives / operations. Around 800 drone strikes have taken / given place in Afghanistan in the past two years. The CIA's use of drones is shrouded / shredded in secrecy. Experts believe the agency has conducted / conductive around 350 drone strikes in Pakistan and fewer than 100 in Yemen and Somalia since / for 2004. Around 3,000 people have been killed by drones since 2004. The New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 per cent of those killed were civil / civilians. President Obama said the U.S. would now / not only use drone strikes as a least / last resort, when there is a "continuing and impotent / imminent" threat to the American people, and that there must be "near certainly / certainty that no civilians will be killed or injury / injured". Kenneth Roth from Human Rights Watch said: "A mere / here promise that the US will work within / wither established guidelines that remain secret provides little confidence that [it] is complying / complaint with international law." Shahzad Akbar, a Pakistani lawyer working for drone victims' families, said: "The problem remains / remaining the same because there is no transparency and accountability for the CIA because it will remain inside the system and not be invisible / visible to outsiders." Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u) _.S. Pr_s_d_nt B_r_ck _b_m_ h_s __tl_n_d _ n_w p_l_cy _n th_ c_ntr_v_rs__l _s_ _f dr_n_s t_ k_ll s_sp_ct_d t_rr_r_sts. Dr_n_s _r_ _nm_nn_d __rcr_ft th_t c_n b_ c_ntr_ll_d fr_m th_ _.S. _s w_ll _s fr_m b_s_s _n _r n__r w_r z_n_s. B_th th_ _.S. m_l_t_ry _nd th_ C__ _s_ dr_n_s _n th__r _p_r_t__ns. _r__nd 800 dr_n_ str_k_s h_v_ t_k_n pl_c_ _n _fgh_n_st_n _n th_ p_st tw_ y__rs. Th_ C__'s _s_ _f dr_n_s _s shr__d_d _n s_cr_cy. _xp_rts b_l__v_ th_ _g_ncy h_s c_nd_ct_d _r__nd 350 dr_n_ str_k_s _n P_k_st_n _nd f_w_r th_n 100 _n Y_m_n _nd S_m_l__ s_nc_ 2004. _r__nd 3,000 p__pl_ h_v_ b__n k_ll_d by dr_n_s s_nc_ 2004. Th_ N_w _m_r_c_ F__nd_t__n _st_m_t_s th_t r__ghly 21 p_r c_nt _f th_s_ k_ll_d w_r_ c_v_l__ns. Pr_s_d_nt _b_m_ s__d th_ _.S. w__ld n_w _nly _s_ dr_n_ str_k_s _s _ l_st r_s_rt, wh_n th_r_ _s _ "c_nt_n__ng _nd _mm_n_nt" thr__t t_ th_ _m_r_c_n p__pl_, _nd th_t th_r_ m_st b_ "n__r c_rt__nty th_t n_ c_v_l__ns w_ll b_ k_ll_d _r _nj_r_d". K_nn_th R_th fr_m H_m_n R_ghts W_tch s__d: "_ m_r_ pr_m_s_ th_t th_ _S w_ll w_rk w_th_n _st_bl_sh_d g__d_l_n_s th_t r_m__n s_cr_t pr_v_d_s l_ttl_ c_nf_d_nc_ th_t [_t] _s c_mply_ng w_th _nt_rn_t__n_l l_w." Sh_hz_d _kb_r, _ P_k_st_n_ l_wy_r w_rk_ng f_r dr_n_ v_ct_ms' f_m_l__s, s__d: "Th_ pr_bl_m r_m__ns th_ s_m_ b_c__s_ th_r_ _s n_ tr_nsp_r_ncy _nd _cc__nt_b_l_ty f_r th_ C__ b_c__s_ _t w_ll r_m__n _ns_d_ th_ syst_m _nd n_t b_ v_s_bl_ t_ __ts_d_rs." PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS us president barack obama has outlined a new policy in the controversial use of drones to kill suspected terrorists drones are unmanned aircraft that can be controlled from the us as well as from bases in or near war zones both the us military and the cia use drones in their operations around 800 drone strikes have taken place in afghanistan in the past two years the cia's use of drones is shrouded in secrecy experts believe the agency has conducted around 350 drone strikes in pakistan and fewer than 100 in yemen and somalia since 2004 around 3000 people have been killed by drones since 2004 the new america foundation estimates that roughly 21 per cent of those killed were civilians president obama said the us would now only use drone strikes as a last resort when there is a "continuing and imminent" threat to the american people and that there must be "near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured" kenneth roth from human rights watch said "a mere promise that the us will work within established guidelines that remain secret provides little confidence that [it] is complying with international law" shahzad akbar a pakistani lawyer working for drone victims' families said "the problem remains the same because there is no transparency and accountability for the cia because it will remain inside the system and not be visible to outsiders" PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE
FREE WRITING Write about drones for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ACADEMIC WRITING Drones cause too many civilian deaths and should be banned. Discuss. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 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 drones. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. DRONES: Make a poster about drones. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things? 4. DRONE STRIKES: Write a magazine article about drone strikes. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against them. 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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles. 6. LETTER: Write a letter to a military expert. Ask him/her three questions about drones. Give him/her three of your opinions on them. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERS TRUE / FALSE (p.4)
SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)
MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)
ALL OTHER EXERCISES Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2. Help Support This Web Site
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