Breaking News English Lesson: Iran-Saudi Arabia

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Iran and Saudi Arabia in war of words (6th January, 2016)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

A war of words has broken out between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the execution of a religious figure by Saudi authorities on Saturday. The Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was among 47 men the Saudi Arabian government put to death on terrorism charges. Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had led anti-government protests in the east of the country in 2011-2012. He was previously convicted of disobedience and of bearing arms. Al-Nimr maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged Shia Muslims to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" instead. Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a largely Sunni Muslim country.

Protests against the execution took place in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. Demonstrators stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy and set parts of it on fire. Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia would pay a "heavy price" for the execution, including the possible downfall of its government. The Saudi government said Iran had no right to create tensions and said the execution was an internal Saudi matter. The foreign ministry said the killing of Mr al-Nimr had nothing to do with his being a Shia Muslim. It said: "There is no difference between what a person does regardless of his ethnic origin or affiliation, or what he believes. We deal with facts and criminal intent."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/iran-saudi-arabia-wage-war-words-executions-160103104216327.html
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/iranian-threats-should-not-be-accepted-1.1647793
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/saudi-executions-nimr-iran_56893488e4b014efe0dab27d?5xjyk3xr&utm_hp_ref=world

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. IRAN & SAUDI ARABIA: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Iran & Saudi Arabia. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

war / words / religious / terrorism / protests / disobedience / violence / police bullets / capital / embassy / pay a heavy price / create tensions / foreign ministry / criminal

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

3. MIDDLE EAST: What problems do these countries have with other countries and what is the best thing to do to solve them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

Country	Problems (with…)	Solutions
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Syria
Iraq
Bahrain

4. PEACE: Students A strongly believe there will be peace in the region within a decade; Students B strongly believe this will not happen. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. PROTESTS: Rank these with your partner. Put the things that would make you protest in the streets at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• action of another country

• food prices

• rise in taxes

• corrupt government

• to not go to war

• human rights

• immigration

• religious intolerance

6. WAR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "war". 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.	The article says Iran has declared war on Saudi Arabia.	T / F
b.	Besides Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabia put to death another 46 men.	T / F
c.	Nimr al-Nimr had never been convicted of any wrongdoing before.	T / F
d.	The article says Saudi is the world's largest Sunni Muslim country.	T / F
e.	Protestors in Tehran set fire to the Saudi embassy.	T / F
f.	Iran asked Saudi Arabia for a lot of money because of an execution.	T / F
g.	Saudi Arabia told Iran the execution was an internal matter.	T / F
h.	Saudi Arabia said the execution was not because of religion.	T / F

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

1.	broken out	a.	attacked
2.	execution	b.	carrying
3.	charges	c.	affair
4.	bearing	d.	predominantly
5.	largely	e.	potential
6.	stormed	f.	started
7.	possible	g.	irrespective
8.	matter	h.	killing
9.	regardless	i.	purpose
10.	intent	j.	allegations

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

1.	put to	a.	of disobedience
2.	He was previously convicted	b.	origin
3.	he never carried weapons	c.	bullets
4.	police	d.	it on fire
5.	Saudi Arabia is a largely	e.	death
6.	set parts of	f.	matter
7.	pay a heavy	g.	intent
8.	an internal Saudi	h.	Sunni Muslim country
9.	ethnic	i.	price
10.	We deal with facts and criminal	j.	or called for violence

GAP FILL

A war of words has (1) ____________ out between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the execution of a religious (2) ____________ by Saudi authorities on Saturday. The Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was among 47 men the Saudi Arabian government (3) ____________ to death on terrorism charges. Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had (4) ____________ anti-government protests in the east of the country in 2011-2012. He was previously convicted of disobedience and of (5) ____________ arms. Al-Nimr maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged Shia Muslims to (6) ____________ police bullets using "the roar of the (7) ____________ " instead. Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a (8) ____________ Sunni Muslim country.

led
figure
word
bearing
broken
largely
put
resist

Protests against the execution took place in the Iranian (9) ____________ Tehran on Sunday. Demonstrators stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy and (10) ____________ parts of it on fire. Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia would pay a "(11) ____________ price" for the execution, including the possible (12) ____________ of its government. The Saudi government said Iran had no right to create (13) ____________ and said the execution was an internal Saudi matter. The foreign ministry said the killing of Mr al-Nimr had nothing to do with his (14) ____________ a Shia Muslim. It said: "There is no difference between what a person does (15) ____________ of his ethnic origin or affiliation, or what he believes. We (16) ____________ with facts and criminal intent."

downfall
capital
regardless
heavy
set
deal
being
tensions

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	A war of words has broken out between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the ______
	a. executions of a religious figure b. execution of the religious figure c. execution of a religiously figure d. execution of a religious figure
2)	Nimr al-Nimr was among 47 men the Saudi Arabian government put to death ______
	a. on terrorist charges b. in terrorism charges c. on terrorism charges d. on terrorism charge is
3)	Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had led anti-government protests in the ______
	a. east for the country b. east of the country c. east from the country d. east off the country
4)	encouraged Shia Muslims to resist police bullets using the roar of ______
	a. the word in stead b. the word instead c. the word instance d. the word in steed
5)	Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a largely ______
	a. Sunni Muslim countries b. Sunni Muslim nation c. Sunni Muslim national d. Sunni Muslim country
6)	Protests against the execution took place in the Iranian ______ Sunday
	a. cap it all Tehran on b. cap pit tall Tehran on c. cap pit all Tehran on d. capital Tehran on
7)	Demonstrators stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy and set ______
	a. parts of it in fire b. parts of it on fire c. parts of it of fire d. parts of it un-fire
8)	Saudi Arabia would pay a "heavy price" for the execution, including the possible downfall ______
	a. of its government b. of this government c. of it is government d. off its government
9)	Saudi government said Iran had no right to create tensions and said the execution was ______
	a. an external Saudi matter b. an internal Saudi matter c. an externally Saudi matter d. an internally Saudi matter
10)	There is no difference between what a person does regardless of ______
	a. his ethnic origins b. his ethnic original c. his ethnic origin d. his ethnic originate

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A war of words (1) ___________________ between Iran and Saudi Arabia following (2) ___________________ a religious figure by Saudi authorities on Saturday. The Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was among 47 men the Saudi Arabian government (3) ___________________ terrorism charges. Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had led anti-government protests in the east of the country in 2011-2012. He was (4) ___________________ of disobedience and of bearing arms. Al-Nimr maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged Shia Muslims to resist (5) ___________________ "the roar of the word" instead. Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was (6) ___________________ a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a largely Sunni Muslim country.

Protests against the execution (7) ___________________ the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. Demonstrators stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy and (8) ___________________ on fire. Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia would pay a "heavy price" for the execution, including (9) ___________________ of its government. The Saudi government said Iran had no right to create tensions and said the execution was an internal Saudi matter. The foreign ministry said the killing of Mr al-Nimr (10) ___________________ with his being a Shia Muslim. It said: "There is no difference between what a person (11) ___________________ his ethnic origin or affiliation, or what he believes. We (12) ___________________ and criminal intent."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	On what day of the week was Nimr al-Nimr executed?
2.	How many men were executed along with Nimr al-Nimr?
3.	When did Nimr al-Nimr lead anti-government protests?
4.	What did Nimr al-Nimr say he never carried?
5.	What did Nimr al-Nimr encourage people to resist?
6.	In what capital were there protests against the execution?
7.	What did protestors do to a Saudi embassy?
8.	What did Iran's foreign ministry say Saudi would pay for the execution?
9.	Who denied Nimr al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim?
10.	What did the Saudi foreign ministry say it dealt with?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	On what day of the week was Nimr al-Nimr executed?	6.	In what capital were there protests against the execution?
	a) a Sunday b) a Saturday c) a Tuesday d) a Thursday		a) Tehran b) Ankara c) Manama d) Muscat
2.	How many men were executed along with Nimr al-Nimr?	7.	What did protestors do to a Saudi embassy?
	a) 48 b) 45 c) 47 d) 46		a) bombed it b) threw paint at it c) set it on fire d) occupied it
3.	When did Nimr al-Nimr lead anti-government protests?	8.	What did Iran's foreign ministry say Saudi would pay for the execution?
	a) 2011-2012 b) 2010-2011 c) 2009-2010 d) 2012-2013		a) a heavy price b) a million dollars c) a million riyals d) a mighty sum
4.	What did Nimr al-Nimr say he never carried?	9.	Who denied Nimr al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim?
	a) a knife b) people c) weapons d) suitcases		a) the Saudi foreign ministry b) Iran's leadership c) his brother d) al-Qaeda
5.	What did Nimr al-Nimr encourage people to resist?	10.	What did the Saudi foreign ministry say it dealt with?
	a) torture b) police bullets c) propaganda d) temptation		a) business b) diplomacy c) people d) facts

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Religious intolerance

You think religious intolerance is the best reason to protest in the streets. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their reasons aren't as good. Also, tell the others which is the least worthy of these (and why): food prices, to not go to war or government corruption.

Role B – Food prices

You think a rise in food prices is the best reason to protest in the streets. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their reasons aren't as good. Also, tell the others which is the least worthy of these (and why): religious intolerance, to not go to war or government corruption.

Role C – To not go to war

You think to not go to war is the best reason to protest in the streets. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their reasons aren't as good. Also, tell the others which is the least worthy of these (and why): food prices, religious intolerance or government corruption.

Role D – Government corruption

You think government corruption is the best reason to protest in the streets. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their reasons aren't as good. Also, tell the others which is the least worthy of these (and why): food prices, to not go to war or religious intolerance.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

war

words

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:

broken
47
east
2012
police
largely

capital
fire
price
matter
difference
deal

IRAN & SAUDI ARABIA SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Iran & Saudi Arabia 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.

IRAN & SAUDI ARABIA DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'war'?
3)	What do you think about what you read?
4)	How dangerous is the situation between Iran and Saudi Arabia?
5)	Do you think Iran is right to be angry with Saudi Arabia?
6)	How can the two countries mend their relations?
7)	What importance do the two countries play in the region?
8)	What does "the roar of the word" mean?
9)	What advice do you have for Iran and Saudi Arabia?
10)	What do you think relations will be like in a month from now?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What do you know about relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran?
13)	Do you think Saudi Arabia is right to be angry with Iran?
14)	What would make you protest in the street?
15)	What do you think Iran means by the term 'heavy price'?
16)	What can the world do to ease tensions in the region?
17)	Is there a right and a wrong country in this situation?
18)	What would you suggest to de-escalate tensions?
19)	What do you know about the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the leaders of the two countries?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

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

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

A war of words has broken (1) ____ between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the execution of a religious (2) ____ by Saudi authorities on Saturday. The Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was among 47 men the Saudi Arabian government put to (3) ____ on terrorism charges. Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had led anti-government protests in the east of the country in 2011-2012. He was previously convicted (4) ____ disobedience and of bearing arms. Al-Nimr maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged Shia Muslims to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" (5) ____. Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a (6) ____ Sunni Muslim country.

Protests against the execution took place in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. Demonstrators (7) ____ the Saudi Arabian embassy and (8) ____ parts of it on fire. Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia would pay a "(9) ____ price" for the execution, including the possible downfall of its government. The Saudi government said Iran had no right to create tensions and said the execution was an internal Saudi (10) ____. The foreign ministry said the killing of Mr al-Nimr had nothing to do with his (11) ____ a Shia Muslim. It said: "There is no difference between what a person does regardless of his ethnic origin or affiliation, or what he believes. We deal (12) ____ facts and criminal intent."

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

1.	(a)	in	(b)	up	(c)	down	(d)	out
2.	(a)	model	(b)	number	(c)	letter	(d)	figure
3.	(a)	dead	(b)	death	(c)	died	(d)	dies
4.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	of	(d)	to
5.	(a)	rather	(b)	prefer	(c)	instead	(d)	but
6.	(a)	largely	(b)	largest	(c)	largesse	(d)	largeness
7.	(a)	stirred	(b)	stormed	(c)	streamed	(d)	stymied
8.	(a)	set	(b)	let	(c)	wet	(d)	met
9.	(a)	stout	(b)	heavy	(c)	plump	(d)	stocky
10.	(a)	platter	(b)	shatter	(c)	matter	(d)	flatter
11.	(a)	been	(b)	be	(c)	being	(d)	is
12.	(a)	to	(b)	at	(c)	on	(d)	with

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	following the oxctineeu
2.	a liorigeus figure
3.	put to death on rirtsmroe charges
4.	ypvsoulier convicted of disobedience
5.	he never carried sawnpeo
6.	called for elenciov
Paragraph 2
7.	the Saudi Arabian saybmse
8.	Iran's genifro ministry
9.	no right to create esoitnns
10.	what a person does sagedrlsre
11.	his ethnic oriing or affiliation
12.	cilinrma intent

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	killing of Mr al-Nimr had nothing to do with his being a Shia Muslim. It said: "There is no
( 1 )	A war of words has broken out between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the execution of a religious
( )	arms. Al-Nimr maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged Shia Muslims to resist police
( )	price" for the execution, including the possible downfall of its government. The Saudi government said Iran had no
( )	Protests against the execution took place in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. Demonstrators stormed
( )	government protests in the east of the country in 2011-2012. He was previously convicted of disobedience and of bearing
( )	bullets using "the roar of the word" instead. Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was killed
( )	difference between what a person does regardless of his ethnic origin
( )	figure by Saudi authorities on Saturday. The Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was among 47
( )	men the Saudi Arabian government put to death on terrorism charges. Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had led anti-
( )	or affiliation, or what he believes. We deal with facts and criminal intent."
( )	the Saudi Arabian embassy and set parts of it on fire. Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia would pay a "heavy
( )	right to create tensions and said the execution was an internal Saudi matter. The foreign ministry said the
( )	for being a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a largely Sunni Muslim country.

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	figure authorities execution religious Saudi The a by of .
2.	in of Anti- protests east country government the the .
3.	police the the Resist using of bullets roar word .
4.	a al-Nimr Iran's being for Muslim killed said Shia was leaders .
5.	largely Saudi Sunni Arabia Muslim is country a .
6.	the Iranian capital Protests against the execution took place in .
7.	and Saudi it set Arabian Stormed on parts embassy the fire of .
8.	price for the execution Saudi Arabia would pay a heavy .
9.	a regardless ethnic What does his person of origin .
10.	intent criminal and facts with deal We .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

A war of words has broken up / out between Iran and Saudi Arabia followed / following the execution of a religious figure by Saudi authorities on Saturday. The Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was among / aiming 47 men the Saudi Arabian government put at / to death on terrorism charges. Saudi leaders said Mr al-Nimr had led anti-government protests in the east of / by the country in 2011-2012. He was previously convicted at / of disobedience and of bearing arms. Al-Nimr maintained he never carrying / carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged Shia Muslims to resist police bullets using "the roar / rear of the word" instead. Iran's leaders said al-Nimr was killed for being a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is a largest / largely Sunni Muslim country.

Protests against the execution took place / peace in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. Demonstrators stirred / stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy and set parts of it on fire / fired. Iran's foreign ministry said Saudi Arabia would pay a "heavy / heavily price" for the execution, including the possible downfall of its government. The Saudi government said Iran had no right to create tensions and said the execution was an external / internal Saudi matter. The foreign ministry said the killed / killing of Mr al-Nimr had nothing to do with his been / being a Shia Muslim. It said: "There is no difference among / between what a person does regardless / regarding of his ethnic origin or affiliation, or what he believes. We deal with facts and criminal intent / content."

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)

_ w_r _f w_rds h_s br_k_n __t b_tw__n _r_n _nd S__d_ _r_b__ f_ll_w_ng th_ _x_c_t__n _f _ r_l_g___s f_g_r_ by S__d_ __th_r_t__s _n S_t_rd_y. Th_ Sh__ M_sl_m cl_r_c Sh__kh N_mr _l-N_mr w_s _m_ng 47 m_n th_ S__d_ _r_b__n g_v_rnm_nt p_t t_ d__th _n t_rr_r_sm ch_rg_s. S__d_ l__d_rs s__d Mr _l-N_mr h_d l_d _nt_-g_v_rnm_nt pr_t_sts _n th_ __st _f th_ c__ntry _n 2011-2012. H_ w_s pr_v___sly c_nv_ct_d _f d_s_b_d__nc_ _nd _f b__r_ng _rms. _l-N_mr m__nt__n_d h_ n_v_r c_rr__d w__p_ns _r c_ll_d f_r v__l_nc_ b_t h_d _nc__r_g_d Sh__ M_sl_ms t_ r_s_st p_l_c_ b_ll_ts _s_ng "th_ r__r _f th_ w_rd" _nst__d. _r_n's l__d_rs s__d _l-N_mr w_s k_ll_d f_r b__ng _ Sh__ M_sl_m. S__d_ _r_b__ _s _ l_rg_ly S_nn_ M_sl_m c__ntry.

Pr_t_sts _g__nst th_ _x_c_t__n t__k pl_c_ _n th_ _r_n__n c_p_t_l T_hr_n _n S_nd_y. D_m_nstr_t_rs st_rm_d th_ S__d_ _r_b__n _mb_ssy _nd s_t p_rts _f _t _n f_r_. _r_n's f_r__gn m_n_stry s__d S__d_ _r_b__ w__ld p_y _ "h__vy pr_c_" f_r th_ _x_c_t__n, _ncl_d_ng th_ p_ss_bl_ d_wnf_ll _f _ts g_v_rnm_nt. Th_ S__d_ g_v_rnm_nt s__d _r_n h_d n_ r_ght t_ cr__t_ t_ns__ns _nd s__d th_ _x_c_t__n w_s _n _nt_rn_l S__d_ m_tt_r. Th_ f_r__gn m_n_stry s__d th_ k_ll_ng _f Mr _l-N_mr h_d n_th_ng t_ d_ w_th h_s b__ng _ Sh__ M_sl_m. _t s__d: "Th_r_ _s n_ d_ff_r_nc_ b_tw__n wh_t _ p_rs_n d__s r_g_rdl_ss _f h_s _thn_c _r_g_n _r _ff_l__t__n, _r wh_t h_ b_l__v_s. W_ d__l w_th f_cts _nd cr_m_n_l _nt_nt."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

a war of words has broken out between iran and saudi arabia following the execution of a religious figure by saudi authorities on saturday the shia muslim cleric sheikh nimr al-nimr was among 47 men the saudi arabian government put to death on terrorism charges saudi leaders said mr al-nimr had led anti-government protests in the east of the country in 2011-2012 he was previously convicted of disobedience and of bearing arms al-nimr maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence but had encouraged shia muslims to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" instead iran's leaders said al-nimr was killed for being a shia muslim saudi arabia is a largely sunni muslim country

protests against the execution took place in the iranian capital tehran on sunday demonstrators stormed the saudi arabian embassy and set parts of it on fire iran's foreign ministry said saudi arabia would pay a "heavy price" for the execution including the possible downfall of its government the saudi government said iran had no right to create tensions and said the execution was an internal saudi matter the foreign ministry said the killing of mr al-nimr had nothing to do with his being a shia muslim it said "there is no difference between what a person does regardless of his ethnic origin or affiliation or what he believes we deal with facts and criminal intent"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

AwarofwordshasbrokenoutbetweenIranandSaudiArabiafollowingth
eexecutionofareligiousfigurebySaudiauthoritiesonSaturday.TheShi
aMuslimclericSheikhNimral-Nimrwasamong47mentheSaudiAra
biangovernmentputtodeathonterrorismcharges.SaudileaderssaidM
ral-Nimrhadledanti-governmentprotestsintheeastofthecountr
yin2011-2012.Hewaspreviouslyconvictedofdisobedienceandofbe
aringarms.Al-Nimrmaintainedhenevercarriedweaponsorcalledforv
iolencebuthadencouragedShiaMuslimstoresistpolicebulletsusing"th
eroaroftheword"instead.Iran'sleaderssaidal-Nimrwaskilledfo
rbeingaShiaMuslim.SaudiArabiaisalargelySunniMuslimcountry.Prot
estsagainsttheexecutiontookplaceintheIraniancapitalTehranonSu
nday.DemonstratorsstormedtheSaudiArabianembassyandsetparts
ofitonfire.Iran'sforeignministrysaidSaudiArabiawouldpaya"heavypr
ice"fortheexecution,includingthepossibledownfallofitsgovernment.
TheSaudigovernmentsaidIranhadnorighttocreatetensionsandsaidt
heexecutionwasaninternalSaudimatter.Theforeignministrysaidthek
illingofMral-NimrhadnothingtodowithhisbeingaShiaMuslim.Its
aid:"Thereisnodifferencebetweenwhatapersondoesregardlessofhis
ethnicoriginoraffiliation,orwhathebelieves.Wedealwithfactsandcrim
inalintent."

FREE WRITING

Write about Iran & Saudi Arabia for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

How dangerous is the war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia? Why do you think so?

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 relations between Iran & Saudi Arabia. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. IRAN & SAUDI ARABIA: Make a poster about Iran & Saudi Arabia. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. WAR OF WORDS: Write a magazine article about the dangers of the war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Include imaginary interviews with people who think it is no problem, and with people who think it is a huge problem.

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 an expert on Iran and Saudi Arabia . Ask him/her three questions about relations between the two countries. Give him/her three of your ideas on how they can accept each other more. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

F

d

F

e

T

f

F

g

T

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	broken out	a.	started
2	execution	b.	killing
3.	charges	c.	allegations
4.	bearing	d.	carrying
5.	largely	e.	predominantly
6.	stormed	f.	attacked
7.	possible	g.	potential
8.	matter	h.	affair
9.	regardless	i.	irrespective
10.	intent	j.	purpose

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	A Saturday
2.	46
3.	2011-2012
4.	Weapons
5.	Police bullets
6.	Iran’s capital Tehran
7.	Set it on fire
8.	A heavy price
9.	The Saudi foreign ministry
10.	Facts and criminal intent

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

d

3.

a

4.

c

5.

b

6.

a

7.

c

8.

a

9.

a

10.

d

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Breaking News English Lesson: Iran-Saudi Arabia

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Iran and Saudi Arabia in war of words (6th January, 2016)

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