Breaking News English Lesson on Abiy Ahmed

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Ethiopia leader Abiy Ahmed wins Nobel Peace Prize (14th October, 2019)

The Reading / Listening - Abiy Ahmed - Level 6

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee said the 43-year-old leader won the prestigious accolade because of "his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular, for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea". Since Mr Ahmed became Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, he has focused his efforts on repairing relations with Eritrea. In addition, he played a pivotal role in mediating in a political crisis between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first".

Mr Ahmed is being viewed as a transformative leader bringing hope to his region. In June 2018, he agreed to fully implement a peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, which brought peace between the two countries after two decades of conflict. Ethiopia and Eritrea are two of the world's poorest countries but they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further impoverished many more. The UN said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first." It added: "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea achieve a historic reconciliation".

(Apologies for repeated quote at end of paragraph two.)

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Abiy Ahmed - Level 4 or Abiy Ahmed - Level 5

Sources

https://news.sky.com/story/nobel-peace-prize-winner-abiy-ahmed-offers-beacon-of-hope-for-africa-11832848
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/africa/Ethiopian-PM-Abiy-Ahmed-wins-Nobel-Peace-Prize/4552902-5307256-view-asAMP-1b5x68/index.html
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/10/1049071

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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. ETHIOPIA: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Ethiopia. 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?
prime minister / Ethiopia / committee / prestigious / Nobel Peace Prize / crisis / Africa
region / peace treaty / conflict / impoverished / resistance / vision / the past / historic
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: Students A strongly believe people of the world should choose the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; Students B strongly believe the Nobel committee should decide. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. PRIZES: Who should get prizes for these things and why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Who	Why?
Business
Humanity
Sports
Acting
Innovation
Humor

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. PEACE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "peace". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. NOBEL PRIZES: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important real and imaginary Nobel Prize at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Literature
Peace
Physics
Chemistry
Medicine
Economics
Sport
Music

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	committee	a.	Armed or violent opposition.
2.	prestigious	b.	A group of people appointed for a specific function.
3.	accolade	c.	A long, armed struggle.
4.	cooperation	d.	Inspiring respect and admiration; having high status.
5.	conflict	e.	The process of working together to the same end.
6.	pivotal	f.	An award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledgment of merit.
7.	resistance	g.	Of crucial importance in relation to the development or success of something else.

Paragraph 2

8.	transformative	h.	Causing a marked change in someone or something.
9.	implement	i.	The restoration of friendly relations.
10.	decade	j.	Put a decision, plan, agreement, etc. into effect.
11.	impoverished	k.	The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.
12.	overcome	l.	A period of ten years.
13.	vision	m.	Made people very poor.
14.	reconciliation	n.	Succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia is in his forties. T / F
Abiy Ahmed won the prize for resolving a border dispute. T / F
Abiy Ahmed only became Prime Minister earlier this year. T / F
The UN said Abiy Ahmed was putting people first. T / F
The article said Mr Ahmed is looked at as being a transparent leader. T / F
Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace treaty in June 2018. T / F
The article said the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict killed millions. T / F
The United Nations described Mr Ahmed as being a visionary. T / F

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

committee
achieve
resolve
overcome
resistance
viewed
implement
impoverished
beyond
reconciliation

reuniting
opposition to
looked at
panel
poor
attain
further away
defeat
put into action
settle

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

won the prestigious
his decisive initiative to resolve the
he played a pivotal
set a wonderful example
put people
viewed as a transformative
fully implement a
after two decades
hundreds of
His vision

first
millions of dollars
leader
of conflict
accolade
role
for others
helped Ethiopia
peace treaty
border conflict

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

focused
example
committee
first
initiative
resistance
accolade
pivotal

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel (1) ____________ said the 43-year-old leader won the prestigious (2) ____________ because of "his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular, for his decisive (3) ____________ to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea". Since Mr Ahmed became Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, he has (4) ____________ his efforts on repairing relations with Eritrea. In addition, he played a (5) ____________ role in mediating in a political crisis between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful (6) ____________ for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome (7) ____________ from the past and put people (8) ____________".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

leader
impoverished
conflict
reconciliation
implement
overcome
signed
two

Mr Ahmed is being viewed as a transformative (9) ____________ bringing hope to his region. In June 2018, he agreed to fully (10) ____________ a peace treaty (11) ____________ with Eritrea in 2000, which brought peace between the two countries after two decades of (12) ____________. Ethiopia and Eritrea are (13) ____________ of the world's poorest countries but they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further (14) ____________ many more. The UN said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to (15) ____________ resistance from the past and put people first." It added: "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea achieve a historic (16) ____________".

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) The Nobel committee said the 43-year-old leader won the ______
     a. prestige accolade
     b. prestigious accolade
     c. prestigiously accolade
     d. prestige us accolade
2) Prime Minister in April 2018, he has focused his efforts on ______
     a. repair in relations
     b. preparing relations
     c. repairing relations
     d. reproaching relations
3) In addition, he played a pivotal role in mediating in ______
     a. a political crises
     b. a political crisis
     c. a political cry sis
     d. a political cries is
4) The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful ______
     a. examples for others
     b. exemplar for others
     c. example for others
     d. sample for others
5) beyond Africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and ______
     a. put people thirst
     b. put people fast
     c. put people firstly
     d. put people first

6) Mr Ahmed is being viewed as a transformative leader bringing hope ______
     a. to his legion
     b. to his regionally
     c. to his regional
     d. to his region
7) which brought peace between the two countries after two ______
     a. decade of conflict
     b. decades off conflict
     c. decades of conflict
     d. decades of conflicts
8) The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further ______ more
     a. impoverished many
     b. impoverished money
     c. impoverish many
     d. impoverishes many
9) set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to ______
     a. overcome resistant
     b. overcome resistance
     c. overcome resistances
     d. overcome resisted
10) It added: "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea achieve a ______"
     a. historic reconciliation
     b. historic wreck on silly nation
     c. historic wreak on silly nation
     d. historic reckon silly nation

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed (1) ___________________ Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee said the 43-year-old leader won the prestigious (2) ___________________ "his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular, for (3) ___________________ to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea". Since Mr Ahmed became Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, he has (4) ___________________ on repairing relations with Eritrea. In addition, he played a pivotal role in mediating in (5) ___________________ between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome (6) ___________________ past and put people first".

Mr Ahmed is (7) ___________________ a transformative leader bringing hope to his region. In June 2018, he agreed (8) ___________________ a peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, which brought peace between the two countries after two (9) ___________________. Ethiopia and Eritrea are two of the world's poorest countries but they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war. The (10) ___________________ of thousands of people and further impoverished many more. The UN said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others (11) ___________________ Africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first." It added: "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea (12) ___________________ reconciliation".

Comprehension questions

How old is Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed?
When did Mr Ahmed become Prime Minister?
What kind of role did the article say Mr Ahmed played?
Which two countries was Mr Ahmed an intermediary between?
Who did the UN Secretary-General say Mr Ahmed put first?
What kind of leader is Mr Ahmed viewed as?
When was the Ethiopia-Eritrea peace treaty signed?
How much did Ethiopia and Eritrea spend on the war?
Who did the UN say Mr Ahmed set a wonderful example for?
What kind of reconciliation did the UN say Mr Ahmed achieved?

Multiple choice quiz

1) How old is Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed?
a) 42
b) 41
c) 43
d) 40
2) When did Mr Ahmed become Prime Minister?
a) April 2018
b) April 2016
c) April 2006
d) April 2000
3) What kind of role did the article say Mr Ahmed played?
a) a minor role
b) a huge role
c) a secret role
d) a pivotal role
4) Which two countries was Mr Ahmed an intermediary between?
a) Kenya and Uganda
b) Sudan and South Sudan
c) Somalia and Kenya
d) Somalia and South Sudan
5) Who did the UN Secretary-General say Mr Ahmed put first?
a) Ethiopia
b) the world
c) people
d) the UN

6) What kind of leader is Mr Ahmed viewed as?
a) a good leader
b) a transformative leader
c) a modern leader
d) a compassionate leader
7) When was the Ethiopia-Eritrea peace treaty signed?
a) 2001
b) 2005
c) 2003
d) 2000
8) How much did Ethiopia and Eritrea spend on the war?
a) hundreds of billions of dollars
b) hundreds of millions of dollars
c) hundreds of thousands of dollars
d) tens of millions of dollars
9) Who did the UN say Mr Ahmed set a wonderful example for?
a) others in Africa and beyond
b) the whole of Africa
c) the Horn of Africa
d) sub-Saharan Africa
10) What kind of reconciliation did the UN say Mr Ahmed achieved?
a) a tentative reconciliation
b) a necessary reconciliation
c) a great reconciliation
d) a historic reconciliation

Role play

Role A – Literature
You think a prize in literature is the best prize. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their prizes. Also, tell the others which is the least relevant of these (and why): physics, economics or music.

Role B – Physics
You think a prize in physics is the best prize. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their prizes. Also, tell the others which is the least relevant of these (and why): literature, economics or music.

Role C – Economics
You think a prize in economics is the best prize. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their prizes. Also, tell the others which is the least relevant of these (and why): physics, literature or music.

Role D – Music
You think a prize in music is the best prize. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their prizes. Also, tell the others which is the least relevant of these (and why): physics, economics or literature.

After reading / listening

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

'peace'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'prize'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

43

achieve

relations

border

addition

first

viewed

signed

two

spent

wonderful

vision

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - Ethiopia leader Abiy Ahmed wins Nobel Peace Prize

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'peace'?
What do you know about Abiy Ahmed?
What do you think of the Nobel Peace Prize?
Who do you think should have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Do you think Donald Trump should win the prize one day?
How great is it that Ethiopia and Eritrea are at peace?
What do you know about Ethiopia?
What should Abiy Ahmed do from now?
What advice do you have for Abiy Ahmed?

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

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'prize'?
What do you think about what you read?
What do you know about Eritrea?
What is a 'transformative leader'?
Do you think Greta Thunberg should win the prize one day?
Which other areas of the world need a 'transformative leader'?
When will we stop fighting wars?
What do you think of the idea of a global peace prize?
What questions would you like to ask Abiy Ahmed?

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

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

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel (1) ____ said the 43-year-old leader won the prestigious (2) ____ because of "his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular, for his decisive (3) ____ to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea". Since Mr Ahmed became Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, he has (4) ____ his efforts on repairing relations with Eritrea. In addition, he played a (5) ____ role in mediating in a political crisis between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome (6) ____ from the past and put people first".

Mr Ahmed is being viewed (7) ____ a transformative leader bringing hope to his region. In June 2018, he agreed to fully (8) ____ a peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, which brought peace between the two countries after two (9) ____ of conflict. Ethiopia and Eritrea are two of the world's poorest countries but they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further (10) ____ many more. The UN said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to (11) ____ resistance from the past and put people first." It added: "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea (12) ____ a historic reconciliation".

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) committee (b) committed (c) commitment (d) commits
(a) favor (b) deal (c) accolade (d) lethargy
(a) reference (b) pact (c) partition (d) initiative
(a) accessed (b) focused (c) recessed (d) processed
(a) balance (b) fulcrum (c) edgy (d) pivotal
(a) resist (b) resists (c) resistance (d) resisted
(a) was (b) as (c) has (d) is
(a) implement (b) repent (c) compliment (d) meant
(a) decades (b) deals (c) decadence (d) dealings
(a) improvement (b) poverty (c) impoverished (d) improvised
(a) incoming (b) shortcomings (c) welcome (d) overcome
(a) prize (b) achieve (c) pass (d) receipt

Spelling

Paragraph 1

The Nobel ctmiomeet
won the prestigious aecldaoc
his decisive vtaiieniti to resolve the border conflict
he played a patolvi role
ieadnigtm in a political crisis
overcome cisnrtaees

Paragraph 2

viewed as a fatsiroetamnvr leader
fully peelmtmin a peace treaty
after two sdceead of conflict
further rpsiihmevdoe many more
His isionv helped Ethiopia
achieve a historic iannrtoicloeci

Put the text back together

(...) crisis between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful
(...) with neighboring Eritrea". Since Mr Ahmed became Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, he has focused his
(...) Mr Ahmed is being viewed as a transformative leader bringing hope to his region. In June 2018, he agreed
(...) and beyond Africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first." It added:
(...) countries after two decades of conflict. Ethiopia and Eritrea are two of the world's poorest countries but they spent
(...) example for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first".
(...) impoverished many more. The UN said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example for others in
( 1 ) The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee said the 43-
(...) year-old leader won the prestigious accolade because of "his efforts to achieve peace and international
(...) hundreds of millions of dollars on the war. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further
(...) efforts on repairing relations with Eritrea. In addition, he played a pivotal role in mediating in a political
(...) "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea achieve a historic reconciliation".
(...) to fully implement a peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, which brought peace between the two
(...) cooperation, and in particular, for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict

Put the words in the right order

his because Won accolade of efforts . prestigious the
the to border conflict . decisive resolve initiative His
Eritrea . his with repairing on efforts relations Focused
pivotal mediating in a A crisis . in role
for Ahmed has set a example wonderful others .
hope leader bringing his A transformative to region .
peace He implement fully agreed treaty . to a
the between two decades . two Peace after countries
of They hundreds dollars . millions spent of
example wonderful Ahmed for has others . set a

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed has winning / won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee said the 43-year-old leader won the prestigious / prestige accolade because of "his efforts to / for achieve peace and international cooperation, and in / on particular, for his decisive initiative to resolve / revolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea". Since Mr Ahmed became Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, he has focused his effects / efforts on repairing relations with Eritrea. In addition, he played a pivotal / pivot role in mediating in a political crisis / crises between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN Secretary-General said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderfully / wonderful example for others in and beyond Africa looking to overcome resistance from the passed / past and put people first".

Mr Ahmed is being view / viewed as a transformative leader bringing hope to his region. In June 2018, he agreement / agreed to fully implement a peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, which brings / brought peace between the two countries after two decadence / decades of conflict. Ethiopia and Eritrea are two of the world's poorest countries but they spending / spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war. The reflect / conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further impoverished / provided many more. The UN said Mr Ahmed, "has set a wonderful example / exemplar for others in and beyond Africa looking at / to overcome resistance from the past and put people first." It added: "His vision helped Ethiopia and Eritrea achieve a historic / history reconciliation".

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)

T h_ P r_m_ M_n_s t_r _f E t h__ p__ A b_y A h m_d h_s w_n t h_ N_b_l P__ c_ P r_z_. T h_ N_b_l c_m m_t t__ s__ d t h_ 4 3 - y__ r -_l d l__ d_r w_n t h_ p r_s t_g___s _c c_l_d_ b_c__ s_ _f " h_s _f f_r t s t_ _c h__ v_ p__ c_ _n d _n t_r n_t__ n_l c__ p_r_t__ n , _n d _n p_r t_c_l_r , f_r h_s d_c_s_v_ _n_t__ t_v_ t_ r_s_l v_ t h_ b_r d_r c_n f l_c t w_t h n__ g h b_r_n g E r_t r__ " . S_n c_ M r A h m_d b_c_m_ E t h__ p__ n P r_m_ M_n_s t_r _n A p r_l 2 0 1 8 , h_ h_s f_c_s_d h_s _f f_r t s _n r_p__ r_n g r_l_t__ n s w_t h E r_t r__ . I n _d d_t__ n , h_ p l_y_d _ p_v_t_l r_l_ _n m_d__ t_n g _n _ p_l_t_c_l c r_s_s b_t w__ n S_d_n _n d S__ t h S_d_n . T h_ U N S_c r_t_r y - G_n_r_l s__ d M r A h m_d , " h_s s_t _ w_n d_r f_l _x_m p l_ f_r _t h_r s _n _n d b_y_n d A f r_c_ l__ k_n g t_ _v_r c_m_ r_s_s t_n c_ f r_m t h_ p_s t _n d p_t p__ p l_ f_r s t " .

M r A h m_d _s b__ n g v__ w_d _s _ t r_n s f_r m_t_v_ l__ d_r b r_n g_n g h_p_ t_ h_s r_g__ n . I n J_n_ 2 0 1 8 , h_ _g r__ d t_ f_l l y _m p l_m_n t _ p__ c_ t r__ t y s_g n_d w_t h E r_t r__ _n 2 0 0 0 , w h_c h b r__ g h t p__ c_ b_t w__ n t h_ t w_ c__ n t r__ s _f t_r t w_ d_c_d_s _f c_n f l_c t . E t h__ p__ _n d E r_t r__ _r_ t w_ _f t h_ w_r l d ' s p__ r_s t c__ n t r__ s b_t t h_y s p_n t h_n d r_d s _f m_l l__ n s _f d_l l_r s _n t h_ w_r . T h_ c_n f l_c t k_l l_d t_n s _f t h__ s_n d s _f p__ p l_ _n d f_r t h_r _m p_v_r_s h_d m_n y m_r_. T h_ U N s__ d M r A h m_d , " h_s s_t _ w_n d_r f_l _x_m p l_ f_r _t h_r s _n _n d b_y_n d A f r_c_ l__ k_n g t_ _v_r c_m_ r_s_s t_n c_ f r_m t h_ p_s t _n d p_t p__ p l_ f_r s t . " I t _d d_d : " H_s v_s__ n h_l p_d E t h__ p__ _n d E r_t r__ _c h__ v_ _ h_s t_r_c r_c_n c_l__ t__ n " .

Punctuate the text and add capitals

the prime minister of ethiopia abiy ahmed has won the nobel peace prize the nobel committee said the 43yearold leader won the prestigious accolade because of his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring eritrea since mr ahmed became ethiopian prime minister in april 2018 he has focused his efforts on repairing relations with eritrea in addition he played a pivotal role in mediating in a political crisis between sudan and south sudan the un secretarygeneral said mr ahmed has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first

mr ahmed is being viewed as a transformative leader bringing hope to his region in june 2018 he agreed to fully implement a peace treaty signed with eritrea in 2000 which brought peace between the two countries after two decades of conflict ethiopia and eritrea are two of the worlds poorest countries but they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war the conflict killed tens of thousands of people and further impoverished many more the un said mr ahmed has set a wonderful example for others in and beyond africa looking to overcome resistance from the past and put people first it added his vision helped ethiopia and eritrea achieve a historic reconciliation

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

ThePrimeMinisterofEthiopiaAbiyAhmedhaswontheNobelPeacePrize.
TheNobelcommitteesaidthe43-year-oldleaderwontheprestigiousac
coladebecauseof"hiseffortstoachievepeaceandinternationalcoopera
tion,andinparticular,forhisdecisiveinitiativetoresolvetheborderconfl
ictwithneighboringEritrea".SinceMrAhmedbecameEthiopianPrimeM
inisterinApril2018,hehasfocusedhiseffortsonrepairingrelationswith
Eritrea.Inaddition,heplayedapivotalroleinmediatinginapoliticalcrisis
betweenSudanandSouthSudan.TheUNSecretary-GeneralsaidMrAh
med,"hassetawonderfulexampleforothersinandbeyondAfricalookin
gtoovercomeresistancefromthepastandputpeoplefirst".MrAhmedis
beingviewedasatransformativeleaderbringinghopetohisregion.InJu
ne2018,heagreedtofullyimplementapeacetreatysignedwithEritreai
n2000,whichbroughtpeacebetweenthetwocountriesaftertwodecade
sofconflict.EthiopiaandEritreaaretwooftheworld'spoorestcountriesb
uttheyspenthundredsofmillionsofdollarsonthewar.Theconflictkilledt
ensofthousandsofpeopleandfurtherimpoverishedmanymore.TheUN
saidMrAhmed,"hassetawonderfulexampleforothersinandbeyondAfr
icalookingtoovercomeresistancefromthepastandputpeoplefirst."Ita
dded:"HisvisionhelpedEthiopiaandEritreaachieveahistoricreconcilia
tion".

Free writing

Write about Abiy Ahmed for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

People of the world should decide who wins the Nobel Peace Prize. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. ETHIOPIA: Make a poster about Ethiopia. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: Write a magazine article about people of the world choosing the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
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 Ethiopia. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your opinions on Ethiopia. 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

Buy my book

$US 9.99

Answers

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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