The Reading / Listening - Belly Dancing - Level 3

A famous Egyptian belly dancer has been put in prison. A court in Cairo, Egypt sentenced Sama el-Masry to three years behind bars. It also fined her 300,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. Ms El-Masry was arrested by the police in Egypt in April. Police charged her with immorality after she posted videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. The videos showed her performing various belly dances. Egypt has recently decided to crack down on social media posts. Egypt's Public Prosecution office accused Ms El-Masry of posting immoral pictures and videos on her social media accounts. It said she was guilty of breaking Egypt's morals because the videos were "sexually suggestive".

Sama el-Masry is 42 years old. As well as being a belly dancer, she is also an actress and starred in three successful movies. One of the movies was about the unfair treatment of female media workers. It created a lot of debate in Egypt about the rights of women in the workplace. She also got a lot of criticism in the past for posting videos on YouTube about her political views. One of the videos mocked former US President Barack Obama for his policy towards Egypt. A women's rights lawyer in Egypt defended Ms El-Masry. She said: "Our conservative society is struggling with technological changes which have created a completely different environment and mindsets."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Belly Dancing - Level 0,  Belly Dancing - Level 1   or  Belly Dancing - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.arabnews.com/node/1696436/middle-east
  • https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/89022/Sama-el-Masry-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison-on
  • https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/egypt-court-jails-belly-dancer-debauchery-tiktok-post-200628004134084.html


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. BELLY DANCING: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about belly dancing. 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?
       famous / Egyptian / belly / dancer / bars / immorality / TikTok / social media / guilty /
       actress / successful / movies / unfair treatment / political views / conservative
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. ART: Students A strongly believe that belly dancing is an art; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. DANCING: What do you know about these dances? How good are they? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What You Know

How Good

Belly dance

 

 

Break dance

 

 

The tango

 

 

Ballet

 

 

Flamenco

 

 

Hula dance

 

 
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. COURT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "court". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES: Rank these with your partner. Put the biggest technological changes at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • The wheel
  • The printing press
  • Electricity
  • The motor car
  • Radio
  • Computers
  • The Internet
  • Mobile phones

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. prison a. Different kinds of.
      2. court b. Decided on a punishment for someone and gave it to them.
      3. sentenced c. A place with a judge, a jury and lawyers try to find out if someone did a crime or not.
      4. arrested d. Responsible for doing something wrong.
      5. various e. A building where people have to stay (sometimes for many years) if they break the law.
      6. accused f. Taken away by the police for (possibly) doing something against the law.
      7. guilty g. Said someone did something bad or wrong.

    Paragraph 2

      8. starred h. The way in which someone behaves toward or deals with someone or something.
      9. treatment i. An opinion or way of thinking.
      10. debate j. Trying very hard to do something but having many problems.
      11. criticism k. An argument about a particular subject, especially one in which many people are involved.
      12. view l. Having traditional ways of thinking and not wanting to change, usually about politics, society or religion.
      13. conservative m. Telling people what they did was bad or wrong because of faults or mistakes.
      14. struggling n. Had a main role in a movie or play.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. A belly dancer has been sent to prison for 10 years.     T / F
  2. The belly dancer got a fine of $300,000 from a court in Cairo.     T / F
  3. The police charged the belly dancer with immortality.     T / F
  4. The article said Egypt has decided to crack down on social media.     T / F
  5. The belly dancer starred in three successful movies.     T / F
  6. The belly dancer got a debate going about the rights of women at work.  T / F
  7. The belly dancer made a video in which she praised Barack Obama.     T / F
  8. A lawyer suggested technology has been a problem for Egypt.     T / F

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

  1. famous
  2. behind bars
  3. posted
  4. various
  5. accused
  6. successful
  7. debate
  8. views
  9. struggling
  10. completely
  1. discussion
  2. different
  3. profitable
  4. in prison
  5. totally
  6. blamed
  7. fighting
  8. well known
  9. opinions
  10. uploaded

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

  1. A famous Egyptian belly dancer has
  2. three years behind
  3. It also fined her 300,000
  4. Police charged her
  5. on her social media
  6. As well as being
  7. the unfair treatment of
  8. She also got a lot of
  9. A women's rights
  10. struggling with technological
  1. changes
  2. with immorality
  3. accounts
  4. female media workers
  5. bars
  6. criticism in the past
  7. been put in prison
  8. lawyer
  9. Egyptian pounds
  10. a belly dancer

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
arrested
famous
accused
various
guilty
immorality
bars
crack

A (1) _____________________ Egyptian belly dancer has been put in prison. A court in Cairo, Egypt sentenced Sama el-Masry to three years behind (2) _____________________. It also fined her 300,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. Ms El-Masry was (3) _____________________ by the police in Egypt in April. Police charged her with (4) _____________________ after she posted videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. The videos showed her performing (5) _____________________ belly dances. Egypt has recently decided to (6) _____________________ down on social media posts. Egypt's Public Prosecution office (7) _____________________ Ms El-Masry of posting immoral pictures and videos on her social media accounts. It said she was (8) _____________________ of breaking Egypt's morals because the videos were "sexually suggestive".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
workers
well
views
struggling
successful
environment
workplace
rights

Sama el-Masry is 42 years old. As (9) _____________________ as being a belly dancer, she is also an actress and starred in three (10) _____________________ movies. One of the movies was about the unfair treatment of female media (11) _____________________. It created a lot of debate in Egypt about the rights of women in the (12) _____________________. She also got a lot of criticism in the past for posting videos on YouTube about her political (13) _____________________. One of the videos mocked former US President Barack Obama for his policy towards Egypt. A women's (14) _____________________ lawyer in Egypt defended Ms El-Masry. She said: "Our conservative society is (15) _____________________ with technological changes which have created a completely different (16) _____________________ and mindsets."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) A famous Egyptian belly dancer has been ______
     a.  putting prison
     b.  putt in prison
     c.  put in prison
     d.  put tin prison
2)  sentenced Sama el-Masry to three ______
     a.  years behind bar
     b.  years behind bears
     c.  years behind bards
     d.  years behind bars
3)  Police charged her with immorality after ______
     a.  she posted videos
     b.  she post it videos
     c.  sheep hosted videos
     d.  she posed videos
4)  Egypt's Public Prosecution office accused Ms El-Masry of posting ______
     a.  in moral pictures
     b.  in more all pictures
     c.  immemorial pictures
     d.  immoral pictures
5)  she was guilty of breaking Egypt's morals because the videos were "______"
     a.  sexually suggest it
     b.  sexually suggested
     c.  sexually suggestive
     d.  sexually suggesting

6)  One of the movies was about the ______
     a.  in fair treatment
     b.  in fare treatment
     c.  unfair treatment
     d.  un far treatment
7)  a lot of criticism in the past for posting videos on YouTube about ______
     a.  her political views
     b.  her politically views
     c.  her political news
     d.  her political viewers
8)  One of the videos mocked former US President Barack Obama ______
     a.  for history
     b.  for this police
     c.  for his policy
     d.  for this policy
9)  A women's rights lawyer in Egypt ______
     a.  defending Ms El-Masry
     b.  defended Ms El-Masry
     c.  defender Ms El-Masry
     d.  defend did Ms El-Masry
10)  Our conservative society is struggling with ______
     a.  technology call changes
     b.  technology CAL changes
     c.  technologically changes
     d.  technological changes

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A famous Egyptian belly dancer has been (1) ___________________. A court in Cairo, Egypt sentenced Sama el-Masry to three (2) __________________. It also fined her 300,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. Ms El-Masry was arrested by the police in Egypt in April. Police charged her with (3) ___________________ posted videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. The videos showed (4) ___________________ belly dances. Egypt has recently decided to crack down on social media posts. Egypt's Public Prosecution office accused Ms El-Masry of posting immoral pictures and videos on her social media accounts. It said she (5) ___________________ breaking Egypt's morals because the videos (6) ___________________.

Sama el-Masry is 42 years old. As (7) ___________________ a belly dancer, she is also an actress and starred in three successful movies. One of the movies was about the (8) ___________________ female media workers. It created a (9) ___________________ in Egypt about the rights of women in the workplace. She also got a (10) ___________________ in the past for posting videos on YouTube about her political views. One of the videos mocked former US President Barack Obama for (11) ___________________ Egypt. A women's rights lawyer in Egypt defended Ms El-Masry. She said: "Our conservative (12) ___________________ with technological changes which have created a completely different environment and mindsets."

Comprehension questions

  1. How long does the belly dancer have to spend behind bars?
  2. How much did the dancer get fined (in Egyptian currency)?
  3. What social media platform did the Belly Dancer upload the videos to?
  4. What has Egypt recently decide to crack down on?
  5. What did a court say the belly dancer was breaking?
  6. What other job does the belly dancer have?
  7. What did a movie create a lot of in Egypt?
  8. What did the belly dancer get a lot of criticism for?
  9. Who did the belly dancer mock in a YouTube video?
  10. What changes did a lawyer say Egypt's society was struggling with?

Multiple choice quiz

1) How long does the belly dancer have to spend behind bars?
a) one year
b) three months
c) 10 years
d) three years
2) How much did the dancer get fined (in Egyptian currency)?
a) 3,000,000 Egyptian pounds
b) 300,000 Egyptian pounds
c) three thousand Egyptian pounds
d) thirty thousand Egyptian pounds
3) What social media platform did the Belly Dancer upload the videos to?
a) Instagram
b) Facebook
c) Twitter
d) TikTok
4) What has Egypt recently decide to crack down on?
a) the Internet
b) YouTube
c) social media posts
d) Twitter
5) What did a court say the belly dancer was breaking?
a) parole
b) records
c) hearts
d) Egypt's morals

6) What other job does the belly dancer have?
a) company CEO
b) lawyer
c) an actress
d) doctor
7) What did a movie create a lot of in Egypt?
a) debate
b) fans
c) money
d) noise
8) What did the belly dancer get a lot of criticism for?
a) her hair
b) dancing
c) her political views
d) staying quiet
9) Who did the belly dancer mock in a YouTube video?
a) Donald Trump
b) Barack Obama
c) Egypt's leader
d) another dancer
10) What changes did a lawyer say Egypt's society was struggling with?
a) technological changes
b) big changes
c) dancing rules
d) many rules

Role play

Role  A – The Wheel
You think the wheel is the greatest technological change. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their change isn't as great. Also, tell the others which is the least great of these (and why): electricity, the car or the Internet.

Role  B – Electricity
You think electricity is the greatest technological change. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their change isn't as great. Also, tell the others which is the least great of these (and why): the wheel, the car or the Internet.

Role  C – The Motor Car
You think the car is the greatest technological change. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their change isn't as great. Also, tell the others which is the least great of these (and why): electricity, the wheel or the Internet.

Role  D – The Internet
You think the Internet is the greatest technological change. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their change isn't as great. Also, tell the others which is the least great of these (and why): electricity, the car or the wheel.

After reading / listening

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

'belly'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'dance'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • famous
    • fined
    • police
    • various
    • accused
    • guilty
    • starred
    • debate
    • past
    • former
    • defended
    • created

    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 - Belly Dancing

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'belly'?
    3. What do you think of belly dancing?
    4. What do you think of Sama being put in prison?
    5. Who decides what is moral or immoral?
    6. Is showing lots of skin while dancing immoral?
    7. Is dancing in a sexy way immoral?
    8. Should citizens follow all rules on morality?
    9. Why is Sama in prison if belly dancing started in Egypt?
    10. Should Egypt be proud of its belly dancing tradition?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'dancer'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you know about belly dancing?
    5. Is Ms El Masry a hero for highlighting women's rights?
    6. What advice do you have for Ms El Masry?
    7. What changes has social media made to society?
    8. Are people too upset about everything these days?
    9. Should all societies be conservative?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Ms El-Masry?

    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)

    A famous Egyptian belly dancer has been (1) ____ in prison. A court in Cairo, Egypt sentenced Sama el-Masry to three years behind (2) ____. It also fined her 300,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. Ms El-Masry was arrested by the police in Egypt in April. Police (3) ____ her with immorality after she posted videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. The videos showed her performing (4) ____ belly dances. Egypt has recently decided to crack (5) ____ on social media posts. Egypt's Public Prosecution office accused Ms El-Masry of posting immoral pictures and videos on her social media accounts. It said she was guilty (6) ____ breaking Egypt's morals because the videos were "sexually suggestive".

    Sama el-Masry is 42 years old. As well as (7) ____ a belly dancer, she is also an actress and starred in three successful movies. One of the movies was about the (8) ____ treatment of female media workers. It created a lot of debate in Egypt about the rights of women in the workplace. She also got a lot of (9) ____ in the past for posting videos on YouTube about her political (10) ____. One of the videos mocked former US President Barack Obama for his policy towards Egypt. A women's rights lawyer in Egypt (11) ____ Ms El-Masry. She said: "Our conservative society is struggling with technological changes which have created a (12) ____ different environment and mindsets."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     but     (b)     put     (c)     gut     (d)     hut    
    2. (a)     bins     (b)     jabs     (c)     pens     (d)     bars    
    3. (a)     changed     (b)     charged     (c)     chastened     (d)     chaired    
    4. (a)     vary     (b)     variety     (c)     various     (d)     varies    
    5. (a)     down     (b)     on     (c)     up     (d)     in    
    6. (a)     of     (b)     to     (c)     on     (d)     as    
    7. (a)     begin     (b)     been     (c)     be     (d)     being    
    8. (a)     unfair     (b)     tied     (c)     more     (d)     said    
    9. (a)     critical     (b)     criticism     (c)     critic     (d)     critters    
    10. (a)     news     (b)     shoes     (c)     views     (d)     blues    
    11. (a)     distracted     (b)     refunded     (c)     defended     (d)     rebounded    
    12. (a)     tensely     (b)     completely     (c)     properly     (d)     rightly

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. sncedeten Sama el-Masry to three years
    2. Ms El-Masry was eesradtr by the police
    3. performing vaurois belly dances
    4. Egypt has ectleryn decided to crack down
    5. she was uigtly of breaking Egypt's morals
    6. the videos were "sexually iusveesgtg"

    Paragraph 2

    1. starred in three sulecsfsuc movies
    2. the ifranu treatment of female media workers
    3. She also got a lot of istriicmc
    4. about her piatilloc views
    5. Our eacnvoveirst society
    6. created a lcepmoytel different environment

    Put the text back together

    (...)  guilty of breaking Egypt's morals because the videos were "sexually suggestive".
    (...)  arrested by the police in Egypt in April. Police charged her with immorality after she posted videos on the video-
    (...)  lot of criticism in the past for posting videos on YouTube about her political views. One of the videos mocked former
    (...)  three successful movies. One of the movies was about the unfair treatment of female media
    (...)  changes which have created a completely different environment and mindsets."
    (...)  US President Barack Obama for his policy towards Egypt. A women's rights lawyer
    (  1  ) A famous Egyptian belly dancer has been put in prison. A court in Cairo, Egypt sentenced Sama el-Masry to
    (...)  sharing platform TikTok. The videos showed her performing various belly dances. Egypt has
    (...)  three years behind bars. It also fined her 300,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. Ms El-Masry was
    (...)  Sama el-Masry is 42 years old. As well as being a belly dancer, she is also an actress and starred in
    (...)  workers. It created a lot of debate in Egypt about the rights of women in the workplace. She also got a
    (...)  recently decided to crack down on social media posts. Egypt's Public Prosecution office accused Ms El-Masry of
    (...)  in Egypt defended Ms El-Masry. She said: "Our conservative society is struggling with technological
    (...)  posting immoral pictures and videos on her social media accounts. It said she was

    Put the words in the right order

    1. in   belly   has   put   been   A   dancer   prison   .
    2. Cairo   court   sentenced   in   her   .   A   Egypt
    3. by   in   arrested   was   the   police   Egypt   .   She
    4. performing   belly   her   The   showed   videos   various   dances   .
    5. down   has   crack   on   decided   posts   .   Egypt   to   recently
    6. unfair   treatment   workers   .   media   female   of   The
    7. rights   workplace   .   The   of   in   the   women
    8. of   criticism   past   .   lots   got   the   in   She
    9. mocked   videos   the   the   One   former   of   president   .
    10. technological  society  conservative  struggling  is  with  Our  changes  .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    A famous Egyptian belly dancer has been put on / in prison. A court in Cairo, Egypt sentenced Sama el-Masry to three years behind bars / bar. It also fined her 300,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. Ms El-Masry was arrested at / by the police in Egypt in April. Police charged / changed her with immorality after she posted / posed videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. The videos showed her performance / performing various belly dances. Egypt has recently decided to crack up / down on social media posts. Egypt's Public Prosecution office accusing / accused Ms El-Masry of posting immoral pictures and videos on her social medium / media accounts. It said she was guilty of breaking Egypt's morals because the videos were / was "sexually suggestive".

    Sama el-Masry is 42 years old. As good / well as being a belly dancer, she is also an actress and stirred / starred in three successful movies. One of the movies was about the unfairly / unfair treatment of female media workers. It created a lot / lots of debate in Egypt about the rights of women in the workplace. She also got a / the lot of criticism in the past for posting videos on YouTube about her political / politically views. One of the videos mocked former US President Barack Obama for him / his policy towards Egypt. A women's rights lawyer in / on Egypt defended Ms El-Masry. She said: "Our conservative society is straggling / struggling with technological changes which have created a completely different environment end / and mindsets."

    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)

    A f_m__ s E g y p t__ n b_l l y d_n c_r h_s b__ n p_t _n p r_s_n . A c__ r t _n C__ r_, E g y p t s_n t_n c_d S_m_ _l - M_s r y t_ t h r__ y__ r s b_h_n d b_r s . I t _l s_ f_n_d h_r 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 E g y p t__ n p__ n d s , w h_c h _s _b__ t $ 1 8 , 5 0 0 . M s E l - M_s r y w_s _r r_s t_d b y t h_ p_l_c_ _n E g y p t _n A p r_l . P_l_c_ c h_r g_d h_r w_t h _m m_r_l_t y _f t_r s h_ p_s t_d v_d__ s _n t h_ v_d__ - s h_r_n g p l_t f_r m T_k T_k . T h_ v_d__ s s h_w_d h_r p_r f_r m_n g v_r___s b_l l y d_n c_s . E g y p t h_s r_c_n t l y d_c_d_d t_ c r_c k d_w n _n s_c__ l m_d__ p_s t s . E g y p t ' s P_b l_c P r_s_c_t__ n _f f_c_ _c c_s_d M s E l - M_s r y _f p_s t_n g _m m_r_l p_c t_r_s _n d v_d__ s _n h_r s_c__ l m_d__ _c c__ n t s . I t s__ d s h_ w_s g__ l t y _f b r__ k_n g E g y p t ' s m_r_l s b_c__ s_ t h_ v_d__ s w_r_ " s_x__ l l y s_g g_s t_v_" .

    S_m_ _l - M_s r y _s 4 2 y__ r s _l d . A s w_l l _s b__ n g _ b_l l y d_n c_r , s h_ _s _l s_ _n _c t r_s s _n d s t_r r_d _n t h r__ s_c c_s s f_l m_v__ s . O n_ _f t h_ m_v__ s w_s _b__ t t h_ _n f__ r t r__ t m_n t _f f_m_l_ m_d__ w_r k_r s . I t c r__ t_d _ l_t _f d_b_t_ _n E g y p t _b__ t t h_ r_g h t s _f w_m_n _n t h_ w_r k p l_c_. S h_ _l s_ g_t _ l_t _f c r_t_c_s m _n t h_ p_s t f_r p_s t_n g v_d__ s _n Y__ T_b_ _b__ t h_r p_l_t_c_l v__ w s . O n_ _f t h_ v_d__ s m_c k_d f_r m_r U S P r_s_d_n t B_r_c k O b_m_ f_r h_s p_l_c y t_w_r d s E g y p t . A w_m_n ' s r_g h t s l_w y_r _n E g y p t d_f_n d_d M s E l - M_s r y . S h_ s__ d : " O_r c_n s_r v_t_v_ s_c__ t y _s s t r_g g l_n g w_t h t_c h n_l_g_c_l c h_n g_s w h_c h h_v_ c r__ t_d _ c_m p l_t_l y d_f f_r_n t _n v_r_n m_n t _n d m_n d s_t s . "

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    a famous egyptian belly dancer has been put in prison. a court in cairo, egypt sentenced sama el-masry to three years behind bars. it also fined her 300,000 egyptian pounds, which is about $18,500. ms el-masry was arrested by the police in egypt in april. police charged her with immorality after she posted videos on the video-sharing platform tiktok. the videos showed her performing various belly dances. egypt has recently decided to crack down on social media posts. egypt's public prosecution office accused ms el-masry of posting immoral pictures and videos on her social media accounts. it said she was guilty of breaking egypt's morals because the videos were "sexually suggestive".

    sama el-masry is 42 years old. as well as being a belly dancer, she is also an actress and starred in three successful movies. one of the movies was about the unfair treatment of female media workers. it created a lot of debate in egypt about the rights of women in the workplace. she also got a lot of criticism in the past for posting videos on youtube about her political views. one of the videos mocked former us president barack obama for his policy towards egypt. a women's rights lawyer in egypt defended ms el-masry. she said: "our conservative society is struggling with technological changes which have created a completely different environment and mindsets

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    AfamousEgyptianbellydancerhasbeenputinprison.AcourtinCairo,Eg
    yptsentencedSamael-Masrytothreeyearsbehindbars.Italsofinedher
    300,000Egyptianpounds,whichisabout$18,500.MsEl-Masrywasar
    restedbythepoliceinEgyptinApril.Policechargedherwithimmoralityaf
    tershepostedvideosonthevideo-sharingplatformTikTok.Thevideoss
    howedherperformingvariousbellydances.Egypthasrecentlydecidedt
    ocrackdownonsocialmediaposts.Egypt'sPublicProsecutionofficeacc
    usedMsEl-Masryofpostingimmoralpicturesandvideosonhersocialme
    diaaccounts.ItsaidshewasguiltyofbreakingEgypt'smoralsbecauseth
    evideoswere"sexuallysuggestive".Samael-Masryis42yearsold.Asw
    ellasbeingabellydancer,sheisalsoanactressandstarredinthreesucces
    sfulmovies.Oneofthemovieswasabouttheunfairtreatmentoffemale
    mediaworkers.ItcreatedalotofdebateinEgyptabouttherightsofwome
    nintheworkplace.Shealsogotalotofcriticisminthepastforpostingvide
    osonYouTubeaboutherpoliticalviews.Oneofthevideosmockedformer
    USPresidentBarackObamaforhispolicytowardsEgypt.Awomen'srigh
    tslawyerinEgyptdefendedMsEl-Masry.Shesaid:"Ourconservativeso
    cietyisstrugglingwithtechnologicalchangeswhichhavecreatedacomp
    letelydifferentenvironmentandmindsets."

    Free writing

    Write about belly dancing for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Dancing is an art form and should never be illegal. Discuss.

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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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. BELLY DANCING: Make a poster about belly dancing. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. DANCE: Write a magazine article about getting the whole world to dance. 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 belly dancing. Ask him/her three questions about it. 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.

    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

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    Answers

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

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