Speed Reading — The Middle East - Level 6 — 500 wpm

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.


This is the text (if you need help).

The Middle East is in turmoil after coordinated attacks by Israel and the USA on Iran on Saturday. Several Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran, were bombarded with precision-guided missiles as Washington and Jerusalem attempted once and for all to obliterate Iran's nuclear capabilities. US President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "We're going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground." Trump called for the Iranian people to rise up and for government forces to surrender. He wrote: "This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country." The strikes on Tehran killed Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and key figures in Iran's military.

Iran immediately retaliated by launching missiles and drones on its neighbours, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had struck Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East. It warned: "This operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated." There are fears this escalation will create turmoil across the globe. A quarter of the world's oil and a third of its liquefied natural gas travel through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Iran could close. This would cause sky-high oil prices and inflation worldwide. Experts warn there could be a major refugee crisis if the conflict spirals out of control.

Comprehension questions
  1. How Iranian many cities does the article say have been bombed?
  2. What kind of missiles struck Iranian cities?
  3. What did President Trump say the US would do to Iran's missile industry?
  4. What did President Trump call for the Iranian people to do?
  5. What did President Trump say the Iranian people could take back?
  6. What did Iran do immediately after being attacked?
  7. When did Iran's Revolutionary Guard say its action would stop?
  8. How much of the world's oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz?
  9. What could happen to oil prices?
  10. What kind of major crisis could come from the conflict?

Back to the Middle East turmoil lesson.

More Activities