Tuesday December 28

Pre-Intermediate +

A new Osama Bin Laden tape has been sent to the Arabic Al-Jazeera satellite station. The voice on the tape, which was broadcast on Monday, calls for all Iraqi people to boycott the upcoming US-controlled elections. The voice has not yet been authenticated as that of Bin Laden’s. The voice says, “Anyone who takes part in these elections will be an infidel.” Iraq's electoral commission criticized al-Jazeera for airing the tape and helping Bin Laden spread his message to militants on the ground in Iraq. He said the January 30th elections would take place. The tape also endorses Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as Bin Laden’s deputy, calling him the ‘emir’ of Iraq. Zarqawi's al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for many bombings, murders and hostage taking in Iraq. The US government has placed a $25 bounty on the heads of Bin Laden, who is supposed to be in the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and al-Zarqawi, who is leading terror attacks inside Iraq.

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about Iraq / Osama Bin Laden / Abu Musab al-Zarqawi / Iraqi elections / al Qaeda / al Jazeera / …
To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. BIN LADEN BRAINSTORM: Brainstorm any words students associate with Osama Bin Laden and write them on the board. In pairs students have to put them into categories (of their own choosing), swap partners and then explain their categories. Ask each other questions about the words.

3. THE BOUNTY: Students speculate in groups as to how Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are still on the run despite such huge bounties on their head, and half the world’s intelligence agents hunting for them.

4. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:
Bin Laden will be caught next year (2005). vs. No he won’t.
Iraq’s elections will be ‘free and fair’. vs  An election held while occupied by another power is neither free nor fair.
Iraq’s election will mean it is democratic. vs Democracy under a gun and suicide bomb is a strange democracy.
This time next year Iraq will be safe. vs. That’s what they said about Vietnam 6 years before the war ended there.
This time next year there’ll be no US troops in Iraq. vs. There’ll be more.
Al Jazeera is helping al-Qaeda . vs. Al Jazeera is just reporting the news.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘tape’, and ‘call’.

2. HEADLINE: Put the article headline on the board for students to talk about / predict / speculate. Pairs / groups formulate and present their own guesses as to the contents of the report.

3. TRUE / FALSE: Students look at the headline and predict whether they believe the following statements are true or false:

(a)  A new Osama Bin Laden tape has been sent to the BBC.  T / F
(b)  The voice on the tape calls for Iraqis to vote in the Iraqi election.  T / F
(c)  The voice has not yet been authenticated as that of Bin Laden’s.  T / F
(d)  The voice says, “Anyone who takes part in these elections is a patriot.  T / F
(e)  Iraq's electoral commission criticized al-Jazeera for airing the tape.  T / F
(f)  Al-Z arqawi will be the ‘emir’ of Iraq.  T / F
(g)  The US government has placed a $25 bounty on the head of Bin Laden.  T / F
(h)  Bin Laden is supposed to be in the mountains on the Italian-Austrian border.  T / F

4. SYNONYM MATCH: Students match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	tape	aired
(b)	satellite station	proven
(c)	broadcast	supports
(d)	boycott	traitor
(e)	authenticated	reward
(f)	infidel	recording
(g)	endorses	digital broadcast channel
(h)	deputy	ignore
(i)	bounty	orchestrating
(j)	leading	sidekick

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

New 'Bin Laden' Tape

A new Osama Bin Laden tape has been sent to the Arabic Al-Jazeera __________ station. The voice on the tape, which was __________ on Monday, calls for all Iraqi people to __________ the upcoming US-controlled elections. The voice has not yet been authenticated as that of Bin Laden’s. The voice says, “Anyone who takes part in these elections will be an __________.” Iraq's electoral commission criticized al-Jazeera for airing the tape and helping Bin Laden spread his message to __________ on the ground in Iraq. He said the January 30th elections would take place. The tape also __________ Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as Bin Laden’s deputy, calling him the ‘emir’ of Iraq. Zarqawi's al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for many bombings, murders and __________ taking in Iraq. The US government has placed a $25 __________ on the heads of Bin Laden, who is supposed to be in the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and al-Zarqawi, who is leading terror attacks inside Iraq.

militants hostage satellite endorses boycott bounty infidel broadcast

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS MATCH: Students check their answers to the synonyms match exercise.

4. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

5. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. WORD SEARCH: Students compare their findings for the words ‘tape’, and ‘call’.

5. STUDENT-GENERATED MID-EAST SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class. Back in pairs students discuss their findings.

6. BIN LADEN DISCUSSION: Students ask each other the following questions based on the article:

(a)  Where did you first hear about Osama bin Laden?
(b)  What do you think of him?
(c)  How do you think he has evaded capture for so long?
(d)  How good a friend of the Bush family do you think he was before 9-11?
(e)  How is he regarded in the Muslim and Arab world?
(f)  Will terror stop after his capture?
(g)  Should al-Jazeera air his tapes?
(h)  Will he be able to d isrupt the elections to be held in Iraq on January 30^th?
(i)  Do you think he’ll be caught next year (2005)?
(j)  Do you think Iraq will be a safe place this time next year?
(k) Do you think American troops will still be in Iraq this time next year?
(l)  What would you do with the $25 million-bounty?

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Homo floresiensis. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. A DAY IN MY LIFE: Imagine you are an Afghan tribesperson living in the mountains, in the same village as Osama bin Laden. Write your diary entry for one day in your life, explaining what Osama does each day.

4. LETTER TO GEORGE: Write a letter to US President George W. Bush asking him why the world’s most powerful and intelligence-rich nation, with its FBI, CIA, Special Forces etc, and the carrot of a $25 million reward STILL has not found Osama, three years after 9-11.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

(a)  A new Osama Bin Laden tape has been sent to the BBC.  F
(b)  The voice on the tape calls for Iraqis to vote in the Iraqi election.  F
(c)  The voice has not yet been authenticated as that of Bin Laden’s.  T
(d)  The voice says, “Anyone who takes part in these elections is a patriot.  F
(e)  Iraq's electoral commission criticized al-Jazeera for airing the tape.  T
(f)  Al-Zarqawi will be the ‘emir’ of Iraq.  F
(g)  The US government has placed a $25 bounty on the head of Bin Laden.  T
(h)  Bin Laden is supposed to be in the mountains on the Italian-Austrian border.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	tape	recording
(b)	satellite station	digital broadcast channel
(c)	broadcast	aired
(d)	boycott	ignore
(e)	authenticated	proven
(f)	infidel	traitor
(g)	endorses	supports
(h)	deputy	sidekick
(i)	bounty	reward
(j)	leading	orc hestrating