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Sunday January 23, 2005
Pre-Intermediate +

THE ARTICLE

Good news from Iraq. The Dubai-based al-Arabiya News Channel has announced the release of the eight Chinese hostages being held in Iraq. The captives were released by a group who call themselves the Islamic Resistance Movement, as a “goodwill gesture” towards China, especially after China promised to discourage its citizens from going to Iraq. Al-Arabiya’s correspondent reports, “The liberation of the eight hostages came after China agreed to no longer send its citizens to Iraq”. No ransom was paid by the Chinese government and all eight men were reported to be in good health and looking forward to their return home. The hostages were abducted earlier this month as they were driving to Jordan to go home for the Chinese New Year. They were construction workers and had been working for a Chinese company involved in Iraq’s reconstruction. Only four days ago their kidnappers had threatened to kill them. Sheikh Harith Al Dhari, head of the Islamic Scholars Association in Iraq, an organization that mediated in the hostage release, told China’s Xinhua news agency that he “appreciated the stand taken by the Chinese people who are friends and supporters of the Iraqi people.”

Lesson & plan in Word.doc     Example Class Handout in .pdf

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about Iraq / hostage taking / good news / China / Chinese New Year / working or travelling in Iraq / Islamic Resistance Movement …
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. HOSTAGE BRAINSTORM: Ask students to tell you any words they associate with being taken hostage / kidnapped / abducted. Put these words / thoughts on the board and leave as a springboard for student conversation / chat.

3. MY COUNTRY: Students talk about the position of their own countries towards Iraq.

4. GOOD NEWS: Students talk about 3 items of good news they have received or heard about in the past week. Repeat activity for bad news.

5. HAVE YOU HEARD?: In pairs students make up their own ‘good news story’ about national or international events. Once they have decided on their fictitious good news, they circulate around the class saying, ‘Hey, have you heard the good news? XYZ has just …”


 
 

PRE-READING IDEAS

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

2. TRUE / FALSE: Students look at the headline and predict whether they believe the following statements are true or false:
(a)  Two of the eight Chinese hostages being held captive in Iraq have been released.  T / F
(b)  The captives were released by a group who call themselves the ‘We Love China Movemen t’.  T / F
(c)  China has promised to discourage its citizens from going to Iraq..  T / F
(d)  A significant ransom was paid as part of the release conditions.  T / F
(e)  The hostages were abducted three months ago.  T / F
(f)  They had been working for a Chinese company involved in Iraq’s reconstruction.  T / F
(g)  Four days earlier their kidnappers had threatened to kill them.  T / F
(h)  The Chinese people are friends and supporters of the Iraqi people.  T / F

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

(a) good set free
(b) announced top
(c) released kidnapped
(d) correspondent warned
(e) liberation settle
(f) abducted stated
(g) construction welcome
(h) threatened building
(i) head freedom
(j) mediate reporter

4. PHRASE MATCH: Students match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a) good was paid
(b) eight Chinese hostages being to kill them
(c) goodwill taken by the Chinese people
(d) No ransom this month
(e) be in good forward to their return home
(f) looking workers
(g) earlier held in Iraq
(h) construction health
(i) kidnappers had threatened gesture
(j) appreciated the stand news

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

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

Chinese hostages freed in Iraq

Good news from Iraq. The Dubai-__________ al-Arabiya News Channel has announced the release of the eight Chinese hostages being __________ in Iraq. The captives were released by a group who call themselves the Islamic Resistance Movement, as a “__________ gesture” towards China, especially after China promised to discourage its citizens from going to Iraq. Al-Arabiya’s correspondent reports, “The liberation of the eight hostages came after China agreed to no longer send its citizens to Iraq”. No __________ was paid by the Chinese government and all eight men were reported to be in good health and looking forward to their return home. The hostages were __________ earlier this month as they were driving to Jordan to go home for the Chinese New Year. They were construction workers and had been working for a Chinese company __________ in Iraq’s reconstruction. Only four days ago their kidnappers had threatened to kill them. Sheikh Harith Al Dhari, head of the Islamic Scholars Association in Iraq, an organization that __________ in the hostage release, told China’s Xinhua news agency that he “appreciated the __________ taken by the Chinese people who are friends and supporters of the Iraqi people.”

abducted
goodwill           
involved
held
stand
based
ransom
mediated

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

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

4. PHRASE MATCH:  Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

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

6. 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. STUDENT-GENERATED 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.

5. ‘GOOD’/ ‘NEWS’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:  Students ask each other the following questions:
(a)  What do you think of the release of the Chinese hostages?
(b)  What must it be like to be kidnapped in Iraq?
(c)  If you were president, would you pay a ransom?
(d)  If you were kidnapped, would you be angry if your government didn’t pay a ransom?
(e)  What is his biggest ransom you’d expect your government to pay for your release?
(f)  Iraq is a very beautiful and historical place. Would you like to visit?
(g)  Why is most of the news in the papers and on TV bad news?
(h)  Should your government be telling its citizens not to travel to Iraq?
(i)  Have you ever celebrated / How do you celebrate … Chinese New Year?
(j)  What do you think of the eight Chinese construction workers?
(k)  Will Iraq ever be reconstructed?
(l) Teacher’s / Students’ additional questions.

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 recent events in Iraq. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. HOSTAGE SURVIVAL POSTER: Create a poster explaining how to survive in a hostage situation.

4. LETTER HOME: You have been taken hostage by the Islamic Resistance Movement  in Iraq. Write a letter to friends / family explaining what life is like as a hostage.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:
(a)  Two of the eight Chinese hostages being held captive in Iraq have been released.  T
(b)  The captives were released by a group who call themselves the ‘We Love China Movement’.  F
(c)  China has promised to discourage its citizens from going to Iraq..  T
(d)  A significant ransom was paid as part of the release conditions.  F
(e)  The hostages were abducted three months ago.  F
(f)  They had been working for a Chinese company involved in Iraq’s reconstruction.  T
(g)  Four days earlier their kidnappers had threatened to kill them.  T
(h)  The Chinese people are friends and supporters of the Iraqi people.  T

DEFINITIONS:

(a) announced (v)
(i) to make something publicly known, to tell everyone some news

(b) hostages (n)
(i) people kidnapped in a war or conflict to try to get the other country to do something or stop doing something

(c) captives (n)
(ii) people such as a prisoners of war, who are forcibly held, confined or enslaved.

(d) goodwill (n)
(i) an act or attitude of kindness or friendliness to start or keep a good relationship with other countries (or customers)

(e) liberation (n)
(i) the act of making something free; giving freedom

(f) ransom (n)
(i) money paid by a person or government to set free someone who has been kidnapped

(g) abducted (v)
(i) be carried off by force; kidnapped

(h) construction (n)
(i) making buildings, roads and other such structures

(i) reconstruction (n)
(i) to make again buildings, roads and other such structures that had been destroyed

(j) mediated (v)
(ii) to resolve or settle a dispute or argument by talking to all the conflicting parties

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)

good

welcome

(b)

announced

stated

(c)

released

set free

(d)

correspondent

reporter

(e)

liberation

freedom

(f)

abducted

kidnapped

(g)

construction

building

(h)

threatened

warned

(i)

head

top

(j)

mediate

settle

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)

good

news

(b)

eight Chinese hostages being

held in Iraq

(c)

goodwill

gesture

(d)

No ransom

was paid

(e)

be in good

health

(f)

looking

forward to their return home

(g)

earlier

this month

(h)

construction

workers

(i)

kidnappers had threatened

to kill them

(j)

appreciated the stand

taken by the Chinese people

GAP FILL:

Chinese hostages freed in Iraq

Good news from Iraq. The Dubai-based al-Arabiya News Channel has announced the release of the eight Chinese hostages being held in Iraq. The captives were released by a group who call themselves the Islamic Resistance Movement, as a “goodwill gesture” towards China, especially after China promised to discourage its citizens from going to Iraq. Al-Arabiya’s correspondent reports, “The liberation of the eight hostages came after China agreed to no longer send its citizens to Iraq”. No ransom was paid by the Chinese government and all eight men were reported to be in good health and looking forward to their return home. The hostages were abducted earlier this month as they were driving to Jordan to go home for the Chinese New Year. They were construction workers and had been working for a Chinese company involved in Iraq’s reconstruction. Only four days ago their kidnappers had threatened to kill them. Sheikh Harith Al Dhari, head of the Islamic Scholars Association in Iraq, an organization that mediated in the hostage release, told China’s Xinhua news agency that he “appreciated the stand taken by the Chinese people who are friends and supporters of the Iraqi people.”

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