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THE ARTICLE

Two different incidents have killed a man and his fiancée and injured at least ten more in the centre of Cairo, Egypt. In the first, a man blew himself up with a bomb that was strapped to his body. The man, named as Ehab Yousri Yassin, was being chased by police. He was wanted in connection to a bomb attack at a Cairo bazaar on April 7. The bomber and three foreign tourists died in that explosion. The other incident happened two hours later. Two women, both in their early twenties, opened fire at a tourist bus outside Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. One of the women was shot dead by the police. She was later identified as Yassin’s fiancée. The other woman, now under arrest, is his sister. It appears these attacks are being organized within a tight circle of family and friends and are not part of a wider network.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about: Cairo / Egypt / terrorism / suicide bombings / foreign tourists… For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. EGYPT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Egypt. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. TERROR THREAT: In pairs / groups, interview each other about the danger of terrorism. Do you worry about the threat from terrorism? Do you think about it every day? Have authorities in the town / city in which you live of study taken any action to prevent terrorist attacks? Do you worry about going to airports of flying on airplanes? Are you suspicious if you see an unattended bag on the train or at the train station. Change partners and report your interview findings to your new partner.

4. IS THIS YOU? Read one of the sentences below to your partner and follow the comment with the question, “Is this you?” Your partner can use one of these replies before giving more details:

“Yes. That’s most definitely me.”

“Yes. That’s me. That’s me.”

“Yes. That’s me sometimes.”

“Hmmm… That’s not really me.”

“No. That’s not me. Not at all”

COMMENTS:

1. I worry about terrorism all the time.
2. If I see an unattended bag at the train station, I move away from it”
3. I never worry about terrorism. It’s a waste of energy.
4. Terrorists or no terrorists, I’ll go where I want in the world.
5. I get suspicious when I see foreigners in groups talking to each other.
6. I check every Internet site for safety alerts before deciding where to go on vacation.
7. I like adventure. I want to visit the places other people think are dangerous.
8. I’m 100% safe. Terrorism will never affect my life.
9. Terrorists don’t frighten me. I’ll wear a T-Shirt with my country’s flag on it anywhere in the world.
10. At the airport I can’t stop looking at suitcases and wondering what’s inside.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘foreign’ and ‘tourists’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. Two separate incidents have killed two people and injured ten in Cairo.  T / F
2. A suspected terrorist detonated a bomb that was strapped to his body.  T / F
3. The suspected terrorist was previously unknown to police.  T / F
4. The man was linked to an April 7 bomb blast at a Cairo marketplace.  T / F
5. The man’s fiancée shot at a bus carrying foreign tourists two hours later.  T / F
6. The man’s sister was shot dead by the police.  T / F

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

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. WHICH WORD: Circle the word in each pair of italics that is correct.

Two dead, 10 injured in Cairo attacks

Two different incidents / accidents have killed a man and his fiancée and injured at least ten more in the centre of Cairo, Egypt. In the first, a man blew himself down / up with a bomb that was strapped to his body. The man, named as Ehab Yousri Yassin, was being chased by police. He was wanted in link / connection to a bomb attack at a Cairo bazaar on April 7. The bomber and three foreign tourists died in that expedition / explosion. The other incident happened two hours later. Two women, both in their early twenties, opened fire / flame at a tourist bus outside Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. One of the women was shot dead by the police. She was later identified as Yassin’s fiancée. The other woman, now under arrest, is his sister. It appears these attacks are being organized within a tight circle / square of family and friends and are not part of a wider network.

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. WHICH WORD: Check your answers to this exercise. Talk about what was wrong with the incorrect word.

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share.

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

4. STUDENT TERRORISM SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down questions about terrorism. Ask other classmates your questions and report back to your original partner/ group to compare your findings.

5. ‘FOREIGN’ / ‘TOURISTS’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1. Ask your partner / group your questions.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What did you think after reading this article?
2. What did you think when you read the headline?
3. Do you think terrorist attacks will ever stop?
4. What feelings do you think suicide bombers have?
5. What do you think young women want to shoot at foreign tourists?
6. Would this attack make you think twice about going to Cairo?
7. Is Egypt on your list of countries you really want to visit?
8. Why do you think Egyptians would turn to terror?
9. Do you ever worry about your own safety?
10. Do you think about terrorism or bombs at airports or busy train stations?
11. Have you ever witnessed any form of terrorism?
12. What do you think needs to be done to end terrorism?
13. Is George W. Bush winning the war on terror?
14. Do you think about terrorism when you decide where to go on vacation?
15. Has your country experienced terrorism?
16. Has terrorism become a normal part of following the news?
17. Did you like this discussion?
18. Teacher / Student additional questions.

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 information on one of the world’s terrorist groups. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. WAR ON TERROR: There are many terrorist groups around the world. Write a short article describing one of these groups and what you think needs to be done to end its activities. Present your article to the class in your next lesson.

4. 9/11: Write your opinion on whether the world is a safer place since 9/11. Discuss this with your classmates in your next lesson.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. Two separate incidents have killed two people and injured ten in Cairo.  T
2. A suspected terrorist detonated a bomb that was strapped to his body.  T
3. The suspected terrorist was previously unknown to police.  F
4. The man was linked to an April 7^th bomb blast at a Cairo marketplace.  T
5. The man’s fiancée shot at a bus carrying foreign tourists two hours later.  T
6. The man’s sister was shot dead by the police.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

WHICH WORD:

Two dead, 10 injured in Cairo attacks

Two different incidents have killed a man and his fiancée and injured at least ten more in the centre of Cairo, Egypt. In the first, a man blew himself up with a bomb that was strapped to his body. The man, named as Ehab Yousri Yassin, was being chased by police. He was wanted in connection to a bomb attack at a Cairo bazaar on April 7. The bomber and three foreign tourists died in that explosion. The other incident happened two hours later. Two women, both in their early twenties, opened fire at a tourist bus outside Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. One of the women was shot dead by the police. She was later identified as Yassin’s fiancée. The other woman, now under arrest, is his sister. It appears these attacks are being organized within a tight circle of family and friends and are not part of a wider network.