Breaking News English

Level: Easier (Try the harder lesson.)

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Audio: (1:44 - 205 KB - 16kbps)

THE ARTICLE

French voters have decided not to accept the European Union constitution. This decision has shocked and confused the rest of Europe. The French people voted with a clear “non”. Over 55 per cent of voters rejected the constitution. This sent a strong message to French President Jacques Chirac that his people do not share his vision of a more united Europe. French voters said they wanted France to make its own decisions. Many were afraid the constitution would make France too weak in Europe.

President Jacques Chirac was trying to put on a brave face after the heavy defeat. He was clearly disappointed by the fact that his country becomes the first to turn down European integration. All 25 European Union countries must accept the constitution for it to become established. The 72-year-old Mr. Chirac displayed his famous positive thinking in spite of the loss. He promised he would press ahead with the constitution and said it would be accepted one day. He ignored calls for his resignation.

WARM-UPS

1. YES / NO: One student sits in the “yes/no chair”. His/her partner(s) fire(s) questions at him/her. The student in the chair must try to answer as many questions as they can without saying “yes” or “no”. The winner is the person who can answer the most questions without saying “yes” or “no”.

2. NO: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “no”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them.

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Europe / European Union / being shocked / Jacques Chirac / defeat / disappointment / positive thinking / making promises

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. INFO SEARCH: Talk to different partners and find out all you know about France. Get information on French people, history, culture and France’s role in Europe. After you have finished gathering information, sit with your partner / group. Tell each other what you found out. Was this activity difficult? Did you learn new things about the world?

5. “NON” OPINIONS: In pairs/ groups, talk about how far you agree with these opinions.

1. France always says no to good plans - first the invasion of Iraq and now the European Union constitution.
2. It’s wonderful. The French always make brave decisions.
3. French voters saying “no” to European integration is a big step backwards.
4. French voters were right to say “no”. The EU could never work.
5. One day all European voters will say “yes” to a European constitution.
6. France is a small country in the world. Who cares what they say?
7. A United States of Europe would be stronger than the United States of America.
8. French people want to remain French and not be European. There’s nothing wrong with that.
9. How about a European Union without France?
10. English should become the official language of Europe.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

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

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

WHILE READING / LISTENING

France rejects European constitution

French voters not to decided have accept the European Union constitution. This decision has shocked and confused the rest of Europe. The French people clear with a voted “non”. Over 55 per cent of voters rejected the constitution. This sent a strong message to French President Jacques Chirac that his people do share not vision his of a more united Europe. French voters said they wanted France to own its make decisions. Many were afraid the constitution would make France too weak in Europe.

President Jacques Chirac was trying to face a brave on put after the heavy defeat. He was clearly disappointed by the fact that his country becomes the turn to down first European integration. All 25 European Union countries must accept the constitution for it to become established. The 72-year-old Mr. Chirac displayed thinking his famous positive in spite of the loss. He promised he would press ahead with the constitution and said it would day one be accepted. He ignored calls for his resignation.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘strong’ and ‘message’.

• 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. WORD ORDER: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers.

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

5. STUDENT EUROPE SURVEY: In pairs / groups write down questions about Europe and the European Union.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make a mini-presentation to another group / the class on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

 DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you read the headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. Are you interested in the European Union?
4. What do you know about the EU constitution?
5. Do you like French President Jacques Chirac?
6. Do you think Jacques Chirac should resign?
7. Does the French vote mean the end for the EU constitution?
8. Do you think France is a major world power?
9. Are you interested in French culture?
10. What do you think of French people?

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

1. Did you like reading the article?
2. What did you think of this news?
3. What do you know about Jacques Chirac?
4. Do you think the French people were right to reject the constitution?
5. Is the idea of a European constitution a good one?
6. Could a future “United States of Europe” overtake the United States of America as the world’s superpower?
7. What do you think will happen to EU plans now?
8. Should English become the official language for Europe?
9. What do you think of the idea of Europe becoming a single country?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

ONE WORLD: Imagine it is the year 2050. Many changes have happened in international relations. Everyone in the world will soon vote on whether to make the world one giant nation, with no separate countries.

Pair(s) / Group(s) A  - Discuss and write down ideas in support of world integration.

Pair(s) / Group(s) B  - Discuss and write down ideas against world integration.

After you have finished working with your pair / team partner(s) about having just a giant world country, discuss the issue with students from “the other side”.

LANGUAGE

Match the meanings and phrases on the left with the “no” words on the right.

Try to use the “no” words to make questions. Share your questions with other students and ask them to your partner (s).

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

France rejects European constitution

French voters have decided ___ __ _____ the European Union constitution. This decision has shocked and confused
___ ____ __ Europe. The French people voted with a clear “non”. Over 55 per cent of voters rejected the constitution. This ____ _ _____ _______ to French President Jacques Chirac that his people do not _____ ___ ______ of a more united Europe. French voters said they wanted France to
_____ ___ ____ decisions. Many were afraid the constitution would make France too weak in Europe.

President Jacques Chirac was trying to ___ __ _ _____ ____ after the heavy defeat. He was clearly disappointed by the fact that his country becomes the ____ __ ____ ____ European integration. All 25 European Union countries must accept the constitution for it to become established. The 72-year-old Mr. Chirac __________ ___ _______ positive thinking in spite of the loss. He promised he would _____ ______ ____ the constitution and said it would be accepted one day. He
_______ _____ ____ his resignation.

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 more information on the French and Dutch votes on the EU constitution. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. WORLD: Write your thoughts on how the world might become more integrated in the future. How would greater cooperation and closer ties affect your country? Show what you wrote to your classmates in your next lesson. Compare your ideas.

4. LETTER: Write a letter to French President Jacques Chirac telling him what you think of the way his people voted. Read your letters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did your classmates have similar thoughts?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

WORD ORDER:

France rejects European constitution

French voters have decided not to accept the European Union constitution. This decision has shocked and confused the rest of Europe. The French people voted with a clear “non”. Over 55 per cent of voters rejected the constitution. This sent a strong message to French President Jacques Chirac that his people do not share his vision of a more united Europe. French voters said they wanted France to make its own decisions. Many were afraid the constitution would make France too weak in Europe.

President Jacques Chirac was trying to put on a brave face after the heavy defeat. He was clearly disappointed by the fact that his country becomes the first to turn down European integration. All 25 European Union countries must accept the constitution for it to become established. The 72-year-old Mr. Chirac displayed his famous positive thinking in spite of the loss. He promised he would press ahead with the constitution and said it would be accepted one day. He ignored calls for his resignation.

LANGUAGE - NO: