Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame took part in a naming ceremony of 30 babies on June 25 in a national park. The babies were a little unusual because they were all rare mountain gorillas. There was a set of year-old twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, meaning ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages. They also selected names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said she hoped the “international attention will keep poachers away”.

The baby gorillas are part of an endangered species. There are only 700 in the world. They all live in the jungles of central Africa, with 380 in Rwanda. None lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas will help boost Rwanda’s tourism industry. He also thinks tourism dollars will help the gorillas’ survival. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year. Top of the list of most travel plans is an excursion to see the gorillas. President Kagame also hopes the gorillas will give a positive image to Rwanda around the world.

WARM-UPS

1. JUNGLE LIFE: The classroom is now a jungle and all students are gorillas, chimpanzees or some other monkey or ape. Introduce yourself to other monkeys. Discuss life in the jungle and the things that are important to you. What’s the latest news? What do you think of the strange humans who live in the cities?

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

Rwanda / Paul Kagame / babies / national parks / baby names / gorillas / gorilla names / poachers / endangered species / tourism / travel plans

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

3. GORILLAS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with gorillas. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

4. PREDICTION: Look at all of the words in the “Chat” section. In pairs / groups, use all of these words and create the story you think you will read in the article. Find a new partner. Tell each other your stories. Give each other feedback on the parts you think will and will not be in the article.

5. TWO-MINUTE GORILLA DEBATES: With a partner, take part in these fun 2-minute debates. Students A strongly believe in the opinions on the left, Students B support the opinions on the right. Change partners often.

1. Gorillas are the greatest animals in the world. vs. I don’t think so.
2. A gorilla would be a great pet. vs. You are totally crazy.
3. Gorillas and humans can talk to each other. vs. Not in the jungle.
4. We come from gorillas. vs. Humans and gorillas are totally different.
5. Gorillas should be kept in zoos. vs. Gorillas belong in the jungle.
6. Tours to see gorillas are great for tourism. vs. Gorillas should be left alone.
7. The gorilla should be on the WWF* logo. vs. The panda is best for that logo.
8. Frogs are more important for conservation. vs. Gorillas should be top of all conservation lists.

* World Wildlife Fund

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	The Rwandan president has renamed his country’s soccer team.	T / F
b.	The Rwandan president named baby gorillas in the jungle.	T / F
c.	The thirty gorillas were all twins – 15 pairs.	T / F
d.	A Rwandan girl hoped poachers would stay away from the gorillas.	T / F
e.	The mountain gorilla is an endangered species.	T / F
f.	There are 70,000 mountain gorillas in the African jungles.	T / F
g.	The gorillas are a major tourist attraction in Rwanda.	T / F
h.	The president hopes the gorillas will give Rwanda a good image.	T / F

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

a.	took part	focus
b.	unusual	trip
c.	nearby	illegal hunters
d.	attention	local
e.	poachers	lift
f.	endangered	participated
g.	boost	aid
h.	help	threatened
i.	excursion	beneficial
j.	positive	uncommon

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

a.	took part in a naming	year-old twins
b.	national	industry
c.	a set of	park
d.	joined by children from	image
e.	international	the list
f.	endangered	ceremony
g.	help boost Rwanda’s tourism	species
h.	tourism	nearby villages
i.	top of	attention
j.	give a positive	dollars

WHILE READING / LISTENING

SYNONYM FILL: Place the number of the synonym group in the correct gap (It is not important to guess a correct word - any of the synonyms from each group could be put into the relevant gap).

Rwandan president names gorillas

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame ____ in a naming ceremony of 30 babies on June 25 in a national park. The babies were a little ____ because they were all rare mountain gorillas. There was a set of year-old twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, meaning ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages. They also ____ names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said she hoped the “international ____ will keep poachers away”.

The baby gorillas are part of an ____ species. There are only 700 in the world. They all live in the jungles of central Africa, with 380 in Rwanda. None lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas will help ____  Rwanda’s tourism industry. He also thinks tourism dollars will help the gorillas’ survival. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year. Top of the list of most travel plans is an ____ to see the gorillas. President Kagame also hopes the gorillas will give a ____ image to Rwanda around the world.
 

1 selected chose decided thought of	2 boost lift raise improve	3 took part participated joined played a role in	4 endangered threatened imperiled jeopardized
5 attention focus concern notice	6 positive good beneficial helpful	7 excursion trip journey expedition	8 unusual uncommon different odd

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. SYNONYM FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the synonym fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

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

5. STUDENT RWANDA / MOUNTAIN GORILLA SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Rwanda, mountain gorillas or both.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups 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:

ceremony rare set gift nearby poachers

endangered central boost dollars excursion positive

 DISCUSSION

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

1. What went through your mind when you read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the story?
3. What adjective would you use to describe this story?
4. Are you interested in stories on wildlife?
5. Would you rather read stories on gorillas or on President Bush?
6. Would you like to go to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas?
7. What would you do if you saw goods made from gorillas in a store?
8. Have you ever given money to a conservation or wildlife charity?
9. What do you know about mountain gorillas?
10. Have you seen the movie or read the book Gorillas in the Mist?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. What do you know about Rwanda?
4. What do you think about gorillas?
5. Which do you think are more interesting, gorillas or chimpanzees?
6. What are the similarities between gorillas and humans?
7. What would you think if (when?) gorillas became extinct one day?
8. Do you think endangered mountain gorillas should be tourist attractions?
9. What name would you give to a baby gorilla?
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

BABY NAMES: You have been chosen to name the following babies. In pairs / groups, decide on the names and the reasons for choosing them.

BABY	NAME	REASONS
Mountain gorilla
Elephant
Human boy
Human girl
Frog
Cockroach
Your choice

Change partners and compare the names you chose. Tell each other the reasons behind the names. Provide feedback on the choices and reasons.

Have a class discussion and vote to decide which is the best name for each baby.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Rwandan president names gorillas

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame ____ ____ __ a naming ceremony of 30 babies on June 25 in a national park. The babies were __ _____ _______ because they were all rare mountain gorillas. There was __ ___ __ ____-___ twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, meaning ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children ____ ______ ________. They also ________ _____ ___ the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said she hoped the “international attention will ____ ________ ______”.

The baby gorillas ___ ____ __ __ endangered species. There are only 700 in the world. They all live in ___ _______ ___ central Africa, with 380 in Rwanda. None _____ __ ________. President Kagame hopes the gorillas ___ ___ _____ Rwanda’s tourism industry. He also thinks _______ _______ will help the gorillas’ survival. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year. __ __ __ ___ of most travel plans is an ________ __ ___ the gorillas. President Kagame also hopes the gorillas will ____ __ ________ image to Rwanda around the world.

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 Rwanda’s mountain gorillas. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. ENDANGERED SPECIES: Create a fact sheet on one of the world’s endangered species. Include ideas on how to better protect these animals. Show and explain your fact sheet to your classmates in your next lesson.

4. LETTER: Write a letter to Rwandan president Paul Kagame about his idea to increase tourism through the annual baby gorilla naming ceremony. Read your letter to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all give similar advice?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. F

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	took part	participated
b.	unusual	uncommon
c.	nearby	local
d.	attention	focus
e.	poachers	illegal hunters
f.	endangered	threatened
g.	boost	lift
h.	help	aid
i.	excursion	trip
j.	positive	beneficial

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	took part in a naming	ceremony
b.	national	park
c.	a set of	year-old twins
d.	joined by children from	nearby villages
e.	international	attention
f.	endangered	species
g.	help boost Rwanda’s tourism	industry
h.	tourism	dollars
i.	top of	the list
j.	give a positive	image

SYNONYM FILL:

Rwandan president names gorillas
 

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame ---3--- in a naming ceremony of 30 babies on June 25 in a national park. The babies were a little ---8--- because they were all rare mountain gorillas. There was a set of year-old twins, named Byishimo, meaning, ‘happiness’, and Impano, meaning ‘gift’. The president and his wife were joined by children from nearby villages. They also ---1--- names for the young gorillas. One child, Alicia Murego, 12, said she hoped the “international ---5--- will keep poachers away”.
 

The baby gorillas are part of an ---4--- species. There are only 700 in the world. They all live in the jungles of central Africa, with 380 in Rwanda. None lives in captivity. President Kagame hopes the gorillas will help ---2--- Rwanda’s tourism industry. He also thinks tourism dollars will help the gorillas’ survival. Around 20,000 tourists visit Rwanda every year. Top of the list of most travel plans is an ---7--- to see the gorillas. President Kagame also hopes the gorillas will give a ---6--- image to Rwanda around the world.

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