London police have shot and killed a suspect in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 armed police officers. He did not obey police orders to stop and was brought to the ground by three officers. A policeman shot him in the head five times at close range. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was chaos. It was like a shooting in a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they thought the man had a bomb strapped to his body.

The killing is a first for London, where police officers do not carry guns. Police now have a “shoot to kill” option since the deadly bombings on July 7. Police used to have strict rules to aim only for the chest when shooting a suspect. However, with the hunt for suicide bombers in London, police can now aim and shoot at the head. A police spokesperson said: “To shoot in the chest area may detonate a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An inquiry into the killing is now being conducted.

WARM-UPS

1. POLICE OFFICERS: You are a police officer in your country. You carry a gun. Talk to the other “police officers” in the class about your job, your gun and the occasions you have used it.

2. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think police officers should not carry guns. Students B think it is essential for police officers to carry guns. Change partners often.

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

London police / “shoot to kill” / guns / police powers / chaos / Hollywood action movies / bombings / terrorist threats

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

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

5. WHO TO SHOOT: In pairs / groups, agree on which of the following people you think it is OK for police to shoot if they are running away. Decide if police should also be allowed to shoot to kill these people. Rank them in order of which can and cannot be shot:

1. An armed bank robber.
2. A suspected suicide bomber.
3. A drug dealer.
4. A CEO who has stolen $11 billion from his company’s pension fund.
5. An airplane hijacker.
6. English soccer hooligans.
7. A 13-year-old child with a machine gun.
8. Four kidnappers who are carrying a 3-month-old baby.

Change partners and talk about what you discussed.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	London police have been practicing to shoot and kill criminals.	T / F
b.	London police shot a man in the head five times at close range.	T / F
c.	The scene was an action sequence in a new Hollywood movie.	T / F
d.	London police thought the man was a suicide bomber.	T / F
e.	London police often shoot their suspects.	T / F
f.	London police previously had orders to shoot at the legs only.	T / F
g.	New terror laws mean London police can now aim at someone’s head.	T / F
h.	The police detonated a bomb that was taped to the suspect’s body.	T / F

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

a.	chased	heed
b.	crowded	carried out
c.	obey	bystander
d.	eyewitness	arms
e.	strapped	search
f.	guns	pursued
g.	deadly	set off
h.	hunt	tied
i.	detonate	packed
j.	conducted	lethal

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

a.	police have shot and killed	police orders
b.	The man was chased onto	strapped to his body
c.	He did not obey	a bomb
d.	shot him in the head five times	for the chest
e.	the man had a bomb	at close range
f.	The killing is	a suspect
g.	deadly	is now being conducted
h.	aim only	a crowded subway train
i.	detonate	a first for London
j.	An inquiry into the killing	bombings

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the correct spaces.

London police shoot to kill

London police have shot and killed a ________ in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was ________ onto a crowded subway train by 20 ________ police officers. He did not ________ police orders to stop and was brought to the ground by three officers. A policeman shot him in the head five times at ________ range. Nigel Morton, an ________, said: “It was ________. It was like a shooting in a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they thought the man had a bomb ________ to his body.		obey strapped suspect eyewitness armed close chaos chased
The killing is a ________ for London, where police officers do not ________ guns. Police now have a “shoot to kill” ________ since the deadly bombings on July 7. Police used to have strict rules to ________ only for the chest when ________ a suspect. However, with the ________ for suicide bombers in London, police can now aim and shoot at the head. A police spokesperson said: “To shoot in the ________ area may detonate a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An inquiry into the killing is now being ________.		hunt carry chest aim shooting first conducted option

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap 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 “GUNS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about police and guns.

• 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:

suspect crowded obey close chaos strapped

first option strict aim detonate inquiry

DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you first read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What do you think of police shooting people?
4. Do the police use guns regularly in your country?
5. Have you ever seen a police shoot-out?
6. When do you think it is OK for police to shoot to kill?
7. Do you think police should use guns on a crowded subway train?
8. Have you ever fired a gun?
9. Is there a gun problem in your country?
10. Do you think the world is becoming more like a Hollywood action movie?

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 would you do if 20 armed police officers came onto your train and shot someone at close range?
4. What is your opinion of London’s police officers?
5. Would you try to stop someone that police were chasing?
6. Is a danger of police officers being “trigger happy”?
7. Would you like to work as an anti-terrorism police officer?
8. Do you think you could shoot to kill if you were a police officer?
9. Someone said the war on terror will last decades. What do you think of this?
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

PUBLIC RESPONSE: Talk about the following with your partner(s).

1. What should you do in the following situations?

2. What would you do in these situations?

1. You see a man wearing a thick jacket on a subway train. There are wires coming out of the bottom of his jacket. It is summer.
2. You hear a loud bang in a subway station. Seconds later you see a man running towards you being chased by police.
3. You hear a conversation on a bus between two men who say there is a bomb under the seat that will explode in one minute. You have a mobile phone.
4. You visit a friend’s house. You notice there is an open web page on his/her computer with instructions on how to make a bomb. While your friend is in the toilet, you look into his/her bedroom. You see lots of wires and chemicals.
5. There is a backpack on an empty seat opposite you. The owner of the backpack headed in the direction of the toilet seven minutes ago.
6. You are standing next to someone with a backpack on a rush-hour train. You can hear ticking inside the backpack.
7. A policeman is fighting on the floor of your train with a terrorist. The terrorist is winning. The policeman’s gun lands at your feet.
8. You see a group of four men in a subway station. They spend a long time checking their watches. They then all shake hands and head off in different directions. They all have backpacks.

Change partners and share what you heard from your earlier partner(s). Who is the bravest?

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

London police shoot to kill

London police have shot and killed __ ________ in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 _____ police officers. He did not _____ police orders to stop and was brought to the ground by three officers. A policeman shot him in the head five times at _____ _____. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was _____. It was like a shooting in a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they thought the man had a bomb __________ to his body.

The killing is __ ______ for London, where police officers do not carry guns. Police now have a “shoot to kill” _______ since the deadly bombings on July 7. Police used to have _______ _____ to aim only for the chest when shooting a suspect. However, with the hunt for suicide bombers in London, police can now ___ ____ shoot at the head. A police spokesperson said: “To shoot in the chest area may detonate a bomb _______ ___ the suspect’s body.” An inquiry into the killing is now being ___________.

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 London’s Metropolitan Police. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. SHOOT TO KILL POLICY: Make some recommendations to your government on when it is OK for police to shoot to kill. Show your recommendations to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all think about similar things?

4. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: Imagine you were a passenger on the subway train in which police chased and shot the terror suspect. Write an account of what you saw. Your account is for the inquiry into the shooting. Read your account to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	chased	pursued
b.	crowded	packed
c.	obey	heed
d.	eyewitness	bystander
e.	strapped	tied
f.	guns	arms
g.	deadly	lethal
h.	hunt	search
i.	detonate	set off
j.	conducted	carried out

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	police have shot and killed	a suspect
b.	The man was chased onto	a crowded subway train
c.	He did not obey	police orders
d.	shot him in the head five times	at close range
e.	the man had a bomb	strapped to his body
f.	The killing is	a first for London
g.	deadly	bombings
h.	aim only	for the chest
i.	detonate	a bomb
j.	An inquiry into the killing	is now being conducted

GAP FILL:

London police shoot to kill

London police have shot and killed a suspect in Thursday’s attempted London bombings. The man was chased onto a crowded subway train by 20 armed police officers. He did not obey police orders to stop and was brought to the ground by three officers. A policeman shot him in the head five times at close range. Nigel Morton, an eyewitness, said: “It was chaos. It was like a shooting in a Hollywood action movie.” Police report they thought the man had a bomb strapped to his body.

The killing is a first for London, where police officers do not carry guns. Police now have a “shoot to kill” option since the deadly bombings on July 7. Police used to have strict rules to aim only for the chest when shooting a suspect. However, with the hunt for suicide bombers in London, police can now aim and shoot at the head. A police spokesperson said: “To shoot in the chest area may detonate a bomb taped to the suspect’s body.” An inquiry into the killing is now being conducted.

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