Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd died on Monday. He had been in bad health since suffering a stroke ten years ago. His half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah has been announced as the new monarch. He has controlled the kingdom for the past ten years. The King’s funeral will take place today and will be attended by many of the world’s leaders. King Fahd had very close links with President Bush’s family and was once a good friend of Saddam Hussein. Things changed when the King allowed the U.S. army to use Saudi Arabia as a base in the two wars against Iraq.

King Fahd was 84 years old. His health had worsened since being admitted to hospital on May 27. The Saudi Information Minister announced the news of the King’s death on state television: “With deep sorrow and pain, the Royal Court mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd.” He will also be mourned around the Islamic world. Pakistan will hold an official period of mourning to last one week. The Arab League Secretary General said the King was a true visionary who played an important role in the Middle East.

WARM-UPS

1. SAUDI CITIZEN: You are a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Walk around the classroom and talk with the other “citizens” of your country about the death of your king. What does it mean for your kingdom? How will his death change your life?

2. SAUDI SEARCH: Your job is to find out as much information as you can in five minutes about Saudi Arabia and King Fahd. Ask as many students as you can (and your teacher) for information. Once the five minutes is up, sit down with your partner(s). Share and talk about what you found out. Discuss what information was new, interesting, worrying, pleasing etc. What information are you happy you found out?

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

Saudi Arabia / King Fahd / monarchs / funerals / Iraq wars / hospitals / Mecca / mourning / the Islamic world / the Middle East

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

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

5. A KING’S LIFE: Would you like to be a king (or queen)? In pairs / groups, answer this question. Discuss what you think life as a Saudi King is like. Some of the following words may be useful in your conversations:

1. Daily duties
2. International role
3. Palace life
4. Dreams
5. Friends and enemies
6. Religion
7. The war on terror
8. Al-Qaeda
9. Entertainment
10. Other

Change partners and compare what you talked about.

6. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think Saudi Arabia is helping defeat terrorism. Students B think Saudi Arabia is creating terrorism. Change partners often.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd had been in excellent health.	T / F
b.	The King’s cousin is the new king.	T / F
c.	King Fahd had very close family ties with U.S. President Bush.	T / F
d.	King Fahd sided with the U.S. against Saddam Hussein.	T / F
e.	The King was admitted to hospital in 2001.	T / F
f.	King Fahd was the custodian of the two Holy Mosques in Mecca.	T / F
g.	Saudi Arabia will be the only country to officially mourn the king.	T / F
h.	The King played an important role in the Middle East.	T / F

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

a.	bad	deteriorated
b.	monarch	throughout
c.	controlled	sadness
d.	links	king
e.	army	real
f.	worsened	military
g.	announced	governed
h.	sorrow	ill
i.	around	broke
j.	true	ties

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

a.	in bad	the news
b.	suffering a	with President Bush’s family
c.	announced as the new	to last one week
d.	King Fahd had very close links	monarch
e.	use Saudi Arabia as a base in	around the Islamic world
f.	admitted	health
g.	announced	role
h.	He will also be mourned	the two wars against Iraq
i.	an official period of mourning	to hospital
j.	played an important	stroke

WHILE READING / LISTENING

ODD WORD OUT: Strike through the incorrect word in each group of three in italics.

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd passes away

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd died / dead / passed away on Monday. He had been in poor / bad / final health since suffering a stroke ten years ago. His half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah has been announced as the new monarch / king / archrival. He has controlled the kingdom for the past ten years. The King’s funeral will take place today and will be attended by many of the world’s domains / dignitaries / leaders. King Fahd had very close links / blinks / ties with President Bush’s family and was once a good friend of Saddam Hussein. Things changed when the King allowed the U.S. Pentagon / military / army to use Saudi Arabia as a base in the two wars against Iraq.

King Fahd was 84 years old. His health had deteriorated / worsened / dieted since being admitted to hospital on May 27. The Saudi Information Minister shouted / announced / broke the news of the King’s death on state television: “With deep suggestion / sorrow / sadness and pain, the Royal Court mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd.” He will also be mourned throughout / around / whole the Islamic world. Pakistan will hold an official period of mourning to last one week. The Arab League Secretary General said the King was a real / true / fake visionary who played an important role in the Middle East.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. ODD WORD OUT: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. 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 “SAUDI ARABIA” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Saudi Arabia and King Fahd.

• 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:

bad half past links changed base

worsened sorrow state custodian official true

DISCUSSION

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

1. What were your initial thoughts on this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What do you think of the Saudi Royal family?
4. What do you know about the Saudi Royal family?
5. What roles does Saudi Arabia play in the Middle East?
6. How important is Saudi Arabia in world politics?
7. What do you think of the close ties between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family?
8. Do you think Saudi Arabia is helping to win the war on terror?
9. What problems are there in Saudi Arabia?
10. How difficult do you think it is for a Saudi king to balance traditional Islam and globalization?

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. Would you like to live (do you like living) in Saudi Arabia?
4. What aspects of Saudi Arabia do you think are interesting?
5. Do you think King Abdullah will change Saudi Arabia?
6. Was King Fahd brave to allow U.S. troops on Saudi soil?
7. What kinds of reform does Saudi Arabia need?
8. Do you think the Saudi Royal family will survive?
9. Do you think Saudi Arabia will become more open or more conservative?
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

IMPORTANT ROLES: In pairs / groups, discuss the important roles the following world leaders (or those of your own choosing) play in today’s world. What are their achievements? What are their failings? What more do they need to do to be great world leaders?

LEADER	ACHIEVEMENTS	FAILINGS	UNDONE WORK
King Fahd
George W.  Bush
Pervez  Musharraf
Kofi Annan
Vladimir  Putin
Junichiro  Koizumi
Thabo Mbeki
Luiz Lula da  Silva
Other
Other

Change partners and explain what you discussed with your previous partner(s).

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd passes away

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd died on Monday. He had been ___ ____ health since suffering a stroke ten years ago. His _____-brother Crown Prince Abdullah has been announced as the new ________. He has controlled the kingdom for the past ten years. The King’s funeral will ____ _____ today and will be attended by many of the world’s leaders. King Fahd had very close _____ with President Bush’s family and was once a good friend of Saddam Hussein. Things changed when the King _______ the U.S. army to use Saudi Arabia as a _____ in the two wars against Iraq.

King Fahd was 84 years old. His health had worsened since being ________ to hospital on May 27. The Saudi Information Minister announced the news of the King’s ________ on state television: “With deep ________ and pain, the Royal Court mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd.” He will also be ________ around the Islamic world. Pakistan will hold an official ______ of mourning to last one week. The Arab League Secretary General said the King was a true ________ who played an important role in the Middle East.

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 late King Fahd. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. SAUDI ARABIA: Make a poster about Saudi Arabia. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. DIARY / JOURNAL: Imagine you are king or queen of your country or another country. Write the entry in your journal / diary for one day in your life. Read your diary / journal entry to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	bad	ill
b.	monarch	king
c.	controlled	governed
d.	links	ties
e.	army	military
f.	worsened	deteriorated
g.	announced	broke
h.	sorrow	sadness
i.	around	throughout
j.	true	real

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	in bad	health
b.	suffering a	stroke
c.	announced as the new	monarch
d.	King Fahd had very close links	with President Bush’s family
e.	use Saudi Arabia as a base in	the two wars against Iraq
f.	admitted	to hospital
g.	announced	the news
h.	He will also be mourned	around the Islamic world
i.	an official period of mourning	to last one week
j.	played an important	role

ODD WORD OUT:

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd passes away

Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd died / dead / passed away on Monday. He had been in ill / bad / final health since suffering a stroke ten years ago. His half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah has been announced as the new monarch / king / archrival. He has controlled the kingdom for the past ten years. The King’s funeral will take place today and will be attended by many of the world’s domains / dignitaries / leaders. King Fahd had very close links / blinks / ties with President Bush’s family and was once a good friend of Saddam Hussein. Things changed when the King allowed the U.S. Pentagon / military / army to use Saudi Arabia as a base in the two wars against Iraq.

King Fahd was 84 years old. His health had deteriorated / worsened / dieted since being admitted to hospital on May 27. The Saudi Information Minister shouted / announced / broke the news of the King’s death on state television: “With deep suggestion / sorrow / sadness and pain, the Royal Court mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd.” He will also be mourned throughout / around / whole the Islamic world. Pakistan will hold an official period of mourning to last one week. The Arab League Secretary General said the King was a real / true / fake visionary who played an important role in the Middle East.

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