A car bomb killed at least 30 people in Baghdad and wounded 38 others on Saturday. A suicide bomber drove his car into a crowded marketplace and then detonated his bomb. It is the latest in a series of deadly attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in the past few days. Most of the dead have been Shiite Muslims. Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu al-Zarqawi, has announced he wants civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the country. Despite the recent attacks against them, Shiites have so far decided not to retaliate.

The latest wave of violence is part of what Zarqawi calls “total war”. He said it is revenge for a huge attack by US and Iraqi troops, who were hunting down Sunni fighters in the northern town of Tal Afar last week. The bloodiest response since then was a giant car bomb on Wednesday that killed 112 Shiite laborers. That was one of 11 explosions that rocked Baghdad and caused 182 fatalities. Zarqawi seems to be timing the attacks to upset next month’s referendum on Iraq’s new constitution.

WARM-UPS

1. MY COUNTRY: Iraqi people live with the danger of violence and violent death. In pairs / groups, talk about what it must be like to live in such conditions. What are the greatest dangers in your town?

2. SENTENCE STARTERS: In pairs / groups, agree on an ending to the following sentence starters about Iraq. Talk about them. Change partners and compare your sentence endings.

1. Suicide bombings are _____________________________________________.
2. Al-Qaeda in Iraq will ______________________________________________.
3. An Iraqi civil war _________________________________________________.
4. Living in Baghdad ________________________________________________.
5. Sunni Muslims should _____________________________________________.
6. The future of Iraq ________________________________________________.
7. Peace and democracy _____________________________________________.
8. The world ______________________________________________________.

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

Car bombs / Baghdad / marketplaces / Al-Qaeda / violence / civil war / peace / democracy / explosions / constitutions / Iraq’s referendum

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

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

5. MY HEADLINES: In pairs / groups, write down three headlines you would like to see come from Iraq. Talk about the possibility of these headlines coming true.

6. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Engage in the following 2-minute debates. Students A take the first argument, students B the second. Change partners often.

1. Peace will come to Iraq. vs. Peace will never come to Iraq.
2. It was a mistake to invade Iraq. vs. Invading Iraq was essential.
3. Arab countries should help keep order in Iraq. vs. The UN should help keep order.
4. The suicide bombers will win. vs. The suicide bombers will fail.
5. Iraq should break up into different states. vs. Iraq should stay one country.
6. NATO should help fight terrorists in Iraq. vs. That would make things worse.
7. The constitution will help bring peace. vs. The constitution will not bring peace.
8. The UN should help start a ceasefire. vs. Al-Qaeda would never listen to the UN.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	A car bomb exploded outside a Baghdad police station killing 30.	T / F
b.	All of the victims were Sunni Muslims.	T / F
c.	The head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq said it was part of a new civil war.	T / F
d.	Shiite Muslims fought back immediately.	T / F
e.	The head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq said there is now total war in Iraq.	T / F
f.	US and Iraqi troops have been hunting down Shiite fighters.	T / F
g.	Many people were killed with rocks in Baghdad last week.	T / F
h.	The recent bombings may be to upset next month’s referendum.	T / F

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

a.	wounded	fight back
b.	crowded	cruelest
c.	detonated	deaths
d.	deadly	packed
e.	retaliate	lethal
f.	latest	hurt
g.	bloodiest	workers
h.	laborers	most recent
i.	fatalities	vote
j.	referendum	exploded

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

a.	A car bomb killed at	deadly attacks
b.	suicide	huge attack
c.	the latest in a series of	bomber
d.	civil	of violence
e.	Shiites have so far decided not	that rocked Baghdad
f.	The latest wave	least 30 people
g.	revenge for a	constitution
h.	hunting down	to retaliate
i.	one of 11 explosions	war
j.	Iraq’s new	Sunni fighters

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Baghdad car bomb kills 30

A car bomb killed at _______ 30 people in Baghdad and wounded 38 others on Saturday. A _______ bomber drove his car into a crowded marketplace and then detonated his _______. It is the latest in a series of _______ attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in the _______ few days. Most of the dead have been Shiite Muslims. Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu al-Zarqawi, has announced he wants _______ war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the country. Despite the recent attacks _______ them, Shiites have so far decided not to _______.		bomb civil suicide retaliate least past against deadly
The latest _______ of violence is part of what Zarqawi calls “total war”. He said it is _______ for a huge attack by US and Iraqi troops, who were _______ down Sunni fighters in the northern town of Tal Afar last week. The _______ response since then was a _______ car bomb on Wednesday that killed 112 Shiite laborers. That was one of 11 explosions that _______ Baghdad and caused 182 _______. Zarqawi seems to be timing the attacks to _______ next month’s referendum on Iraq’s new constitution.		upset rocked hunting giant wave fatalities bloodiest revenge

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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 “IRAQ” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Iraq and the chances of peace in the next six months.

• 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:

least crowded latest few civil retaliate

wave revenge hunting giant rocked timing

DISCUSSION

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

1. How many times have you seen headlines similar to this one?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What adjectives describe your feelings about Iraq?
4. What adjectives describe your feelings about suicide bombers?
5. Do you think civil war will break out in Iraq?
6. Do you think Iraq is a new Vietnam for America?
7. What do you think can be done to end the suicide bombings?
8. If you were Iraqi, would you stay in the country?
9. Do you think the referendum on the constitution will bring changes in Iraq?
10. What single step would help create peace in Iraq?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. What do you know about pre-Saddam Hussein Iraq?
4. What is Al-Qaeda fighting for?
5. Do you think the fighting would stop if Sunnis were given a fairer role in the Iraqi constitution?
6. We always hear the fighters are being beaten. What do you think about this?
7. Why do you think Shiites have so far not retaliated?
8. What would be the consequences of civil war in Iraq?
9. What kind of future do you see for Iraq?
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

IRAQI PREDICTIONS: In pairs / groups, make predictions about the future of Iraq. Use the items in the column on the left. Write a timescale in the other column describing what you think will (or will not) happen.

ITEMS	PREDICTION AND TIMESCALE
Referendum
Free elections
Civil war
Suicide bombings
US forces in Iraq
Saddam Hussein
Al-Qaeda

Change partners and share your predictions and timescales. Discuss how far you agree with your partner’s predictions.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Baghdad car bomb kills 30

A car bomb killed ___ ______ 30 people in Baghdad and wounded 38 others on Saturday. A suicide bomber drove his car into a ________ marketplace and then detonated his bomb. It is the latest in __ ______ ___ deadly attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in the past few days. Most of the dead have been Shiite Muslims. Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu al-Zarqawi, has announced he wants ______ ____ between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the country. Despite the recent attacks against them, Shiites have ___ ____ decided not to _________.

The latest _____ of violence is part of what Zarqawi calls “total war”. He said it is ________ for a huge attack by US and Iraqi troops, who were ________ down Sunni fighters in the northern town of Tal Afar last week. The bloodiest ________ since then was a giant car bomb on Wednesday that killed 112 Shiite laborers. That was one of 11 ________ that rocked Baghdad and caused 182 fatalities. Zarqawi seems to be timing the attacks to ________ next month’s referendum on Iraq’s new constitution.

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 Tal Afar. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. THE PLAYERS: Make a poster describing the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds in Iraq. Try to explain some of their demands and differences. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. DIARY / JOURNAL: You live in Baghdad. Write your diary / journal entry for one day in your life. Write about your feelings towards the bombers, the Americans and the world community. Read your diary / journal to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	wounded	hurt
b.	crowded	packed
c.	detonated	exploded
d.	deadly	lethal
e.	retaliate	fight back
f.	latest	most recent
g.	bloodiest	cruelest
h.	laborers	workers
i.	fatalities	deaths
j.	referendum	vote

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	A car bomb killed at	least 30 people
b.	suicide	bomber
c.	the latest in a series of	deadly attacks
d.	civil	war
e.	Shiites have so far decided not	to retaliate
f.	The latest wave	of violence
g.	revenge for a	huge attack
h.	hunting down	Sunni fighters
i.	one of 11 explosions	that rocked Baghdad
j.	Iraq’s new	constitution

GAP FILL:

Baghdad car bomb kills 30

A car bomb killed at least 30 people in Baghdad and wounded 38 others on Saturday. A suicide bomber drove his car into a crowded marketplace and then detonated his bomb. It is the latest in a series of deadly attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in the past few days. Most of the dead have been Shiite Muslims. Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu al-Zarqawi, has announced he wants civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the country. Despite the recent attacks against them, Shiites have so far decided not to retaliate.

The latest wave of violence is part of what Zarqawi calls “total war”. He said it is revenge for a huge attack by US and Iraqi troops, who were hunting down Sunni fighters in the northern town of Tal Afar last week. The bloodiest response since then was a giant car bomb on Wednesday that killed 112 Shiite laborers. That was one of 11 explosions that rocked Baghdad and caused 182 fatalities. Zarqawi seems to be timing the attacks to upset next month’s referendum on Iraq’s new constitution.

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