My 1,000
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My 1,000
Ideas
e-Book
 

Date: Oct 18, 2005
Level: Easier (Try the harder lesson.)
Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening
Audio: (1:34 - 185.1 KB - 16kbps)
 
1,000 IDEAS FOR ESL CLASSES: Breaking News English.com's e-Book

THE ARTICLE

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have attacked U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They blame the American and British leaders for being the main causes of world hunger, pollution and war. At an event in Rome on October 17 to celebrate World Food Day, Mugabe said, “Blair and Bush are two unholy men of our millennium” and compared them to Hitler and Mussolini. Chavez called the US “the North American empire that threatened all life on the planet”. Chavez and Mugabe received applause and cheers from many delegates.

US ambassador Tony Hall quickly hit back. He was unhappy that Mugabe and Chavez “chose to politicize an event that was meant to be about feeding the hungry people of the world”. Hall said Mugabe’s presence in Rome was like a bad joke, especially as Zimbabwe is currently struggling to feed an estimated 3.8 million people. “Mugabe…would be the last person, I think, an organization should invite to talk about hunger,” Hall said. Zimbabwe’s agriculture is now in ruins and has been hit by drought. Mr. Mugabe blames British colonial rule for his country’s poor economy.

WARM-UPS

1. HELLO GEORGE: In pairs / groups, role play a sudden meeting between your country’s leader and either George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Robert Mugabe or Hugo Chavez. You all meet by chance when you sit at the same table in a coffee shop. Repeat the role plays with different partners and roles. Change partners again and talk about what you said and heard while in your roles.

2. POPULAR LEADERS: Is the leader of your country very popular? What are his/her successes and failures? Talk about the popularity, successes and failures of the following leaders, or choose others you’d prefer to talk about.

  • Robert Mugabe
  • George W. Bush
  • Hugo Chavez
  • Tony Blair
  • Ariel Sharon
  • Pervez Musharraf
  • Vladimir Putin
  • Junichiro Koizumi
  • Hosni Mubarak
  • Jacques Chirac

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

Zimbabwe / Venezuela / world hunger / pollution / war / Hitler / Mussolini / applause and cheering / Rome / bad jokes / agriculture / colonialism

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

4. WORLD FOOD DAY: In pairs / groups, talk about what you know about World Food Day. What should happen around the world on this day? What do you think the aims of this day should be?

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

6. MUGABE OPINIONS: In pairs / groups, talk about what you think of these opinions that Robert Mugabe expressed on World Food Day:

  1. Bush and Blair can’t decide who rules in Africa, Asia, Iran or Iraq.
  2. Many black Africans are poor today because of British colonialism.
  3. The financial help rich countries give their farmers is hurting African farmers.
  4. America and Britain are the real terrorists.
  5. America and Britain are taking part in an “unholy campaign in Iraq”.
  6. The Bush and Blair partnership is the same as that between Hitler and Mussolini.
  7. Land reforms in Zimbabwe are necessary to help Zimbabweans.
  8. Bush and Blair attacked an innocent country (Iraq).

 
 

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.

Robert Mugabe and Hugo Chavez hit George Bush and Tony Blair.

T / F

b.

Mugabe and Chavez were speaking in Rome on World Friendship Day.

T / F

c.

Mugabe said Bush and Blair were similar to Hitler and Mussolini.

T / F

d.

Delegates at the conference booed Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Chavez.

T / F

e.

The US ambassador said Mugabe should not have talked politics.

T / F

f.

Zimbabwe has 3.8 million hungry people.

T / F

g.

The ambassador said Mugabe is the last person to talk about hunger.

T / F

h.

Mr. Mugabe blamed Britain for the poor Zimbabwean economy.

T / F

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

a.

attacked

likened

b.

main

ask

c.

compared

decided

d.

applause

criticized

e.

delegates

fighting

f.

chose

struck

g.

currently

clapping

h.

struggling

primary

i.

invite

presently

j.

hit

representatives

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

a.

the main causes of

to Hitler and Mussolini

b.

an event in Rome on October 17

on the planet

c.

compared them

joke

d.

threatened all life

hit back

e.

Mugabe received applause

world hunger, pollution and war

f.

US ambassador Tony Hall quickly

for his country’s poor economy

g.

feeding the hungry

and cheers from many delegates

h.

a bad

ruins

i.

Zimbabwe’s agriculture is now in

to celebrate World Food Day

j.

Mugabe blames British colonial rule

people of the world


 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

Bush & Blair attacked by Mugabe & Chavez

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have ________ U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They ________ the American and British ________ for being the ________ causes of world hunger, pollution and war. At an ________ in Rome on October 17 to celebrate World Food Day, Mugabe said, “Blair and Bush are two unholy men of our millennium” and ________ them to Hitler and Mussolini. Chavez called the US “the North American empire that ________ all life on the planet”. Chavez and Mugabe received applause and ________ from many delegates.

 

 

compared
blame
event
cheers
main
attacked
threatened
leaders

US ambassador Tony Hall quickly ________ back. He was unhappy that Mugabe and Chavez “________ to politicize an event that was meant to be about ________ the hungry people of the world”. Hall said Mugabe’s ________ in Rome was like a bad ________, especially as Zimbabwe is currently struggling to feed an ________ 3.8 million people. “Mugabe…would be the last person, I think, an organization should ________ to talk about hunger,” Hall said. Zimbabwe’s agriculture is now in ruins and has been ________ by drought. Mr. Mugabe blames British colonial rule for his country’s poor economy.

 

 

invite
presence
estimated
hit
feeding
joke
hit
chose

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Bush & Blair attacked by Mugabe & Chavez

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have _________ U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They _____ the American and British leaders for being the main causes of world ________, pollution and war. At an event in Rome on October 17 to celebrate World Food Day, Mugabe said, “Blair and Bush are two unholy men of our millennium” and _________ them to Hitler and Mussolini. Chavez called the US “the North American _________ that threatened all life on the planet”. Chavez and Mugabe received applause and _________ from many delegates.

US ambassador Tony Hall quickly ____ _____. He was unhappy that Mugabe and Chavez “chose to politicize an event that was meant to be about _________ the hungry people of the world”. Hall said Mugabe’s presence in Rome was like a ____ _____, especially as Zimbabwe is currently struggling to feed an estimated 3.8 million people. “Mugabe…would be the _____ person, I think, an organization should ________ to talk about hunger,” Hall said. Zimbabwe’s agriculture is now in ruins and has been hit by drought. Mr. Mugabe blames British colonial rule for his country’s ______ economy.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

  • 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 “WORLD HUNGER” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about world hunger.

  • 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:

  • attacked
  • blame
  • celebrate
  • compared
  • empire
  • cheers
  • hit back
  • feeding
  • joke
  • 3.8
  • drought
  • British

DISCUSSION

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

  1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
  2. What do you think of the attack on Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair?
  3. Which of the four leaders named in the article do you most and least like?
  4. Do you think George W. Bush and Tony Blair cause hunger, pollution and war?
  5. Do you think George W. Bush and Tony Blair are “unholy”?
  6. Do you think Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe act to stop world hunger?
  7. What do you think of the comparison with Hitler and Mussolini?
  8. Do you think George W. Bush and Tony Blair have made the world a better place?
  9. What do you think are the solutions to end world hunger?
  10. Who is the last person in the world you want to talk to?

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. Do you think it was right to make these speeches at a World Food Day event?
  4. Should Mr. Mugabe have spoken at the event?
  5. Why do you think many delegates cheered and applauded Mugabe and Chavez?
  6. Do you think “the North American empire” threatens “all life on the planet”?
  7. Do you agree with ambassador Hall’s comments that Mugabe making a speech was like a bad joke?
  8. Do you think British colonial rule is to blame for Zimbabwe’s poor economy?
  9. How do you think Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair might say about the speeches?
  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

WORLD LEADER: The world must choose a leader. There is a choice of two people – George W. Bush and Tony Blair. In pairs / groups, discuss which of the two men should get the job. Talk about the points in the left hand column. Put a mark out of ten for the two men in the middle columns and give the reasons for this mark in the right hand column.

POINTS

BUSH/10

BLAIR/10

REASON(S)
 

Vision

 

 

 

Intelligence

 

 

 

Speech-giving skills

 

 

 

Past successes

 

 

 

Leadership

 

 

 

Fashion

 

 

 

Popularity

 

 

 

Other

 

 

 

Change partners and show each other your scores. Do you agree with each other’s reasons?

Discuss what the world would be like with your choice of man as leader.

Which country’s leader (except George Bush and Tony Blair) do you think would make the best world leader and why?

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 World Food Day. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. HUNGER: Make a poster outlining the places in the world where people suffer from hunger. Think of some solutions to stop so many of the world’s poor people from dying of hunger. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all think of similar solutions?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to Mr. Mugabe or Mr. Chavez (or both). Tell them what you think of their speeches at the World Food Day event in Rome. Show what you wrote 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. T

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.

attacked

criticized

b.

main

primary

c.

compared

likened

d.

applause

clapping

e.

delegates

representatives

f.

chose

decided

g.

currently

presently

h.

struggling

fighting

i.

invite

ask

j.

hit

struck

PHRASE MATCH:

a.

the main causes of

world hunger, pollution and war

b.

an event in Rome on October 17

to celebrate World Food Day

c.

compared them

to Hitler and Mussolini

d.

threatened all life

on the planet

e.

Mugabe received applause

and cheers from many delegates

f.

US ambassador Tony Hall quickly

hit back

g.

feeding the hungry

people of the world

h.

a bad

joke

i.

Zimbabwe’s agriculture is now in

ruins

j.

Mugabe blames British colonial rule

for his country’s poor economy

GAP FILL:

Bush & Blair attacked by Mugabe & Chavez

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have attacked U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They blame the American and British leaders for being the main causes of world hunger, pollution and war. At an event in Rome on October 17 to celebrate World Food Day, Mugabe said, “Blair and Bush are two unholy men of our millennium” and compared them to Hitler and Mussolini. Chavez called the US “the North American empire that threatened all life on the planet”. Chavez and Mugabe received applause and cheers from many delegates.

US ambassador Tony Hall quickly hit back. He was unhappy that Mugabe and Chavez “chose to politicize an event that was meant to be about feeding the hungry people of the world”. Hall said Mugabe’s presence in Rome was like a bad joke, especially as Zimbabwe is currently struggling to feed an estimated 3.8 million people. “Mugabe…would be the last person, I think, an organization should invite to talk about hunger,” Hall said. Zimbabwe’s agriculture is now in ruins and has been hit by drought. Mr. Mugabe blames British colonial rule for his country’s poor economy.

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