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Date: Nov 24, 2005
Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (1:58 - 231.5 KB - 16kbps)
THE ARTICLEDespite it being the twenty-first century, hunger and malnutrition still kill six million children a year, according to a newly published report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. More disturbing is the startling fact that there are more malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa today than in the 1990s. The UN agency says there were 170.4 million people on the verge of starvation in 1992, a number that grew to 203.5 million in 2002. The report states that hunger and malnutrition are the primary causes of poverty, illiteracy, disease and deaths in developing countries. It also highlights how lacking the developed world has been in providing adequate aid to the poverty-stricken. Many children die from easily preventable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and measles. The UN food agency’s goal of halving the number of the world’s hungry by 2015, set by the World Food Summit in 1996, now looks unattainable. Although the initial goals were consolidated on and reinforced by the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, signatories to both programs have dragged their heels somewhat in delivering on their promises of aid. The only bright spot amid the gloomy reading was for South America and perhaps Asia, which has a good chance of reaching targets “if it can accelerate progress slightly over the next few years.” The agency’s Jacques Diouf stated: “Most, if not all of the ... targets can be reached, but only if efforts are redoubled and refocused.… priority must be given to…agriculture as the mainstay of rural livelihoods.” Source: http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/1000151/index.html WARM-UPS1. FOOD: In pairs / groups, talk about quantities of food. Do you overeat? Do you waste food or throw it away? Do you see any excesses regarding food in your daily life? Why do you think we have so much food but most of the world has too little or none? 2. THE HUNGRY: Discuss the following groups of people. How would you like to help them? What should world governments and organizations do to help them?
3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 4. HUNGRY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “hungry”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 5. MY COUNTRY: Do any of the curses that afflict sub-Saharan Africa also affect your country? Talk about whether the following exist where you come from and to what degree:
6. HUNGER OPINIONS: What do you think of these opinions on world hunger? Talk about them with your partner(s).
BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text. UN: Hunger kills 6m children a year
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. UN: Hunger kills 6m children a yearDespite it being the twenty-first century, hunger and _____________ still kill six million children a year, according to a newly published report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. More _____________ is the startling fact that there are more malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa today than in the 1990s. The UN agency says there were 170.4 million people on ___ ______ ___ starvation in 1992, a number that grew to 203.5 million in 2002. The report states that hunger and malnutrition are the primary causes of poverty, ___________, disease and deaths in developing countries. It also highlights how lacking the developed world has been in providing ___________ aid to the poverty-___________. Many children die from easily preventable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and measles. The UN food agency’s goal of _________ the number of the world’s hungry by 2015, set by the World Food Summit in 1996, now looks ______________. Although the initial goals were consolidated on and reinforced by the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, ____________ to both programs have dragged their heels somewhat in delivering on their promises of aid. The only bright spot amid the _________ reading was for South America and perhaps Asia, which has a good chance of reaching targets “if it can _________ progress slightly over the next few years.” The agency’s Jacques Diouf stated: “Most, if not all of the ... targets can be reached, but only if efforts are _________ and refocused.… priority must be given to…agriculture as the _________ of rural livelihoods.” AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘primary’ and ‘cause’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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 and why so many children are still dying in the 21st Century.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
SPEAKINGELIMINATE WANT: In pairs / groups, discuss ways how your government(s) can reduce or eliminate the scourges that afflict much of the world’s population. Put your suggestions in the right hand column.
HOMEWORK1. 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 UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s report. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things? 3. MY GOVERNMENT: Create a poster outlining the efforts of your government in providing aid to the needy either in you own country or in others. Include a section that has your recommendations for your government’s future actions. Explain what you wrote to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all have similar ideas? 4. DIARY / JOURNAL: Imagine you live with the constant threat of starvation. Every day is a struggle to find enough food to survive. Write your diary / journal entry for a day spent in poverty and need. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: UN: Hunger kills 6m children a yearDespite it being the twenty-first century, hunger and malnutrition still kill six million children a year, according to a newly published report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. More disturbing is the startling fact that there are more malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa today than in the 1990s. The UN agency says there were 170.4 million people on the verge of starvation in 1992, a number that grew to 203.5 million in 2002. The report states that hunger and malnutrition are the primary causes of poverty, illiteracy, disease and deaths in developing countries. It also highlights how lacking the developed world has been in providing adequate aid to the poverty-stricken. Many children die from easily preventable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and measles. The UN food agency’s goal of halving the number of the world’s hungry by 2015, set by the World Food Summit in 1996, now looks unattainable. Although the initial goals were consolidated on and reinforced by the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, signatories to both programs have dragged their heels somewhat in delivering on their promises of aid. The only bright spot amid the gloomy reading was for South America and perhaps Asia, which has a good chance of reaching targets “if it can accelerate progress slightly over the next few years.” The agency’s Jacques Diouf stated: “Most, if not all of the ... targets can be reached, but only if efforts are redoubled and refocused.… priority must be given to…agriculture as the mainstay of rural livelihoods.”
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