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Date: Dec 27, 2005
Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (1:47 - 209.9 KB - 16kbps)
THE ARTICLE - Libya overturns AIDS death penaltiesIn a surprise about-face, the Libyan Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to retry five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who were sentenced to death for intentionally infecting 426 children with the HIV virus. Libya’s highest court deemed the original death sentences meted out to the six medics were invalid due to “irregularities” in interrogation procedures. The high profile international case has rarely been out of the headlines in the past seven years. Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States have made countless appeals for clemency and have voiced concerns over allegations that confessions were extracted using torture. The latest move has revived hopes that the defendants may be repatriated. While humanitarians and human rights groups were ecstatic that the death penalties had effectively been commuted, families of the infected children are incensed by the nurses’ reprieve. Awad al-Mesmari, a lawyer for the families, said he was disheartened by the verdict. He asked: “What did the children do so that they suffer now? We have already buried 50 of them. May God bless them.” Conversely, the defendants’ lawyer said the ruling “reflects the evidence and facts…that all the previous measures were null and void and that the confessions were made illegally”. The trial has stoked anger among the majority of Libyans, who feel the overturned sentence is gravely unjust. Meanwhile, Bulgaria has announced a plan to set up a fund to help the infected children. WARM-UPS1. LIBYA SEARCH: Talk to as many other students as you can to find out what they know about Libya. After you have talked to lots of students, sit down with your partner(s) and share your information. Tell each other what you thought was interesting or surprising. Would you like to visit or live in Libya? 2. MY COUNTRY: In pairs / groups, talk about the system of justice in your country. Is it effective? Does it prevent crime? Does it make society safer? What measures or changes would you like to see introduced. 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. TWO-MINUTE DEBATES: Debate each of the arguments about the death penalty below with a partner for just two minutes, before moving on to the next partner and debate. Student A agrees with the first argument, Student B, the second.
5. AIDS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with AIDS. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 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. Libya overturns AIDS death penalties
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. Libya overturns AIDS death penaltiesIn a surprise ______-_____, the Libyan Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to retry five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who were sentenced to death for intentionally __________ 426 children with the HIV virus. Libya’s highest court __________ the original death sentences meted out to the six medics were invalid due to “irregularities” in interrogation procedures. The high profile international case has __________ been out of the headlines in the past seven years. Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States have made countless appeals for __________ and have voiced concerns over allegations that confessions were __________ using torture. The latest move has revived hopes that the defendants may be __________. While humanitarians and human rights groups were __________ that the death penalties had effectively been __________, families of the infected children are __________ by the nurses’ __________. Awad al-Mesmari, a lawyer for the families, said he was disheartened by the verdict. He asked: “What did the children do so that they suffer now? We have already ________ 50 of them. May God bless them.” Conversely, the defendants’ lawyer said the ruling “reflects the evidence and facts…that all the previous measures were ______ and ______ and that the confessions were made illegally”. The trial has ________ anger among the majority of Libyans, who feel the overturned sentence is gravely ________. Meanwhile, Bulgaria has announced a plan to set up a fund to help the infected children. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘voice’ and ‘concern’.
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 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 “LIBYA” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Libya and its position in the world.
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.
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 feelings in Libya over the Supreme Court’s decision. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things? 3. DEATH PENALTY: Make a poster outlining the pros and cons of the death penalty. Show your posters to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar ideas? 4. LETTER: Write a letter to the head judge of Libya’s Supreme Court. Tell him/her what you think of the decision to commute the medics’ death sentences and order a retrial. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone write similar things? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Libya overturns AIDS death penaltiesIn a surprise about-face, the Libyan Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to retry five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who were sentenced to death for intentionally infecting 426 children with the HIV virus. Libya’s highest court deemed the original death sentences meted out to the six medics were invalid due to “irregularities” in interrogation procedures. The high profile international case has rarely been out of the headlines in the past seven years. Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States have made countless appeals for clemency and have voiced concerns over allegations that confessions were extracted using torture. The latest move has revived hopes that the defendants may be repatriated. While humanitarians and human rights groups were ecstatic that the death penalties had effectively been commuted, families of the infected children are incensed by the nurses’ reprieve. Awad al-Mesmari, a lawyer for the families, said he was disheartened by the verdict. He asked: “What did the children do so that they suffer now? We have already buried 50 of them. May God bless them.” Conversely, the defendants’ lawyer said the ruling “reflects the evidence and facts…that all the previous measures were null and void and that the confessions were made illegally”. The trial has stoked anger among the majority of Libyans, who feel the overturned sentence is gravely unjust. Meanwhile, Bulgaria has announced a plan to set up a fund to help the infected children.
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