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Kofi Annan - Israel attack kills 4 UN officialsDate: July 27, 2006Level: Harder (Try the easier lesson.) Downloads: Word Doc | PDF Doc | Listening Audio: (2:06 - 246.9 KB - 16kbps)
THE ARTICLEAn Israeli air strike has killed four United Nations military observers in southern Lebanon. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has created a diplomatic storm by accusing Israel of striking the UN military position on purpose. In an unusually intense and damning statement, he said: "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces." He added: “The coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post…occurred despite personal assurances given to me by [Israeli] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire." The officials who died in the aerial bombing were from Canada, Austria, China and Finland. Chinese officials also responded quickly to the attack and rebuked Israel for its actions and demanded a swift explanation. The Secretary General’s accusation has outraged Israeli officials, who have called for an immediate apology for what they view as Annan’s rash and ill-conceived words. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman reacted furiously, calling Annan’s comments “premature and erroneous”. He expressed regret for the tragedy and sent condolences to the families of those who were killed. However, he confessed he was “shocked and deeply distressed” by what he termed as Annan’s “hasty statement”. He said the UN leader “went far too far for a seasoned and experienced diplomat [and] that his statement was irresponsible, unfortunate and deplorable”. He accused Annan of “jumping to conclusions” and urged him to retract his statement. Gillerman defended Israel’s actions by saying Annan’s statement: “adds to a litany of UN accusations against Israel which have eventually proved to be totally untrue.” WARM-UPS1. ON THE GROUND: With your partner(s), role play a conversation between people on the ground in the Israel/Lebanon conflict. Take turns at being two Lebanese, two Israelis, a Lebanese and Israeli, etc. After the role play(s), find a new partner and describe what you talked about. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 3. UNITED NATIONS: Ask your partner(s) what they know about the following UN organizations. Share your findings with new partners. (You may need to use the Internet.)
4. QUICK DEBATE: Students A believe a UN Secretary General should say what he/she believes. Students B believe the UN Secretary General should be diplomatic at all times. Debate this with your partners. Change partners often. 5. OPINIONS: With your partner(s), talk about the following opinions on Kofi Annan’s comments. Change partners and share your findings.
6. KOFI ANNAN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. 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. Kofi Annan - Israel attack kills 4 UN officials
LISTENINGListen and fill in the spaces. Kofi Annan - Israel attack kills 4 UN officialsAn Israeli air strike has killed four United Nations military __________ in southern Lebanon. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has created a diplomatic storm by accusing Israel of striking the UN military position __________. In an unusually intense and __________ statement, he said: "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently __________ targeting by Israeli Defence Forces." He added: “The coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post…occurred despite personal __________ given to me by [Israeli] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be __________ Israeli fire." The officials who died in the aerial bombing were from Canada, Austria, China and Finland. Chinese officials also responded quickly to the attack and __________ Israel for its actions and demanded a swift explanation. The Secretary General’s accusation has outraged Israeli officials, who have called for an immediate apology for what they view as Annan’s __________ and ill-__________ words. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman reacted furiously, calling Annan’s comments “premature and __________”. He expressed regret for the tragedy and sent condolences to the families of those who were killed. However, he confessed he was “shocked and deeply distressed” by what he termed as Annan’s “hasty statement”. He said the UN leader “went _______________ a seasoned and experienced diplomat [and] that his statement was irresponsible, unfortunate and __________”. He accused Annan of “jumping to conclusions” and urged him to __________ his statement. Gillerman defended Israel’s actions by saying Annan’s statement: “adds to a _____________ UN accusations against Israel which have eventually proved to be totally untrue.” AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘air’ and ‘strike’.
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 “KOFI ANNAN” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Kofi Annan and the role of the UN in the Israel-Lebanon conflict.
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.
SPEAKINGROLE PLAY: Should anyone be punished for the deaths of the four UN observers?
After the role play, discuss whether you really believed what you were saying in your role. 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 information on the background to the Israel-Lebanon conflict. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. POSTER: Make a poster that includes information about the life and times of Kofi Annan. Include a summary about what kind of UN leader he is and the impact he has made. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. 4. LETTER: Write a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Tell him what you think of his statement. Give him advice on what he should do from now. Ask him three questions. Read your letter to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. Which letter did you like best and why? ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Kofi Annan - Israel attack kills 4 UN officialsAn Israeli air strike has killed four United Nations military observers in southern Lebanon. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has created a diplomatic storm by accusing Israel of striking the UN military position on purpose. In an unusually intense and damning statement, he said: "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces." He added: “The coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post…occurred despite personal assurances given to me by [Israeli] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire." The officials who died in the aerial bombing were from Canada, Austria, China and Finland. Chinese officials also responded quickly to the attack and rebuked Israel for its actions and demanded a swift explanation. The Secretary General’s accusation has outraged Israeli officials, who have called for an immediate apology for what they view as Annan’s rash and ill-conceived words. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman reacted furiously, calling Annan’s comments “premature and erroneous”. He expressed regret for the tragedy and sent condolences to the families of those who were killed. However, he confessed he was “shocked and deeply distressed” by what he termed as Annan’s “hasty statement”. He said the UN leader “went far too far for a seasoned and experienced diplomat [and] that his statement was irresponsible, unfortunate and deplorable”. He accused Annan of “jumping to conclusions” and urged him to retract his statement. Gillerman defended Israel’s actions by saying Annan’s statement: “adds to a litany of UN accusations against Israel which have eventually proved to be totally untrue.”
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