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WARM-UPS

1. RUBBISH/GARBAGE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about rubbish/garbage. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

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

tensions / rubbish / clashes / protestors / getting tough / acts of violence / weapons / garbage collectors / street blockades / punishments / piled up / eyesores / wreaths

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. RUBBISH: What should we do with it? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Type	What happens now?	What should happen (and why)?
food waste
old computers
sofas
newspapers
nuclear waste
clothes

4. WASTE: Students A strongly believe waste will be a huge problem in the future; Students B strongly believe we’ll always find ways to deal with waste.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. PROTEST: What would most make you protest? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the biggest reason at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

high food prices bad government lack of Internet freedom cuts in education

your country going to war retirement age raised to 75 mountains of rubbish in the streets no religious tolerance

6. RIOT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘riot’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	There is a new rubbish dump in Naples that is making people angry.	T / F
b.	People demonstrated in the street and burnt Italian flags.	T / F
c.	Three police officers were taken to hospital with serious injuries.	T / F
d.	Italy’s prime minister made a speech asking people to stop rioting.	T / F
e.	There is currently a lot of rubbish in the streets in Naples.	T / F
f.	Neapolitans are stopping garbage collectors from collecting garbage.	T / F
g.	European officials may punish Italy if it can’t clear the rubbish.	T / F
h.	A wreath was laid in a park to remember people who died in the riots.	T / F

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

1.	tensions	a.	piles
2	huge	b.	threw
3.	hurled	c.	citizens
4.	tough	d.	ugly
5.	appealing	e.	stresses
6.	residents	f.	irate
7.	mountains	g.	hard-hitting
8.	furious	h.	enormous
9.	eyesore	i.	demonstration
10.	march	j.	requesting

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	tensions	a.	is an eyesore
2	There have been riots in	b.	from their cars
3.	protestors dragged three policemen	c.	doing their job
4.	a conference on	d.	are rising
5.	I’m appealing to those involved to lay	e.	rubbish for many years
6.	residents have had problems with	f.	sanctions
7.	stop garbage collectors	g.	down their weapons
8.	angry over the poor	h.	the streets
9.	it may face	i.	quality of the dump
10.	people say the rubbish	j.	organized crime

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Tensions are ____________ in the Italian city of Naples over plans to create another huge rubbish dump near the city. There have been ____________ in the streets and clashes between protestors and the police. Rioters burnt cars and Italian flags and ____________ rocks at the police. Masked protestors dragged three policemen from their cars and beat them. One of the officers suffered a ____________ eye injury and was taken to hospital. Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni promised those protesting he would get ____________ with them if they did not stop their ____________. Mr Maroni, speaking at a conference on organized crime, said: “There have been real ____________ of violence against the forces of law and order and this is no longer acceptable. That is why I’m ____________ to those involved to lay down their weapons."		protests serious riots appealing rising acts hurled tough
Naples residents have had problems with ____________ for many years. Strikes by garbage collectors last year left mountains of rubbish in the streets. There are still ____________ blockades to stop garbage collectors doing their job. People were already angry over the poor ____________ of the dump already in operation; they are now furious about the proposed new ____________. Italy may face punishments from the European Commission. It has warned the country it may ____________ sanctions unless it removes the 2,400 tons of rubbish currently ____________ up in the streets of Naples. Local people say the rubbish is an eyesore and the smell a ____________ for visitors to the Mount Vesuvius National Park. Four city mayors led a ____________ to the entrance of the park, where they laid a wreath "in remembrance of the way the…park died".		face facility quality turnoff rubbish march piled street

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

_____________________ Italian city of Naples over plans to create another huge rubbish dump near the city. There _____________________ streets and _____________________ and the police. Rioters burnt cars and Italian flags and hurled rocks at the police. Masked _____________________ policemen from their cars and beat them. One of the officers suffered a _____________________ was taken to hospital. Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni promised those protesting he _______________________ if they did not stop their protests. Mr Maroni, speaking at a conference on organized crime, said: “There have _____________________ against the forces of law and order and this is no longer acceptable. That is why I’m appealing to those involved _____________________."

Naples _____________________ problems with rubbish for many years. Strikes by garbage collectors last year _____________________ rubbish in the streets. There are still street blockades _____________________ collectors doing their job. People were already angry over the poor quality of the dump _____________________; they are now furious about the proposed new facility. Italy may _____________________ from the European Commission. It has warned the country it may face sanctions unless it removes the 2,400 tons of rubbish _____________________ in the streets of Naples. Local people say the _____________________ the smell a turnoff for visitors to the Mount Vesuvius National Park. Four city mayors led _____________________ entrance of the park, where they laid a wreath "in remembrance of the way the…park died".

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

rubbish

dump

• 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 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. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

huge burnt beat tough forces lay

residents stop poor piled march died

STUDENT RUBBISH/GARBAGE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about rubbish/garbage in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

RUBBISH/GARBAGE DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘rubbish’?
c)	Do you like the British English ‘rubbish’ or American English ‘garbage’?
d)	Can you understand why tensions are rising in Naples?
e)	Do you think English speakers should say ‘Naples’ or ‘Napoli’?
f)	Could you imagine yourself clashing with police?
g)	Is rubbish/garbage a problem in your town?
h)	How should authorities get tough with the rioters?
i)	What should the Naples authorities do about the rubbish piling up?
j)	What do you think when you see rubbish everywhere in your country?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What happens if mountains of rubbish are left on the streets?
c)	Is this a business opportunity for recyclers?
d)	Why are people blockading the rubbish collectors?
e)	Should the European Commission punish Italy?
f)	What sanctions could the European Commission apply to Italy?
g)	Do you think the rubbish problem is damaging Naples’ image?
h)	What’s the solution to this problem?
i)	What do you think of the laying of the wreath?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the rioters?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Tensions are (1) ____ in the Italian city of Naples over plans to create another huge rubbish dump near the city. There have been riots in the streets and (2) ____ between protestors and the police. Rioters burnt cars and Italian flags and hurled rocks (3) ____ the police. Masked protestors dragged three policemen from their cars and beat them. One of the officers suffered a serious eye injury and was taken to hospital. Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni promised (4) ____ protesting he would get tough with them if they did not stop their protests. Mr Maroni, speaking at a conference (5) ____ organized crime, said: “There have been real acts of violence against the forces of law and order and this is no longer acceptable. That is why I’m appealing to those involved to (6) ____ down their weapons."

Naples (7) ____ have had problems with rubbish for many years. Strikes by garbage collectors last year left mountains of rubbish in the streets. There are still street blockades to stop garbage collectors (8) ____ their job. People were already angry over the poor quality of the dump already in operation; they are now furious about the (9) ____ new facility. Italy may face punishments from the European Commission. It has warned the country it may (10) ____ sanctions unless it removes the 2,400 tons of rubbish currently piled up in the streets of Naples. Local people say the rubbish is an (11) ____ and the smell a turnoff for visitors to the Mount Vesuvius National Park. Four city mayors led a march to the (12) ____ of the park, where they laid a wreath "in remembrance of the way the…park died".

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	rising	(b)	raising	(c)	rises	(d)	rise
2.	(a)	clash	(b)	clashed	(c)	clashes	(d)	clashing
3.	(a)	to	(b)	at	(c)	for	(d)	from
4.	(a)	them	(b)	these	(c)	they	(d)	those
5.	(a)	in	(b)	of	(c)	on	(d)	at
6.	(a)	lay	(b)	lie	(c)	laid	(d)	lays
7.	(a)	residence	(b)	resides	(c)	resident	(d)	residents
8.	(a)	collecting	(b)	doing	(c)	having	(d)	being
9.	(a)	proposal	(b)	proposition	(c)	proposed	(d)	proposals
10.	(a)	face	(b)	body	(c)	head	(d)	arm
11.	(a)	eyesight	(b)	eyesore	(c)	eyelash	(d)	eyeing
12.	(a)	entered	(b)	entrants	(c)	entrant	(d)	entrance

WRITING

Write about rubbish/garbage for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 out more about the rubbish/garbage problem in Naples. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. RUBBISH/GARBAGE: Make a poster about rubbish/garbage. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. FURIOUS: Write a magazine article about the rubbish in Naples. Include imaginary interviews with furious residents and rubbish collectors.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni. Ask him three questions about the rubbish/garbage. Give him three ideas on what to do about it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

F

d.

F

e.

T

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	tensions	a.	stresses
2	huge	b.	enormous
3.	hurled	c.	threw
4.	tough	d.	hard-hitting
5.	appealing	e.	requesting
6.	residents	f.	citizens
7.	mountains	g.	piles
8.	furious	h.	irate
9.	eyesore	i.	ugly
10.	march	j.	demonstration

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	tensions	a.	are rising
2	There have been riots in	b.	the streets
3.	protestors dragged three policemen	c.	from their cars
4.	a conference on	d.	organized crime
5.	I’m appealing to those involved to lay	e.	down their weapons
6.	residents have had problems with	f.	rubbish for many years
7.	stop garbage collectors	g.	doing their job
8.	angry over the poor	h.	quality of the dump
9.	it may face	i.	sanctions
10.	people say the rubbish	j.	is an eyesore

GAP FILL:

Protests growing in Naples over rubbish

Tensions are rising in the Italian city of Naples over plans to create another huge rubbish dump near the city. There have been riots in the streets and clashes between protestors and the police. Rioters burnt cars and Italian flags and hurled rocks at the police. Masked protestors dragged three policemen from their cars and beat them. One of the officers suffered a serious eye injury and was taken to hospital. Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni promised those protesting he would get tough with them if they did not stop their protests. Mr Maroni, speaking at a conference on organized crime, said: “There have been real acts of violence against the forces of law and order and this is no longer acceptable. That is why I’m appealing to those involved to lay down their weapons."

Naples residents have had problems with rubbish for many years. Strikes by garbage collectors last year left mountains of rubbish in the streets. There are still street blockades to stop garbage collectors doing their job. People were already angry over the poor quality of the dump already in operation; they are now furious about the proposed new facility. Italy may face punishments from the European Commission. It has warned the country it may face sanctions unless it removes the 2,400 tons of rubbish currently piled up in the streets of Naples. Local people say the rubbish is an eyesore and the smell a turnoff for visitors to the Mount Vesuvius National Park. Four city mayors led a march to the entrance of the park, where they laid a wreath "in remembrance of the way the…park died".

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - b

4 - d

5 - c

6 - a

7 - d

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - b

12 - d

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