Breaking News English

        

1. GAY RIGHTS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about gay rights. 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.

banned / homosexuality / overseas aid / discrimination / human rights / persecute / issue / head of state / personally / British Empire / change / accepted / journey

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

3. EQUALITY: How can nations bring change in these issues? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	How is your country on this?	How to bring greater equality
Gay rights
Religious freedom
Racial equality
Gender equality
Wealth gap
Digital divide

4. DISCRIMINATION: Students A strongly believe there will be no discrimination in the world one day; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. RIGHTS: Which are most important? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

gay workers’ animal minority

children’s human prisoner disability

6. HOMOSEXUALITY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘homosexuality’. 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.	Britain is thinking about stopping aid to countries with no gay rights.	T / F
b.	Britain is one of the world’s leading aid givers.	T / F
c.	The U.K. prime minister wants to ban strings attached to aid parcels.	T / F
d.	The prime minister said sexual persecution was unacceptable.	T / F
e.	David Cameron raised the issue of gay rights at the African Union.	T / F
f.	Cameron listed the countries he was considering banning.	T / F
g.	Most Commonwealth countries have no laws against homosexuality.	T / F
h.	Cameron said countries could not change their laws quickly.	T / F

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

1.	banned	a.	withholding
2	considering	b.	matter
3.	holding back	c.	leader
4.	premier	d.	brought up
5.	persecute	e.	thinking about
6.	raised	f.	down to
7.	head of state	g.	gradually
8.	slowly	h.	prohibited
9.	issue	i.	victimize
10.	up to	j.	top

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

1.	countries that have banned	a.	of gay rights
2	risk losing overseas	b.	and lesbian people
3.	he is considering holding	c.	happen slowly
4.	how people treat gay	d.	aid
5.	should have more strings	e.	member Commonwealth
6.	Cameron raised the issue	f.	head of state
7.	Queen Elizabeth as their	g.	attached
8.	nations of the 54-	h.	homosexuality
9.	change would	i.	along on that journey
10.	try and help them	j.	back aid

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

The United Kingdom has told countries that have (1) ____________ homosexuality that they (2) ____________ losing overseas aid if they do not end their discrimination. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters he is considering holding (3) ____________ aid from countries that do not recognize gay rights. "Britain is now one of the premier aid (4) ____________ in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights, and that includes how people (5) ____________ gay and lesbian people," Cameron told the BBC. He added: "British aid should have more (6) ____________ attached, in terms of do you persecute people for their (7) ____________ or their Christianity, or do you persecute people for their sexuality. We don't think that's (8) ____________."		acceptable strings risk givers banned faith back treat
Mr Cameron raised the (9) ____________ of gay rights at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Australia. The Commonwealth is the group of countries that have Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as their (10) ____________ of state. Cameron said he personally spoke with (11) ____________ African countries, but did not say which ones. As many as 41 nations of the 54-(12) ____________ Commonwealth have laws against homosexuality. Many of these laws were (13) ____________ at the time of the British Empire. Cameron accepted that change would happen (14) ____________, saying: "They are in a different (15) ____________ from us on this issue....I think these countries are all on a (16) ____________ and it's up to us to try and help them along on that journey."		several place introduced issue head journey member slowly

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The United Kingdom has told ______________________ homosexuality that they risk losing overseas aid if they do not end their discrimination. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters he is ______________________ aid from countries that do not recognize gay rights. "Britain is now one of the ______________________ in the world. We want to see countries that receive ______________________ to proper human rights, and that includes how people treat gay and lesbian people," Cameron told the BBC. He added: "British aid should have ______________________, in terms of do you persecute people for their faith or their Christianity, or do you persecute people for their sexuality. We don't ______________________."

Mr Cameron ______________________ gay rights at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Australia. The Commonwealth is the group of countries that have Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as ______________________. Cameron said he ______________________ several African countries, but did not say which ones. As many as 41 nations of the 54-member Commonwealth have laws against homosexuality. Many of these laws were ______________________ of the British Empire. Cameron accepted that change ______________________, saying: "They are in a different place from us on this issue....I think these countries are all on a journey and it's up to us to try and help them ______________________."

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

gay

rights

• 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:

banned end back proper strings faith

raised head ones slowly place help

STUDENT GAY RIGHTS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about gay rights 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.

GAY RIGHTS 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 term ‘gay rights’?
c)	How are gay rights in your country?
d)	What do you think of David Cameron’s linking of aid to gay rights?
e)	What do you think of countries that ban homosexuality?
f)	Do you think Cameron should be awarded for his position on gay rights?
g)	Do you agree that countries should attach more strings to the giving of overseas aid?
h)	Should the United Nations be doing more to promote gay rights?
i)	Should countries that discriminate against homosexuality be banned from international organizations?
j)	What forms of persecution exist in your country?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What three adjectives best describe this article and why?
c)	Do you think more leaders will follow Cameron’s lead?
d)	What do you think the leaders of the African countries Cameron spoke to said to him?
e)	Is this just another example of Britain meddling in other country’s affairs?
f)	Why do you think Cameron didn’t name the countries?
g)	Do you think these countries will care about not receiving British aid?
h)	Will discrimination against gays disappear in the future?
i)	What would you say to the African countries?
j)	What questions would you like to ask David Cameron?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The United Kingdom has told countries that have banned homosexuality that they risk losing (1) ____ aid if they do not end their discrimination. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters he is considering holding (2) ____ aid from countries that do not (3) ____ gay rights. "Britain is now one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering (4) ____ proper human rights, and that includes how people treat gay and lesbian people," Cameron told the BBC. He added: "British aid should have more (5) ____ attached, in (6) ____ of do you persecute people for their faith or their Christianity, or do you persecute people for their sexuality. We don't think that's acceptable."

Mr Cameron (7) ____ the issue of gay rights at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Australia. The Commonwealth is the group of countries that have Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as their head of (8) ____. Cameron said he personally spoke with (9) ____ African countries, but did not say which ones. As many as 41 nations of the 54-member Commonwealth have laws against homosexuality. Many of these laws were introduced (10) ____ the time of the British Empire. Cameron accepted that change would happen slowly, saying: "They are in a different place from us (11) ____ this issue....I think these countries are all on a journey and it's (12) ____ to us to try and help them along on that journey."

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

1.	(a)	intercontinental	(b)	immigrant	(c)	abroad	(d)	overseas
2.	(a)	down	(b)	back	(c)	on	(d)	in
3.	(a)	recognize	(b)	know	(c)	understand	(d)	view
4.	(a)	of	(b)	up	(c)	to	(d)	on
5.	(a)	ropes	(b)	cords	(c)	strings	(d)	cotton
6.	(a)	teams	(b)	terms	(c)	tomes	(d)	tames
7.	(a)	raised	(b)	increased	(c)	upped	(d)	arose
8.	(a)	leader	(b)	position	(c)	nationality	(d)	state
9.	(a)	a few of	(b)	several	(c)	a number	(d)	numeral
10.	(a)	up	(b)	so	(c)	of	(d)	at
11.	(a)	to	(b)	as	(c)	on	(d)	via
12.	(a)	up	(b)	as	(c)	for	(d)	on

 
 

WRITING

Write about gay rights for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 gay rights. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. GAY RIGHTS: Make a poster about gay rights. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. AID: Write a magazine article about linking overseas aid to gay rights. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

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 David Cameron. Ask him three questions about gay rights and aid. Give him three of your opinions on this. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

T

c.

F

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	banned	a.	prohibited
2	considering	b.	thinking about
3.	holding back	c.	withholding
4.	premier	d.	top
5.	persecute	e.	victimize
6.	raised	f.	brought up
7.	head of state	g.	leader
8.	slowly	h.	gradually
9.	issue	i.	matter
10.	up to	j.	down to

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	countries that have banned	a.	homosexuality
2	risk losing overseas	b.	aid
3.	he is considering holding	c.	back aid
4.	how people treat gay	d.	and lesbian people
5.	should have more strings	e.	attached
6.	Cameron raised the issue	f.	of gay rights
7.	Queen Elizabeth as their	g.	head of state
8.	nations of the 54-	h.	member Commonwealth
9.	change would	i.	happen slowly
10.	try and help them	j.	along on that journey

GAP FILL:

British aid to be linked to gay rights

The United Kingdom has told countries that have (1) banned homosexuality that they (2) risk losing overseas aid if they do not end their discrimination. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters he is considering holding (3) back aid from countries that do not recognize gay rights. "Britain is now one of the premier aid (4) givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights, and that includes how people (5) treat gay and lesbian people," Cameron told the BBC. He added: "British aid should have more (6) strings attached, in terms of do you persecute people for their (7) faith or their Christianity, or do you persecute people for their sexuality. We don't think that's (8) acceptable."

Mr Cameron raised the (9) issue of gay rights at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Australia. The Commonwealth is the group of countries that have Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as their (10) head of state. Cameron said he personally spoke with (11) several African countries, but did not say which ones. As many as 41 nations of the 54-(12) member Commonwealth have laws against homosexuality. Many of these laws were (13) introduced at the time of the British Empire. Cameron accepted that change would happen (14) slowly, saying: "They are in a different (15) place from us on this issue....I think these countries are all on a (16) journey and it's up to us to try and help them along on that journey."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

Back to the top