The Reading / Listening - Level 3

Israel's government has approved a bill to make mosques quieter. If the bill is passed into law, Israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers during the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens five times a day across the Muslim world. The first time is at dawn and the last is after sunset. The bill has to pass several more stages in Israel's parliament to become law. The bill says the volume of loudspeakers at mosques is too high and damages the quality of life for people who live near mosques. Israeli politician Moti Yogev proposed the bill and said that hundreds of thousands of Israelis, "suffer regularly and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the bill. He said: "Israel is committed to freedom of religion, but it must also protect citizens from the noise of the announcements." An Arab member of Israel's government said the bill was racist. He said it was, "another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an atmosphere of hatred…against the Arab public". Another critic said: "The real aim of the bill is not to prevent noise, but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony] between Jews and Arabs". Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's population. Most Arabs are Muslim. Jews constitute around 75 per cent of Israel's population.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Level 0 Level 1   or  Level 2

Sources
  • http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.752956
  • http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/benjamin-netanyahu-backs-bill-stop-mosque-noise-161113183806099.html
  • https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/11/13/israeli-pm-backs-quietening-muslim-call-to-prayer
  • http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ministers-approve-bill-muffling-muezzins-call-to-prayer-472519


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. PRAYER: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about prayer. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

       government / bill / mosques / loudspeakers / dawn / quality of life / suffer / noise /
       freedom / religion / citizens / racist / atmosphere / society / harmony / population

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

3. PLACE TO PRAY: Students A strongly believe a place of worship is the best place to pray; Students B strongly believe one's home is the best place.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

4. PLACES OF WORSHIP: What do you know about these places of worship? Talk about this with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote. Ask other students about what you want to know.

  • Mosque
  • Synagogue
  • Church
  • Shrine
  • Temple
  • Gurdwara
MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. MOSQUE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "mosque". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

6. QUIET: Rank these with your partner. Put the things that need quiet the most at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • a museum
  • a train carriage
  • a classical concert
  • a hospital
  • a place of worship
  • a library
  • your bedroom
  • the countryside

Before reading / listening

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

  1. A new law in Israel bans loudspeakers at mosques.     T / F
  2. The first call to prayer is after dusk.     T / F
  3. An Israeli politician says loudspeakers at mosques are too loud.     T / F
  4. The politician said over a million Israelis suffer every day.     T / F
  5. The Prime Minister of Israel said he supports banning loudspeakers.     T / F
  6. An Arab politician said the call to ban loudspeakers was racist.     T / F
  7. A critic said the bill was to create harmony between Jews and Arabs.     T / F
  8. Arabs make up around 20% of the population of Israel.     T / F

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

  1. approved
  2. happens
  3. dawn
  4. aim
  5. damages
  6. supported
  7. series
  8. atmosphere
  9. prevent
  10. roughly
  1. daybreak
  2. stop
  3. point
  4. agreed to
  5. climate
  6. about
  7. backed
  8. takes place
  9. sequence
  10. harms

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

  1. If the bill is passed
  2. The call to prayer happens
  3. The first time is at
  4. The bill has to pass several
  5. hundreds of
  6. Israel is committed to freedom
  7. protect citizens
  8. The real aim
  9. establish harmony between
  10. Arabs make up
  1. more stages
  2. dawn
  3. from the noise
  4. of religion
  5. into law
  6. roughly 20 per cent
  7. thousands of Israelis
  8. Jews and Arabs
  9. five times a day
  10. of the bill

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
dawn
proposed
approved
volume
regularly
during
quality
several

Israel's government has (1) ____________ a bill to make mosques quieter. If the bill is passed into law, Israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers (2) ____________ the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens five times a day across the Muslim world. The first time is at (3) ____________ and the last is after sunset. The bill has to pass (4) ____________ more stages in Israel's parliament to become law. The bill says the (5) ____________ of loudspeakers at mosques is too high and damages the (6) ____________ of life for people who live near mosques. Israeli politician Moti Yogev (7) ____________ the bill and said that hundreds of thousands of Israelis, "suffer (8) ____________ and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
citizens
efforts
atmosphere
constitute
freedom
population
racist
noise

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the bill. He said: "Israel is committed to (9) ____________ of religion, but it must also protect (10) ____________ from the noise of the announcements." An Arab member of Israel's government said the bill was (11) ____________. He said it was, "another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an (12) ____________ of hatred…against the Arab public". Another critic said: "The real aim of the bill is not to prevent (13) ____________, but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the (14) ____________ to establish [harmony] between Jews and Arabs." Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's (15) ____________. Most Arabs are Muslim. Jews (16) ____________ around 75 per cent of Israel's population.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  Israel's government has approved a bill to ______
     a.  make mosques quitter
     b.  make mosques quilter
     c.  make mosques quieter
     d.  make mosques quite

2)  If the bill is passed into law, Israel's mosques will not be able to ______
     a.  use loudspeakers
     b.  speak loudspeakers
     c.  lose loudspeakers
     d.  fuse loudspeakers

3)  The call to prayer happens five times a day ______ world
     a.  across all Muslim
     b.  across a Muslim
     c.  across the Muslim
     d.  across Muslim

4)  The bill says the volume of loudspeakers at mosques ______
     a.  is too height
     b.  is too high
     c.  is too highly
     d.  is too highs

5)  politician Moti Yogev proposed the bill and said that ______ of Israelis suffer
     a.  hundreds for thousands
     b.  hundreds so thousands
     c.  hundreds off thousands
     d.  hundreds of thousands

6)  Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ______
     a.  support it a bill
     b.  support tide the bill
     c.  supported a bill
     d.  supported the bill

7)  He said Israel is committed to freedom of religion, but it must ______
     a.  also protects citizens
     b.  also protect citizens
     c.  also protect citizen
     d.  also protects citizen

8) another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an ______
     a.  atmosphere of hated
     b.  atmosphere of hate it
     c.  atmosphere of hatred
     d.  atmosphere of hate red

9)  but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to ______
     a.  establishes harmony
     b.  establish harmonies
     c.  establish harmonise
     d.  establish harmony

10)  Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent ______
     a.  off Israel's population
     b.  at Israel's population
     c.  of Israel's population
     d.  to Israel's population

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Israel's government has (1) ___________________ to make mosques quieter. If the bill is passed into law, Israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers (2) ___________________ to prayer. The call to prayer happens five times a day across the Muslim world. The first time is at dawn and the last (3) ___________________. The bill has to pass several more stages in Israel's parliament to become law. The bill (4) ___________________ of loudspeakers at mosques is too high and damages the quality of life for people (5) ___________________ mosques. Israeli politician Moti Yogev proposed the bill and said that hundreds of thousands of Israelis, "(6) ___________________ daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (7) ___________________ the bill. He said: "Israel (8) ___________________ freedom of religion, but it must also protect citizens from the noise of the announcements." An Arab member of Israel's government said (9) ___________________. He said it was, "another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an (10) ___________________ …against the Arab public". Another critic said: "The real aim of the bill is not to prevent noise, but (11) ___________________ noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony] between Jews and Arabs." Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's population. Most Arabs are Muslim. Jews (12) ___________________ 75 per cent of Israel's population.

Comprehension questions

  1. What will mosques not be able to use if a bill becomes law?
  2. When is the first call to prayer?
  3. How many stages must the bill pass through to become law?
  4. Whose quality of life did a politician say the loudspeakers damage?
  5. How many people did Moti Yogev say suffer?
  6. What did Benjamin Netanyahu say Israel is committed to?
  7. What did an Arab member of parliament say the bill was?
  8. What kind of atmosphere did the politician say the bill aimed to create?
  9. What percentage of Israel's population are Arabs?
  10. What percentage of Israel's population are Jews?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What will mosques not be able to use if a bill becomes law?
a) airspace
b) loudspeakers
c) carpets
d) water

2) When is the first call to prayer?
a) at 5.53am
b) at midnight
c) at dusk
d) at dawn

3) How many stages must the bill pass through to become law?
a) several
b) seven
c) just one
d) over six

4) Whose quality of life did a politician say the loudspeakers damage?
a) babies
b) the hard of hearing
c) people living near mosques
d) DJs

5) How many people did Moti Yogev say suffer?
a) hundreds of millions
b) hundreds of thousands
c) tens of thousands
d) tens of millions

6) What did Benjamin Netanyahu say Israel is committed to?
a) freedom of religion
b) noise
c) announcements
d) harmony

7) What did an Arab member of parliament say the bill was?
a) historic
b) important
c) racist
d) long

8) What kind of atmosphere did the politician say the bill aimed to create?
a) one of hatred
b) a bad one
c) a toxic one
d) one with thin air

9) What percentage of Israel's population are Arabs?
a) about 20%
b) less than 20%
c) exactly 20%
d) more than 20%

10) What percentage of Israel's population are Jews?
a) 55%
b) 65%
c) 85%
d) 75%

Role play

Role A —A Place of Worship

You think a place of worship is the place that needs quiet the most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places don't really need quiet. Also, tell the others in which of these is it OK to make noise (and why): the countryside, a museum or a hospital.

Role B —The Countryside

You think the countryside is the place that needs quiet the most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places don't really need quiet. Also, tell the others in which of these is it OK to make noise (and why): a place of worship, a museum or a hospital.

Role C —A Museum

You think a museum is the place that needs quiet the most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places don't really need quiet. Also, tell the others in which of these is it OK to make noise (and why): the countryside, a place of worship or a hospital.

Role D —A Hospital

You think a hospital is the place that needs quiet the most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places don't really need quiet. Also, tell the others in which of these is it OK to make noise (and why): the countryside, a museum or a place of worship.

After reading / listening

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

'call'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • and 'prayer'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • • 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:

    • freedom
    • protect
    • racist
    • public
    • efforts
    • 75
    • into
    • across
    • sunset
    • stages
    • live
    • daily

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Israel backs bill to make mosques quieter

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What springs to mind when you hear the word 'prayer'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. How important is prayer?
    5. Is there a certain way we should pray?
    6. Do your prayers ever get answered?
    7. Do you think the Israeli bill should become law?
    8. Would it be better to lower the volume rather than ban loudspeakers?
    9. What do you think of people who "suffer regularly" from noise?
    10. What advice do you have for Benjamin Netanyahu?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you know about the Muslim call to prayer?
    3. How important is freedom of religion?
    4. Is the bill racist?
    5. What did a critic mean by, "create noise that will hurt all of society"?
    6. What will this bill do for relations between Arab Muslims and Jews?
    7. What do you know about Israel-Palestinian relations?
    8. What is your solution to this?
    9. What is the world's most beautiful place of prayer?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Benjamin Netanyahu?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Israel's government has (1) ____ a bill to make mosques quieter. If the bill is passed into law, Israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers (2) ____ the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens five times a day across the Muslim world. The first time is at (3) ____ and the last is after sunset. The bill has to pass several more (4) ____ in Israel's parliament to become law. The bill says the volume of loudspeakers at mosques is too high and damages the (5) ____ of life for people who live near mosques. Israeli politician Moti Yogev proposed the bill and said that (6) ____ of thousands of Israelis, "suffer regularly and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the bill. He said: "Israel is committed to (7) ____ of religion, but it must also protect citizens (8) ____ the noise of the announcements." An Arab member of Israel's government said the bill was racist. He said it was, "(9) ____ law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an atmosphere of hatred…against the Arab public". Another critic said: "The real aim of the bill is (10) ____ to prevent noise, but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony] (11) ____ Jews and Arabs." Arabs make up (12) ____ 20 per cent of Israel's population. Most Arabs are Muslim. Jews constitute around 75 per cent of Israel's population.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     approval     (b)     approving     (c)     approved     (d)     approves    
    2. (a)     during     (b)     between     (c)     while     (d)     on    
    3. (a)     dawn     (b)     fawn     (c)     lawn     (d)     pawn    
    4. (a)     stages     (b)     locks     (c)     stairs     (d)     holes    
    5. (a)     quantify     (b)     quantity     (c)     qualify     (d)     quality    
    6. (a)     millions     (b)     thousands     (c)     tens     (d)     hundreds    
    7. (a)     freedom     (b)     freely     (c)     free     (d)     freed    
    8. (a)     as     (b)     of     (c)     for     (d)     from    
    9. (a)     another     (b)     other     (c)     others     (d)     or other    
    10. (a)     no     (b)     not     (c)     now     (d)     non    
    11. (a)     during     (b)     between     (c)     among     (d)     while    
    12. (a)     roughly     (b)     rough     (c)     rougher     (d)     roughs

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. Israel's government has apdropve a bill
    2. pass svraeel more stages
    3. the emlouv of loudspeakers
    4. damages the iqualyt of life
    5. Israeli iitpaclino Moti Yogev proposed the bill
    6. suffer ulrleryag

    Paragraph 2

    1. freedom of ioreling
    2. create an tmeaseorhp of hatred
    3. hurt all of cesyiot
    4. efforts to establish rhonyam
    5. Arabs make up yrolugh 20 per cent
    6. 75 per cent of Israel's nalipotpou

    Put the text back together

    (    )     politician Moti Yogev proposed the bill and said that hundreds of thousands of Israelis, "suffer regularly

    1  )     Israel's government has approved a bill to make mosques quieter. If the bill is passed into

    (    )     several more stages in Israel's parliament to become law. The bill says the volume of loudspeakers at mosques is too

    (    )     create an atmosphere of hatred…against the Arab public". Another critic said: "The real aim of the bill

    (    )     between Jews and Arabs." Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's

    (    )     high and damages the quality of life for people who live near mosques. Israeli

    (    )     Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the bill. He said: "Israel is committed to freedom

    (    )     times a day across the Muslim world. The first time is at dawn and the last is after sunset. The bill has to pass

    (    )     law, Israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers during the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens five

    (    )     population. Most Arabs are Muslim. Jews constitute around 75 per cent of Israel's population.

    (    )     and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

    (    )     is not to prevent noise, but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony]

    (    )     government said the bill was racist. He said it was, "another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to

    (    )     of religion, but it must also protect citizens from the noise of the announcements." An Arab member of Israel's

    Put the words in the right order

    1. has  government  Israel's  quieter  mosques  make  to  bill  a  approved  .
    2. mosques   to   will   use   not   loudspeakers   be   Israel's   able   .
    3. last   the   and   dawn   at   is   time   first   The   sunset   after   is   .
    4. volume  the  says  bill  The  high  too  is  mosques  at  loudspeakers  of  .
    5. suffer   Hundreds   thousands   Israelis   regularly   of   of   .
    6. is   "Israel   said:   He   .religion   of   freedom"   to   committed
    7. noise   the   from   citizens   protect   also   must   It   .
    8. create   of   that   to   atmosphere   Laws   aim   an   hatred   only   .
    9. to   prevent   noise   The   real   aim   of   the   bill   is   not   .
    10. population   up   per   Israel's   make   20   of   Arabs   roughly   cent   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Israel's government has approved / approval a bill to make mosques quieter. If the bill is past / passed into law, Israel's mosques will not be / have able to use loudspeakers during the call to prayer. The call to prayer happens five times the / a day across the Muslim world. The first time / times is at dawn and the last is after sunset. The bill has to pass numeral / several more stages in Israel's parliament to become law. The bill says the volume / amount of loudspeakers at mosques is too high and damage / damages the quality of life for people who live near / nearly mosques. Israeli politician Moti Yogev proposed the bill and said that hundreds of thousands of Israelis, "suffer regularly and day / daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques".

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the bill. He said: "Israel is committed / commit to freedom of religion, but it must also protect citizen / citizens from the noise of the announcements / announce." An Arab member of Israel's government said the bill was racist. He said it was, "another law in a serious / series of racist…laws that only target / aim to create an / a atmosphere of hatred…against the Arab public". Another critic said: "The real aim of the bill is not / now to prevent noise, but rather / prefer to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony] between Jews and Arabs." Arabs make up roughly / rough 20 per cent of Israel's population. Most Arabs are Muslim. Jews constitution / constitute around 75 per cent of Israel's population.

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    _sr__l's g_v_rnm_nt h_s _ppr_v_d _ b_ll t_ m_k_ m_sq__s q___t_r. _f th_ b_ll _s p_ss_d _nt_ l_w, _sr__l's m_sq__s w_ll n_t b_ _bl_ t_ _s_ l__dsp__k_rs d_r_ng th_ c_ll t_ pr_y_r. Th_ c_ll t_ pr_y_r h_pp_ns f_v_ t_m_s _ d_y _cr_ss th_ M_sl_m w_rld. Th_ f_rst t_m_ _s _t d_wn _nd th_ l_st _s _ft_r s_ns_t. Th_ b_ll h_s t_ p_ss s_v_r_l m_r_ st_g_s _n _sr__l's p_rl__m_nt t_ b_c_m_ l_w. Th_ b_ll s_ys th_ v_l_m_ _f l__dsp__k_rs _t m_sq__s _s t__ h_gh _nd d_m_g_s th_ q__l_ty _f l_f_ f_r p__pl_ wh_ l_v_ n__r m_sq__s. _sr__l_ p_l_t_c__n M_t_ Y_g_v pr_p_s_d th_ b_ll _nd s__d th_t h_ndr_ds _f th__s_nds _f _sr__l_s, "s_ff_r r_g_l_rly _nd d__ly fr_m n__s_ c__s_d by th_ [pr_y_r] c_lls fr_m m_sq__s."

    _sr__l's Pr_m_ M_n_st_r B_nj_m_n N_t_ny_h_ s__d h_ s_pp_rt_d th_ b_ll. H_ s__d: "_sr__l _s c_mm_tt_d t_ fr__d_m _f r_l_g__n, b_t _t m_st _ls_ pr_t_ct c_t_z_ns fr_m th_ n__s_ _f th_ _nn__nc_m_nts." _n _r_b m_mb_r _f _sr__l's g_v_rnm_nt s__d th_ b_ll w_s r_c_st. H_ s__d _t w_s, "_n_th_r l_w _n _ s_r__s _f r_c_st…l_ws th_t _nly __m t_ cr__t_ _n _tm_sph_r_ _f h_tr_d…_g__nst th_ _r_b p_bl_c." _n_th_r cr_t_c s__d: "Th_ r__l __m _f th_ b_ll _s n_t t_ pr_v_nt n__s_, b_t r_th_r t_ cr__t_ n__s_ th_t w_ll h_rt _ll _f s_c__ty _nd th_ _ff_rts t_ _st_bl_sh [h_rm_ny] b_tw__n J_ws _nd _r_bs". _r_bs m_k_ _p r__ghly 20 p_r c_nt _f _sr__l's p_p_l_t__n. M_st _r_bs _r_ M_sl_m. J_ws c_nst_t_t_ _r__nd 75 p_r c_nt _f _sr__l's p_p_l_t__n.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    israel's government has approved a bill to make mosques quieter if the bill is passed into law israel's mosques will not be able to use loudspeakers during the call to prayer the call to prayer happens five times a day across the muslim world the first time is at dawn and the last is after sunset the bill has to pass several more stages in israel's parliament to become law the bill says the volume of loudspeakers at mosques is too high and damages the quality of life for people who live near mosques israeli politician moti yogev proposed the bill and said that hundreds of thousands of israelis "suffer regularly and daily from noise caused by the [prayer] calls from mosques"

    israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he supported the bill he said "israel is committed to freedom of religion but it must also protect citizens from the noise of the announcements" an arab member of israel's government said the bill was racist he said it was "another law in a series of racist…laws that only aim to create an atmosphere of hatred…against the arab public" another critic said "the real aim of the bill is not to prevent noise but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish [harmony] between jews and arabs" arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of israel's population most arabs are muslim jews constitute around 75 per cent of israel's population

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Israel'sgovernmenthasapprovedabilltomakemosquesquieter.Iftheb
    illispassedintolaw,Israel'smosqueswillnotbeabletouseloudspeakers
    duringthecalltoprayer.Thecalltoprayerhappensfivetimesadayacross
    theMuslimworld.Thefirsttimeisatdawnandthelastisaftersunset.Theb
    illhastopassseveralmorestagesinIsrael'sparliamenttobecomelaw.T
    hebillsaysthevolumeofloudspeakersatmosquesistoohighanddamag
    esthequalityoflifeforpeoplewholivenearmosques.IsraelipoliticianMo
    tiYogevproposedthebillandsaidthathundredsofthousandsofIsraelis,
    "sufferregularlyanddailyfromnoisecausedbythe[prayer]callsfromm
    osques".Israel'sPrimeMinisterBenjaminNetanyahusaidhesupported
    thebill.Hesaid:"Israeliscommittedtofreedomofreligion,butitmustals
    oprotectcitizensfromthenoiseoftheannouncements."AnArabmembe
    rofIsrael'sgovernmentsaidthebillwasracist.Hesaiditwas,"anotherla
    winaseriesofracist…lawsthatonlyaimtocreateanatmosphereofhatre
    d…againsttheArabpublic".Anothercriticsaid:"Therealaimofthebillisn
    ottopreventnoise,butrathertocreatenoisethatwillhurtallofsocietyan
    dtheeffortstoestablish[harmony]betweenJewsandArabs."Arabsma
    keuproughly20percentofIsrael'spopulation.MostArabsareMuslim.Je
    wsconstitutearound75percentofIsrael'spopulation.

    Free writing

    Write about call to prayer for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    Academic writing

    Freedom of religion is one of the most important things in society. Discuss.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    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 Muslim call to prayer. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

    3. NOISE POLLUTION: Make a poster about noise pollution. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

    4. CALL TO PRAYER: Write a magazine article about banning loudspeakers on mosques for the call to prayer. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.

    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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on prayer. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how we can pray more comfortably. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Help Support This Web Site

    • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

    Sean Banville's Book

    Thank You