The Reading / Listening - Bio-terrorism - Level 5

The ex-boss of Microsoft Bill Gates has warned the world could be in danger from bio-terrorism. He said a virus made by terrorists could kill 30 million people in less than a year. Mr Gates, the richest person in the world, was speaking at a security conference in Germany. He said there was a "reasonable" chance of a bio-terrorist attack in the next 10 to 15 years. He was surprised that very few leaders are aware of this. He wants leaders to be more prepared. He asked for global "health security" to become a major part of government discussions and policies.

Gates said the next epidemic could start on a computer screen. He said a genetically engineered virus was easier to make and could kill more people than nuclear bombs. He asked governments, "to prepare for these epidemics in the same way we prepare for war". He said there should be "germ games", just like many countries engage in war games to prepare for war. He also said we needed better monitoring to spot outbreaks early, and the development of vaccines within weeks rather than years. He also said we needed anti-viral drugs, antibodies, vaccines and new diagnostics.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Bio-terrorism - Level 4 or  Bio-terrorism - Level 6

Sources
  • http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/02/19/bill-gates-warns-of-epidemic-that-will-kill-over-30-million-people/
  • https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/18/bill-gates-bioterrorism-could-kill-more-than-nuclear-war-but-no-one-is-ready-to-deal-with-it/
  • http://mashable.com/2017/02/18/bill-gates-bio-terrorism/


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 :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. the world could be in danger
  2. a virus made by terrorists
  3. speaking at
  4. a "reasonable" chance
  5. very few leaders are
  6. He wants leaders to
  7. global health
  8. a major part of government
  1. of a bio-terrorist attack
  2. be more prepared
  3. security
  4. could kill 30 million
  5. discussions
  6. from bio-terrorism
  7. aware of this
  8. a security conference

Paragraph 2

  1. the next epidemic could start
  2. a genetically
  3. kill more people
  4. prepare for these
  5. in the same way we
  6. many countries engage
  7. better monitoring to spot
  8. anti-
  1. epidemics
  2. than nuclear bombs
  3. outbreaks early
  4. viral drugs
  5. on a computer screen
  6. prepare for war
  7. engineered virus
  8. in war games

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The ex-boss of Microsoft Bill Gates (1) ___________________ world could be in danger from bio-terrorism. He said (2) ___________________ terrorists could kill 30 million people in less than a year. Mr Gates, the richest person in the world, was speaking (3) ___________________ conference in Germany. He said there was a "reasonable" (4) ___________________-terrorist attack in the next 10 to 15 years. He (5) ___________________ very few leaders are aware of this. He wants leaders to be more prepared. He asked for global "health security" to become (6) ___________________ government discussions and policies.

Gates said the next epidemic (7) ___________________ computer screen. He said a genetically engineered virus (8) ___________________ make and could kill more people than nuclear bombs. He asked governments, "to prepare for these epidemics (9) ___________________ we prepare for war". He said there should be "germ games", just like many countries (10) ___________________ games to prepare for war. He also said we needed better monitoring to (11) ___________________, and the development of vaccines within weeks rather than years. He also said we needed anti-viral drugs, antibodies, vaccines (12) ___________________.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Theex-bossofMicrosoftBillGateshaswarnedtheworldcouldbeindange
rfrombio-terrorism.Hesaidavirusmadebyterroristscouldkill30millio
npeopleinlessthanayear.MrGates,therichestpersonintheworld,was
peakingatasecurityconferenceinGermany.Hesaidtherewasa"reason
able"chanceofabio-terroristattackinthenext10to15years.Hewassur
prisedthatveryfewleadersareawareofthis.Hewantsleaderstobemore
prepared.Heaskedforglobal"healthsecurity"tobecomeamajorpartof
governmentdiscussionsandpolicies.Gatessaidthenextepidemiccoul
dstartonacomputerscreen.Hesaidageneticallyengineeredviruswase
asiertomakeandcouldkillmorepeoplethannuclearbombs.Heaskedgo
vernments,"topreparefortheseepidemicsinthesamewaywepreparef
orwar".Hesaidthereshouldbe"germgames",justlikemanycountriese
ngageinwargamestoprepareforwar.Healsosaidweneededbettermon
itoringtospotoutbreaksearly,andthedevelopmentofvaccineswithinw
eeksratherthanyears.Healsosaidweneededanti-viraldrugs,ant
ibodies,vaccinesandnewdiagnostics.

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 — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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