SESSION 9: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 9: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES.

THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or False (F):

a. Swiss people can now visit mosques every day of the week.
b. Swiss people will soon vote on a ban on building mosque minarets.
c. Muslim leaders in Switzerland want to talk more with Swiss people.
d. A BBC reporter said people enjoyed visiting the mosque she went to.
e. There will be no more mosques built in Switzerland after November 29.
f. The vast majority of Swiss people oppose a ban on minaret building.
g. Only four mosques in Switzerland currently have a minaret.
h. The Swiss president is afraid a ban could bring terrorism to her nation.

1.2 SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1. encourage ............................ a. damage
2. ahead ................................. b. welcomed
3. invited ................................ c. building
4. dialogue .............................. d. opposed to
5. prejudices ............................ e. for
6. construction .......................... f. before
7. symbol ................................. g. discrimination
8. against ................................. h. promote
9. harm ................................... i. conversation
10. in favour of .......................... j. icon

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one option is possible):

1. encourage better ..................... a. to ban the building
2. three weeks ahead ................... b. have a minaret
3. whether or not ........................ c. prejudices people have
4. do away with the fears and ......... d. dialogue
5. build a .................................. e. relations
6. a plan to ban the construction ....... f. against a ban
7. most Swiss people are ................ g. community relations
8. four of these ........................... h. favour of the referendum
9. the vote will harm their nation’s .... i. of minarets
10. A vote in ............................... j. of a national vote

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

enjoyed - encourage - opened - open - fears - senior - ahead - dialogue

Muslims in Switzerland held a nationwide ____________ mosque day on November 7th. The event was to ____________ better community relations between Swiss people and their Muslim neighbours. It also comes three weeks ____________ of a national vote on whether or not to ban the building of new minarets. Over 100 mosques and Islamic religious centres across the country ____________ their doors and invited non-Muslims in. Muslim leaders said they wanted to do away with the ____________ and prejudices people have against Muslims. "We hope these meetings will build a ____________ and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a ____________ Muslim spokesman. BBC reporter Imogen Foulkes visited a mosque in Zurich and said the many visitors who came ____________ themselves.

against - towers - target - worried - power - ban - favour - less

Switzerland will vote on November 29th on a plan to ____________ the construction of minarets on mosques. The right-wing Swiss People's Party called the small ____________ a symbol of Islamic religious intolerance and of Muslim political ____________. However, most Swiss people are against a ban. The Wall Street Journal reported a poll in which 53 per cent of people are ____________ a ban and 34 percent for it. There are 400,000 Muslims and ____________ than 200 mosques in Switzerland. Only four of these have a minaret. Business leaders are ____________ the vote will harm their nation’s relations with Muslim countries. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey went further. She said: "A vote in ____________ of the referendum could make Switzerland a ____________ for Islamic terrorism."