SESSION 18: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 18: 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. Libya’s leader has said some African countries should join the U.S.A.
b. Libya’s leader was chosen as Africa’s leader behind closed doors.
c. Colonel Gaddafi was too tired to finish his acceptance speech.
d. Colonel Gaddafi is the longest serving political leader in the world.
e. Gaddafi’s only plan as leader is for a United States of Africa.
f. A united Africa would mean having just one African currency.
g. Tanzania’s leader totally disagrees with the Colonel Gaddafi’s idea.
h. South Africa is fully behind Gaddafi’s idea of a United States of Africa.

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

1. leader .................. a. have
2. session ................. b. union
3. hold .................... c. pushing
4. speech ................. d. war
5. serious ................. e. head
6. campaigning .......... f. top
7. federation ............. g. unrealistic
8. ultimate ............... h. meeting
9. conflict ................ i. important
10. impractical .......... j. talk

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

1. chairman of the 53- ............................... a. speech
2. elected by the heads ............................. b. poverty
3. The new AU chief made his acceptance ....... c. political leader
4. the near ............................................ d. to reach that goal
5. the world’s longest-serving ...................... e. nation African Union
6. campaigning for ................................... f. to move freely
7. a single passport for Africans .................... g. of state
8. there were many “building blocks” ............. h. powerhouse
9. escape from ........................................ i. future
10. the continent’s economic ....................... j. greater African unity

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

end - hold - future - nation - serving - tired - heads - speech

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is the new chairman of the 53-__________ African Union. An AU spokeswoman told reporters that Colonel Gaddafi was elected "by the -__________ of state in a closed-door session, for a one-year period". Gaddafi, 66, becomes the first North African leader to -__________ the top post at the AU since it started in 2002. The new AU chief made his acceptance -__________ in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. He stopped before the -__________ of the speech saying he was too -__________ to continue. He told his audience that actions were more important than words: “I think the near -__________ will be a time of serious work and a time of action and not a time of words,” he said. Gaddafi is the world’s longest--__________ political leader.

greater - regards - agreed - plans - mean - escape - freely - reach

One of Gaddafi’s biggest -__________ is for a United States of Africa. He has spent his political life campaigning for -__________ African unity. His vision is to join the continent’s 53 nations into a political federation. This would -__________ a single African military force, a single currency and a single passport for Africans to move -__________ around the continent. Outgoing AU chairman Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania, -__________ that the “ultimate” aim was for a United States of Africa. However, he warned that there were many “building blocks” to -__________ that goal. Gaddafi believes unity is the only way to help Africa -__________ from poverty, disease and conflict. South Africa, the continent’s economic powerhouse, -__________ the idea as impractical.