UN agrees to ban on ivory trade

The UN has _________ landmark nine-year ban on trading in ivory to ________ poaching that is killing as many as 20,000 elephants annually. The agreement will ________ one-off sale of stockpiles of ivory to Japan. Four southern African nations will sell their government-held stock of elephant tusks, _______ is unknown. Willem Wijnstekers, the Secretary General of the 171-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), reckoned _______ ivory might be heading to Japan. It will be made into personal stamps that are used in place of written signatures. However, CITES was positive about the new deal. It said: "This African solution to an African problem __________ forward for wildlife conservation.…It is good news for the elephants and the people who live alongside them."

The agreement _________ on the ivory trade and elephant poaching. The future of the world’s _________ stake. There are only half a million of the majestic beasts left in the world and this number was falling due to sharp increases in ________. Conservationists say elephant numbers are decreasing every year to satisfy illicit markets in China and Japan. African governments ________ to Japan will reduce demand and the money raised will go into conservation programmes. However, China is up in arms over the agreement ________ the sale. CITES refused a request by Beijing last week, saying: "We do not agree that they meet the criteria.” Customs officials will now be watching carefully to see if the __________ China.

Ex.13. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘stem’and ‘surge’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

Ex.14. 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.

Ex.15. 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…?

Ex.16. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

Ex.17. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try

to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

Ex.18. STUDENT POACHING SURVEY: Write five GOOD questions about ELEPHANT POACHING.

Ex.19. DISCUSSION

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

a. What did you think when you read the headline?

b. What do you think about elephant poaching?

c. Do you think it’s OK to kill animals to make products?

d. Are there differences between killing an animal for food, leather or other goods?

e. How concerned are you that poachers are killing elephants?

f. How would you feel if the world’s last elephant died?

g. Do you think the UN should allow the sale of the stockpiled ivory to Japan?

h. Do you think the Japanese should stop using ivory tusks for personal stamps and use an alternative material instead?

i. Do you prefer the idea of signatures of personal stamps?

j. Why do you think people like things made of ivory?

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

a. Did you like reading this article?

b. Why do you think it took 18 years to reach this agreement?

c. Do you think the elephant is the most majestic land beast?

d. Do you think Japan and China should change their traditions and stop using things that require the killing of endangered species?

e. What punishment do you think is fitting for an elephant poacher?

f. What would you say to a shopkeeper who had products made from endangered species in his/her shop?

g. Do you think China has the right to be angry at not getting any of the stockpiled ivory?

h. Would you like to have a job that is directly involved in protecting wildlife?

i. What’s the best thing you can do to help protect elephants?

j. Did you like this discussion?

Ex.20. AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

a. What was the most interesting thing you heard?

b. Was there a question you didn’t like?

c. Was there something you totally disagreed with?

d. What did you like talking about?

e. Which was the most difficult question?

Ex.21. SPEAKING

ROLE PLAY:

This role play is to discuss whether or not animals should be commercially farmed to cut out the black markets in animals and products and thus protect animals in the wild. Team up with classmates who have been assigned the same role as you. Develop your roles and discuss ideas and “strategies” before the role play begins. Introduce yourself to the other role players before you begin.

Change roles and repeat the role play. Comment in groups about the differences between the two role plays.

In pairs / groups, discuss whether you really believe in what you said while you were in your roles.

Ex.22. LANGUAGE: CORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 941