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TASKS FOR THE ARTICLE
Ex.1. READING:Read and translate the article.
Ex.2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the
article are most interesting and which are most boring.
rejection / referendum / crisis / EU population / constitution / reforms / trash can /
debating / collapse / diplomatic skills / booming economy / pressure / solution
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
Ex.3. REFERENDUM:Would you like a greater say in your country’s affairs?
With your partner(s), discuss your ideas on how you would vote in the referenda
below. Write your ideas in the table. Change partners and share your ideas. Have
your own class referenda.
| Referendum on | How would you vote? | Why? |
| Going to war | ||
| Terror-related laws | ||
| Selling of national companies | ||
| Selection of national sports coaches | ||
| Changing interest rates | ||
| Setting immigration levels | ||
| Other… |
Ex.4. TREATY:Rank these countries: 10 = my country would hugely benefit from a treaty with this country; 1 = there would be no benefits whatsoever having a benefit with this country. Share, explain and discuss your rankings with your
class.
| _____ Ireland _____ USA _____ China a #10 ________________ | _____ Afghanistan _____ Zimbabwe _____ Brazil a #1 ________________ |
Ex.5. HEADLINE PREDICTION:With your partner(s), use the words in the “Chat” activity above to predict what the news article will be about. Once you have your story, change partners and share them. Who was closest to the real story?
Ex.6. TREATY:Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘treaty’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
Ex.7. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these
sentences are true (T) or false (F):
| a. | A vote by the Irish on an EU treaty has caused trouble in EU politics. | T / F |
| b. | Just over two per cent of the EU population is Irish. | T / F |
| c. | Politicians started writing the Lisbon Treaty in Lisbon last August. | T / F |
| d. | The Irish are the first EU citizens to vote ‘no’ in an EU referendum. | T / F |
| e. | Other EU countries are now debating whether or not to leave the EU. | T / F |
| f. | The French president will need to do some wallpapering in July. | T / F |
| g. | The French foreign minister said the Irish always counted their money. | T / F |
| h. | Now Ireland has voted, the pressure is off for Irish politicians. | T / F |
Ex.8. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
| 1. | rejected | a. | sign |
| plunged | b. | proceed | |
| 3. | omen | c. | create |
| 4. | the drawing board | d. | descended |
| 5. | draw up | e. | following |
| 6. | in the wake of | f. | cover |
| 7. | ratify | g. | square one |
| 8. | paper over | h. | rely on |
| 9. | count on | i. | given the thumbs down to |
| 10. | go ahead | j. | accept |
Ex.9. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article
(sometimes more than one combination is possible):
| 1. | a Friday the 13th bad | a. | for it to come into force |
| agree to the Lisbon Treaty in order | b. | of the Treaty’s collapse | |
| 3. | back to the drawing | c. | unpopular the EU is |
| 4. | allow streamlining reforms to take | d. | the cracks |
| 5. | The ‘no’ vote also highlights how | e. | economy |
| 6. | in the wake | f. | board |
| 7. | paper over | g. | solution |
| 8. | We would not be able to count | h. | place more quickly |
| 9. | turn it into a booming | i. | omen |
| 10. | find a workable | j. | on the Irish |
Ex.10.GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
| The people of Ireland have ___ the European Union’s reform treaty in a referendum and plunged the EU into crisis. The Irish _____ a Friday the 13th bad omen to European integration. All 27 countries needed to agree to the Lisbon Treaty in ____ for it to come into force. Ireland represents less than one per cent of the EU population, but their ‘no’ vote ____ it was back to the drawing board for the whole of the EU. The treaty was supposed to _____ the constitution, give the EU stronger leadership and ____ streamlining reforms to take place more quickly. It took many years to draw up and just a few hours to vote into the trash can of ____ . The ‘no’ vote also highlights how unpopular the EU is to its citizens. Three years ago, the French and Dutch ___ to reject the EU constitution. | meant order allow rejected replace voted history delivered |
| Other European countries are now debating how to ___ in the wake of the Treaty’s collapse. Britain, France and Germany are keen to ___ ratify the treaty through backdoor legal means. France ___ over the EU Presidency on July 1st and President Sarkozy will now need all his diplomatic skills to paper over the __ that are appearing in Euroland. France’s foreign minister Bernard Kouchner ___ Ireland last Monday that it would be a bad idea to vote no. He said: “We would not be able to ___ on the Irish who counted a lot on Europe’s money.” He was referring to the millions of Euros the EU has given Ireland to turn it into a ____ economy. There will now be considerable pressure on Dublin to find a workable ____ that will allow the reforms to go ahead. | warned takes solution booming progress cracks somehow count |
Ex.11. AFTER READING: Read and fill in the spaces.
The people of Ireland ____ European Union’s reform treaty in a referendum and plunged ____. The Irish delivered a Friday the 13th bad omen to European integration. All 27 countries needed to agree to the Lisbon Treaty in ____ come into force. Ireland represents less than one per cent of the EU population, but their ‘no’ vote meant it was back to the drawing board ___ EU. The treaty was supposed to replace the constitution, give the EU stronger leadership and allow streamlining reforms ____ quickly. It took many years to draw up and just a few hours ___ trash can of history. The ‘no’ vote also highlights how unpopular the EU is to its citizens. Three years ago, the French and Dutch ___ EU constitution.
Other European countries are now debating how ____ wake of the Treaty’s collapse. Britain, France and Germany are ____ ratify the treaty through backdoor legal means. France takes over the EU Presidency on July 1st and President Sarkozy will now need all his diplomatic skills to ____ that are appearing in Euroland. France’s foreign minister Bernard Kouchner warned Ireland last Monday that it would ____ vote no. He said: “We would not _____the Irish who counted a lot on Europe’s money.” He was _____ millions of Euros the EU has given Ireland to turn it into a booming economy. There will now be considerable pressure on Dublin to ____ that will allow the reforms to go ahead.
Ex.12. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘reform’and ‘treaty’.
| reform | treaty |
- Share your findings with your partners.
- Make questions using the words you found.
- Ask your partner / group your questions.
Ex.13. 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.14. 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.15. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
Ex.16. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:
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Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1060
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| WORKING ON THE TEXT | | | Ex.17. EUROPEAN UNION DISCUSSION |