Background: Gun violence in US schools

April 1999Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 students and a teacher at at Columbine high school in Littleton, Colorado, before shooting themselves

February 2000 Six-year-old Kayla Rolland is shot dead at Buell Elementary School near Flint, Michigan, by a a six-year-old boy

May 2000 13 year-old Nate Brazill shoots dead a teacher at Lake Worth school, Florida, after being sent home

March 2005 16-year-old Jeff Weise guns down five students, a teacher and a security guard at Red Lake High School in northern Minnesota before killing himself. He had also just killed his grandfather and his grandfather's companion

September 2006 15-year-old student kills his school principal in western Wisconsin

October 2006 Charles Roberts kills five girls at a one-classroom Pennsylvanian Amish school

April 2007 Cho Seung-hui, kills 32 students at Virginia Tech university

February 2008 Gunman kills five students at Northern Illinois University

Ex.3. According to the article, are these sentences True (T) or False (F)?

1. School authorities in Harrold, Texas, are allowing selected teachers to carry guns in the classroom.

2. Teachers’ unions are in favor of this plan.

3. Harrold is a small farming town in Ohio.

4. The school’s superintendent thinks that the sheriff’s office should be moved closer to the school.

5. Up to now there has been no security at Harrold’s school.

6. The school’s superintendent says tornadoes are a bigger problem than guns.

7. There have been more than 12 shooting incidents in US schools in the last decade.

8. A security specialist thinks that arming teachers is not the answer to the problem.

9. The teachers will not need a gun licence.

10. Thweatt says the threat of shootings is greater in big cities.

Ex.4. Find the key words in the article. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.

1. Containing bullets: ______________________. (para 1)

2. To be offended or shocked: ______________________. (para 3)

3. Someone who strongly supports something: ______________________. (para 3)

4. Hidden from view: ______________________. (para 3)

5. A person who is the prisoner of someone who threatens to kill them if they do not get what they want:______________________. (para 6)

6. The process of checking someone to see if they’re suitable for something: ______________________.(para 9)

7. To hit a surface at an angle and immediately move away from it at a different angle: _____________________.(para 9)

8. An action or movement that you need care or skill to do: ______________________. (para 10)

9. When a weapon is fired it is ______________________. (para 11)

10. Not sorry / show no regret: ______________________. (para 14)

Ex.5. Find other multi-word phrases in the article that mean:

1. A deranged or mad person carrying a weapon (3 words)

2. A collective term for police and other security or emergency services (2 words)

3. Methods for dealing with extremely difficult situations (2 words)

4. A foreseeable tragedy (4 words)

5. Terrible and sad situations in which many people get shot (3 words)

6. An area where no firearms are allowed (3 words)

7. A method of going into a building using a plastic card (3 words)

8. Someone or something that everyone thinks is silly (2 words)

9. A small town or area where nothing much happens (3 words)

Ex.5. Fill in the missing prepositions (according to the article).

1. When teachers return ____________ a new school term

2. they can carry guns ____________ the classroom

3. small rural town ____________northern Texas

4. help ____________ an emergency

5. it is very near ____________ a major highway

6. to kill all 150 ____________ us

7. 15 people died ____________ a Colorado high school

8. the sort of plan that makes people laugh ____________ Texas

Ex.6. What would you do if there was an emergency at your school?

Decide on a type of emergency (fire, flood, terrorist attack, etc.) and write a step-by-step

emergency /escape plan.

Step 1: ______________________________________________________

Step 2: ______________________________________________________

Step 3: ______________________________________________________

Step 4: ______________________________________________________

Step 5: ______________________________________________________

Step 6: ______________________________________________________

Step 7: ______________________________________________________

Step 8: ______________________________________________________

Step 9: ______________________________________________________

Step 10: ______________________________________________________

NEWS ITEM 2:

Ex.7. Read an article below and match each sentence beginning with a suitable ending.

Beginnings

1. Louis Van Schoor was sent to prison

2. He was released from prison

3. During the apartheid regime no one knew about his

rampage

4. Magistrates and the police welcomed his killings

5. The truth about Van Schoor’s actions was revealed

6. Van Schoor killed a lot of black people

7. Van Schoor’s job was to protect property,

8. So far, Van Schoor has faced no backlash

Endings

a. because he has kept a low profile.

b. when apartheid started crumbling.

c. so he does not think he should apologise for killing

intruders.

d. after being convicted of murder.

e. because the police hid the evidence of his actions.

f. while he worked as a security guard.

g. before completing his sentence.

h. because he instilled terror in black people.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1062