Breaking News English

        

1. CHE GUEVARA: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Che Guevara. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

diary / combatant / colleagues / secret / victory / distort things / commercial success / qualified / medical doctor / injustices / impoverished / freedom fighter / courage

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. DIARY: Whose would be most interesting to read and why? Complete this table and share it with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	Why?	What would you hope to read?
US President
National hero
Soldier
Rock star
Astronaut
Best friend

4. FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Students A strongly believe they are the same as terrorists; Students B strongly believe they are heroes.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. HEROES: Who are your biggest heroes? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

Family member Friend Sports star Business person

Soldier / Police officer / Firefighter… Voluntary worker Politician Actor

6. REBEL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘rebel’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Che Guevara’s newly published diary is about his teenage years.	T / F
b.	The diaries are a big surprise to Che Guevara’s widow.	T / F
c.	His widow recently had a heart transplant.	T / F
d.	Earlier Che Guevara diaries have sold well.	T / F
e.	Che Guevra was born in Cuba and moved to Argentina as a child.	T / F
f.	He believed capitalism was an evil thing.	T / F
g.	He died in Bolivia after being involved in an unsuccessful revolution.	T / F
h.	Cubans admire Guevara’s determination, dignity and bravery.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	legendary	a.	whole
2	combatant	b.	bravery
3.	declared	c.	stated
4.	entire	d.	poor
5.	highly	e.	amazing
6.	opinions	f.	fighter
7.	impoverished	g.	put to death
8.	executed	h.	very
9.	extraordinary	i.	famous
10.	courage	j.	thoughts

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	legendary freedom	a.	twentieth century
2	from the time he	b.	victory
3.	his rebel colleagues declared	c.	of dignity
4.	kept the diaries a secret	d.	arrived in Cuba
5.	had a change of	e.	of the continent
6.	political	f.	fighter Che Guevara
7.	impoverished regions	g.	tribute to him
8.	an icon of the	h.	heart
9.	Cubans paid	i.	for fifty years
10.	a deep sense	j.	opinions

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Cuba has published a new diary of (1) ____________ freedom fighter Che Guevara. "Diary of a Combatant" tells of Guevara's experiences from the (2) ____________ he arrived in Cuba in 1956 until just before Fidel Castro and his rebel colleagues (3) ____________ victory over the Cuban government on January 1, 1959. Guevara’s wife Aleida March had kept the diaries a (4) ____________ for fifty years but has recently had a change of (5) ____________. She said she wanted "to show his work, his thoughts, his life, so that the Cuban people and the (6) ____________ world get to know him and don't (7) ____________ things anymore”. Other diaries have been published and achieved (8) ____________ success. "The Motorcycle Diaries," about his tour of Latin America as a 23-year-old medical student, was  a highly successful movie.		distort declared legendary heart time commercial secret entire
Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He (9) ____________ as a medical doctor but his political opinions led him to learn about the (10) ____________ in South and Central America. His motorbike tour took him to many impoverished (11) ____________ of the continent. He became a fierce opponent of capitalism, which he said created (12) ____________ inequality. Guevara became one of history’s best-known freedom fighters. His (13) ____________ in the Cuban revolution made him an icon of the twentieth century. He was captured and (14) ____________ in 1967 in Bolivia after starting an unsuccessful revolution there. Cubans paid (15) ____________ to him after the publication, saying: “He had an iron will, an extraordinary courage, and a deep (16) ____________ of dignity”.		role regions tribute qualified sense injustices executed great

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Cuba has published a new diary of ______________________ Che Guevara. "Diary of a Combatant" tells of Guevara's experiences from the time he arrived in Cuba in 1956 until just before Fidel Castro ______________________ declared victory over the Cuban government on January 1, 1959. Guevara’s wife Aleida March ______________________ secret for fifty years but has recently had ______________________. She said she wanted "to show his work, his thoughts, his life, so that the Cuban people and the entire world get to know him ______________________ anymore”. Other diaries have been published and achieved commercial success. "The Motorcycle Diaries," about his tour of Latin America as a 23-year-old medical student, was  a ______________________.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He qualified as a medical doctor but his political ______________________ learn about the injustices in South and Central America. His motorbike tour took him to many ______________________ of the continent. He became ______________________ capitalism, which he said created great inequality. Guevara became one of history’s best-known freedom fighters. His role in the Cuban revolution ______________________ the twentieth century. He was captured and executed in 1967 in Bolivia after starting an unsuccessful revolution there. Cubans ______________________ after the publication, saying: “He had an iron will, an extraordinary courage, and a ______________________”.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘freedom’ and ‘fighter’.

freedom

fighter

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. 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.

3. 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…?

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

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

legendary until declared recently commercial highly

medical tour fierce role paid deep

STUDENT CHE GUEVARA SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Che Guevara in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CHE GUEVARA DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘freedom fighter’?
c)	What are the differences between a freedom fighter and a terrorist?
d)	Would you ever support a freedom fighter?
e)	What do you know aout Che Guevara?
f)	Would you like to read Che Guevara’s new diary?
g)	Why do you think his widow kept the diary a secret for five decades?
h)	What kind of life do you think Che Guevara had?
i)	What are the good and bad things about keeping a diary?
j)	Why would people want (or not) to read a diary you wrote?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What do you think of Che Guevara giving up a medical career to be a revolutionary?
c)	Would you fight for injustice in the world?
d)	Do you think capitalism creates great inequality?
e)	Why has Che Guevra become a cultural icon?
f)	How would Guevara’s name be diffierent if his Bolivian revolution had succeeded?
g)	What other figures in history are similar to Che Guevara?
h)	If you were a cultural icon, what would you like to have done?
i)	What three adjectives would you use to describe this story?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Che Guevara’s widow?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Cuba has published a new diary of (1) ____ freedom fighter Che Guevara. "Diary of a Combatant" tells of Guevara's experiences from the time he arrived in Cuba in 1956 until just before Fidel Castro and his (2) ____ colleagues declared victory over the Cuban government on January 1, 1959. Guevara’s wife Aleida March had kept the diaries a secret for fifty years but has recently had a change of (3) ____. She said she wanted "to show his work, his thoughts, his life, so that the Cuban people and the (4) ____ world get to know him and don't distort things anymore”. Other diaries have been published and achieved commercial (5) ____. "The Motorcycle Diaries," about his tour of Latin America as a 23-year-old medical student, was  a  (6) ____ successful movie.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He qualified (7) ____ a medical doctor but his political opinions led him to learn about the injustices in South and Central America. His motorbike tour (8) ____ him to many impoverished regions of the continent. He became a fierce opponent (9) ____ capitalism, which he said created great inequality. Guevara became one of history’s best-known freedom fighters. His (10) ____ in the Cuban revolution made him an icon of the twentieth century. He was captured and executed in 1967 in Bolivia after starting an unsuccessful revolution there. Cubans (11) ____ tribute to him after the publication, saying: “He had an (12) ____ will, an extraordinary courage, and a deep sense of dignity”.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	legendary	(b)	legend	(c)	legends	(d)	legended
2.	(a)	attack	(b)	counter	(c)	rebel	(d)	opposite
3.	(a)	liver	(b)	heart	(c)	lungs	(d)	brain
4.	(a)	all	(b)	every	(c)	entire	(d)	each
5.	(a)	recess	(b)	access	(c)	success	(d)	process
6.	(a)	highly	(b)	tall	(c)	height	(d)	above
7.	(a)	was	(b)	has	(c)	is	(d)	as
8.	(a)	gave	(b)	took	(c)	had	(d)	been
9.	(a)	for	(b)	of	(c)	from	(d)	by
10.	(a)	role	(b)	roll	(c)	real	(d)	rile
11.	(a)	bought	(b)	paid	(c)	purchased	(d)	sold
12.	(a)	onion	(b)	ion	(c)	union	(d)	iron

 
 

WRITING

Write about Che Guevara for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about Che Guevara. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CHE GUEVARA: Make a poster about Che Guevara and Cuba. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. FREEDOM FIGHTER: Write a magazine article about freedom fighters. Include imaginary interviews with a freedom fighter and the head of a nation’s armed forces.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to a Che Guevara expert. Ask him/her three questions about Che. Give him/her three of your opinions on him. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	legendary	a.	famous
2	combatant	b.	fighter
3.	declared	c.	stated
4.	entire	d.	whole
5.	highly	e.	very
6.	opinions	f.	thoughts
7.	impoverished	g.	poor
8.	executed	h.	put to death
9.	extraordinary	i.	amazing
10.	courage	j.	bravery

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	legendary freedom	a.	fighter Che Guevara
2	from the time he	b.	arrived in Cuba
3.	his rebel colleagues declared	c.	victory
4.	kept the diaries a secret	d.	for fifty years
5.	had a change of	e.	heart
6.	political	f.	opinions
7.	impoverished regions	g.	of the continent
8.	an icon of the	h.	twentieth century
9.	Cubans paid	i.	tribute to him
10.	a deep sense	j.	of dignity

GAP FILL:

New Che Guevara diary published

Cuba has published a new diary of (1) legendary freedom fighter Che Guevara. "Diary of a Combatant" tells of Guevara's experiences from the (2) time he arrived in Cuba in 1956 until just before Fidel Castro and his rebel colleagues (3) declared victory over the Cuban government on January 1, 1959. Guevara’s wife Aleida March had kept the diaries a (4) secret for fifty years but has recently had a change of (5) heart. She said she wanted "to show his work, his thoughts, his life, so that the Cuban people and the (6) entire world get to know him and don't (7) distort things anymore”. Other diaries have been published and achieved (8) commercial success. "The Motorcycle Diaries," about his tour of Latin America as a 23-year-old medical student, was  a highly successful movie.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He (9) qualified as a medical doctor but his political opinions led him to learn about the (10) injustices in South and Central America. His motorbike tour took him to many impoverished (11) regions of the continent. He became a fierce opponent of capitalism, which he said created (12) great inequality. Guevara became one of history’s best-known freedom fighters. His (13) role in the Cuban revolution made him an icon of the twentieth century. He was captured and (14) executed in 1967 in Bolivia after starting an unsuccessful revolution there. Cubans paid (15) tribute to him after the publication, saying: “He had an iron will, an extraordinary courage, and a deep (16) sense of dignity”.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - b

4 - d

5 - c

6 - a

7 - d

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - b

12 - d

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