[World News ★★★]
(P1) The UK voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on Thursday. It is a political earthquake. Currency markets were affected. Britain’s pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay in the EU. They are thinking about breaking from the UK. A right-wing politician in Europe said: “It is Great Britain’s independence day. The European Union as a political union has failed.”
(P2) A politics professor summed up the scale of the exit. He said: “This is the biggest shock to European politics since the fall of the Berlin Wall.” Britain’s leader David Cameron has resigned. He said the country needed “fresh leadership”. The millions of non-British EU citizens living in Britain and the Britons living in other EU countries are less certain about their future. Some politicians in Holland and France also want to leave the EU. They said: “Now it is our turn.”
WORDS: 154
SOURCE: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1606/160626-united-kingdom-4.html
VOCABULARY: referendum, affected, right-wing, summed up, resigned, certain
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly, summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- In your opinion is it good or bad that the U.K. is leaving the EU? Why or why not?
- Has the news affected your country’s currency? If yes, how?
- Do you think other countries will leave the EU? Why or why not?
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
- On which day did the people of the U.K decide to exit the European Union?
- Northern Ireland and Scotland voted not to remain in the EU. (T or F)
- What did a member of the conservative party say about the EU?
- The vote to leave the EU is compared to what major event in history?
- According to the article, other countries in Europe don’t want to leave the EU. (T or F)
EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:
What do the following expressions or phrases mean?
- Political earthquake (P1)
- Currency markets (P1)
- Breaking from (P1)
- Scale of the exit (P2)
- Fresh leadership (P2)
- Now it’s our turn (P2)
Image source: by “unknown” http://fsmnews.com/Articles/European-Stocks-Mixed-on-Brexit-Hangover/article.aspx?Article=416