New UAE law gives workers time off to read

[World News ★★]

(P1) The UAE has a new law to get people to read more. It includes many things to increase literacy. Government workers will have time to read books at work. Private companies will create libraries at their offices and factories. Shopping centers will have spaces for public libraries. These will also be for people with reading disabilities. Even cafes will have books and other reading material for customers to read.

(P2) The UAE’s reading law is the idea of President Sheikh Khalifa. The UAE has a 10-year plan to make reading a lifelong habit. It also wants students to read 20 or more books every year. The UAE’s Minister of Education said the new law would make a society that can quickly change and be a world leader in development. A university president said books and libraries are still important, even though we have the Internet.

WORDS: 144

SOURCE: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1611/161103-reading-1.html

VOCABULARY: law, literacy, disabilities, lifelong, society

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.

1. Briefly, summarize the content of the article in your own words.
2. Do you think it’s important to read? Why or why not?
3. Why do some people like to read a lot?
4. Does your country have a reading law like the UAE? If not, should they?

READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1. People who work for the government will be allowed to read at work. (T or F)
2. Coffee shops will not have material to read. (T or F)
3. Who came up with the idea of a reading law in the UAE?
4. How many books does the government want students to read per year?
5. A person at a university said books are still important, but libraries are not. (T or F)

EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:

What do the following expressions or phrases mean?

• to get people (P1)
• will have spaces (P1)
• 10-year plan (P2)
• can quickly change (P2)

Image source: by “unknown” http://nvbloc.org/understand/