[WORLD NEWS ★★]

HONG KONG PHOTOGRAPHER TO FACE TRIAL IN THAILAND

(P1) A Hong Kong photographer DETAINED in Thailand for carrying a BULLETPROOF jacket and HELMET will face trial after pleading NOT GUILTY on Monday to a weapons possession charge.

(P2) The case has SPARKED an OUTCRY from media freedom groups, who say JOURNALISTS should not be punished for carrying BODY ARMOUR and PROTECTIVE GEAR in and out of dangerous zones.

(P3) Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, who works for the Hong Kong-based Initium media group, was held briefly on 23 August after trying to leave from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport with a FLAK JACKET and helmet in his hand luggage.

(P4) Both items are CLASSIFIED as weapons under Thai law and Kwan was charged with BREACHING the Arms Control Act, which is punishable by up to five years in jail.

(P5) He was in Thailand to cover the AFTERMATH of August’s DEADLY Bangkok bombing.

(P6) Kwan told reporters on Monday after the hearing at the Samut Prakan court, near Bangkok, that he DENIED the charge. “I don’t think that a flak jacket is a weapon and I definitely didn’t know it was illegal here,” he said.

(P7) His PLEA means he will face a trial starting next month. The court granted Kwan BAIL and his lawyer later said he was free to leave the kingdom until the trial. “I think everyone in my situation would be a little bit concerned. I’m preparing for the worst but hoping for the best,” Kwan added.

(P8) Thailand’s classification of protection equipment as a weapon that requires a licence has been criticised by media groups, who say they are VITAL PIECES OF KIT for reporters in a country where political violence routinely SPILLS onto the streets.

(P9) About 10 PROTESTERS, mostly journalists, RALLIED in Hong Kong on Monday outside a building that houses Thailand’s CONSULATE, calling for the case against Kwan to be dropped.

(P10) “This was UNREASONABLE. Journalists face all kinds of situations and sometimes it can be dangerous. Anthony carried a bulletproof vest to protect himself and he was not the first one to do so,” said Ho Ka-tat, the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association.

(P11) The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, in a statement late on Sunday, also expressed disappointment at the charge.

(P12) “Thai authorities should consult with the media community … to explore a way around the 1987 law, which was surely not intended to PROSECUTE journalists carrying out their normal duties,” the statement said.

WORDS: 402

SOURCE: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/12/hong-kong-photographer-anthony-kwan-hok-chun-trial-thailand

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. In many countries, journalism is among the most dangerous jobs. Why is this true?
3. Relationships between many countries in East Asia are often quite TENSE. Why is this true?
4. Has this been any recent “political violence” in your native country?
5. Legal scholars often point out that there can be a difference between “THE LETTER OF THE LAW” VS. “THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW.” How is that true in this case?

EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:

What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.

• Not guilty
• Body armour
• Protective gear
• Flak jacket
• Piece of kit
• Letter and spirit of the law

[ENVIRONMENT ★★★]

SCIENTISTS WORK TO SAVE STRIPED LEGLESS LIZARD

(P1) An UNREMARKABLE looking piece of land opposite Canberra’s Exhibition Park is where conservationists are attempting the rescue of the ENDANGERED reptile, the striped legless lizard.

(P2) The GRASSLAND site is being cleared to create a park and tourist ACCOMMODATION for up to 480 people.

(P3) Unfortunately, the animal INHABITANTS of the grassland are unaware their home is set to be TORN ASUNDER and only the INTERVENTION of a conservation group, Bush Heritage Australia, is saving 200 striped legless lizards, one of the last populations of the species left in the country.

(P4) South-east Australia has lost 99% of its grasslands since Europeans arrived and decided that houses, cattle, and sheep were WELL-SUITED for these treeless, largely unloved areas.

(P5) “Protecting grasslands is a hard thing to sell to people – they aren’t particularly valued,” says Peter Saunders, a Bush Heritage landscape manager.

(P6) “People see them as a place to walk their dog or maybe GRAZE some sheep. But they are incredibly VALUABLE for a large number of plants and a surprising number of reptiles and insects. Even FUNGUS. Did you know Australia has two-thirds of the world’s fungus species?”

(P7) Legless lizards are related to SKINKS and GECKOS but are often mistaken for snakes because of their long bodies and similar-looking heads. There are a few key differences: legless lizards have visible ears, no FORKED tongue, and are not dangerous at all!

(P8) The species has other PECULIARITIES. Most of its body is made up of tail which can DETACH from its body in sections if it needs to FLEE quickly. And, oddly, the legless lizard SQUEAKS when handled, much like a STARTLED mouse.

(P9) To capture these legless lizards, Bush Heritage has purchased roof TILES. The idea is simple but effective. Reptiles like to press themselves against heated surfaces to get warm. As the sun heats the tiles, legless lizards will WRIGGLE underneath them.

(P10) The tiles are then FLIPPED OVER and the catcher quickly presses his or her palm over the legless lizard. The complication is that brown snakes, one of the world’s most VENOMOUS species, can also be under the tiles and, in a SPLIT SECOND, can look a little like a legless lizard.

(P11) “It looks a bit like a snake if you haven’t seen one before,” said Brett Howland, a Bush Heritage member. “I pick up the tiles sometimes and see snakes and that throws me backwards. There’s probably something in our evolution that means we INSTINCTIVELY fear snakes.

(P12) “But when you see a snake next to a legless lizard you’ll see they look quite different. Their behaviour is different, too. A legless lizard is very PLACID but if that was a brown snake” – Howard points to a recently flipped tile – “it would have looked towards me and been quite AGGRESSIVE. Not all snakes are like that, of course.”

(P13) Not having legs means the lizard can move quickly through grasslands and is an instinctive burrower. When you hold one, it appears as if it is REARING ITS HEAD to strike but it is, in fact, looking for somewhere to hide.

(P14) Once the legless lizards are caught – 31 so far – they are taken to the Australian National University to be weighed, measured and marked so that their progress can be checked. The longest can measure 30cm, and weight is about the 9g mark.

(P15) The striped legless lizards are being moved to Scottsdale, a former farming property 75km south of Canberra. Bush Heritage bought the site in 2006.

(P16) This is the first species to be moved to the Scottsdale property to save it. If the legless lizards survive a few years and successfully breed, the RELOCATION will be HAILED a TRIUMPH.

WORDS: 611

SOURCE: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/14/the-partys-over-for-the-striped-legless-lizard-in-the-nations-capital

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. Are you afraid of snakes? Are there any dangerous snakes in your country?
3. What kinds of WILDLIFE can be seen in your town or city?
4. Grassland areas often have interesting plants. Have you ever GARDENED as a hobby?
5. Are there any zoos or BOTANICAL GARDENS near where you live?

EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:

What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.

• Endangered species
• Torn asunder
• Well-suited
• Flip over
• Split second
• Rear its head
• Botanical garden

[CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT ★★]

BAN ON NEW ZEALAND YOUNG ADULT NOVEL LIFTED

(P1) CENSORS in New Zealand have lifted the BAN on the award-winning teen novel Into the River, IMPOSED last month.

(P2) Ted Dawe’s COMING-OF-AGE tale was removed from CIRCULATION after LOBBY GROUP Family First complained about its sex and drug content.

(P3) But censors said that, after review, they believed it contained “a number of important issues and problems that many young teenagers will have to confront”.

(P4) It was New Zealand’s first such ban since LEGISLATION introduced in 1993.

(P5) The book, about a MAORI boy who faces BULLYING and racism, won the top prize at the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.

(P6) It contains EXPLICIT descriptions of sex and drug use, as well as an OFFENSIVE term for female PRIVATE PARTS.

(P7) Dawe said he was “THRILLED” by the decision from the Film and Literature Board of Review.

(P8) “It has RESTORED my faith in New Zealand’s legal system,” he said.

(P9) The book’s publisher, Penguin Random House, said it was “a victory for FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and the right of authors and publishers to deal with the CHALLENGING social issues young people face today in high-quality works of literature”.

(P10) Under the ban, selling the book – and having it in schools and libraries – could have led to a fine of up to NZ$3,000 (£1,300) for individuals and NZ$10,000 (£4,400) for companies.

(P11) It led to OUTRAGE not just from Dawe, who described the ban as “HEAVY-HANDED and DRACONIAN“, but from many other authors too.

(P12) “I don’t know whether I’m that happy living in a country which does those sorts of things to books and to writers,” said Dawe at the time.

(P13) He said his book reflected the reality of teenage life, and that to ban it while books with a high-sex content, such as Fifty Shades of Grey, were given the ALL-CLEAR was “almost SINISTER“.

(P14) The Film and Literature Board of Review issued the INTERIM ban after Family First said it had received more than 400 letters about Into the Woods from concerned parents.

(P15) The group wanted the novel to be given a restriction rating of R18. The ban was to allow the review board time to consider the complaint.

WORDS: 364

SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34538553

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 know of any books or films that have been banned or restricted in your country? On what GROUNDS were they controlled?
3. Teenagers today have access to a wide range of potentially DISTURBING material on the Internet. Do you think that this is a problem, or is it just part of growing up?
4. Do you prefer books that reflect real life, or books that provide an escape from real life?
5. Have you read any books that are considered YOUNG ADULT (YA) LITERATURE?

EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:

What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.

• Coming-of-age
• Lobby group
• Private parts
• Freedom of expression
• Heavy-handed
• All-clear
• Young adult literature

[SPORTS ★★]

ERITREAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS SEEK ASYLUM IN BOTSWANA

(P1) Ten players from the Eritrean football team have refused to return home after playing a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana and are now SEEKING ASYLUM there, officials say.

(P2) The men were DETAINED by police after deciding not to board their plane.

(P3) They are reported to have refused to go home despite the INTERVENTION of the Eritrean AMBASSADOR in Botswana.

(P4) There have been a number of mass DEFECTIONS by Eritrean athletes in recent years.

(P5) One of the most NOTICEABLE was in 2013, when Uganda granted asylum to 15 Eritrean players and their team doctor after they ABSCONDED at the end of a football TOURNAMENT.

(P6) A senior official at the Botswana Football Association says it has yet to ESTABLISH why the players refused to leave with their team-mates.

(P7) However a report in the Botswana newspaper The Voice said that the players were DISTRESSED about the PROSPECT of joining the Eritrean army and wanted to seek asylum despite being persuaded not to by the ambassador.

(P8) The newspaper reported Botswana Football Association Vice President Basadi Akoonyatse as saying that the Eritrean players were found missing from their hotel rooms early on Wednesday morning by team officials.

(P9) “A report was made to the police who spotted them LOITERING around Francistown, ALLEGING that they were in search of a Red Cross centre where they could seek assistance to… be granted asylum in Botswana,” she said.

(P10) Players’ representative Dick Bayford told the Reuters news agency that he had received reports of an attempt to remove the players FORCIBLY from Botswana.

(P11) Eritrea is NOTORIOUS for HUMAN RIGHTS abuses, with TORTURE and slavery both reported by the United Nations to be COMMONPLACE.

(P12) The country has also been accused by the UN of forcing its citizens to indefinite national service and of killing people trying to escape abroad.

(P13) The Eritrean government DISMISSED the UN’s findings as “totally UNFOUNDED and DEVOID OF ALL MERIT“.

WORDS: 321

SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34534975

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. Why do international sports so often become political?
3. What is your personal understanding of “human rights”?
4. What should the STANDARDS for seeking asylum in another country be? For example, that you are in danger in your native country?
5. Do you have an awareness of the issues in different African countries, or do you think of Africa as a single UNIT?

EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:

What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.

• Human rights
• Devoid of merit