News Flash English :: Russian PM in Slovakia

START

1. RUSSIAN PM VISIT TO BRATISLAVA: What do you know about the recent Russian Prime Ministers visit to Bratislava? Can you name the Russian Prime Minister? Can you name the Slovak Prime Minister? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

2. DICTATION: The teacher will read some of the article slowly and clearly. Students will write down what they hear. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again. Self correct your work from page 2 - filling in spaces and correcting mistakes. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors. Advise the teacher of your total number of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work!

3. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

4. VOCABULARY: Students look through the article. Underline/highlight any vocabulary you do not know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through & explain any words or phrases you do not understand.

5. EXPLAIN: Explain the following: mainly economic issues / counterpart / majority / to recover / energy sphere / transit country / burnt-out nuclear materials / concluding / no pending / co-operation / Zubkov laid wreaths / liberation / the place is being consciously forgotten / revisionism / Slavic solidarity

6. RUSSIAN PM VISIT TO SLOVAKIA: Think of three business advantages for Slovakia resulting from the Russian premier’s visit. Compare and discuss with your partner(s).

Business Advantages

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

7. ENERGY: With your partner on the board write as many words to do with ‘energy’ as you can. One-two minutes. Compare with other teams. Discuss together – linking your words.

8. SENTENCES: Choose six/nine of the words from no 19. Write two/three sentences using two/three words in each. Underline your chosen words. The teacher will if necessary correct your work. Students might be asked to read their sentences aloud.

9. ENERGY: Think of six different types of energy in Slovakia. List them below. Compare and discuss with your partner(s).

1	4
2	5
3	6

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

10. QUICK DISCUSSION: With your partner discuss the following:

Student A
1) Which energy is used the most in Slovakia?
2) Which is the greenest energy?
3) Which is the most cost efficient?
4) Which is the most polluting?
Student B
1) What costs the least to produce?
2) What energy has to be imported into Slovakia?
3) What economic benefits are there in your choices?
4) What types of energy do you use?

11. QUICK DEBATE ON THE MISSILE DEFENCE SHIELD: Students A believe the missile defence shield proposed by the USA is a good idea. Explain why. Students B don’t agree – siding with Fico and Russia. Explain why.

12. ARTICLE QUIZ: With your partner or in small groups: (1 point for each correct answer. Lose ½ point if you look at the article for help!)

Student A
1) Name the Russian Prime Minister
2) What was Fico troubled by?
3) Who is the Slovak Parliamentary Chairman?
4) Which anniversary was being commemorated?
5) What date did the Russian PM arrive?
6) For how long was the Russian PM in Slovakia?
7) What collapsed in 2002?
8) What did Zubkov do on Friday morning?
9) What did the visit allow Zubkov too mainly to discuss?
10) What were the two main issues they discussed?
Student B
1) What did Zubkov stress?
2) What year did Fico’s government come to power?
3) What is Fico an opponent to?
4) Who also opposes this?
5) Concluding the meeting Fico said what?
6) What did Zubkov stress the importance of?
7) Where is the nuclear power plant based?
8) Name the oil pipeline utility.
9) What percentage does Slovakia claim of the pipeline?
10) Name the Slovak Prime Minister.

13. QUICK DEBATE ON SLOVAKIA’S TRANSIT OIL/GAS PIPELINE ROUTES: Students A believe Slovakia’s transit oil and gas routes are important for Europe. Explain why. Students B think other routes are just as or more important. Explain why.

14. I ATTENDED THE 63^rd ANNIVERSARY AT BRATISLAVA’S SLAVIN CEMETERY & SAW…: Think of 10 things you might have seen had you been at Bratislava’s Slavin cemetery at the 63^rd anniversary. Write them below. Compare and discuss with your partner.

1	6
2	7
3	8
4	9
5	10

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

15. UN-SCRAMBLE: Put the following into the right order:

Easy
1) 2002 in operations collapsed Yukos
2) being is consciously the forgotten place
3) 2006 in Fico’s power took government
4) to wishes Moscow relations with improve Fico
5) oil the two premiers the discussed Transpetrol pipeline
Harder
6) PM the visit by Russian was in 11 first a it years
7) PM arrived the in Bratislava on Russian Thursday
8) Russian Slovak Parliamentary the PM the met Chairman
9) USA’s opposes missile Russia the shield plan in defence Europe
10) the wants to Fico countries two co-operation fully on focus economic

(Answers are on page 15 – sentences adapted from article)

16. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Change partner(s) and talk about the sentences you made.

The Russian PM _________________________________________________
A transit country _______________________________________________
Nuclear fuel ____________________________________________________
Economic co-operation ___________________________________________
The Slavin cemetery _____________________________________________
The two premier’s _______________________________________________

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: After reading the article guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	The Russian Prime Minister arrived in Bratislava on April 3^rd	T / F
b.	The official visit by the Russian PM lasted 3 days	T / F
c.	The main topic included energy and economic co-operation	T / F
d.	The Russian PM drank English tea whilst meeting Pavol Paška	T / F
e.	Fico’s government is keen to improve relations with Moscow	T / F
f.	Both Russia and Slovakia oppose the USA’s missile defence plan	T / F
g.	The leaders attended the 64^th anniversary of Soviet WW2 soldiers	T / F
h.	A return to Communism was discussed between the two leaders	T / F

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

a.	Fuel	Defence
b.	Concluding	Target
c.	Solidarity	Flowers
d.	Opponent	Togetherness
e.	Shield	Talk about
f.	Discuss	Underlined
g.	Focus	Summing up
h.	Stressed	Adversary
i.	Pending	Energy
j.	Wreath	Outstanding

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article:

a.	Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov	by a Russian PM in 11 years
b.	It was the first visit to the country	partnership of the two countries
c.	The visit allowed him to discuss	memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers
d.	The two premiers discussed the	mainly economic issues
e.	Zubkov stressed the importance of the	the nuclear power plant in Mochovce
f.	Other topics discussed included	Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška
g.	On Friday Zubkov laid wreaths at the	for Fico’s words by saying
h.	On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met	in improving relations with Moscow
i.	Fico’s government has declared its interest	oil pipeline utility Transpetrol
j.	The Russian PM showed his appreciation	arrived in Bratislava on Thursday

GAP FILL: READING

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov arrived in Bratislava on Thursday April 3^rd on an ________ two-day visit. It was the first visit to the country by a Russian PM in 11 years. The visit allowed him to discuss mainly economic issues with his Slovak __________ Robert Fico. The two premiers discussed the oil ________ utility Transpetrol. Slovakia, its ________ owner wants to recover the remaining 49% stake it previously sold to the Russian concern Yukos, whose operations collapsed in 2002. Zubkov stressed the importance of the __________ of the two countries in the energy sphere, as Slovakia is not only a consumer but also a transit country for energy supplies. Other topics discussed included the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, west Slovakia, and Russian supplies of nuclear fuel to Slovakia. According to Fico: “The time has come to open up the discussion on the export of burnt-out nuclear materials from Slovakia’s _______ power plants to the Russian Federation.” __________ the meeting Fico noted: “There are no pending political issues between Bratislava and Moscow and the two can focus fully on ________ co-operation.”

nuclear

concluding

majority

economic

counterpart

partnership

official

pipeline

On Friday Zubkov laid ______ at the ________ of Soviet WW2 soldiers at Bratislava’s Slavin ________. During the 63^rd __________ of Bratislava’s __________ Fico said, “The place is being consciously forgotten.” Fico was troubled by the fact that Slovakia has been ignoring Slavic __________ for over 20 years now. He added, “We must not forget.” The Russian PM showed his appreciation for Fico’s words saying, “We won’t accept WW2 revisionism and won’t allow the ______ of the dead to be corrupted.” On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška before leaving for Russia in the afternoon. Since coming to power in mid-2006, Fico’s government has declared its interest in improving relations with Moscow. Fico is an ________ of the USA’s plan to build parts of its missile defence shield in the Czech Republic. Russia also opposes the plan.

liberation

anniversary

memorial

solidarity

cemetery

memory

wreaths

opponent

GAP FILL: LISTENING:

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Russian PM in Slovakia

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov arrived in Bratislava on Thursday April 3^rd on an official two-day visit. ________________ visit to the country by a Russian PM in 11 years. The visit allowed him to discuss mainly economic issues with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. The two premiers discussed the oil pipeline utility Transpetrol. Slovakia, its majority owner wants to recover the remaining 49% stake it __________________ the Russian concern Yukos, whose operations collapsed in 2002. Zubkov stressed the importance of the partnership of the two countries in the energy sphere, __________________ only ___________________ a transit country for energy supplies. Other topics discussed included the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, west Slovakia, and Russian supplies of nuclear fuel to Slovakia. According to Fico: “____________________ open up the discussion on the export of burnt-out nuclear materials from Slovakia’s nuclear power plants to the Russian Federation.” Concluding the meeting Fico noted: “There are no pending political issues between Bratislava and Moscow ________________ focus fully on economic co-operation.”

On Friday Zubkov ___________________ memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers at Bratislava’s Slavin cemetery. During the 63^rd anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation Fico said, “__________________ consciously forgotten.” Fico was troubled by the fact that Slovakia has been ignoring Slavic solidarity for over 20 years now. He added, “__________________.” The Russian PM showed his appreciation for Fico’s words saying, “We won’t accept WW2 revisionism and won’t allow the memory of the dead to be corrupted.” On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška before leaving for Russia ________________. Since coming to power in mid-2006, Fico’s government has declared its interest in improving relations with Moscow. Fico _________________ the USA’s plan to build parts of its missile defence shield in the Czech Republic. ___________________ the plan.

DISCUSSION

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

Did the headline make you want to read the article?
Why do you think it took 11 years for a Russian PM to visit Slovakia?
What do you think will be the outcome of the visit?
Are you in favour of the proposed missile defence system?
Do you support Slavic solidarity?
Why do you think people have been ignoring Slavin solidarity for over 20 years now?
Are people today purely more interested in making money?
Have you or will you be visiting the Slavic war memorial?
What do you think about Slovakia doing more trade with Russia?
Is energy an important issue today?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Do you think Slovakia will regain control of the 49% of Transpetrol?
What do you think of nuclear power?
Why is nuclear power suddenly becoming important again?
What two economic issues would you discuss with the two premiers?
What advice would you give the Slovak PM on energy?
What are your thoughts on burnt-out nuclear materials?
What business opportunities might result from the meeting?
Do you think it is good for Slovakia to be doing more business with Russia?
What political benefits might result from the meeting of the two premiers?
Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

What was the most interesting thing you heard?
Was there a question you did not like?
Was there something you totally disagreed with?
What did you like talking about?
Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

PRESS CONFERENCE:

In pairs or in teams of 3 or 4 or 5

You are at a press conference in Bratislava between the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.

One of you is the Russian Prime Minister. The other the Slovak Prime Minister. Another/The others are journalists.

The journalists prepare 3 good questions to ask the premiers. The premiers think of a short speech they will say before the questions are asked.

Base your speeches on the front page article.

Question	Answer given
1
2
3

The teacher will ask some students to perform their press conference in front of the class.

LANGUAGE: CORRECT WORD: Choose the correct words from a–d below and write them in the article.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov (1)__ in Bratislava on Thursday April 3^rd on an (2)__ two-day visit. It was the (3)__ visit to the (4)__ by a Russian PM in 11 years. The visit allowed him to discuss mainly economic issues with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. The two (5)__ discussed the oil pipeline utility Transpetrol. Slovakia, its majority owner wants to recover the remaining 49% stake it previously sold to the Russian concern Yukos, whose operations collapsed in 2002. Zubkov stressed the importance of the partnership of the two countries in the energy (6)__, as Slovakia is not only a consumer but also a transit country for energy supplies. Other topics discussed included the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, west Slovakia, and Russian supplies of nuclear fuel to Slovakia. According to Fico: “The time has come to open up the discussion on the export of burnt-out nuclear materials from Slovakia’s nuclear power plants to the Russian Federation.” Concluding the meeting Fico noted: “There are no pending political issues between Bratislava and Moscow and the two can focus (7)__ on economic co-operation.”

On Friday Zubkov laid wreaths at the memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers at Bratislava’s Slavin cemetery. During the 63^rd anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation Fico said, “The (8)__ is being consciously forgotten.” Fico was troubled by the fact that Slovakia has been ignoring Slavic solidarity for over 20 years now. He added, “We (9)__ not forget.” The Russian PM showed his appreciation for Fico’s words saying, “We won’t accept WW2 revisionism and won’t allow the memory of the dead to be corrupted.” On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška before leaving for Russia in the afternoon. (10)__ coming to power in mid-2006, Fico’s government has declared its interest in improving relations with Moscow. Fico is an opponent of the USA’s plan to build parts of its (11)__ defence shield in the Czech Republic. Russia also (12)__ the plan.

1.	(a)	arrive	(b)	arrived	(c)	arriving	(d)	arrives
2.	(a)	officials	(b)	officially	(c)	official	(d)	officialdom
3.	(a)	first	(b)	second	(c)	third	(d)	fourth
4.	(a)	nation	(b)	county	(c)	state	(d)	country
5.	(a)	premiered	(b)	premiers	(c)	premier	(d)	leaders
6.	(a)	ball	(b)	diameter	(c)	sphere	(d)	radius
7.	(a)	full	(b)	fully	(c)	wholly	(d)	together
8.	(a)	place	(b)	places	(c)	palace	(d)	fish
9.	(a)	must	(b)	mast	(c)	most	(d)	mist
10.	(a)	once	(b)	before	(c)	although	(d)	since
11.	(a)	scud	(b)	target	(c)	rocket	(d)	missile
12.	(a)	oppose	(b)	opposed	(c)	opposes	(d)	opposing

GRAMMAR 1: MIDWAY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Russian PM in Slovakia

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov arrived in Bratislava on Thursday April 3^rd on an official two-day visit. It was the first visit to the country by a Russian PM in 11 years. The visit allowed (1)___ to discuss mainly economic issues (2)____ his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. The two premiers discussed the oil pipeline utility Transpetrol. Slovakia, its majority owner wants to recover the remaining 49% stake it previously sold to the Russian concern Yukos, (3)____ operations collapsed in 2002. Zubkov stressed the importance of the partnership of the two countries in the energy sphere, as Slovakia is not (4)____ a consumer but also a transit country for energy supplies. (5)____ topics discussed included the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, west Slovakia, and Russian supplies of nuclear fuel to Slovakia. According to Fico: “The time has come to open up the discussion on the export of burnt-out nuclear materials (6)____ Slovakia’s nuclear power plants to the Russian Federation.” Concluding the meeting Fico noted: “(7)____ are no pending political issues (8)______ Bratislava and Moscow and the two can focus fully on economic co-operation.”

with

other

only

between

from

there

him

whose

On Friday Zubkov laid wreaths at the memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers at Bratislava’s Slavin cemetery. (1)_____ the 63^rd anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation Fico said, “The place is being consciously forgotten.” Fico was troubled by the fact (2)____ Slovakia has been ignoring Slavic solidarity for over 20 years (3)___. He added, “We (4)____ not forget.” The Russian PM showed his appreciation for Fico’s words saying, “We won’t accept WW2 revisionism and won’t allow the memory of the dead to be corrupted.” On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška (5)_____ leaving for Russia in the afternoon. (6)____ coming to power in mid-2006, Fico’s government has declared its interest in improving relations (7)____ Moscow. Fico is an opponent of the USA’s plan to build parts of its missile defence shield in the Czech Republic. Russia (8)____ opposes the plan.

now

since

with

also

before

during

must

that

GRAMMAR 2: MIDWAY / EASY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov (1)_____ in Bratislava on Thursday April 3^rd on an official two-day visit. It was the first visit to the country by a Russian PM in 11 years. The visit (2)______ him to discuss mainly economic issues with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. The two premiers (3)_________ the oil pipeline utility Transpetrol. Slovakia, its majority owner (4)____ to (5)______ the remaining 49% stake it previously sold to the Russian concern Yukos, whose operations (6)_________ in 2002. Zubkov (7)________ the importance of the partnership of the two countries in the energy sphere, as Slovakia is not only a consumer but also a transit country for energy supplies. Other topics discussed (8)________ the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, west Slovakia, and Russian supplies of nuclear fuel to Slovakia. According to Fico: “The time has come to open up the discussion on the export of burnt-out nuclear materials from Slovakia’s nuclear power plants to the Russian Federation.” Concluding the meeting Fico noted: “There are no pending political issues between Bratislava and Moscow and the two can focus fully on economic co-operation.”

wants

recover

allowed

stressed

included

collapsed

discussed

arrived

On Friday Zubkov laid wreaths (1)__ the memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers at Bratislava’s Slavin cemetery. During the 63^rd anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation Fico said, “The place is being consciously forgotten.” Fico was troubled (2)__ the fact that Slovakia has been ignoring Slavic solidarity (3)__ over 20 years now. (4)__ added, “We must not forget.” The Russian PM showed his appreciation for Fico’s words saying, “(5)__ won’t accept WW2 revisionism and won’t allow the memory of the dead to be corrupted.” On Friday afternoon (6)__ Russian PM met Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška before leaving for Russia in the afternoon. Since coming (7)__ power in mid-2006, Fico’s government has declared its interest in improving relations with Moscow. Fico is an opponent of the USA’s plan to build parts (8)__ its missile defence shield in the Czech Republic. Russia also opposes the plan.

the

for

HOMEWORK

1. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on “Trade between Russia and Slovakia” (Imagine!) (Minimum 200 words)

2. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on “Energy supplies in Slovakia” (Imagine!) (Minimum 200 words)

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

WRITING: IN CLASS:

1. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on “Trade between Russia and Slovakia” You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work. Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, “You have xx minutes.”

2. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on “Energy supplies in Slovakia” You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work. Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, “You have xx minutes.”

SPELLING TEST

The teacher will ask the class individually to spell the following words that are in the article:

1 official	11 missile
2 nuclear	12 revisionism
3 countries	13 defence
4 fuel	14 counterpart
5 government	15 transit
6 wreaths	16 economic
7 appreciation	17 partnership
8 liberation	18 political
9 solidarity	19 focus
10 discussion	20 utility

ANSWERS: 2

12. UN-SCRAMBLED: (adapted from article)

Easy
1) Yukos operations collapsed in 2002
2) The place is being consciously forgotten
3) In 2006 Fico’s government took power
4) Fico wishes to improve relations with Moscow
5) The two premiers discussed the oil pipeline Transpetrol
Harder
6) It was the first visit by a Russian PM in 11 years
7) The Russian PM arrived in Bratislava on Thursday
8) The Russian PM met the Slovak Parliamentary Chairman
9) Russia opposes the USA’s missile defence shield plan in Europe
10) Fico wants the two countries to focus fully on economic co-operation

ANSWERS: 1

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	Fuel	Energy
b.	Concluding	Summing up
c.	Solidarity	Togetherness
d.	Opponent	Adversary
e.	Shield	Defence
f.	Discuss	Talk about
g.	Focus	Target
h.	Stressed	Underlined
i.	Pending	Outstanding
j.	Wreath	Flowers

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov	arrived in Bratislava on Thursday
b.	It was the first visit to the country	by a Russian PM in 11 years
c.	The visit allowed him to discuss	mainly economic issues
d.	The two premiers discussed the	oil pipeline utility Transpetrol
e.	Zubkov stressed the importance of the	partnership of the two countries
f.	Other topics discussed included	the nuclear power plant in Mochovce
g.	On Friday Zubkov laid wreaths at the	memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers
h.	On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met	Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška
i.	Fico’s government has declared its interest	in improving relations with Moscow
j.	The Russian PM showed his appreciation	for Fico’s words by saying

GAP FILL: Russian PM in Slovakia: Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov arrived in Bratislava on Thursday April 3^rd on an official two-day visit. It was the first visit to the country by a Russian PM in 11 years. The visit allowed him to discuss mainly economic issues with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. The two premiers discussed the oil pipeline utility Transpetrol. Slovakia, its majority owner wants to recover the remaining 49% stake it previously sold to the Russian concern Yukos, whose operations collapsed in 2002. Zubkov stressed the importance of the partnership of the two countries in the energy sphere, as Slovakia is not only a consumer but also a transit country for energy supplies. Other topics discussed included the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, west Slovakia, and Russian supplies of nuclear fuel to Slovakia. According to Fico: “The time has come to open up the discussion on the export of burnt-out nuclear materials from Slovakia’s nuclear power plants to the Russian Federation.” Concluding the meeting Fico noted: “There are no pending political issues between Bratislava and Moscow and the two can focus fully on economic co-operation.” On Friday Zubkov laid wreaths at the memorial of Soviet WW2 soldiers at Bratislava’s Slavin cemetery. During the 63^rd anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation Fico said, “The place is being consciously forgotten.” Fico was troubled by the fact that Slovakia has been ignoring Slavic solidarity for over 20 years now. He added, “We must not forget.” The Russian PM showed his appreciation for Fico’s words saying, “We won’t accept WW2 revisionism and won’t allow the memory of the dead to be corrupted.” On Friday afternoon the Russian PM met Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška before leaving for Russia in the afternoon. Since coming to power in mid-2006, Fico’s government has declared its interest in improving relations with Moscow. Fico is an opponent of the USA’s plan to build parts of its missile defence shield in the Czech Republic. Russia also opposes the plan.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - b

2 - c

3 - a

4 - d

5 - b

6 - c

7 – b

8 - a

9 - a

10 - d

11 - d

12 – c