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Australians Want Flag With No Union Jack (26 January, 2010)

Australian politicians are trying to get the Union Jack removed from their national flag. The call came on Australia Day – January 26th. As Australians celebrate their national holiday the country's political leaders want a redesign of their flag. Many Australians think a new flag is a good idea. The current flag has the Union Jack in the top left corner. Many people see it as a reminder of when Australia was a British colony. Australian TV presenter Ray Martin said: “We’re multi-cultural. We don’t need the British connection.”

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A country’s flag is a very important thing. It represents everything about a nation. Americans are very proud of their flag, the Stars and Stripes. That flag has a lot of meaning – the red and white stripes are for the original states and the stars are the current ones. Not everyone likes that flag. It is common to see people burning it on the news. Australia is a young country so a new flag might be good for them. The Union Jack was OK when most of the people had British roots. In today’s Australia, many people have Asian origins.

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PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.

Australian

a.

holiday

2

celebrate their national

b.

the Union Jack

3.

a redesign of

c.

politicians

4.

The current flag has

d.

cultural

5.

in the top

e.

their flag

6.

We’re multi-

f.

left corner

 

Paragraph 2

1.

a very important

a.

have Asian origins

2

everything about

b.

see people

3.

the red and white

c.

a nation

4.

common to

d.

thing

5.

people had British

e.

stripes

6.

many people

f.

roots


LISTENING GAP FILL

Australian politicians are ________________ Union Jack removed from their national flag. The call came on Australia Day – January 26th. As Australians __________________ holiday the country's political leaders ________________ of their flag. Many Australians think a new flag is a good idea. The current flag has the Union Jack in ________________. Many people see it as a reminder of when Australia was ________________. Australian TV presenter Ray Martin said: “________________. We don’t need the British connection.”

A country’s ________________ important thing. It represents everything about a nation. Americans ________________ their flag, the Stars and Stripes. That flag has a lot of meaning – the red and white stripes are for ________________ and the stars are the current ones. Not everyone likes that flag. It is common to ________________ it on the news. Australia is a young country so a new flag might be good for them. The Union Jack was OK when most of the people ________________. In today’s Australia, many people ________________.


MULTIPLE CHOICE

Australian politicians are trying to get the Union Jack (1) ____ from their national flag. The (2) ____ came on Australia Day – January 26th. As Australians celebrate their national holiday the country's political leaders want a redesign of their flag. Many Australians think a new flag is a good  (3) ____. The current flag has the Union Jack in the top left corner. Many people see it as a (4) ____ of when Australia was a British colony. Australian TV presenter Ray Martin said: “We’re (5) ____ -cultural. We don’t need the British connection.”

A country’s flag is a very important thing. It (6) ____ everything about a nation. Americans are very (7) ____ of their flag, the Stars and Stripes. That flag has a lot of meaning – the red and white stripes are for the original states and the stars are the (8) ____ ones. Not everyone likes that flag. It is common to see people (9) ____ it on the news. Australia is a young country so a new flag might be good for them. The Union Jack was OK when most of the people had British (10) ____. In today’s Australia, many people have Asian origins.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.

(a)

removal

(b)

removed

(c)

removes

2.

(a)

call

(b)

calling

(c)

called

3.

(a)

idea

(b)

ideal

(c)

ideals

4.

(a)

remainder

(b)

reminds

(c)

reminder

5.

(a)

nultiple

(b)

multi

(c)

multiply

6.

(a)

represents

(b)

represent

(c)

representative

7.

(a)

pride

(b)

proudly

(c)

proud

8.

(a)

currant

(b)

current

(c)

currency

9.

(a)

burning

(b)

burns

(c)

burnt

10.

(a)

rooted

(b)

rooting

(c)

roots


SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1

1.

Australian sniacpltoii

2.

tinlnoaa flag

3.

the eurcrtn flag

4.

top left nrroce

5.

see it as a nmirerde

6.

multi-curalltu

 

Paragraph 2

7.

a nniota

8.

very dpuro

9.

a lot of mgeiann

10.

stars and estiprs

11.

British otros

12.

Asian irsingo


PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

(    )

A country’s flag is a very important thing. It represents everything about a nation. Americans are very proud

(    )

the original states and the stars are the current ones. Not everyone likes that flag. It is common to see

(    )

of their flag, the Stars and Stripes. That flag has a lot of meaning – the red and white stripes are for

(    )

people burning it on the news. Australia is a young country so a new flag might be good for

1  )

Australian politicians are trying to get the Union Jack removed from their national flag. The call came on

(    )

Union Jack in the top left corner. Many people see it as a reminder of when Australia was a British

(    )

Australia Day – January 26th. As Australians celebrate their national holiday the country's political leaders

(    )

want a redesign of their flag. Many Australians think a new flag is a good idea. The current flag has the

(    )

them. The Union Jack was OK when most of the people had British roots. In today’s Australia, many people have Asian origins.

(    )

colony. Australian TV presenter Ray Martin said: “We’re multi-cultural. We don’t need the British connection.”


THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

With a partner, put the words back into the correct order.

1.

Union    from    flag    the    removed    national    Get    Jack    their.

2.

a     redesign     Political     of     leaders     their     want     flag.    

3.

a     is     idea     think     flag     good     Australians     new     a.    

4.

reminder    Australia    British    A    when    a    of    was    colony.   

5.

We     need     British     don’t     the     connection.    

6.

flag     thing     is     a     A     very     country’s     important.    

7.

very     are     Americans     flag     their     of     proud.    

8.

for    states    and    are    original    red    stripes    the    The    white

9.

British     had     people     the     of     Most     roots.    

10.

have     people     Many     origins     Asian.    


DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

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

1.

________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________

4.

________________________________________________________

5.

________________________________________________________

6.

________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

1.

________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________

4.

________________________________________________________

5.

________________________________________________________

6.

________________________________________________________


WRITING

Write about flags for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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. FLAGS: Search the Internet and find more information about the Union Jack. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about the Australian politicians wanting a new flag. Include imaginary interviews with a politician and someone who loves the current flag. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

5. LETTER: Write a letter to an Australian politician. Ask him/her three questions about his/her flag. Give him/her three of your opinions on this story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner will answer the questions you asked.

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