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FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes on Greece Protests
(11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)

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Striking Greek Workers Bring Chaos (11th February, 2010)

Workers in Greece went on strike on Wednesday. Many parts of the capital Athens stopped working. At the airport, staff sat on the runway to stop airplanes landing. People called it a “river of fury”. They were angry with the Greek government. Greece’s prime minister George Papandreou introduced many painful measures last week. These included pay freezes and the raising of the retirement age. Many strikers said the protests were against the "tsunami of attacks on workers". One worker said: "We are at war with the government because it is clearly at war with us."

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The rest of Europe is looking at Greece very closely. European governments are worried the protests might spread. There are fears there will be more violence. The only public workers seen on Athens streets on Wednesday were riot policemen. Many Europeans are without jobs and economies are weak following the global financial crisis. Greeks blame bankers for their problems. It is the same in other Euroland nations. European leaders are meeting to discuss how to help the Greeks. One of the options is to give Greece financial aid.

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PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.	Workers in Greece went	a.	fury
2	parts of	b.	freezes
3.	river of	c.	war
4.	painful	d.	on strike
5.	pay	e.	measures
6.	We are at	f.	the capital

Paragraph 2

1.	The rest	a.	financial crisis
2	the protests might	b.	more violence
3.	fears there will be	c.	of Europe
4.	the global	d.	aid
5.	Greeks blame bankers	e.	spread
6.	financial	f.	for their problems

LISTENING GAP FILL

Workers in Greece ________________ Wednesday. Many parts of the capital Athens stopped working. At the airport, staff sat on ________________ airplanes landing. People called it a “river of fury”. They were ________________ Greek government. Greece’s prime minister George Papandreou introduced many __________________ week. These included pay freezes and the raising of the retirement age. Many strikers said the protests were against the "________________ on workers". One worker said: "We are at war with the government because it is clearly ________________."

The ________________ looking at Greece very closely. European governments are worried the protests might spread. There are fears ________________ violence. The only public workers seen on Athens streets on Wednesday ________________. Many Europeans are without jobs and economies ________________ the global financial crisis. Greeks blame bankers for their problems. It __________________ Euroland nations. European leaders are meeting to discuss how to help the Greeks. One of ___________________ Greece financial aid.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Workers in Greece (1) ____ on strike on Wednesday. Many parts of the capital Athens stopped working. At the airport, staff sat on the (2) ____ to stop airplanes landing. People called it a “river of fury”. They were angry with the Greek government. Greece’s prime minister George Papandreou introduced many (3) ____ measures last week. These included pay (4) ____ and the raising of the retirement age. Many strikers said the protests were against the "tsunami of attacks on workers". One worker said: "We are at war with the government because it is (5) ____ at war with us."

The (6) ____ of Europe is looking at Greece very closely. European governments are worried the protests might spread. There are (7) ____ there will be more violence. The only public workers seen on Athens streets on Wednesday were (8) ____ policemen. Many Europeans are without jobs and economies are weak following the global financial crisis. Greeks blame bankers (9) ____ their problems. It is the same in other Euroland nations. European leaders are meeting to discuss how to help the Greeks. One of the options is to give Greece financial (10) ____.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	went	(b)	been	(c)	gone
2.	(a)	runaway	(b)	railway	(c)	runway
3.	(a)	pains	(b)	painful	(c)	pain
4.	(a)	frozen	(b)	freezes	(c)	freezing
5.	(a)	clear	(b)	clears	(c)	clearly
6.	(a)	rest	(b)	rested	(c)	restful
7.	(a)	afraid	(b)	fears	(c)	frightened
8.	(a)	riots	(b)	rioted	(c)	riot
9.	(a)	for	(b)	from	(c)	of
10.	(a)	aide	(b)	first-aid	(c)	aid

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	went on teiskr
2.	staff sat on the wanyur
3.	many nfilapu measures
4.	pay seeerzf
5.	takcats on workers
6.	elyracl at war
Paragraph 2
7.	looking at Greece very sylecol
8.	the protests might rdapse
9.	more viocelne
10.	trio policemen
11.	Greeks abmel bankers
12.	meeting to csidsus how to help

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	Wednesday were riot policemen. Many Europeans are without jobs and economies are weak following the
( )	spread. There are fears there will be more violence. The only public workers seen on Athens streets on
( )	airport, staff sat on the runway to stop airplanes landing. People called it a “river of fury”. They were
( 1 )	Workers in Greece went on strike on Wednesday. Many parts of the capital Athens stopped working. At the
( )	measures last week. These included pay freezes and the raising of the retirement age. Many strikers said the
( )	angry with the Greek government. Greece’s prime minister George Papandreou introduced many painful
( )	The rest of Europe is looking at Greece very closely. European governments are worried the protests might
( )	global financial crisis. Greeks blame bankers for their problems. It is the same in other Euroland nations.
( )	protests were against the "tsunami of attacks on workers". One worker said: "We are at war with the government because it is clearly at war with us."
( )	European leaders are meeting to discuss how to help the Greeks. One of the options is to give Greece financial aid.

THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

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

1.	strike Workers Greece on in went.
2.	Athens capital the of Parts working stopped.
3.	were They government Greek the with angry.
4.	The of retirement raising the age.
5.	with war at are We government the.
6.	Greece Europe is The looking rest at of.
7.	worried are Governments spread might protests the.
8.	are more fears violence there will There be.
9.	bankers their blame for problems Greeks.
10.	how to Meeting help to the discuss Greeks.

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 Greece 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. GREEK PROTESTS: Search the Internet and find more information about the Greek protests. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about protesting. Include imaginary interviews with a protestor and a riot policeman. 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 the Greek prime minister. Ask him three questions about protesting. Give him three of your opinions on how to help Greece and stop the protests. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner will answer the questions you asked.

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News English Lessons FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes on Greece Protests (11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)