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

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Failed Bomb Attack on Flight to USA (25th December, 2009)

An airplane in the USA has survived a bomb attack. The flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan was 20 minutes away from landing. It had 278 passengers and 11 crew aboard. The bomber was a 23-year-old Nigerian man called Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab. He told police he was working for Al Qaeda. Mr. Abdulmutallab tried to make a bomb on the airplane with a mix of powder and liquid chemicals. His bomb exploded but did not cause a lot of damage. Instead, he badly burnt one of his legs. Flight attendants quickly put the fire out.

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Airports and airlines around the world are now on high alert. Security experts believe there will be more attempts to blow up airplanes. Al Qaeda has a history of attacking flights to and in the USA. The worst were the 9-11 attacks in 2001. Since then, there have been several near misses. Also in 2001, Briton Richard Reid tried to blow up a Paris-Miami flight using explosives hidden in his shoes. He was nicknamed the “shoe bomber”. In 2006, police in Britain discovered a plan to bomb transatlantic flights using liquid bombs disguised as soft drinks.

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PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.	survived a	a.	11 crew
2	20 minutes away	b.	one of his legs
3.	278 passengers and	c.	bomb attack
4.	a mix of powder and	d.	fire out
5.	he badly burnt	e.	from landing
6.	put the	f.	liquid chemicals

Paragraph 2

1.	on high	a.	attempts
2	there will be more	b.	misses
3.	Security	c.	in his shoes
4.	several near	d.	transatlantic flights
5.	explosives hidden	e.	alert
6.	a plan to bomb	f.	experts

LISTENING GAP FILL

An airplane in the USA _______________ bomb attack. The flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan was 20 minutes away from landing. It had 278 passengers _______________. The bomber was a 23-year-old Nigerian man called Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab. He told police he was working for Al Qaeda. Mr. Abdulmutallab _________________ bomb on the airplane with _________________ and liquid chemicals. His bomb exploded but did not cause a lot of damage. Instead, _________________ of his legs. Flight attendants quickly _______________.

Airports and airlines around the world are _______________. Security experts believe there will be _______________ blow up airplanes. Al Qaeda _______________ attacking flights to and in the USA. The worst were the 9-11 attacks in 2001. Since then, there have been _________________. Also in 2001, Briton Richard Reid tried to blow up a Paris-Miami flight using explosives _______________ shoes. He was nicknamed the “shoe bomber”. In 2006, police in Britain discovered a plan to bomb transatlantic flights using liquid bombs disguised _______________.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

An airplane in the USA has (1) ____ a bomb attack. The flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan was 20 minutes away from (2) ____. It had 278 passengers and 11 crew (3) ____. The bomber was a 23-year-old Nigerian man called Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab. He told police he was working for Al Qaeda. Mr. Abdulmutallab tried to make a bomb on the airplane with a (4) ____ of powder and liquid chemicals. His bomb exploded but did not cause a lot of damage. Instead, he (5) ____ burnt one of his legs. Flight attendants quickly put the fire out.

Airports and airlines around the world are now on (6) ____ alert. Security experts believe there will be more attempts to blow up airplanes. Al Qaeda has a (7) ____ of attacking flights to and in the USA. The worst were the 9-11 attacks in 2001. Since then, there have been several (8) ____ misses. Also in 2001, Briton Richard Reid tried to blow up a Paris-Miami flight using explosives hidden in his shoes. He (9) ____ nicknamed the “shoe bomber”. In 2006, police in Britain discovered a plan to bomb transatlantic flights using liquid bombs disguised as (10) ____ drinks.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	survived	(b)	survivor	(c)	survival
2.	(a)	lands	(b)	landed	(c)	landing
3.	(a)	abroad	(b)	abode	(c)	aboard
4.	(a)	mix	(b)	mixes	(c)	mixed
5.	(a)	bad	(b)	badly	(c)	worse
6.	(a)	high	(b)	tall	(c)	up
7.	(a)	historian	(b)	history	(c)	historical
8.	(a)	nearly	(b)	near	(c)	nears
9.	(a)	did	(b)	has	(c)	was
10.	(a)	soft	(b)	squishy	(c)	smooth

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	survived a bomb aakttc
2.	11 crew oarbad
3.	noikgrw for Al Qaeda
4.	iudqil chemicals
5.	cause a lot of mgadae
6.	lfgthi attendants
Paragraph 2
7.	on high eatrl
8.	Security xpesert
9.	The rwsto were the 9-11 attacks
10.	ervlase near misses
11.	explosives nheddi in his shoes
12.	tsof drinks

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	to blow up a Paris-Miami flight using explosives hidden in his shoes. He was nicknamed the “shoe bomber”. In 2006,
( 1 )	An airplane in the USA has survived a bomb attack. The flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan was 20
( )	Abdulmutallab tried to make a bomb on the airplane with a mix of powder and liquid chemicals. His bomb
( )	minutes away from landing. It had 278 passengers and 11 crew aboard. The bomber was a 23-year-
( )	Airports and airlines around the world are now on high alert. Security experts believe there will be
( )	more attempts to blow up airplanes. Al Qaeda has a history of attacking flights to and in the USA. The worst
( )	old Nigerian man called Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab. He told police he was working for Al Qaeda. Mr.
( )	were the 9-11 attacks in 2001. Since then, there have been several near misses. Also in 2001, Briton Richard Reid tried
( )	exploded but did not cause a lot of damage. Instead, he badly burnt one of his legs. Flight attendants quickly put the fire out.
( )	police in Britain discovered a plan to bomb transatlantic flights using liquid bombs disguised as soft drinks.

THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

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

1.	USA has survived a bomb attack An airplane in the
2.	278 aboard passengers and It 11 had crew.
3.	a was bomber The man Nigerian old - year - 23.
4.	of mix A chemicals liquid and powder.
5.	out fire the put quickly attendants Flight.
6.	on the now alert around are high Airlines world.
7.	airplanes will attempts up There more blow be to.
8.	The the 9-11 2001 were in worst attacks .
9.	transatlantic plan bomb flights A to.
10.	disguised bombs liquid Using drinks soft as.

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 terrorism 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. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information about the failed terror attack. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about terrorism. Include imaginary interviews with a member of Al-Qaeda and Barack Obama. 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 leader of your country. Ask him/her three questions about terrorism. Give him/her three of your opinions on how to beat terrorism. 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 Bomb Attacks (11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)