Historic talks between U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have resulted in an agreement to increase cooperation between their two countries on nuclear energy. In a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy, Mr. Bush has welcomed India with open arms into the nuclear elite. This underscores Washington’s recognition of India as a major power. Since India exploded its first nuclear device in 1974, it had been treated as a pariah state by America. More testing in 1998 led to sanctions being imposed by the U.S. Relations soured further after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when America provided arms to India’s archrival Pakistan.

Mr. Bush hailed the new understanding as a breakthrough. He said: “Today, we announce the completion of the next steps in our strategic partnership. Completing this partnership will help us further enhance our cooperation in the areas of civil nuclear energy, space and high-technology commerce.” Mr. Bush promised American help in India’s civilian nuclear program even though it has military nuclear capabilities. This is despite India not being a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Other states that refused to sign the Treaty are Iran and North Korea. Mr. Bush stated: “As a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology, India should acquire the same benefits and advantages as other such states.”

WARM-UPS

1. NUCLEAR CLUB: How safe or how dangerous are the countries in the nuclear club (those possessing nuclear weapons)?

America United Kingdom France China Israel (suspected member)

India Pakistan Russia North Korea

2. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think nuclear energy is too dangerous. Students B think nuclear energy is essential. Try to persuade each other to switch sides.

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Historic talks / Manmohan Singh / nuclear energy / India / pariah states / Pakistan / Non-Proliferation Treaty / Iran / North Korea / responsible states

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. INDIA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with India. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. NUCLEAR OPINIONS: In pairs / groups, discuss the following opinions on surveillance:

1. Nuclear energy is essential for our future.
2. Accidents such as Chernobyl make nuclear power stations too dangerous.
3. Nuclear energy is clean, cheap and renewable.
4. Alternative sources of energy need more funding, not nuclear energy.
5. George W. Bush should also welcome Pakistan into the nuclear elite.
6. One day, terrorists will steal enough plutonium to make their own bombs.
7. George W. Bush is a hypocrite for dealing with countries that have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
8. Any country has a right to develop nuclear technology.
9. A nuclear bomb will never be used in war.
10. People should be allowed to vote for whether or not they want nuclear power.

Change partners and share what you talked about.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	The U.S. accepts India has a right to pursue nuclear technologies.	T / F
b.	This is a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy.	T / F
c.	US-Indo relations have been very close since 1974.	T / F
d.	India and Pakistan cooperate closely on nuclear technology.	T / F
e.	Mr. Bush regarded the new understanding as a major achievement.	T / F
f.	Mr. Bush promised India help in upgrading its nuclear weapons.	T / F
g.	India is a key signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.	T / F
h.	Mr. Bush said India is responsible with its nuclear capabilities.	T / F

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

a.	reversal	attain
b.	underscores	deteriorated
c.	pariah	praised
d.	soured	signer
e.	archrival	accentuates
f.	hailed	boost
g.	enhance	enemy
h.	capabilities	about-face
i.	signatory	means
j.	acquire	outcast

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	a dramatic reversal	Non-Proliferation Treaty
b.	welcomed India	further
c.	led to sanctions	partnership
d.	Relations soured	understanding as a breakthrough
e.	America provided arms	of U.S. policy
f.	Mr. Bush hailed the new	with open arms
g.	strategic	our cooperation
h.	further enhance	to India’s archrival Pakistan
i.	a signatory to the nuclear	the same benefits
j.	acquire	being imposed

WHILE READING / LISTENING

ODD WORD OUT: Put a line through the word in the groups of three in italics that does not fit.

U.S. welcomes India to nuclear elite

Historic speeches / talks / discussions between U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have resulted in an agreement to increase cooperation between their two countries on nuclear energy. In a dramatic reversal / about-face / rewinding of U.S. policy, Mr. Bush has welcomed India with open arms into the nuclear elite. This underscores / overstates / highlights Washington’s recognition of India as a major power. Since India detonated / exploded / denoted its first nuclear device in 1974, it had been treated as a pariah state by America. More testing in 1998 led to sanctions being imposed by the U.S. Relations soured / deteriorated / sweetened further after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when America provided arms / weapons / legs to India’s archrival Pakistan.

Mr. Bush hailed / greeted / weathered the new understanding as a breakthrough. He said: “Today, we announce / renounce / pronounce the completion of the next steps in our strategic partnership. Completing this partnership will help us further chance / enhance / reinforce our cooperation in the areas of civil nuclear energy, space and high-technology commerce.” Mr. Bush promised American help in India’s civilian nuclear program even though it has military nuclear capabilities / might / could. This is despite India not being a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Other states that refused to sign / ink / pen the Treaty are Iran and North Korea. Mr. Bush stated: “As a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology, India should acquiesce / acquire / attain the same benefits and advantages as other such states.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘nuclear’ and ‘energy’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. ODD WORD OUT: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…? How were the “odd” words related to the correct ones?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT NUCLEAR ENERGY SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about nuclear energy.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

resulted dramatic arms pariah sanctions archrival

hailed enhance commerce capabilities refusing benefits

DISCUSSION

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

1. What was your initial reaction to this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. What do you think of the U.S.-Indo agreement?
4. Do you think America should similarly embrace Pakistan?
5. Is George W. Bush being hypocritical in welcoming a member of a state that refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty?
6. Is this a major foreign policy success for President Bush?
7. What do you think Iran, Pakistan and North Korea will think of the new cooperation on nuclear technology between the USA and India?
8. Do you think China will feel uneasy at the new US-Indo relations?
9. Why do you think Mr. Bush has taken a U-turn in U.S. policy?
10. Do you think India is an important partner for the USA?

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

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. Do you think India will stick to its promises not to conduct further nuclear missile tests?
4. What do you think of nuclear energy?
5. Is the international sharing of nuclear technology a good thing?
6. Would you move if a nuclear power station was built in your town?
7. How safe do you think nuclear fuel is?
8. Do you think nuclear fuel is the best alternative to fossil fuels?
9. Do you think every country has the right to develop nuclear energy and nuclear weapons?
10. Did you like this discussion?

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

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

NUCLEAR CLUB: You are the head of the new International Nuclear Club. You must decide which countries can join the nuclear club and have or keep a nuclear capability. Discuss each country’s need for nuclear technology, the dangers to the world of each country possessing nuclear technology and the objections by other countries to each country possessing nuclear technology.

COUNTRIES	NEED	DANGERS	OBJECTIONS
Iran
North Korea
America
Israel
Brazil
India

Change partners and share what you discussed earlier. Make decisions on which countries can and cannot join the International Nuclear Club.

Return to your original partners and compare which countries you accepted and rejected. State the reasons behind your decisions.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

U.S. welcomes India to nuclear elite

________ _____ between U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have resulted in an agreement to increase cooperation between their two countries on nuclear energy. In a ________ ________ of U.S. policy, Mr. Bush has welcomed India with open arms into the _______ ______. This underscores Washington’s recognition of India as a major power. Since India exploded its first nuclear ______ in 1974, it had been treated as a pariah state by America. More testing in 1998 led __ _________ being imposed by the U.S. Relations ______ _______ after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when America provided arms to India’s __________ Pakistan.

Mr. Bush hailed the new understanding as a ___________. He said: “Today, we announce the completion of the next steps in our strategic partnership. Completing this partnership will help us ________ _______ our cooperation in the areas of _____ _______ energy, space and high-technology commerce.” Mr. Bush promised American help in India’s civilian nuclear program even though it has military nuclear capabilities. This is despite India not being a _________ __ the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Other states that refused to sign the Treaty include Iran and North Korea. Mr. Bush stated: “As a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology, India ______ _______ ___ same benefits and advantages as other such states.”

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 on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the USA. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. NUCLEAR ENERGY: Make a poster on the pros and cons of nuclear energy. Show your poster to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all have similar ideas?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush. Tell him what you think of his decision to accept India as a legitimate nuclear power. Read your letter to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	reversal	about-face
b.	underscores	accentuates
c.	pariah	outcast
d.	soured	deteriorated
e.	archrival	enemy
f.	hailed	praised
g.	enhance	boost
h.	capabilities	means
i.	signatory	signer
j.	acquire	attain

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	a dramatic reversal	of U.S. policy
b.	welcomed India	with open arms
c.	led to sanctions	being imposed
d.	Relations soured	further
e.	America provided arms	to India’s archrival Pakistan
f.	Mr. Bush hailed the new	understanding as a breakthrough
g.	strategic	partnership
h.	further enhance	our cooperation
i.	a signatory to the nuclear	Non-Proliferation Treaty
j.	acquire	the same benefits

ODD WORD OUT:

U.S. welcomes India to nuclear elite

Historic speeches / talks / discussions between U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have resulted in an agreement to increase cooperation between their two countries on nuclear energy. In a dramatic reversal / about-face / rewinding of U.S. policy, Mr. Bush has welcomed India with open arms into the nuclear elite. This underscores / overstates / highlights Washington’s recognition of India as a major power. Since India detonated / exploded / denoted its first nuclear device in 1974, it had been treated as a pariah state by America. More testing in 1998 led to sanctions being imposed by the U.S. Relations soured / deteriorated / sweetened further after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when America provided arms / weapons / legs to India’s archrival Pakistan.

Mr. Bush hailed / greeted / weathered the new understanding as a breakthrough. He said: “Today, we announce / renounce / pronounce the completion of the next steps in our strategic partnership. Completing this partnership will help us further chance / enhance / reinforce our cooperation in the areas of civil nuclear energy, space and high-technology commerce.” Mr. Bush promised American help in India’s civilian nuclear program even though it has military nuclear capabilities / might / could. This is despite India not being a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Other states that refused to sign / ink / pen the Treaty are Iran and North Korea. Mr. Bush stated: “As a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology, India should acquiesce / acquire / attain the same benefits and advantages as other such states.”

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