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Hungary freezes Internet tax plan (3rd November, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

A proposed tax on the Internet has been put on hold by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary's government was pushing full steam ahead to impose a tax on Internet traffic. It faced huge opposition from the public and from businesses. Mr Orban announced his government had frozen the plans after witnessing huge street protests in the capital Budapest. He also eventually took heed of warnings from the European Union that the tax would be a mistake. Orban announced his climb-down in a radio broadcast on Friday, saying: "This tax in its current form cannot be introduced. If the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable, then it should not be done."

Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is not yet a victory for the people. Prime Minister Orban said he had not scrapped the idea altogether. He said there would be consultations starting in January next year to investigate the potential of generating tax revenue from the Internet. He said it would obviously have to be different in nature to the one just binned. That involved a 60-cent tax one on every gigabyte of data someone consumed. Critics voiced concerns this would limit freedom of expression and hurt online companies. Citizens will continue to campaign for a tax-free Internet. An anti-tax Facebook page already has over 250,000 Likes.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/31/us-hungary-internet-tax-idUSKBN0IK0MM20141031?feedType=RSSfeedName=worldNews
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2841957/government/hungary-ditches-internet-tax-plans-after-protests.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/10/31/hungary-internettax.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. INTERNET TAXES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Internet taxes. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

tax / on hold / full steam ahead / opposition / street protests / mistake / climb-down / U-turn / scrapped / consultations / investigate / potential / freedom of expression

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. TAX: What are the pros and cons for governments on taxing these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

Tax on…	Pros	Cons
Internet
Water
Libraries
Income
Business profits
Food

4. REVENUE: Students A strongly believe governments should generate revenue from the Internet; Students B strongly believe they shouldn't. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. PROTESTS: Rank these with your partner. Put the things you would protest most about at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• Internet tax

• Going to war

• Government corruption

• Food prices

• Nuclear power

• Freedom of speech

• Anti-racism

• Jobs

6. U-TURN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "U-turn". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Hungary had planned to tax the Internet and steam power.	T / F
b.	There were big protests in the streets of Hungary's capital.	T / F
c.	The European Union warned Hungary about imposing an Internet tax.	T / F
d.	Hungary's Prime Minister said the people were being unreasonable.	T / F
e.	Hungary did a left-turn with its Internet tax plans.	T / F
f.	Hungary's leader no longer has plans to introduce an Internet tax.	T / F
g.	Hungary had wanted to tax every gigabyte of data that people used.	T / F
h.	An anti-tax Facebook page has over a quarter-of-a-million Likes.	T / F

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

1.	proposed	a.	possibility
2.	put on hold	b.	unacceptable
3.	huge	c.	frozen
4.	eventually	d.	carry on
5.	unreasonable	e.	planned
6.	victory	f.	abandoned
7.	scrapped	g.	restrict
8.	potential	h.	enormous
9.	limit	i.	success
10.	continue	j.	finally

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	A proposed tax on the Internet has	a.	from the public
2.	pushing full	b.	revenue
3.	It faced huge opposition	c.	unreasonable
4.	huge street	d.	expression
5.	consider it	e.	steam ahead
6.	not yet a victory	f.	potential
7.	investigate the	g.	protests in the capital
8.	generating tax	h.	to campaign
9.	limit freedom of	i.	been put on hold
10.	Citizens will continue	j.	for the people

GAP FILL

A proposed tax on the Internet has been put on (1) ____________ by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary's government was pushing full (2) ____________ ahead to impose a tax on Internet traffic. It faced (3) ____________ opposition from the public and from businesses. Mr Orban announced his government had (4) ____________ the plans after witnessing huge street protests in the capital Budapest. He also eventually took (5) ____________ of warnings from the European Union that the tax would be a mistake. Orban announced his climb-down in a radio (6) ____________ on Friday, saying: "This tax in its current (7) ____________ cannot be introduced. If the people not only dislike something but also consider it (8) ____________, then it should not be done."

huge
heed
steam
form
hold
frozen
unreasonable
broadcast

Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is not yet a (9) ____________ for the people. Prime Minister Orban said he had not scrapped the idea (10) ____________. He said there would be consultations starting in January next year to investigate the (11) ____________ of generating tax revenue from the Internet. He said it would obviously have to be different in (12) ____________ to the one just binned. That involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte of (13) ____________ someone consumed. Critics voiced concerns this would limit freedom of expression and hurt (14) ____________ companies. Citizens will continue to (15) ____________ for a tax-free Internet. An (16) ____________-tax Facebook page already has over 250,000 Likes.

altogether
online
victory
anti
nature
campaign
potential
data

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	A proposed tax on the Internet has ______
	a. been put on hold b. been put in hold c. been put to hold d. been put for hold
2)	Hungary's government was pushing full steam ahead ______
	a. to impose the tax b. to impose that tax c. to impose as tax d. to impose a tax
3)	his government had frozen the plans after witnessing ______
	a. luge street protests b. fugue street protests c. bulge street protests d. huge street protests
4)	This tax in its current form ______
	a. cannot be introducing b. cannot be introduced c. cannot be introduction d. cannot be introduce
5)	the people not only dislike something but also ______
	a. considers it unreasonable b. consider it unreasonable c. considered it unreasonable d. considering it unreasonable
6)	Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is ______
	a. not yet the victory b. not yet our victory c. not yet all victory d. not yet a victory
7)	Prime Minister Orban said he had not ______
	a. scraped the idea b. scrapped the idea c. scuppered the idea d. scarpered the idea
8)	He said it would obviously have to be ______
	a. difference in nature b. different in nature c. difference on nature d. different on nature
9)	That involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte of data ______
	a. someone consumes b. someone consume c. someone consumed d. someone consuming
10)	Citizens will continue to campaign for ______
	a. a tax-freely Internet b. a tax-freef Internet c. a tax-freeze Internet d. a tax-free Internet

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A proposed tax on the Internet has (1) ___________________ by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary's government was pushing full steam ahead (2) ___________________ Internet traffic. It faced huge opposition from the public and from businesses. Mr Orban announced his government had (3) ___________________ after witnessing huge street protests in the capital Budapest. He also eventually (4) ___________________ warnings from the European Union that the tax would be a mistake. Orban announced his (5) ___________________ broadcast on Friday, saying: "This tax in its current form cannot be introduced. If the people not only dislike something but also (6) ___________________, then it should not be done."

Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is (7) ___________________ the people. Prime Minister Orban said he had (8) ___________________ altogether. He said there would be consultations starting in January next year to (9) ___________________ of generating tax revenue from the Internet. He said it would obviously have to (10) ___________________ to the one just binned. That involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte of data someone consumed. Critics voiced concerns this (11) ___________________ expression and hurt online companies. Citizens will continue to campaign (12) ___________________. An anti-tax Facebook page already has over 250,000 Likes.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Who put the proposed tax on hold?
2.	From whom did the proposed tax face opposition?
3.	What took place in the streets in Budapest?
4.	Whose warnings about the tax did Hungary's leader listen to?
5.	What did the leader say about the tax in its current form?
6.	What is not yet a victory for the Hungarian people?
7.	When are people meeting to talk about generating tax revenue?
8.	How much tax did the government want for every gigabyte of data?
9.	What were opponents worried the tax would limit?
10.	How many Likes on Facebook does an anti-tax page have?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	Who put the proposed tax on hold?	6.	What is not yet a victory for the Hungarian people?
	a) the European Union b) the Telecommunications Agency c) Hungary's Internet Minister d) Hungary's leader		a) high-speed Internet b) the upcoming meeting c) the government's U-turn d) the street protests
2.	From whom did the proposed tax face opposition?	7.	When are people meeting to talk about generating tax revenue?
	a) online companies b) the public and businesses c) Internet service providers (ISPs) d) lawyers		a) January b) February c) March d) April
3.	What took place in the streets in Budapest?	8.	How much tax did the government want for every gigabyte of data?
	a) a huge traffic jam b) a carnival c) an online conference d) protests		a) 16 cents b) 66 cents c) 60 cents d) 61.5 cents
4.	Whose warnings about the tax did Hungary's leader listen to?	9.	What were opponents worried the tax would limit?
	a) his Finance Minister b) the head of the World Wide Web c) the European Union d) a private consultancy firm		a) tax curbs b) freedom of expression c) bandwidth d) traffic
5.	What did the leader say about the tax in its current form?	10.	How many Likes on Facebook does an anti-tax page have?
	a) it had no form b) it needed radical change c) it was perfect d) it could not be introduced		a) more than a quarter-of-a-million b) exactly 250,000 c) twenty-five thousand d) slightly less than 200,000

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Internet tax

You think an Internet tax is the thing most worthwhile to protest in the streets against. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't worth protesting about. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): government corruption, food prices or jobs.

Role B – Government corruption

You think government corruption is the thing most worthwhile to protest in the streets against. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't worth protesting about. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): an Internet tax, food prices or jobs.

Role C – Food prices

You think food prices is the thing most worthwhile to protest in the streets against. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't worth protesting about. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): government corruption, an Internet tax or jobs.

Role D – Jobs

You think jobs is the thing most worthwhile to protest in the streets against. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't worth protesting about. Also, tell the others which is the least worrying of these (and why): government corruption, food prices or an Internet tax.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'Internet' and 'tax'.

Internet

tax

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. GAP FILL: 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…?

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

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

pushing
faced
after
warnings
mistake
consider

yet
idea
potential
data
hurt
already

INTERNET TAXES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Internet taxes in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

INTERNET TAXES DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'tax'?
3)	What do you think of the idea of an Internet tax?
4)	How important is the Internet to you?
5)	What things should never be taxed?
6)	Is the Internet already too expensive?
7)	Would you protest in the street against an Internet tax?
8)	Is it good the Hungarian prime minister listened to the people?
9)	Would your government listen to you in a similar situation?
10)	Would your online usage change if there was an Internet tax?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What was the last victory for the people in your country?
13)	Do you think Hungary will eventually get an Internet tax?
14)	Are you surprised most countries do not tax the Internet?
15)	What is the best way for governments to get money from the Internet?
16)	What do you think of the taxation system in your country?
17)	What tax would you really like to change, and why?
18)	What else can citizens do to keep the Internet tax away?
19)	How effective do you think the anti-tax Facebook page is?
20)	What questions would you like to ask Hungary's leader?

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.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

A proposed tax on the Internet has been put on (1) ____ by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary's government was pushing full (2) ____ ahead to impose a tax on Internet traffic. It (3) ____ huge opposition from the public and from businesses. Mr Orban announced his government had frozen the plans after witnessing huge street protests in the capital Budapest. He also eventually (4) ____ heed of warnings from the European Union that the tax would be a mistake. Orban announced his (5) ____ -down in a radio broadcast on Friday, saying: "This tax in its current (6) ____ cannot be introduced. If the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable, then it should not be done."

Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is not yet a victory for the people. Prime Minister Orban said he had not (7) ____ the idea altogether. He said there would be consultations starting in January next year to investigate the potential (8) ____ generating tax revenue from the Internet. He said it would obviously have to be different (9) ____ nature to the one just binned. That involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte of data someone (10) ____. Critics voiced concerns this would (11) ____ freedom of expression and hurt online companies. Citizens will continue to campaign for a tax-free Internet. An (12) ____-tax Facebook page already has over 250,000 Likes.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	grip	(b)	clasp	(c)	hold	(d)	clutch
2.	(a)	steam	(b)	storm	(c)	dynamo	(d)	energy
3.	(a)	faced	(b)	headed	(c)	skulled	(d)	nosed
4.	(a)	took	(b)	did	(c)	had	(d)	was
5.	(a)	descent	(b)	climb	(c)	drop	(d)	pull
6.	(a)	forum	(b)	firm	(c)	frame	(d)	form
7.	(a)	scraped	(b)	scuppered	(c)	scrapped	(d)	scarpered
8.	(a)	via	(b)	as	(c)	by	(d)	of
9.	(a)	in	(b)	on	(c)	of	(d)	by
10.	(a)	partook	(b)	consumed	(c)	ate	(d)	searched
11.	(a)	restriction	(b)	limit	(c)	curtains	(d)	toast
12.	(a)	pre	(b)	post	(c)	anti	(d)	income

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	A sreooppd tax on the Internet
2.	Orban ndonucaen his government
3.	after tniwisngse huge street protests
4.	He also vnualeelyt took heed of warnings
5.	in a radio tdaosbcar
6.	consider it snuaraelneob
Paragraph 2
7.	he had not spprdeac the idea altogether
8.	there would be uotcnslosnati
9.	investigate the itpalneto
10.	every ybetgiag of data someone consumed
11.	Critics iodvce concerns
12.	Citizens will continue to amapcing

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	frozen the plans after witnessing huge street protests in the capital Budapest. He also eventually took
( )	be different in nature to the one just binned. That involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte
( )	of data someone consumed. Critics voiced concerns this would limit freedom of
( )	government was pushing full steam ahead to impose a tax on Internet
( )	the idea altogether. He said there would be consultations starting in January next year to investigate
( )	down in a radio broadcast on Friday, saying: "This tax in its current form cannot be
( )	the potential of generating tax revenue from the Internet. He said it would obviously have to
( )	heed of warnings from the European Union that the tax would be a mistake. Orban announced his climb-
( )	Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is not yet a victory for the people. Prime Minister Orban said he had not scrapped
( 1 )	A proposed tax on the Internet has been put on hold by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary's
( )	traffic. It faced huge opposition from the public and from businesses. Mr Orban announced his government had
( )	introduced. If the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable, then it should not be done."
( )	free Internet. An anti-tax Facebook page already has over 250,000 Likes.
( )	expression and hurt online companies. Citizens will continue to campaign for a tax-

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	hold on put been has Internet the on tax proposed A.
2.	full impose Pushing to ahead tax steam a
3.	faced It public the from opposition huge.
4.	warnings European He of the heed from Union took.
5.	in form introduced tax current be This its cannot.
6.	an Hungary's not on is victory tax a Internet U-turn yet.
7.	had altogether the not He idea scrapped.
8.	potential the Investigate revenue tax generating of.
9.	a 60 - cent tax on every gigabyte That involved.
10.	free - tax a for campaign to Continue Internet.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

A proposed / proposal tax on the Internet has been put on / in hold by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary's government was pulling / pushing full steam ahead to impose a tax on Internet traffic. It faced huge opposition / opposing from the public and from businesses. Mr Orban announced his government had freezing / frozen the plans after witnessing huge street protests in the capital Budapest. He also eventually / eventual took heed / need of warnings from the European Union that the tax would be a mistake. Orban announced his climb-down in a radio / Internet broadcast on Friday, saying: "This tax in its current / currant form cannot be introduced. If the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable, then it should not be done / doing."

Hungary's U-turn on an Internet tax is not yet a victorious / victory for the people. Prime Minister Orban said he had not scraped / scrapped the idea altogether. He said there would be consultants / consultations starting in January next year to investigate the potentially / potential of generating tax revenue from the Internet. He said it would obvious / obviously have to be different in nature / natural to the one just binned. That involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte of data someone consumed. Critics spoke / voiced concerns this would limit freedom of expression / expressive and hurt online companies. Citizens will continue to campaign / drive for a tax-free Internet. An anti-tax Facebook page already has over 250,000 Likes.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

_ pr_p_s_d t_x _n th_ _nt_rn_t h_s b__n p_t _n h_ld by H_ng_r__n Pr_m_ M_n_st_r V_kt_r _rb_n. H_ng_ry's g_v_rnm_nt w_s p_sh_ng f_ll st__m _h__d t_ _mp_s_ _ t_x _n _nt_rn_t tr_ff_c. _t f_c_d h_g_ _pp_s_t__n fr_m th_ p_bl_c _nd fr_m b_s_n_ss_s. Mr _rb_n _nn__nc_d h_s g_v_rnm_nt h_d fr_z_n th_ pl_ns _ft_r w_tn_ss_ng h_g_ str__t pr_t_sts _n th_ c_p_t_l B_d_p_st. H_ _ls_ _v_nt__lly t__k h__d _f w_rn_ngs fr_m th_ __r_p__n _n__n th_t th_ t_x w__ld b_ _ m_st_k_. _rb_n _nn__nc_d h_s cl_mb-d_wn _n _ r_d__ br__dc_st _n Fr_d_y, s_y_ng: "Th_s t_x _n _ts c_rr_nt f_rm c_nn_t b_ _ntr_d_c_d. _f th_ p__pl_ n_t _nly d_sl_k_ s_m_th_ng b_t _ls_ c_ns_d_r _t _nr__s_n_bl_, th_n _t sh__ld n_t b_ d_n_."

H_ng_ry's _-t_rn _n _n _nt_rn_t t_x _s n_t y_t _ v_ct_ry f_r th_ p__pl_. Pr_m_ M_n_st_r _rb_n s__d h_ h_d n_t scr_pp_d th_ _d__ _lt_g_th_r. H_ s__d th_r_ w__ld b_ c_ns_lt_t__ns st_rt_ng _n J_n__ry n_xt y__r t_ _nv_st_g_t_ th_ p_t_nt__l _f g_n_r_t_ng t_x r_v_n__ fr_m th_ _nt_rn_t. H_ s__d _t w__ld _bv___sly h_v_ t_ b_ d_ff_r_nt _n n_t_r_ t_ th_ _n_ j_st b_nn_d. Th_t _nv_lv_d _ 60-c_nt t_x _n _v_ry g_g_byt_ _f d_t_ s_m__n_ c_ns_m_d. Cr_t_cs v__c_d c_nc_rns th_s w__ld l_m_t fr__d_m _f _xpr_ss__n _nd h_rt _nl_n_ c_mp_n__s. C_t_z_ns w_ll c_nt_n__ t_ c_mp__gn f_r _ t_x-fr__ _nt_rn_t. _n _nt_-t_x F_c_b__k p_g_ _lr__dy h_s _v_r 250,000 L_k_s.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

a proposed tax on the internet has been put on hold by hungarian prime minister viktor orban hungary's government was pushing full steam ahead to impose a tax on internet traffic it faced huge opposition from the public and from businesses mr orban announced his government had frozen the plans after witnessing huge street protests in the capital budapest he also eventually took heed of warnings from the european union that the tax would be a mistake orban announced his climb-down in a radio broadcast on friday saying "this tax in its current form cannot be introduced if the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable then it should not be done"

hungary's u-turn on an internet tax is not yet a victory for the people prime minister orban said he had not scrapped the idea altogether he said there would be consultations starting in january next year to investigate the potential of generating tax revenue from the internet he said it would obviously have to be different in nature to the one just binned that involved a 60-cent tax on every gigabyte of data someone consumed critics voiced concerns this would limit freedom of expression and hurt online companies citizens will continue to campaign for a tax-free internet an anti-tax facebook page already has over 250000 likes

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

AproposedtaxontheInternethasbeenputonholdbyHungarianPrimeM
inisterViktorOrban.Hungary'sgovernmentwaspushingfullsteamahe
adtoimposeataxonInternettraffic.Itfacedhugeoppositionfromthepu
blicandfrombusinesses.MrOrbanannouncedhisgovernmenthadfroze
ntheplansafterwitnessinghugestreetprotestsinthecapitalBudapest.
HealsoeventuallytookheedofwarningsfromtheEuropeanUnionthatth
etaxwouldbeamistake.Orbanannouncedhisclimb-downinaradiobr
oadcastonFriday,saying:"Thistaxinitscurrentformcannotbeintroduc
ed.Ifthepeoplenotonlydislikesomethingbutalsoconsideritunreasona
ble,thenitshouldnotbedone."Hungary'sU-turnonanInternettaxis
notyetavictoryforthepeople.PrimeMinisterOrbansaidhehadnotscrap
pedtheideaaltogether.HesaidtherewouldbeconsultationsstartinginJ
anuarynextyeartoinvestigatethepotentialofgeneratingtaxrevenuefr
omtheInternet.Hesaiditwouldobviouslyhavetobedifferentinnaturet
otheonejustbinned.Thatinvolveda60-centtaxoneverygigabyteofdat
asomeoneconsumed.Criticsvoicedconcernsthiswouldlimitfreedomo
fexpressionandhurtonlinecompanies.Citizenswillcontinuetocampai
gnforatax-freeInternet.Ananti-taxFacebookpagealreadyhasover25
0,000Likes.

FREE WRITING

Write about Internet taxes for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a government putting a tax on Internet use.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 out more about Internet taxes. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. INTERNET TAXES: Make a poster about Internet taxes. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. TAX: Write a magazine article about tax. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. 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.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an Internet expert. Ask him/her three questions about Internet taxes. Give him/her three of your ideas on how governments can raise revenue from the Internet. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

F

e

F

f

F

g

T

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	proposed	a.	planned
2.	put on hold	b.	frozen
3.	huge	c.	enormous
4.	eventually	d.	finally
5.	unreasonable	e.	unacceptable
6.	victory	f.	success
7.	scrapped	g.	abandoned
8.	potential	h.	possibility
9.	limit	i.	restrict
10.	continue	j.	carry on

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Hungary's Prime Minister (Viktor Orban)
2.	The public and businesses
3.	Protests
4.	The European Union's
5.	It cannot be introduced
6.	Hungary's U-turn on tax
7.	In January next year
8.	60 cents
9.	Freedom of expression
10.	250,000

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

d

2.

b

3.

d

4.

c

5.

d

6.

c

7.

a

8.

c

9.

b

10.

a

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Hungary freezes Internet tax plan (3rd November, 2014)

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