The Reading / Listening - Somalia - Level 5

Somalia has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. A vote on the 6th of June saw the African nation win its seat in the UN body. It is the first time for Somalia to hold the position since the 1970s. It descended into brutal and bloody conflict for three decades after. Civil and factional wars brought the country to its knees. A coalition government in 2009 then brought the return of stability. Somalia's recent turmoil, and its struggles to defeat Islamist militants, give it a valuable voice in promoting peace and security in the world.

The UN Security Council was formed in 1945 to help maintain global peace. Its 15 members include five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – and 10 revolving non-permanent members. To win a seat, a nation must secure the support of at least two thirds of UN delegations. Somalia was elected unopposed. It will serve for two years from January. The Somali Foreign Minister said: "Our tenure will be guided by our full commitment to multilateralism, and our respect of the principles of international law [set down] in the UN Charter."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Somalia - Level 4 or  Somalia - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgee4j71ypqo
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. win its seat
  2. It descended into brutal and
  3. Civil and factional
  4. brought the country
  5. brought the return
  6. its struggles to defeat Islamist
  7. give it a valuable
  8. promoting peace
  1. wars
  2. of stability
  3. voice
  4. in the UN body
  5. and security
  6. to its knees
  7. bloody conflict
  8. militants

Paragraph 2

  1. The UN Security Council was
  2. help maintain
  3. 10 revolving non-
  4. the support of at least two thirds
  5. It will serve
  6. Our tenure will be guided
  7. our respect of the principles
  8. set down
  1. for two years
  2. in the UN Charter
  3. of UN delegations
  4. global peace
  5. of international law
  6. formed in 1945
  7. by our full commitment
  8. permanent members

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Somalia has (1) ___________________ a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. A vote on the 6th of June saw the African nation (2) ___________________ in the UN body. It is the first time for Somalia to hold the position since the 1970s. It descended into (3) ___________________ conflict for three decades after. Civil and factional wars brought the country (4) ___________________. A coalition government in 2009 then brought the return of stability. Somalia's recent turmoil, and its (5) ___________________ Islamist militants, give it a (6) ___________________ promoting peace and security in the world.

The UN Security Council was formed in 1945 to (7) ___________________ peace. Its 15 members include five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – and 10 (8) ___________________ members. To win a seat, a nation must secure the support of at (9) ___________________ of UN delegations. Somalia (10) ___________________. It will serve for two years from January. The Somali Foreign Minister said: "Our tenure will be guided by (11) ___________________ to multilateralism, and our respect of (12) ___________________ international law [set down] in the UN Charter."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Somaliahasbeenelectedasanon-permanentmemberoftheUNSecurit
yCouncil.Avoteonthe6thofJunesawtheAfricannationwinitsseatinthe
UNbody.ItisthefirsttimeforSomaliatoholdthepositionsincethe1970s.
Itdescendedintobrutalandbloodyconflictforthreedecadesafter.Civila
ndfactionalwarsbroughtthecountrytoitsknees.Acoalitiongovernmen
tin2009thenbroughtthereturnofstability.Somalia'srecentturmoil,an
ditsstrugglestodefeatIslamistmilitants,giveitavaluablevoiceinprom
otingpeaceandsecurityintheworld.TheUNSecurityCouncilwasforme
din1945tohelpmaintainglobalpeace.Its15membersincludefiveperm
anentmembers–China,France,Russia,theUKandtheUS–and10revol
vingnon-permanentmembers.Towinaseat,anationmustsecurethes
upportofatleasttwothirdsofUNdelegations.Somaliawaselectedunop
posed.ItwillservefortwoyearsfromJanuary.TheSomaliForeignMinist
ersaid:"Ourtenurewillbeguidedbyourfullcommitmenttomultilaterali
sm,andourrespectoftheprinciplesofinternationallaw[setdown]in the
UNCharter."

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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