Exercise

12 Killed in Batman Shooting in U.S. (21st July, 2012)

 

A gunman killed 12 people and wounded 59 at a Colorado cinema early Friday morning. Police apprehended the killer and identified him as James Eagan Holmes, 24, a former neuroscience PhD student. He armed himself with an assault rifle, a shotgun and a pistol and fired at random at moviegoers attending the midnight premiere of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises". Holmes had dyed his hair red, just like Batman's nemesis the Joker, and wore full body armour and a gas mask. Many initially thought he was part of a stunt for the movie screening. Cinemas in New York got police protection after the shooting to prevent copycat killings. The premiere in Paris was immediately cancelled.
U.S. President Barack Obama has led the mourning after the massacre, ordering flags to be lowered to half-mast. He said: "There are going to be other days for politics. This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection." The shooting has once again reignited the debate on gun control in America. All the weapons used in the killings were bought legally in a local gun store. The shooting brings back memories of the 1999 Columbine High School murders, just 25km from the cinema, in which 13 people lost their lives. Tragedies like this are becoming all too common but do little to get tighter gun controls enforced. Gun ownership is a right in the USA. There are an estimated 192 million firearms in the country.

WARM-UPS

1. GUN CONTROL: Walk around the class and talk to other students about gun control. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

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

gunman / identified / shotgun / moviegoers / Batman premiere / gas mask / stunt / mourning / massacre / flags at half-mast / gun control / all too common / a right

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

3. GUNS: Who should be allowed to carry them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Who?	When?	Where?	Why?
Citizens
Police
Farmers
Hunters
Politicians
Stars

4. BANNED: Students A strongly believe guns should be banned; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. WEAPONS: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the worst at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Guns The Internet Knives Words

Tanks Tear gas Biological weapons Fists

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