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News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 1

April 2010
Level ≥ Advanced
Style ≥ Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardianweekly.co.uk/learningenglish/. You can also
find more advice for teachers and learners from the Guardian Weekly’s Learning English section on the site.
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Che image puts brand value before spirit of revolution

Worn with pride ... Korda’s ‘Heroic Guerrilla’ Mario Tama/Getty Images

2 Complete the paragraph with words from the


Before reading headline or caption.
1 The article is about Che Guevara. Work in groups The famous image of Che Guevara is now an
and look at these nouns from the text. What do you international (a) . The
know about him? original picture was taken by the photographer
guerrilla Marxist (b) . People around the
revolutionary principles world wear Che’s photo with
Cuba photographer (c) because he symbolises
portrait image the revolutionary (d)
T-shirts stare
good looks myth
≥2
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 2

April 2010

6 But the photograph of Guevara, which Korda


Article later called “Heroic Guerrilla”, did not make
Che image puts brand value the next day’s paper and only emerged after
Guevara’s death seven years later.
­before spirit of revolution
7 The fact that for many years the photo­graph was
1 It is the photograph that adorns student
not under copyright meant the image could be
bedrooms across the world. The black and white
utilised by whoever wanted it, something that
portrait of Ernesto “Che” Guevara perfectly
ensured its ubiquity.
captured his intense stare and brooding good
looks, helping establish his myth. But 50 years
8 Michael Casey, the author of Che’s Afterlife:
since Cuban photographer Alberto Díaz “Korda”
The Legacy of an Image, notes the irony that the
Gutiérrez snapped the Marxist revolutionary,
Marxist’s photo is now a marketing weapon. “As
the image has become the subject of bitter legal
Cuba has demonstrated, ‘revolution’ is a brand,
battles.
not a goal in itself,” Casey writes.
2 Since Korda’s death in 2001, his daughter, Diana
9 Korda justified the copyright lawsuits he
Díaz, has pursued companies she accuses of
brought as his way of protecting Cuba’s socialist
breaching the photograph’s copyright by using
principles.
it in their advertising campaigns. Her father
employed a similar tactic when he sued Smirnoff Jamie Doward Observer
Vodka for the illegal use of the image in 2001, a
case that re-established his copyright after 41
years.

3 Díaz’s legal battles are not without controversy Glossary


– or irony. For decades Cuba did not recognise
copyright. It was only following the collapse sue somebody (verb) to make a claim against some-
of the former Soviet Union that Cuba joined body in a law court about something they have done to
the World Trade Organisation and legalised harm you
copyright. intuitive (adjective) when something is done based on
feeling rather than facts or knowledge
gaze (noun) a long steady look at something or
4 Díaz, who lives in Cuba, says that to fund her
somebody
legal battles she has had to sell licences to a range
ubiquity (noun) the state of seeming to be everywhere
of “Che” products, including baseball caps and
T-shirts. Her control of the Che brand has led to
reports of rows with her half-siblings who live in
exile.

5 The fact that the photograph, taken on 4 March


1960 at a political rally in Havana, came to
international prominence owes as much to
luck as Korda’s skill. “It was not planned, it
was intuitive,” said Korda, who worked for the
Revolución newspaper. He told one interviewer
that Guevara had shown such an intense gaze
that he had been briefly taken aback and only
managed to fire off two quick shots. ≥3
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 3

April 2010

2 Look at these imaginary statements below. Then


While reading read the rest of the article. Tick the ones you think
1 Complete these questions with the words below. Korda might have said.
Then read the first four paragraphs and answer the a “The photo is famous because it needed skill to
questions. take it.”
why, who, how many, when, what, where, b “I didn’t spend a lot of time preparing the shot.”
a can you find Che’s image? Why is it a c “I was rather surprised by Che’s ­intense stare.”
perfect photo? d “When I saw Che’s look I took a lot more pictures
than usual.”
e “That picture came out soon after the rally.”
f “My photo went everywhere ­because it wasn’t
subject to copyright.”
g “My lawsuits helped protect the principles behind
b is Korda’s photo in the news again? Cuban politics.”

After reading
1 Collocations – Find nouns to match the
definitions. Put them in the singular where possible.
c did Cuba begin to recognise Paragraph numbers are in brackets. Find the vertical
­copyright? word. How does this relate to Che?
a a series of adverts to promote a ­product (2)
b a political meeting (5)
c a photograph (5)
d a person’s appearance when they are attractive (two
words) (1)
d years did it take for Korda to get his e the act of using something (2)
copyright back? f the method you use to achieve something (2)
g a big argument between two people (3)

a

e does Diaz do with the money from
selling licences? b

d
f has Diaz had arguments with?
e

f


g

≥4
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 4

April 2010

Which adjectives are used before these nouns in the


article? Write down the collocations.


Munch’s Scream Marilyn Munroe Mona Lisa

2 Use the collocations from exercise one to complete


the sentences.
a There was a long in
court about the copyright to the photo.
b The government wants to stop the
of guns by criminals.
c 100,000 anti-war demonstrators attended the
.
d I took out my camera when I saw the president. But Van Gogh Audrey Hepburn Albert Einstein
I only got a of her.
e The company has a big TV 3 Students make notes about why they have chosen
for its new cars. this image. They can look at the article for useful
f My friend made an excuse about his homework. I vocabulary.
tried a but it didn’t work. 4 In small groups, students justify and ­explain their
g The film star attracted a lot of fans ­because of his choice of picture.
.

Activity
Iconic images
1 As a class brainstorm iconic images of people’s faces.
Use some of the examples, right:
2 Students choose one of these images to use as their
computer screensaver.

2 Korda might have said: b, c, f, g.


siblings.
d How many – 41 years. e What – She funds her legal battles. f Who – Her half-
the subject of bitter legal battles. c When – After the collapse of the Soviet Union.
1 a Where – In student bedrooms. It captures his stare and good looks. b Why – It’s

While reading
2 a brand b Korda c pride d spirit
appeared on T-shirts and helped to create a myth around him.
a famous photographer shows his good looks and intense stare. This image has
tion and held government posts there. He was shot dead in Bolivia. His portrait by
f similar tactic g brooding good looks who followed Marxist principles. He was a key figure in the 1959 Cuban revolu-
2 a legal battle b illegal use c political rally d quick shot e advertising campaign 1 Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928–67) was an Argentine revolutionary and guerrilla
Vertical word: product – there is now a range of licensed Che products. Before reading
e (illegal) use f (similar) tactic g (legal) battle
1 a (advertising) campaign b (political) rally c (quick) shot d (brooding) good looks Answers
After reading

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