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GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

ETHIOPIAN PRIME
MINISTER WINS
NOBEL PEACE
PRIZE
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1 Warm-up

Read this information, using the glossary below.

... the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the person who in the year before "shall have done
the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of
standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
Source: wikipedia.org

• fraternity (noun): a spirit of support and friendship

• abolition (noun): the official end of an activity or custom, verb: to abolish
• congresses (plural noun): meetings

Match each Nobel Peace Prize winner with the area they contributed to:

1. Wangari Muta Maathi a. Co-operation between nations

(2004)
2. Barack Obama (2009) b. Democracy and human rights for over 60 years

3. The European Union c. Education rights for all children

(2012)
4. Malala Yousafzai and d. Environmental protection
Kailash Satyarthi (2014)
5. Denis Mukwege and e. Women’s safety from violence
Nadia Murad (2018)

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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

You are going to listen to a short news item about the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. Do you know anything about him or his country?

2 Watching - Part 1

Match these collocations, or word pairs, which describe Abiy’s achievements

1. take tough a. decisions

2. make b. normal relations/a new ministry

3. establish c. peace

4. release d. someone from jail/prison

5. open up e. the economy to investors

Now watch to the first part of the clip and check your answers.

According to the report, what was Abiy’s biggest achievement? Why do you think this is more important
than the other achievements which are mentioned?

3 Watching - Part 2

The next part of the news item describes some challenges Abiy has faced. Listen to the clip and put
these events in the order that they are mentioned.
Several million people had to leave their homes because of fighting between different groups.

Someone tried to kill him at a political meeting, using a grenade. 1

Some soldiers tried to take over the government, and they killed several of his staff.

Voters have been unhappy about the slow speed of economic changes.

Read the phrases from the talk and choose the best meaning for each word in bold in this context.

1. Abiy survived an assassin armed with a grenade at a campaign rally last year.

a. a donkey b. a crazy person c. a murderer

2. And inter-ethnic fighting nationwide forced around three million people from their homes.

a. between people from different countries

b. between people with different languages, cultures or religions
c. between people from different areas of the same country

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ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

3. Abiy also survived an attempted coup a few months ago by some soldiers, unhappy with his
leadership.

a. an illegal taking of power away from the government

b. a sudden election
c. an arrest by the police

4. Four of Abiy’s close allies, including his chief of staff, were killed in the failed uprising ...

a. an unexpected disaster
b. an accident involving many people
c. a violent revolution against the government

4 Watching - Part 3
Now you are going to listen to the final part of the news item to find the answer to these questions:

1. What happens next May and why is this important for Abiy?
2. What does Abiy hope the Peace Prize will lead to?

5 Talking point

These people were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Work in groups of five – each
student can find out more about one nominee and make notes of key words in the table below. Then
take turns to tell your group about your nominee and listen and complete the notes for the other
nominees.

nominee country why they were nominated

Greta Thunberg

Jacinda Ardern

Raoni Matuktire

United Nations High

Commissioner for
Refugees

Reporters without
Borders

This article will help you to find the information you need – scroll down to find the person you are
looking for.
Link
Look at the information about the Nobel Peace Prize that you read at the beginning of the lesson. Do
you think any of the other nominees should have won instead of Abiy? Why/not?

The Nobel Peace Prize winner receives a cash prize of around $1 million. Do you think the winner
should receive this money as part of the prize? Why/not?

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ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Transcripts

2. Watching - Part 1

00:00 (The) Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. The moment
Ethiopia’s leader heard of his prestigious prize and with it, praise from his supporters.

(Jeame Alem) As an Ethiopian we have seen Dr. Abiy has played a major role in championing
social justice, and what we expect now is, after peace, progress and development of the
nation (of paramount) is of paramount importance.

00:37 Sworn into office barely 18 months ago at the height of civil unrest in Ethiopia and during a
state of emergency, the 43 year old former army intelligence officer hasn’t shied away from
taking tough decisions.

00:53 His biggest achievement is making peace with neighbouring Eritrea following a 21 year long
conflict on their border which began with war in 1998. Abiy managed to re-establish normal
relations between the two countries. He also ordered the release from jail of his critics,
opposition politicians and journalists.

01:14 Abiy even established a Ministry of Peace, which includes some of the government’s most
notorious ministries, such as the National Intelligence Service and the police force. He’s also
trying to open up the economy, allowing foreign investors a share in traditionally state-owned
monopolies.

3. Watching - Part 2

1:33 It hasn’t been easy though. Abiy survived an assassin armed with a grenade at a campaign
rally last year. And inter-ethnic fighting nationwide forced around three million people from
their homes. Abiy also survived an attempted coup a few months ago by some soldiers,
unhappy with his leadership. Four of Abiy’s close allies, including his chief of staff, were
killed in the failed uprising in the Amhara region. And he’s disappointed many Ethiopians by
failing to quickly transform the economy.

02:07 (Costantinos Berhutesfa) The only problem they have right now is, they wanted the change
to happen immediately. We have a lot of economic problems in this country; although the
economy is growing very fast, the amount of expenditure that went into infrastructure has
been at the expense of livelihoods.

4. Watching - Part 3

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ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

02:26 A general election is due next May. Some opposition supporters told Al Jazeera that that will
be the ultimate test of his Peace Prize.

02:36 (Hallelujah Lulie) I believe will help as an impetus for him. It will significantly improve his
legitimacy. It will be understood, and is already understood, as an international recognition
for, not only for him, but, you know, for the people and for the country. In going forward
in tackling these challenges and realizing the ambitions of the mass (unclear word) before a
democratic inclusive in accountable state.

02:58 As the Prime Minister received the news of his prize, he said he hoped it would promote
peace building efforts elsewhere in Africa.

03:06 (Dr Abiy) Thank you very much. I’m so humbled - I just hear the news - thank you very much.
It is given to Africa here in Ethiopia and I can... I can imagine how the rest of Africa leaders
who take it positively to work on peace building process in our continent.

03:26 Abiy’s job of keeping Ethiopia united and stable is a big one, but he’s off to a good start as
this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

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ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Key

1. Warm-up

Time: 10 minutes. This activity is intended to introduce this topic and arouse curiosity so it’s fine if students do
not have much knowledge. You could ask a student to read the text in 1 aloud to the class, checking pronunciation,
before students complete the matching exercise in 2 in pairs – encourage them to guess the answers if they don’t
know. Then check answers with the whole class and invite students to add information about any of the winners,
if they can. Continue the discussion in exercise 3 to include this year’s winner and his country, focusing students’
attention on the map, which shows Ethiopia as the large country on the left, with its neighbours: Eritrea to the
north, and Somalia and Djibouti.

1. d 2. a 3. b 4. c 5. e

2. Watching - Part 1

Video source: YouTube.com: Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali wins Nobel Peace Prize, Al Jazeera English
Time: 10 mins. Collocations are words which are often used together – all of these describe Abiy’s achievements as
leader of his country. With collocations, sometimes more than one answer may be possible. Students should note
several possible combinations and then check their ideas when they listen. Students will need support with some
vocabulary – you could elicit that tough means difficult, and that ministry here means a government department
(or students could use a dictionary to check these). Go over answers with the class, but do not confirm or deny
students’ answers, as they will be listening to the first part of the news item (0:00-1:33) to check. However, make
sure students can pronounce all the words, as they will be hearing them in the clip. Students listen to the clip to
check their answers and then confirm answers with the whole class. Focus attention on exercise 3: students may
recall the answer and they can work in pairs to discuss this; they may need to listen to the clip a second time to
catch all the details and consider their answer to the second part of the question. Then check answers with the
class.
Abiy’s biggest achievement was making peace with the neighbouring country of Eritrea after a 21 year conflict
(war), which started in 1998. This is important because, of all Abiy’s actions, it will save the most lives.

1. a 2. c 3. b 4. d 5. e

3. Watching - Part 2

Time: 10 mins. For the first part of this exercise, go over the instructions and the four options. Make sure students
are aware that they will not hear the exact words in each option when they listen to the clip, but some key words
within a rephrasing of the information. Then listen to Part 2 (1:33-2:26). Students check answers in pairs, and they
may also need a second opportunity to listen before you check answers with the class. In the vocabulary section
of the exercise, students define some unfamiliar vocabulary that they heard in Part 2. Check pronunciation of the
target language, especially coup /ku:/. You could elicit that assassin has the related verb: to assassinate.
Order of events:

1. Someone tried to kill him at a political meeting, using a grenade.

2. Several million people had to leave their homes because of fighting between different groups.
3. Some soldiers tried to take over the government, and they killed several of his staff.
4. Voters have been unhappy about the slow speed of economic changes.
Vocabulary answers:

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ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

1. c 2. b 3. a 4. c

4. Watching - Part 3

Time: 10 mins. Focus students’ attention on the questions and then listen to Part 3 of the clip (2:26-3:29). Students
can discuss their answers in pairs before checking with the whole class – encourage them to express their ideas
in their own words.

1. There will be an election in Ethiopia next May and this will demonstrate, especially to his opposition, whether
Abiy deserved the Peace Prize.
2. Abiy hopes the Peace Prize will inspire other African leaders to work towards peace on the continent.

5. Talking point

Time: 20 mins. This is a jigsaw reading task, where students each read one part of a text and then report the
information to each other. You could set a time limit for the reading and note-taking – around 3 mins. Encourage
students to record just key words not whole sentences. Part 2 of this exercise builds on the work done in exercise
1, using the prize criteria introduced at the start of the lesson to evaluate each nominee’s contribution. Part 3 of
this exercise continues the discussion.
Part 1 could also be set for homework and followed up in a future lesson, along with parts 2 and 3. In this case,
students could do more extensive research using other websites.
Answers:

1. Greta Thunberg - Sweden Action on climate change (at 15, she would have been the youngest prize winner
ever).
2. Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand Gun control laws in her country following terrorist attacks
3. Raoni Matuktire - Brazil - Protection of the Amazon (indigenous leader, 89 years old, has worked his whole life
for this cause)
4. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - international - Raised concerns about treatment of migrants
crossing the border in the southern USA (won the award before, in 1954 and 1984)
5. Reporters without Borders - international - Protection of journalists and freedom of expression

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