Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.
dateline: 21 April 2016
NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈
Mass Murderer Wins Human Rights Case
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
- activist: a person who strongly supports a cause or political party
- inhuman: cruel, not suited for humans (similar but stronger than “inhumane”)
- solitary confinement: a strict form of prison punishment that requires a prisoner to remain alone in a cell for most of the day
- degrading: very disrespectful
- ease up: to gradually become less severe
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Mass Murderer Wins Human Rights Case
Comprehension Questions
- What crime did Anders Breivik commit and when?
- What complaint does Breivik have about his prison treatment?
- Who did the judge rule in favour of and why?
Discussion Questions: Do you agree with the judge that even murderers and terrorists deserve to be treated humanely? In your opinion, is solitary confinement inhumane punishment?
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Mass Murderer Wins Human Rights Case
A Norwegian mass murderer gave a Nazi salute to the court before winning a human rights case this week. Anders Breivik, who killed 69 young political activists at a summer camp in 2011, convinced the court that his experience in solitary confinement qualifies as “inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment”. The judge who ruled in favour of Breivik stated that killers and terrorists have the right not to receive inhuman treatment. For much of his prison life, Breivik has spent 22 to 23 hours in solitary confinement with no contact with other inmates and limited contact with staff. According to the ruling, prison authorities must now find ways to involve Breivik in the prison community and improve his living conditions.
- Anders Breivik killed 69 political activists at a summer camp in Norway in 2011. (Note: He also killed eight people in a related car bomb.)
- Anders Breivik feels that his solitary confinement punishment has been inhuman and degrading.
- The judge ruled in favour of the prisoner and said that killers and terrorists deserve to be treated as humans.
Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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