Learning Objective: This is a reading and comprehension class. At the end of the session, the participants are expected to be able to practice reading properly, enhance comprehension and recall and answer the questions about the article.


Story Proper

After five days of riots across many of Britain’s cities, Prime Minister David Cameron has said he is going to crack down on Britain’s gangs. He told the British parliament on Thursday: "The whole country has been shocked by the most appalling scenes of people looting, violence, vandalising and thieving. It is criminality pure and simple. And there is absolutely no excuse for it.” He assured the British public: "We will not put up with this in our country. We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets. And we will do whatever it takes to restore law and order and to rebuild our communities.” Scenes of hooded youths attacking police, setting fire to buildings and smashing store windows have tarnished Britain’s image abroad, which is a concern just one year before the 2012 London Olympics.

Mr Cameron outlined the various methods he could use to return stability to British streets. These include the use of the army to restore order, all-night court hearings and giving police the power to demand people remove face masks. He had a message for the rioters, telling them: "To the lawless minority…I say this - We will track you down…we will charge you, we will punish you. You will pay for what you have done.” Cameron also targeted social media in his fight against public disorder. He said he was looking at whether he could put limits or bans on sites like Twitter and Facebook or services like BlackBerry Messenger that were used by rioters to coordinate this week’s chaos. The British leader said this technology was used for “plotting violence, disorder and criminality”.

Activity Proper


"Online activities, the mp3 and printable handouts are available for this lesson at http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com"