Britain to return 5,000 ancient artefacts to Iraq and Afganistian

 

Britain to return 5,000 ancient artefacts to Iraq and Afganistian

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-0a9AMBQrc

Great Britain has promised to return more than 5,000 ancient artefacts to Iraq over the next few months. The announcement was made by the British government during the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to London earlier this week. The repatriation marks the largest ever return of antiquities by the UK. Many of the items set to return to Iraq were stolen and smuggled out of Iraq over the past century, particularly after the Iraqi wars at the beginning of the century. There is a lucrative trade in stolen artefacts. Iraq's ambassador to the UK was appreciative of the UK's help. He said: "We extend our gratitude to the British Museum staff for their efforts and cooperation with us."

Many of the artefacts that will soon be on their way back to Iraq were unearthed by British archaeologists a century ago. One valuable item is a rare Sumerian plaque that dates back to around 2400BC. It was illegally smuggled out of Iraq and put up for auction in 2019. It was discovered and seized by police in London. The plaque will be put on public display at the museum before its repatriation. The British Museum said it would continue, "to work with our Iraqi colleagues to research these important collections, and in the fight against the illicit trade in antiquities". It added: "It is vital that we preserve and protect the world's cultural heritage for future generations to appreciate and enjoy."

3. RETURN: Students A strongly believe all antiquities should be returned to their country of origin; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. CULTURAL HERITAGE: What are examples of your cultural heritage? How important are they?

	Examples	Importance
Art
Dance
Music
Architecture
Stories
Monuments

6. ANCIENT ARTEFACTS: Rank these and put the most important or impressive at the top.

• The Pyramids
• Machu Picchu
• Angkor Wat
• Stonehenge
• Pompeii
• Petra
• Easter Island Moai
• Great Wall of China

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1.	ancient	a.	Moved goods illegally into or out of a country.
2.	repatriation	b.	Belonging to the very distant past.
3.	antiquities	c.	Objects, buildings, or works of art from the ancient past.
4.	smuggled	d.	Feeling or showing gratitude or pleasure.
5.	lucrative	e.	The quality of being thankful.
6.	appreciative	f.	The return of someone or something to their / its original country.
7.	gratitude	g.	Producing a great deal of profit.

    Paragraph 2

8.	unearthed	h.	An ornamental tablet, typically of stone, metal, porcelain, or wood.
9.	auction	i.	All of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively.
10.	seized	j.	Maintain something in its original or existing state.
11.	plaque	k.	Taken hold of suddenly and forcibly.
12.	vital	l.	Absolutely necessary; essential.
13.	preserve	m.	Found something in the ground by digging.
14.	generation	n.	A public sale in which goods or property are sold to the highest bidder.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

1. The UK will return artefacts to Iraq that are over 5,000 years old.     T / F
2. The announcement was made when the UK Prime Minister visited Iraq.    T / F
3. Many of the items were smuggled out of Iraq.     T / F
4. The article said the trade in stolen artefacts is very lucrative.     T / F
5. British archaeologists discovered the artefacts 300 years ago.     T / F
6. A Sumerian plaque dated back 2,400 years.     T / F
7. The plaque will be in storage until it returns to Iraq.     T / F
8. The British Museum will fight against the illicit antiquities trade.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. promised
2. announcement
3. items
4. lucrative
5. gratitude
6. unearthed
7. valuable
8. seized
9. colleagues
10. appreciate

1. value
2. profitable
3. discovered
4. thanks
5. statement
6. taken away
7. vowed
8. coworkers
9. articles
10. precious

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. over the
2. The repatriation marks
3. stolen and smuggled
4. There is a lucrative
5. We extend our gratitude
6. artefacts that will soon be on
7. unearthed by British archaeologists
8. dates back
9. The plaque will be put
10. for future

1. trade in stolen artefacts
2. generations
3. next few months
4. to the British Museum
5. on public display
6. out of Iraq
7. the largest ever return
8. a century ago
9. their way back to Iraq
10. to around 2400BC

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

few
marks
appreciative
during
century
return
gratitude
smuggled

Great Britain has promised to (1) _____________________ more than 5,000 ancient artefacts to Iraq over the next (2) _____________________ months. The announcement was made by the British government (3) _____________________ the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to London earlier this week. The repatriation (4) _____________________ the largest ever return of antiquities by the UK. Many of the items set to return to Iraq were stolen and (5) _____________________ out of Iraq over the past century, particularly after the Iraqi wars at the beginning of the (6) _____________________. There is a lucrative trade in stolen artefacts. Iraq's ambassador to the UK was (7) _____________________ of the UK's help. He said: "We extend our (8) _____________________ to the British Museum staff for their efforts and cooperation with us."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

display
rare
appreciate
collections
auction
vital
unearthed
repatriation

Many of the artefacts that will soon be on their way back to Iraq were (9) _____________________ by British archaeologists a century ago. One valuable item is a (10) _____________________ Sumerian plaque that dates back to around 2400BC. It was illegally smuggled out of Iraq and put up for (11) _____________________ in 2019. It was discovered and seized by police in London. The plaque will be put on public (12) _____________________ at the museum before its (13) _____________________. The British Museum said it would continue, "to work with our Iraqi colleagues to research these important (14) _____________________, and in the fight against the illicit trade in antiquities". It added: "It is (15) _____________________ that we preserve and protect the world's cultural heritage for future generations to (16) _____________________ and enjoy."

 

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Great Britain has (1) ____________________ more than 5,000 ancient artefacts to Iraq over the next few months. The announcement was made by the British government during the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to London earlier this week. The repatriation (2) ____________________ ever return of antiquities by the UK. Many of the items set to return to Iraq were stolen and smuggled out of Iraq over (3) ____________________, particularly after the Iraqi wars at the beginning of the century. There is                                (4) ____________________ in stolen artefacts. Iraq's ambassador to the UK was appreciative of the UK's help. He said: "We (5) ____________________ to the British Museum staff for their (6) ____________________ with us."

Many of the artefacts that will soon be on their way back to Iraq (7) ____________________ British archaeologists a century ago. One valuable item is a rare Sumerian plaque (8) ____________________ to around 2400BC. It was illegally smuggled out of Iraq and put (9) ____________________ in 2019. It was discovered and seized by police in London. The plaque will be put on (10) ____________________ the museum before its repatriation. The British Museum said it would continue, "to work with our Iraqi colleagues to research these important collections, and in the fight against (11) ____________________ in antiquities". It added: "It is vital that we preserve and protect the world's cultural heritage for future generations to (12) ____________________."

Comprehension questions

1. When will the UK return the ancient artefacts?
2. Who visited London earlier this week?
3. When were many of the items smuggled out of Iraq?
4. What did the article say there was a lucrative trade in?
5. What did the Iraqi ambassador extend to the British Museum?
6. Who discovered the artefacts a century ago?
7. What dated back to 2400BC?
8. Where will a plaque be put on public display?
9. Who will the British Museum work with?
10. Who does the British Museum want to preserve artefacts for?
    
    

Role play

Role  A – The Pyramids You think the Pyramids is the best cultural site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their sites. Also, tell the others which is the least impressive of these (and why): Angkor Wat, Petra or the Great Wall of China.

Role  B – Angkor Wat You think Angkor Wat is the best cultural site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their sites. Also, tell the others which is the least impressive of these (and why): the Pyramids, Petra or the Great Wall of China.

Role  C – Petra You think Petra is the best cultural site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their sites. Also, tell the others which is the least impressive of these (and why): Angkor Wat, the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China.

Role  D – Great Wall of China You think the Great Wall of China is the best cultural site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their sites. Also, tell the others which is the least impressive of these (and why): Angkor Wat, Petra or the Pyramids.

Discussion - Iraqi Antiquities

1. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'Iraq'?
2. How important are antiquities?
3. What do you think of Britain returning the antiquities to Iraq?
4. Should all countries return antiquities to their country of origin?
5. What do you think of the return of the artefacts?
6. Should the British Museum return everything to its original country?
7. How can police stop the smuggling of antiquities?
8. What do you think of archaeology?
9. What do you think of museums?
10. What do you think of when you hear the word 'antiquity'?

11. What do you think about what you read?
12. What valuable antiquities does your country have?
13. How important are your country's antiquities to you?
14. What can we learn from antiquities?
15. Is looking at an antiquity in a museum better than looking at it online?
16. How much do you value your cultural heritage?
17. What parts of today's culture do you want future generations to see?
18. What questions would you like to ask the British Museum?

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

Great Britain has promised to return more than 5,000 (1) ____ artefacts to Iraq over the next few months. The announcement was made by the British government (2) ____ the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to London earlier this week. The repatriation (3) ____ the largest ever return of antiquities by the UK. Many of the items set to return to Iraq were stolen and (4) ____ out of Iraq over the past century, particularly after the Iraqi wars at the beginning of the century. There is a (5) ____ trade in stolen artefacts. Iraq's ambassador to the UK was appreciative of the UK's help. He said: "We (6) ____ our gratitude to the British Museum staff for their efforts and cooperation with us."

Many of the artefacts that will soon be on their way back to Iraq were (7) ____ by British archaeologists a century ago. One valuable item is a rare Sumerian plaque that (8) ____ back to around 2400BC. It was illegally smuggled out of Iraq and put (9) ____ for auction in 2019. It was discovered and seized by police in London. The plaque will be put on public (10) ____ at the museum before its repatriation. The British Museum said it would continue, "to work with our Iraqi colleagues to research these important (11) ____, and in the fight against the illicit trade in antiquities". It added: "It is (12) ____ that we preserve and protect the world's cultural heritage for future generations to appreciate and enjoy."

Which of these words go in the above text?

1. (a)     ancestry     (b)     ancestors     (c)     ancient     (d)     ancestral    
2. (a)     during     (b)     thorough     (c)     though     (d)     between    
3. (a)     marks     (b)     peaks     (c)     bakes     (d)     wakes    
4. (a)     smuggled     (b)     struggled     (c)     snuggled     (d)     sparkled    
5. (a)     obscure     (b)     lucrative     (c)     plucked     (d)     referred    
6. (a)     lengthen     (b)     broad     (c)     elongate     (d)     extend    
7. (a)     planted     (b)     tilled     (c)     unearthed     (d)     digging    
8. (a)     before     (b)     times     (c)     years     (d)     dates    
9. (a)     up     (b)     down     (c)     in     (d)     at    
10. (a)     viewer     (b)     display     (c)     look     (d)     watching    
11. (a)     sets     (b)     collections     (c)     series     (d)     stuff    
12. (a)     virtual     (b)     viral     (c)     vital     (d)     vicious

Spelling

Paragraph 1

1. more than 5,000 aeinctn artefacts
2. the largest ever return of taeniqiuits
3. There is a ricvtelua trade in stolen artefacts
4. cpativeapier of the UK's help
5. We extend our tuartdgie to the British Museum
6. for their efforts and otpnaooeirc

Paragraph 2

7. One luableva item
8. a rare Sumerian qeupal
9. discovered and edzies by police in London
10. at the museum before its ntrraioatepi
11. for future eeroitasngn
12. rpitaaecpe and enjoy

 

Academic writing

All antiquities should be returned to their country of origin. Discuss.

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