DEPARTAMENTO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS

INGLÉS II

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 Defining Universal Rights
WHAT IS A RIGHT?

ORAL ACTIVITIES

1. a. Read and analyze a definition of RIGHT

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights allows us to explore various perspectives

on the rights and responsibilities shared by people across the world. In a 1947 survey
the United Nationals Economic and Social Committee (UNESCO) defined a right as:

"...condition of living, without which...men cannot give the best of

themselves as active members of the community because they are
deprived of the means to fulfill themselves as human beings."

b. Can you define a right? Is the UNESCO definition too broad? Is it too narrow? What
can you add to the UNESCO definition?

2. a. Think about your community and discuss some of the HUMAN RIGHTS you
think are necessary to live in peace

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 b. Watch this short video in which celebrities use 30 words to describe Human Rights. Write
down as many words as you can

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNwL2mjApRw

GROUP WORK

3. Work in groups of 4. Write on the tree (in the form of leaves, fruits, flowers, or branches)
those words from the video that you think all people need to live in dignity and justice.

4. Watch a short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlrSYbCbHE&w which explains The

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. Relate the
words you chose on your tree with some of the human rights.

5. a. Complete the human rights with the correct action from the box.

have be sentenced express be treated respect be required

be tortured vote enjoy be punished marry get together

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 HUMAN RIGHTS

Right to life Right to a fair trial Right to ________ your Right to _______
views and opinions your belongings

Right not to Right not to ____ Right to ____________ Right to an

_____________ or ______________ for with people in a Education
treated in a way something if your peaceful way and
which is cruel action wasn’t against join a trade union
the law when you did it

Right not to Right to _________ Right not to _________ Right to _______ in

_________ for private and family unfairly in the enjoyment of elections once you
to do forced labour life, your home, letters, your rights because of your reach the voting age
and not to be treated emails and phone age, race, religion, sex,
as a slave. calls disability or any other status

Right to liberty Right to _______ your Right to ________ and Right not to
(freedom) own thoughts, have a family _________________
and security beliefs and religion to death
(protection) for any crime

b. Read The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf
and choose 5 rights you think all people need to live in dignity and justice in your community

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1. Watch the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS_3pEb7KxM to
understand the difference between a lawyer, a solicitor and
a barrister.

READING COMPREHENSION

2. Read the definitions and match the jobs with the job
descriptions.
• Solicitor _____ • Attorney _____ • Barrister _____ • Lawyer _____
a. This person is a lawyer who represents a litigant as advocate before a court of appropriate
jurisdiction. He/ she speaks in court and presents the case before a judge or jury. This person
gives legal advice and opinions to solicitors.
b. This person is a lawyer who gives legal advice to individuals and companies. He or she
passed his or her exams in the USA at the end of his or her studies and is usually a member of
the American Bar Association.
c. This person is a lawyer who gives legal advice to individuals and companies. He or she
generally meets with clients, does preparatory and administrative work and provides legal
advice. In this role, he or she may draft and review legal documents, interact with the client as
necessary, prepare evidence, and generally manage the day-to-day administration of a lawsuit.

d. This is the general job title that we use for people who work as a solicitor, barrister or
attorney.

3. Read the text below and answer these questions.

a. Which courses do law students in the UK have to take?

b. Which optional courses might a student who wants to work in a big law firm take?

The study of law is intellectually stimulating and challenging, and can lead to a variety of
interesting careers.

In the UK and the USA, law degree programmes usually take three years to complete. In the
UK, these programmes typically include core subjects such as criminal law, contract law,
tort law, land law, equity and trusts, administrative law and constitutional law. In
addition, students are often required to take courses covering skills as legal writing and legal
research.

There is also a variety of optional (elective) courses available. Since many law students go on
to become lawyers, students often take courses that will be useful to them during their future
careers. Someone wishing to run a small partnership or to work alone as a sole practitioner
in a small town may decide to take subjects such as family law, employment law and
housing law. Those wishing to work in a large law practice will consider subjects such as
company law, commercial law and litigation and arbitration.
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 Many universities also offer courses on legal practice. Courses like these give students the
opportunity to experience the work of a lawyer before deciding on a career in the law. Another
way to finding out more about law in practice is to get involved with a voluntary advice centre
or law clinic. These clinics offer free legal assistance to the local community and provide a
useful introduction to some of the day-to-day work of a lawyer.

For students wishing to work in a commercial practice, knowledge of foreign languages is

essential. When law firms hire new recruits, they generally look at four things: education,
personality, work experience and language ability. Since English is the language of the
international legal community, law firms increasingly expect graduates to have a good
command of English.

4. Read the text again and decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct
the false statements.

a. A course in family law is usually included among the core subjects at law schools in the
UK. ( )
b. Some law degree programmes offer courses in some of the important skills that lawyers
need in order to do their work, such as legal writing or legal English. ( )
c. Law clinics give law students the opportunity to learn about the legal problems of the
medical profession. ( )
d. Today, commercial law firms expect recruits to be completely fluent in English. ( )

VOCABULARY

5. Complete the gaps using the words in bold according to the meaning below.
………………………………….: Legal principles applied to achieve fairness where the strict rules
of law would be too harsh.

…………………………….……: Facility offering free or discounted legal assistance, often run by

law schools and staffed by law students under supervision of lawyers.

…………………………….……: Company formed by lawyers to engage in the practice of law

………………………………….. entails bringing a lawsuit into the courts.

…………………………………… is a form of alternative dispute resolution conducted outside the

courts.

…………………………………..: Business organization in which two or more people agree to do

business together, sharing the profits and losses of the business together.

…………………………………….: works on his or her own, has no partners and usually handles
smaller cases.

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6. Answer these questions

 Which courses do law students have to take in 1st year in this faculty?
 Are there any optional courses in 1st year?

GRAMMAR

7. Compare the subjects you took last year. Use the comparative and the superlative form of
adjectives. Use the words from the box to frame sentences.

interesting / boring easy/difficult long/short demanding good/bad challenging

Source: Amy Krois-Lindner, Matt Firth and TransLegal. Introduction to International Legal English.
Cambridge. January 2009.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

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 READING COMPREHENSION

1. Read the first paragraph of the following article. Do you

agree with it? Do you think technology can help you in
your future practice as a lawyer? Give examples.

The Technology of Law Department Management

There are good reasons why lawyers need to learn high-tech tools. Those who develop good
computer skills can improve their productivity and contribute to the efficiency of law department
operations.
The New Law Department
Office software programs are systems that control all the information needed in a legal department.
Lawyers with good computer skills can follow routine procedures in most law departments, including
email correspondence, calendaring, case management, practice management, litigation support and
electronic discovery.
Added Responsibilities
"In the past lawyers could avoid office systems if they had sufficient support staff," said David
Whelan, former director of the Legal Technology Resource Center of the American Bar Association
(ABA). "But the emphasis on efficiency is changing the culture, and lawyers need to do more."
Adapting To Office Systems
Computer programs can organize the law department's calendar. A lawyer can quickly check if a
conference room is available for a meeting and if a colleague can attend. The lawyer who can’t
operate the program needs to contact a legal secretary or legal assistant to do this.
Keeping Up With Litigation Support
Litigation is an important area of technology innovation in the legal profession. Jurors expect good
multimedia presentations, and litigators need to use presentation tools that can illustrate complex
situations and help in expert testimony.
Litigation support software can organize documents, databases and images. There are programs that
can map out strategy, assess strengths and weaknesses in a case, and prepare summaries.
Electronic discovery can help litigators to look for information on computers and other digital devices.
According to Michael Arkfeld, a litigation attorney in Arizona and author of Electronic Discovery and
Evidence and The Digital Practice of Law, if litigants can’t produce information for electronic
discovery, they can suffer hard sanctions from the court.
Staying Ahead Of The Game
Lawyers can try to survive with a little technology, but those who learn how to use new technology
tools can use their time better and have more marketable skills. Lawyers who keep up with
technology will always have an advantage in the job market.

Adapted from: http://ccbjournal.com/articles/5371/technology-law-department-management

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a. Read the article again and say whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
Correct the false ones.

1) Office software programs help lawyers with everyday procedures at work.

2) It was necessary for lawyers to know about office systems in the past.
3) It is impossible to know if a colleague can attend a meeting.
4) Programs like Power Point or Prezi could be very useful for litigators.
5) Lawyers with good technology tools have better job opportunities.

GRAMMAR (CAN, CAN’T, COULD, COULDN’T)

2. Complete these sentences from the article with the correct verb. Which sentences are about
the present and which are about the past?

1) The lawyer who ___________ operate the program needs to contact a legal secretary or
legal assistant to do this.
2) If litigants ___________ produce information for electronic discovery, they ___________
suffer hard sanctions from the court.
3) In the past lawyers ___________ avoid office systems.

3. Read the examples again and choose the correct alternative

We use to + infinitive / infinitive without to after can, can’t, could, couldn’t to express ability or possibility.

LISTENING ACTIVITY
4. Did you know there are programs that can help the Supreme Court to manage and process
cases? iCISng can do that. Watch the following video of a judge talking about the benefits of
a more technological judicial process. Complete the statements.

1) “With this process I can ___________ to the 11 o’clock calendar tonight.”

2) “I can ____________ the cases that have been booked in and scheduled for 11 p.m.”
3) “I can _____________ reading other documents.”
4) “As it progresses, I can ____________ to watch that case.”
5) “I can even _____________ working on my release orders.”

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2E74SfP4N8

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 ORAL ACTIVITY

1. Look at the pictures. Answer the questions

What is a courthouse? ……………………………………………………………………………

What happens there? …………………………………………………………………………….

Who works there? …………………………………………………………………………………

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 VOCABULARY

2. Look at the picture of a courtroom. Match the people with the definitions.
(From Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus. Cambridge University Press)

1. He/ she keeps order in the law court. …………………………..

2. He/she acts as a judge in a law court. ……………………………..
3. He / she is accused of having done something illegal. ………………………
4. He/she works with the judge and helps him/her make decisions. ……………………
5. He/she sees a crime or accident happening. ……………………………
6. A type of lawyer in Britain and Australia. ………………………………
7. He/she sees people who are on probation and helps them avoid committing a crime again.
………………………….
8. Reporters and photographers ………………………………………

READING COMPREHENSION

3. a. Read the text about ‘Law and order’ and do the exercises below.
(Adapted from: English Vocabulary in Use. Stuart Redman. Cambridge University Press)

The police

They do a number of things. When someone commits a crime (breaks the law and does
something wrong / illegal / against the law) the police must investigate (try to find out
what happened / who is responsible). If they find the person responsible for the crime, they
arrest them (take them to the police station). At the police station, they question them and if
they are sure the person committed the crime, the person is charged with crime. The
criminal must go to court for trial.

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 The court

In court, the person charged with the crime (the defendant or accused) must try to prove
they are innocent (not guilty). The jury listens to all the evidence and then makes their
decision.

Punishment

If the defendant is convicted of the crime, (the jury decides that the defendant is guilty), the
judge gives the sentence (the punishment). The person goes to prison, becomes a
prisoner, and lives in a cell.

The crimes that are not serious are minor offences. The punishment is usually a fine
(money you have to pay)

b. Put this story in the correct order

1 they find both men guilty. ……….

2 and charge them with the robbery. ……….

3 $10,000 is stolen from the bank in the High Street. ……….

4 After the jury listens to all the evidence ……….

5 They are sent to prison for seven years. ……….

6 The trial takes place two months later. ……….

7 and they finally arrest two men. ……….

8 They question them at the police station ……….

9 The police question a number of people about the crime ……….

PAIRWORK

4. Work in pairs and answer the questions

1. Who investigates crimes? …………………………………………..

2. Who sentences people? …………………………………………..
3. Who live in cells? …………………………………………..
4. Who decides if someone is innocent or guilty? …………………………………………..
5. Who defend people and present evidence? …………………………………………..
6. Who commit crimes? …………………………………………..

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5. Fill the gaps with suitable words

1. He never …………………………….. the law.

2. In Britain it is ………………………… the law to drive a car without insurance.
3. If you park illegally you have to pay a …………………………..
4. He committed a crime but it is difficult to ……………………………. it in court.
5. The jury must decide if the accused is innocent or …………………………
6. To reach a decision, the jury must listen carefully to the ………………………….
7. If the accused is ………………………… of murder, the ……………………………. may be
at least ten years in prison.
8. He sometimes steals, but they are minor …………………………….

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

6. Watch this clip about the courtroom etiquette and write True (T) or False (F)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NN4oG6586s

1. You can bring a friend to translate for you. ( )

2. Your translator must be approved by the court. ( )
3. If you have to be in court, you can arrive late. ( )
4. You have to empty your pockets. ( )
5. The courtrooms have a list of cases for each day. ( )
6. The court clerk or security guard do not provide information. ( )
7. You can wait outside the courtroom. ( )
8. You cannot enter with food or drinks into the courtroom. ( )
9. The clerk can help you inside the courtroom. ( )
10. Not everyone can go to court ( )
11. People stand up when the judge enters. ( )
12. You address the judge saying Your Honor. ( )
13. You can stay seated during the trial. ( )
14. You can interrupt the judge. ( )
15. The clerk of the court helps show the documents to the judge. ( )

WRITING

7. After listening to the video clip, write some of the tips mentioned. There are some tips you
need to know when you come to court.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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READING COMPREHENSION

 Pre-reading activities.

1. Match the words on the left with the

definitions on the right

Twelve Tables items for sale

edict a type of lawyer in Britain and Australia

well-to-do a person or people forming one side in an agreement or

dispute.

slaves wealthy, prosperous

goods a person who is legal property of another and is forced to obey

parties a set of laws from ancient Rome

solicitor an official order

praetor each of two ancient Roman magistrates ranking below consul.

2. Work with a partner. Take turns to cover the words on the left. Read their definitions out loud
to see if your partner can remember the words.

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3. Read the text below about the origins of Roman Law

Rome existed as an Etruscan town in the 8th century BC. The first source of Roman Law is the Laws
of the Twelve Tables. They were written in Latin. These Twelve Tables provided legal security. Members
of well-to-do families gave juridical advice. Then in the period of the Late Republic (200-30 BC), the
praetor, one of the Roman magistrates, published every year his edict. This edit announced how he would
apply the laws. Legal experts started to write books. In this period Rome grew from a tiny city state into a
vast reign.
Roman Law is private law; the law between citizens. It is concerned with the relationships between
people, their legal actions and the right they have on goods. Legal persons were generally the fathers of
families, or pater familias. They had great power over their wives, children and slaves. The archaic
Roman law was characterized by a lot of legal rules. Citizens had to stick to them. Parties ruled their
conflicts. A judge only appeared in a final phase of the case. For centuries there were no courts. In the
great public trials, like the ones in which Cicero became famous, his role was more like that of an orator
than to the role of a modern solicitor.
The real heart of Roman law was hereditary law. Legal procedure, family law, the law of goods and
the law of obligations were other main areas.
Roman Law is one of the greatest systems that has ever existed. By 528 AD the quantity of Roman Law
was so immense that the Emperor Constantinople ordered to make a clear systematic code of all the
laws. Roman Law had a deep influence on the law of most countries.

Adapted from http://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/c.php?g=297348&p=1984901 and English for Students of Law.

Mockba 2012

4. Answer the following questions.

1- Why were the Twelve Tables important? …………………………………………………………

2- What was the praetor’s role? ………………………………………………………….……………

3- Why were pater familias important? ………………………………………………………………

4- What was Roman Law about? ………………………………………………………………………

5- Why was Roman Law important? …………………………………………………………………..

 Post reading activities

5. With a partner, think of three questions you would like to ask to a solicitor / lawyer of Roman
Times?

1. ………………………………………………………………………………………..?

2. ………………………………………………………………………………………..?

3. ………………………………………………………………………………………..?

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 SPEAKING ACTIVITY

6. Role-play. Student A is a person from the present. Student B is a lawyer from Ancient Rome.
Interview him/her.

Interviewer: Hello. I’m a lawyer from the 21st century. Can I ask you some questions?

Lawyer: Hello! Of course.

Interviewer: What is the punishment for people who don’t pay taxes?

Lawyer:………………………………………………………………………..

:…………………………………………………………………………………….

:…………………………………………………………………………………….:

…………………………………………………………………………………….

:…………………………………………………………………………………….

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 Building the historical context...

England 800 years ago

VOCABULARY

1. Match the social groups to the descriptions on the left

people who buy and sell things

farmers KING

the ruler BARONS

landowners (people who own land) KNIGHTS

fighters who ride horses

skilled workers PEASANTS

unfree farmers (they have to stay in their village) ARTISANS

2. Decide if these adjectives are positive or negative (or both)

greedy brave lucky cruel selfish kind popular wise

bad-tempered stupid unkind coward ambitious unlucky proud

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LISTENING COMPREHENSION

3. Listen to a short talk about King Richard and King John. Tick the adjectives from Task 1 that
you hear. Write ‘R’ if the word describes Richard; write ‘J’ if it describes John

ambitious greedy selfish bad-tempered cruel proud

kind stupid brave lucky wise

unkind cowardly popular unlucky

4. Listen again and answer the questions

1. Why was Richard called ‘Lionheart’?

a) because he was brave b) because he was 16

2. What language did Richard and John speak?

a) English b) French

3. How did Richard feel about England?

a) He loved it b) He wasn’t interested in it

4. How long did King Richard actually live in England?

a) ten months b) ten years

5. Who was more successful in fighting foreign wars?

a) Richard b) John

6. Who enjoyed collecting gold and jewels?

a) Richard b) John

7. Who made the people pay taxes to pay for the foreign wars?

a) Only John b) Richard and John

8. Why did the barons want John to agree to the Magna Carta?

a) To get some of their money back from him

b) To stop him being able to do whatever he wanted.

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SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

5. Let’s talk! Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups

a. How do you feel about paying tax?

b. Does it make a difference what the tax is for? E.g. hospitals, schools, foreign wars?
c. Do you think it is fair that Richard is still popular, while John is remembered as a ‘bad’
king? Why/why not?
d. Using some of the adjectives from exercise 2, how could you describe King Richard or
King John?

6. Look at the picture

1. Who are the people?

2. What are they doing?
3. Are they happy?
4. Where do you think they are?
5. When do you think this happened?

a. 2015 b. 1615 c.1215

 Pre-reading activities

7. Match the words below to the meaning on the right

a widow Money that you pay to the government.

a trial Rule the government makes.

a sheriff A place that people might go when they break the law.

to inherit When people decide if someone broke the law or not.

a measure An old-American word for police officer.

a prison Things that someone owns.

taxes A woman whose husband is dead.

law To get a house or money from someone when they die.

possessions Money that you pay when you break a law.

a fine An amount of something to check its size – e.g. kilograms or litres.

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 8. Fill in the gaps with the words from above
Before the Magna Carta

Before King John sealed the Magna Carta he was not a fair king. Rich people were angry because
he made them pay him high (a)_________. John made criminals pay unfair (b)__________ for
small crimes. His (c)_______________ took people’s possessions and didn’t know the every shop
at the market had a different (f)__________ for flour and beer so sometimes people paid too much.
When a woman’s husband died she did not (g)_________ his home or (h)________________. As
a (i)__________, the women often had to marry again. People made John seal the Magna Carta to
promise things would change.

 Post-reading activities

9. What problems did England have before the Magna Carta?

...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................

READING COMPREHENSION

10. Read the promises the Barons made King John make when he sealed the Magna Carta

1. The English Church will be free.

2. A widow will inherit her husband’s possessions. She won’t need to marry again.

3. All cities and towns will be free.

4. Poor people will not have to pay very large fines for small crimes.

5. Sheriffs will not take people’s possessions without permission.

6. There will be only one measure for corn and one measure for beer.

7. Every man or woman will have a fair trial.

8. Towns will not have to build bridges over rivers.

9. Sheriffs will know the law and will be fair.

10. No free man will suffer punishment without the lawful judgment of his peers

And life in England will be fair.

11. Do you think they are similar to today’s laws? Are any of them strange to you?

.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................

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 EXTENSIVE READING MATERIAL

12. Below, you have a summary of why the King sealed the Magna Carta. Read it and answer
the questions in detail.

Richard, the Lionheart

Richard, the Lionheart, King of England had spent much of his reign outside England fighting wars in the
Middle East and France. To pay for these he had taxed the English heavily. In 1199, Richard died and his
brother, John became king. John continued to fight wars in France but he kept losing battles. He needed more
money so his government in England ruthlessly demanded more taxes from the nobility who were expected to
pay tax if the King asked. The Barons became very unhappy about John exploiting their loyalty and belief in
his complete power. They rebelled and took over London and forced John to negotiate.

Magna Carta

On the 19 June 1215 at Runnymede King John sealed the Magna Carta. (This means Great Charter.)

It was the first formal document stating that a King had to follow the laws of the land and it guaranteed the
rights of individuals against the wishes of the King. This meant people couldn't be arrested, imprisoned of
have their possessions taken away except by the judgement of his equals and/or the law of the land. This laid
the way for trial by jury which means people are tried by their peers and guaranteed the civil rights of the
individual.

The Magna Carta established the principle that the people of England, at this stage represented by the
Barons, could limit the power of a King, if he was doing things that were not good for the country

Medieval Latin

This is one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta that were sent out across England to tell people
what had happened. It is written in Medieval Latin on parchment.

Parchment is made by soaking sheepskin in lime and the stretching it very tightly between pegs in the ground
and then leaving it to dry. The skin is then scrapped with a knife which creates a smooth writing surface.

It was very expensive so scribes wrote in small letters and often abbreviated words.

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 Before the Magna Carta, widows and daughters of Barons could be sold by the King in marriage in order
to make money.

 The scribes made many copies of the Magna Carta which were sent across England but now only 4
survive.

 It was not written on the day at Runnymede but was written down at a later date by scribes working in the
Royal Chancery.

 It is the basis for constitutions throughout the world including the United States of America.

 The scribes used tiny writing and abbreviated words to save space because parchment was so
expensive.

 Runnymede was selected for both sides to meet because it was a large meeting place near Staines
where the Barons had their HQ and the King's place at Windsor.

 The Magna Carta was authenticated by a royal seal rather than a signature and there is no evidence that
King John could write at all.

An important legacy

The right to a trial by jury, one of the most time-honored inheritances from Magna Carta in United States law,
refers to the guarantee that courts will depend on a body of citizens to render judgments in most civil and
criminal cases. The origins of the jury trial precede the creation of Magna Carta. However, Chapter 39 of King
John’s Magna Carta includes the guarantee that no free man may suffer punishment without “the lawful
judgment of his peers.” By this measure the barons sought to force the king to delegate part of his judicial
authority to men who were peers of the individual on trial. While Magna Carta did not institute the jury system
in the modern sense, its political intent—to prevent the king’s domination of the courts—inspired later
generations to view the right to a trial by jury as one of the basic safeguards of freedom from arbitrary
government.

a. Why did Richard and John demand so much money from taxes?
b. Why did The Baron rebel and what did they do?
c. Mention some examples of the limits the Barons set to the King when they sealed
the Magna Carta.
d. Why did scribes write in very small letters? What language did they write in?
e. Explain in your own words the right to a trial by jury. Why do we say that this right
was inspired by the Magna Carta?
f. What do we call “Carta Magna” in our system of law? Why is it expressed as
“Magna Carta” in English? Compare the position of adjectives in both languages.

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 13. With your partner, read the following text and answer the questions below

Magna Carta

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or
exiled. Nor will we proceed with force against him. Except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by
the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.

1. Which human rights are covered in this extract from the Magna Carta?
2. Is there a group of people in society who are not mentioned in this document? Who are they?
Why is this, do you think?

3. Which other important human rights would you include if you had to write a similar charter?

14. Match the words and their definitions

inalienable hearing in court to decide whether someone is guilty or

innocent of a crime

violate being able to keep one’s own personal life a secret

injustice protect from harm

responsibility freedom or power to act or think in the way one chooses

trial destroy or disobey a law or right

safeguard unfair treatment

right to privacy duty to act in a particular way

liberty cannot be removed or taken away

15. Use one of the words from the list above to complete the following expressions

1. Everyone has a _______________________ to protect the rights of others.

2. Documents such as the Magna Carta established the notion that we all have
_______________________ rights, and nobody can take these from us.
3. It is illegal to _______________________ someone’s human rights.
4. In some places, there are many examples of _______________________, in spite of
international human rights legislation.
5. _______________________ is one of the most fundamental human rights.
6. The right to a fair _______________________ in court and to be judged by one’s peers was
established by the Magna Carta.
7. Amnesty International exists to _______________________ human rights all over the world.

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 Adapted from: New Language Leader Elementary - Unit 11 – Houses

VIDEO WATCHING

 Pre-listening Activity. Vocabulary bank

1. In two minutes write down as many words as you can think of related to the word below

HOUSE

2. Watch the video and put the names of each room in the home plan. Do any changes you
think necessary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-awEoYfgeo

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 VOCABULARY

3. Match to make compound nouns

Walk-in kitchen

Open-floor floor

Victorian-style window

Wooden / American blinds

Bay closet / shower

 Post-listening activity

4. Write an advertisement with the specifications of a house you want to sell.

E.g.: New / Old House. 3 bedrooms, open-plan kitchen, …etc

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

READING COMPREHENSION

 Pre-reading Activities

5. Would you like to buy a house someday? Why? In groups think of the steps you have to go
through to buy a house.

6. Read this article on the steps you have to follow to purchase a house in the UK and answer:

a. If we want to buy a house in Argentina, do we follow the same steps?

b. Is there a step we sometimes omit?

1. Working out your budget

Seek professional advice. You will probably need a mortgage.

2. Put in an offer

When you have found a property you want to buy, your next stop will be to make an offer.

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 3. Start the conveyancing process

Once your offer has been accepted, you will need to instruct a solicitor to carry out all the legal work
necessary to transfer the property into your name.

The first stage is usually to arrange surveys. Your mortgage lender will want a valuation of the
property, to make sure it is worth the price you are paying for it.

4. Exchanging contracts

Your solicitor should let you know once they have conducted all the necessary searches and have
received all the information they require from the vendor. Your mortgage lender should also have
provided you with a firm offer. At this point you should be ready to exchange contracts

5. Completion and sorting out your move

Completion involves handing over the funds required to buy the property. Your solicitor will arrange
this on your behalf. Your solicitor will also arrange for the property to be registered with the Land
Registry.

Finally, you can start planning your move. Book a removal company well in advance. You’ll also need
to work out what items you need to buy to furnish your new home.

7. Specific vocabulary. Read the text again and write down the words or phrases you think are
related to the work of a lawyer. Look up the words in a dictionary and write their meaning.

SPEAKING ACTIVITY

8. Work in pairs.

Student A is an agent who explains student B what to do to buy a house.

Student B wants to buy a house but does not know what to do. Ask student A as many
questions as you can think of.

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 MAGNA CARTA. HOMEWORK

Video Session

1. Watch the video and complete the transcript. It is a summary of what happened before the
Magna Carta was sealed.

Video: https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/videos/what-is-magna-carta

TRANSCRIPT

This may look like a plain, unassuming piece of parchment, but it’s actually one of the most famous
documents in the world. Magna Carta, meaning ‘the Great Charter’, has inspired people across the
centuries, from Thomas Jefferson to Mahatma Gandhi. But why was the c_____________ originally
created? And what does it actually say?

Let us take you back to medieval England. It’s the year 1215, and the ruler is King
J_______________. Many people believe that King John was one of the worst kings in history. He
imprisoned his former wife; he starved his opponents to death; he allegedly murdered his own
nephew, and pulled the beards of the Irish Chiefs.

King John had imposed heavy t____________ on his barons in order to pay for his expensive
foreign wars. If they refused to pay, he punished them severely or seized their property. The
b_____________ demanded that King John obey the law; when he refused, they captured London
and John was forced to negotiate.

The two sides met at Runnymede in June 1215. The result of the negotiations was written down by
the king’s clerks in the document we know as Magna Carta. Although most of the charter’s
___________ dealt with medieval rights and customs, Magna Carta has become a powerful symbol
of liberty around the world.

The most famous clause, which is still part of the law today, for the first time gave all ‘free men’ the
right to justice and a fair t____________.

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‘No man shall be arrested or imprisoned except by the judgment of their e________________and
by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.’

However, this clause was not as liberal at it sounds. The Charter only applied to ‘free men’, the vast
majority of people in 1215 were unfree peasants who were ruled over by their landowners.

And although, Magna Carta was intended to create peace between King John and his rebellious
barons, England was plunged into civil war after the P__________ declared the Charter invalid.

When King John died of dysentery in 1216, nine-year-old Henry III took to the throne. To keep the
peace, Magna Carta was reissued several times during the 13th century, until it was finally made
part of E____________ law.

Magna Carta has lived on for 800 years, and is echoed in the United States Declaration of
I___________ and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Perhaps Magna Carta’s most
important l_____________ is that everyone – including our leaders – must o___________ the law.

What started out as a document of specific c_________________ from a group of barons has
turned into an international symbol of liberty, without which we might not have the
r________________ we value so much today.

2. Answer the following questions

a. Why is the Magna Carta considered “one of the most famous document in the world”?

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

b. Why was John one of the worst kings in history?

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

c. What does the most important clause say?

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

d. Who was influenced by the Magna Carta? Provide examples.

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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 Video Session

3. Watch the video and complete the transcript:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ7vUkbtlQA

This is the story of an 800-year-old medieval document known as _____________ ______________, or

the ‘Great Charter’. It’s one of the most _______________ documents in the world. But how did this old
piece of parchment become such a powerful symbol of our rights and freedoms?

Magna Carta was granted in ___________________ and established for the first time that everyone,
even the king, had to obey the law. When Magna Carta was printed for the first time, it became the first
law that all English _____________________studied. But many people didn’t realise its significance.
Shakespeare wrote a play about King John in which he failed to mention Magna Carta.

In the 1600s, English lawyers used Magna Carta to challenge King Charles I. At this time, the king could
ignore parliament and imprison anyone who opposed him. Inspired by Magna Carta, Sir Edward Coke
wrote the Petition of Right, which set out to limit the king’s ____________________.

Around the same time, Magna Carta was taken overseas to America by the first British settlers. Many
American colonies based their own laws on Magna Carta. Then, in the 1770s the Americans fought for
independence from Britain. Magna Carta became a___________________ of American liberty, and its
principles were echoed in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

In 18th century Britain, Magna Carta was used to protest against the censorship of the press. At this
time, people could be imprisoned without_______________ for criticising the king. When newspaper
publisher John Wilkes was arrested for insulting King George III, he used Magna Carta to fight for his
freedom. He claimed that ancient English liberties were under threat. Wilkes’s campaign showed Magna
Carta on everything from posters to teapots. You could say that Magna Carta went viral!

In the 1800s, very few people had the right to vote in Britain. A nationwide movement of working people
known as the Chartists, inspired by Magna Carta, created a ‘People’s Charta’ to fight for all men to have
the _______________. Then, in the early 1900s the Suffragettes used Magna Carta to argue that all
women should have the right to vote too.

Increasingly, people across the empire argued for rights equal to those of British citizens. Gandhi fought
successfully for greater freedom for the Indian settlers in South Africa. He described the resulting
document as ‘the Magna Carta of our liberty in this land.’ In his famous speech from the dock, Nelson
Mandela declared his _______________ for Magna Carta and for Western democracy, which he
contrasted with the oppressive South African regime.

Perhaps the most significant influence of Magna Carta today is the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Written after the atrocities of World War II, the declaration states that people around the world
are protected by fundamental human_____________, regardless of their citizenship, race, gender or
beliefs. Eleanor Roosevelt famously said that the Declaration may well become ‘the international Magna
Carta of all men everywhere’.

Although very few of Magna Carta’s original _________________ remain valid in English law, it
continues to inspire people worldwide. Not a bad legacy for an 800-year-old document!

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 Bibliography

 https://hcjcany.org/wp-content/.../The-Magna-Carta-Primary-Source-Worksheet.pdf

 https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/illustration-of-king-john-delivering-magna-carta-to-the-barons

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/british_history/magna_carta/

 https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/videos/what-is-magna-carta

 https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/apr/27/how-to-teach-magna-carta

 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/magna-carta-human-rights-freedoms

 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Magna_Carta_rights_freedoms_Student_worksheets_0.
pdf

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/OiBPq_-oTBydsT4NnccgSg

 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-teens/uk-culture/magna-carta

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