http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAEOhfwsMQM&feature=related
This is an interesting interview to Tony Benn from the doccumentary Psycho, from Michael Moore. I thought it was very interesting to relate the words the former member of Parliement to the present situation we've been undergoing in the past years.
I have also prepared a viewing - listening activity to carry out while watching the video. It's a kind of exercise in which you alternate practising three skills: listening, open cloze and multiple choice. First you have a look at the text and try to fill the missing words, afterwards students watch the interview a couple of times and complete the listening exercise as well as checking their answers for the previous exercises.
I hope you enjoy listening to Tony Benn's wise words.
Tony Benn (former Member of Parliament for the Labour
Party) interviewed by Michael Moore in the documentary SHYCO (Michael Moore).
Complete the transcript.
Numbers: OPEN CLOZE
Letters: MULTIPLE CHOICE
..............: LISTENING
Well if you go back it all (1) ______________
with democracy. Before we had the vote all the power was in the hands of rich
people. If you had money you (2) ______________get health
care, education, look after yourself (3) ______________ you
were old. And what democracy did was to give the poor the vote and it move
power from the market place to the ..............................
, ..............................
from the wallet to the ..............................;
and (4) ______________ people said was very simple.
They said, in the 1930’s we had mass unemployment. But we (A) ________________
have any unemployment during the war; if you could have full employment killing
Germans, (5) ______________ can’t you have full employment by
building hospitals, building schools? Recruiting nurses, recruiting teachers?
If you could find money to kill people you could find money to help people. This
show ..............................
proposes an issue very very (B) ________________. This was
1948.
“Your new National Health Service begins on the 5th
of July. What is it? How do you get it? It will (C) ________________
you with all medical, dental and .............................. care. Everyone, rich or poor,
man, woman or child could use it or any part of it. There are no (D) ________________,
except for a few special item. There are no insurance qualifications but it is
not a ...............................
You are paying for it (E) ________________ as tax
payers and it will relieve your money worries in (6) ______________
of illness”.
Now, somehow the few words sum the whole thing (7) ______________
(F) ________________Mrs. Thatcher said; “The National Health Service
is safe in our hands”. It’s as non controversial (8) ______________
votes for women; nobody could come (G)
________________ and
say: “Why should women have the vote? Now because people wouldn’t have it in
Britain, they wouldn’t accept the (H)
________________ of the
structure of the National Health Service.
There would have (9) ______________ a
revolution. Yeah.
I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in
the world, far most revolutionary than socialist’s ideas or anybody else’s ideas
because if you have power you use it to meet the (10) ______________
of you and your community. And this idea of (I) ________________
which capitalists talk about all the time... you’ve got to have a choice...
choice depends (11) ______________the freedom
to choose and if you are ..............................
with debt you don’t have the freedom to choose.
Yes because people (J)
________________debt
become hopeless and hopeless people don’t vote.... See they say everyone should
vote... but I think if the poor in Britain or the United States turned (K) ________________and voted for people who ..............................their
interests it would be a real democratic revolution so they don’t want it (12) ______________happen so keeping people hopeless and
pessimistic. I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. (13) ______________ of all, frighten people and
secondly ..............................
them. An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. And I
think there’s an element in the (14)
______________ of some
people: “we don’t want people to be educated, healthy and confident because
they would get out of (L) ________________.
The top 1 % of the world’s population owns 80 % of the
world’s (M) ________________. It’s incredible that people (15) ______________ up with it. But they are poor, they
are ..............................,
they are frightened and (N) ________________they think perhaps
the safest thing to do is take orders and hope for the (16) _______________.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
(A) EVER JUST NEVER NEARLY
(B) REALLY FASTFORWARD WISEST STRAIGHTFORWARD
(C) PERMIT PROVIDE AWARD PROPOSE
(D) EXPENSES CHARGES BUDGETS REQUIREMENTS
(E) MAINLY FULL MAJORITY FREELY
(F) ALTHOUGH INCLUDING WHEN EVEN
(G) TOGETHER LOUD ALONG ON
(H) RUPTURE DEGRADE PRESERVATION DETEREORATION
(I) CHANCE CHOOSE CHOICE CHOICES
(J) FROM ON IN TO
(K) OUT DOWN AROUND ASIDE
(L) ORDER FREEDOM CONTROL IT
(M) WELFARE HEALTH BENEFIT WEALTH
(N) BECAUSE HOWEVER THEREFORE REALLY