Part

Unit 2  Reading 1 3

Worksheets — Reading
NAME:   No.   CLASS:
DATE:   EVALUATION:
TEACHER:   E. E.

1 
Read the full text of an open letter from UNICEF ambassadors.
Syria’s children: An open letter from UNICEF ambassadors and supporters
Eddie Izzard meets 10-year-old Sror. Sror’s family was forced to flee Syria two years ago as they were afraid
for their lives. The children now attend a UNICEF-supported school at Domiz refugee camp in Iraq.
As many UK children finish their first week back at school, UNICEF ambassadors and supporters — including
David Beckham, Ewan McGregor, Robbie Williams, Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Izzard — have called on the UK
5 public to remember the children of Syria.

“Like so many children around the world,

those in Syria should be looking forward to the
new school term. Instead too many are being
forced to flee their homes in search of safety as
10 the conflict deteriorates. More than four million

children are now in need of aid in what has

become the largest humanitarian operation in
history, with one million children now seeking
refuge in neighbouring countries — the
15 equivalent to all the children in Wales being

uprooted and left homeless.

“Despite the political attention on Syria, the
humanitarian response to this crisis and the
children caught up in it is at risk of being forgotten.
20 In Syria itself, almost one out of every five schools

has been damaged, destroyed or is being used as a shelter for displaced families. Across the region, children are
living in make-shift shelters and camps, where they are at increased risk of disease.
“UNICEF — the world’s leading children’s organisation — is working day and night for the children of Syria
to ensure they can be protected from harm and disease and can continue to learn. UNICEF is providing children
25 in Syria and refugee children in five neighbouring countries — Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt — with

safe drinking water, essential vaccines, education, and psychological support for trauma. But it is struggling to
reach all the children that need help.
“This is not their conflict, yet children bear the brunt of the suffering. We are calling on you to help, so that
a generation of Syrian children are not simply “lost”. You can donate to ensure that they receive vaccines to keep
30 disease at bay, continue learning and receive the psychological support they need to help them come to terms

with the horrors they have witnessed.

“The children caught up in this conflict are innocent victims who have had the misfortune of growing up in
the wrong place at the wrong time. We can help provide them with some sense of hope in the most impossible
of circumstances. As the UK’s children go back to school, we urge you to remember Syria’s children and do
35 something — however small — to help mend their shattered childhoods.”

Signed: Duncan Bannatyne, David Beckman, Martin Bell, Charley Boorman, Keeley Hawes, Tom Hiddleston,
Sir Chris Hoy, Eddie Izzard, Jemima Khan, Ewan McGregor, James Nesbitt, Lord David Puttman, Simon Reeve,
Michael Sheen, Dan Snow, Trudie Styler, David Williams, Robbie Williams.
UNICEF. Retrieved from http://blogs.unicef.org.uk/2013/09/05/syria-letter-eddie-izzard-david-beckham-tom-hiddleston-jemima-
khan-ewan-mcgregor/

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3 2 
Choose the correct option according to the text.
a) Sror is …
Worksheets — Reading

  1. an Iraqi boy who experienced war.

  2. a Syrian boy who is living in a refugee camp.
  3. a boy who fled to Syria two years ago.
b) Due to the conflict millions of children …
  1. are homeless and in need of support.
  2. are forced to attend to school.
  3. fled their homes to attend a good school.
c) UNICEF’s main goals regarding the children in Syria are …
  1. peace and love.
  2. love and education.
  3. safety and education.
d) Through the open letter people are asked to …
  1. help the children with volunteer work.
  2. give money to build schools in Syria.
  3. make donations to provide vaccines and education.

3 
Find words in the text with the same meaning as …
a) displaced (paragraph 3)
b) endure (paragraph 6)
c) burden (paragraph 6)
d) fix (paragraph 7)
e) broken (paragraph 7)

4 
Find antonyms for the following words.
a) insecurity (paragraph 3)
b) finding (paragraph 3)
c) wonders (paragraph 6)
d) missed (paragraph 6)
e) happiness (paragraph 7)

5 
Answer the following questions.
a) Explain the sentence: “As the UK’s children go back to school, we urge you to remember Syria’s
children and do something — however small — to help mend their shattered childhoods”

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3
b) Are the signatures to the letter important? Justify your answer.

Worksheets — Reading




c) Can you name other conflicts in which people had to flee their homes and become refugees?





d) What can be done to protect refugees during times of war?





e) Would you like to work for an organisation such as UNICEF? Why? Why not?

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