Source: BBC News Africa http://goo.

gl/pp9k7Y

Prepared by Alidem Alvarez

Nelson Mandela’s death: Barack Obama tribute

I. Fill in the blanks with the adequate form of the verbs given, use either past
simple or present perfect.
At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela
__________ (to close) his statement
from the dock saying, 'I __________ (to
fight) against white domination, and I
_________ (to fight) against black
domination. ‘I _________ (to cherish)
the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together
in harmony and with equal opportunities.
‘It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an
ideal for which I am prepared to die.'

And Nelson Mandela _________ (to live) for that ideal, and he ________ (to
make) it real. He _________ (to achieve) more than could be expected of any
man. Today, he ________ (to go) home.

And we _________(to lose) one of the most influential, courageous and

profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth.
He no longer belongs to us - he belongs to the ages.

Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for
the freedom of others, Madiba ___________ (to transform) South Africa – and
_________ (to move) all of us.

His journey from a prisoner to a president ___________ (to embody) the

promise that human beings - and countries - can change for the better.

His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who _________ ( to
jail) him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives
of nations or our own personal lives. And the fact that he __________ (to do) it
all with grace and good humor, and an ability to

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 acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more
remarkable.

As he once said, 'I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who
keeps on trying.'

I am one of the countless millions who ________ (to draw) inspiration from
Nelson Mandela's life. My very first political action, the first thing I ever
________ (to do) that involved an issue or a policy or politics, ________ (to be)
a protest against apartheid. I would study his words and his writings.

The day that he was released from prison ________ (to give) me a sense of
what human beings can do when they're guided by their hopes and not by their
fears. And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life
without the example that Nelson Mandela _________ (to set).

II. Match the words on the right to their definitions on the left.

a. dock (n) ( ) to obtain

b. to cherish (v) ( ) very strong or intense
c. fierce (adj.) ( ) desire, wish
d. unbending (adj.) ( ) to hold ( an idea belief, etc.) in a deeply felt way.
e. will (n) ( ) to represent in a clear and obvious way
f. to move (v) ( ) not willing to change an opinion, decision, etc.
g. to embody (v) ( ) to stir the emotions, feelings, or passions of;
j. to draw (v) ( ) the place in a criminal court where a prisoner
stands or sits during trial

III. Correct the wrong use of words in the sentences below.

a. Draw any chance you get to learn from the best, and then learn from
them.
b. The irony is that there were embodied fights about whether to open
the network to students from other colleges.
c. With two equally cherished political parties pitted against each other,
our government has become stagnant.
d. But it is possible to discuss why particular groups
generally fierce particular viewpoints.
e. Then, if their credit was good, they could move a mortgage from a
bank

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