Page 102 - Prime Time 1-5 Leaflet

Most of us take living in a home
with a key and a fixed address
for granted, but there are an
estimated 30 to 40 million
nomads around the world who live
life on the move.
Vocabulary & Reading
1 a) Look at the pictures (1-3).
Which of these communities
do you think: wear indigo
veils, keep farm animals,
live on hand-built wooden
boats, have a deep
knowledge of the sea,
like drinking mint tea,
catch and sell fish,
live in tents,
are very
hospitable?
b) Listen,
read and
check.
8
a 1 People
3 Match the words in bold to
their meanings: perfect, rough,
left because of danger, for a
short time, people who keep
farm animals, care for from
birth, moving to live elsewhere,
behaved towards.
Multiple matching
Read the texts then read the questions and
underline the key words. Read again and try
to match parts of the texts to the
information in the questions. Remember that
some information will be paraphrased.
2 Read again and for questions 1-10, choose from the
communities A-C. Justify your answers.
Which community/communities …
appeared to have no problems to the visitor?
has physical abilities that others don’t?
hasn’t completely rejected the modern world?
became aware of something important
because of their experience?
stops moving at a certain time of year?
left their visitor with negative emotions?
has seen a change in the work they do?
can be offended if visitors don’t do something?
are seeing their numbers drop?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10
Last year, I travelled to Mali to witness first-
hand the ancient Tuareg way of life in the
Sahara Desert in north and west Africa. I was
immediately struck by the bright indigo veils worn
by, I assumed, the women of this tribe. Imagine my
surprise when one of these figures on a camel introduced
‘himself’ as Yousseff al-Hamada and explained that it’s the
Tuareg men, not the women, who wear this protection against
the harsh sand. While drinking the first of many cups of mint tea
together, the Tuareg drink tea 6 or 7 times a day, Yousseff explained
that in the past, these ‘Blue Men of the Sahara’ protected the camel
trading caravans crossing the Sahara Desert, but now they mostly
work as livestock herders. I sat fascinated as Yousseff showed me
the ancient script of the Tuareg’s language which can be written
from right to left, left to right or top to bottom. Later, while
listening to the men singing traditional poems and the women
playing a violin-like instrument, it seemed like an idyllic way
of life. Unfortunately, as water holes are drying up and
animals are dying because of recent droughts, many Tuareg
are now migrating to cities. “We are seeing the beginning of the end
of the Tuareg way of life,” Yousseff told me, sadly.
Steven Jones, travel journalist
take sth for granted, nomad, first-
hand, be struck by sth, veil, tribe,
harsh, trading, livestock herder,
idyllic, drought, migrate, stilt hut,
monsoon season, spear, possession,
flee, sparsely populated, hospitality,
shear, rear, satellite dish
Check these words
The Tuareg of the Sahara A 1