News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 1

March 2011
Level Advanced
Style Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weeklys special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardian.co.uk/weekly/. You can also find more advice
for teachers and learners from the Guardian Weeklys Learning English section on the site.
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Indian jail trains inmates for call-centre duties

Chain gang ... Pradeep Deburma, left, learns keyboard skills Jason Burke

the headline or caption. You may need to change the

Before reading form of the words.
1 Check the meaning of the words in bold, then Prison authorities in (a)
discuss questions with a partner. have plans for (b) to work
a What type of work might prison inmates carry out in in the modern equivalent of a
your country? (c) gang. Convicts like
b Do convicts get paid for any work that they do? Pradeep Deburma are currently being
c Do prisoners serving life get educational or work (d) in keyboard
training? skills and it is hoped they will eventually carry
out a range of (e)
2 Look at the photo and caption above. Then in (f)
complete the paragraph with a word or phrase from .
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News-based English language activities from the global newspaper
3 Vocabulary from the article. Complete the
definitions of these compound verbs.
a If a company or organisation outsources some
work, it
b If you overcome an obstacle, you
c If a person oversees a project, he or she
Article
Indian jail trains inmates for
call-centre duties
1 For a man serving life for murder, Pradeep
Deburma has a slightly unlikely dream: to work
in a call centre like hundreds of thousands of
other ambitious young Indians. Even more
improbably, he has every chance of realising it
while still behind bars.
2 Deburma, 24, is in a high-security prison near
Hyderabad that is testing a scheme to turn
convicts into outsourcing providers for local
firms and eventually, it is hoped, international
clients.
3 The scheme is in its early stages, with prisoners
being trained in basic data entry.
4 We have got so many computer literates and
professionals in our prison, said Gopinath
Reddy, the director general of prisons in the state
of Andhra Pradesh. Now their knowledge will
be utilised for the nation, and when they leave
they can lead a meaningful life.
5 Although there are still significant obstacles to
overcome before international customers are
routed through to a cellblock in India such as
regulations forbidding internet or phone access
inside prisons these are being tackled.
Page 2
March 2011
6 Mohan Menon, a software specialist brought
in to oversee the training, is bullish about the
future. Definitely we will get orders, he said,
surveying his first dozen pupils.
7 One of the inmates selected to be trained
in keyboard skills plus 100 hours of English
language tuition is Ravi Kumar, a 26-year-old
former army clerk sentenced to life for killing a
fellow soldier while serving in Kashmir. He said
he was really enjoying his new activity.
8 One attraction was the pay. For weaving rugs
or welding bunkbeds for government hostels,
prisoners receive only 30 cents a day. Those
working in the outsourcing unit will receive up to
10 times as much.
9 Authorities in other Indian states are watching
the experiment carefully. Eventually about 200
inmates will work in the outsourcing centre, said
deputy superintendent Rama Gopal.
10 Prospective clients include the Indian postal
service and a group working on a project to issue
personal identity cards to all adults. Both require
vast quantities of data to be lifted from forms and
entered into computers. The prisoners are being
given training and then we can extract work from
them, Gopal said.
Jason Burke
Glossary
chain gang (noun) prisoners who are chained together
and forced to work
to realise something (verb) to achieve something
important that you want to do
bullish (adjective) confident and hopeful about the
future
to weave (verb) to make a rug etc by crossing threads
over and under each other
to weld (verb) to join two pieces of metal together by
heating their ends
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News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 3

March 2011

f Which organisations are interested? Why?

While reading
1 Read the article. Then put true (T), false (F) or not
mentioned in the text (NM). Note the paragraph
number where you find the information.
The new scheme
a will only use inmates who are in prison for minor
crimes. After reading
b is still in its initial stages.
1 What do these pronouns or words refer back to in
c was set up by the former Indian president.
the text? Why is referencing important in an article?
Paragraph numbers are in brackets.
d is being run by trainers who feel confident about
a He has every chance of realising it (1)
the project.
e will pay inmates the same as traditional prison
b these are being tackled. (5)
work.
f has the approval of most of the Indian
c he was really enjoying his new activity. (7)
population.
g has received interest from other parts of India.
d Authorities are watching the experiment (9)
h could be useful to firms that need a lot of data
e Both require vast quantities of data (10)
entry.

2 Read the article again and answer the questions.

2 Prison expressions and phrases
a Describe exactly how the new scheme will work.
What does the expression below mean?
he has every chance of realising it while still behind
bars. (paragraph 2)
What do the informal expressions below mean? Do
you have similar phrases in your language? Write
b Why is this type of scheme appropriate for many of
the paragraph again with the expressions in formal
the inmates?
English.

Paul (a) was done for armed robbery last year and
(b) got banged up. He was hoping hed be given
(c) a short stretch but hell (d) be inside for at least five
c What is one of the obstacles to the scheme?
years. At first, he shared a cell with (e) a lifer but he tried
to (f) break out and was moved to another block. Pauls
now been moved in with a prisoner who (g) is doing
time for serious fraud.
a
d What attitude do you think the prisoners have to the
scheme?
b

c
e What is traditional work in Indian prisons?

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News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 4

March 2011

d
Activity discussion
What should prisoners be allowed to do in prison?
e Work with a partner and put agree (A) or disagree (D)
next to the statements. Then work in small groups
to compare and justify your answers.
f Long-term prisoners should be allowed to:
take part in interesting, well-paid work.
have their own cell.
g vote in elections.
get letters and visits from their family.
talk to their family on the phone.
have access to the internet.
Paragraph in formal English: take qualifications such as degrees.
write and publish a book about their crime and
receive money for it

After reading
Answers 1 It avoids repetition and provides cohesion.
Before reading a Pradeep Deburma, dream
2 a India b inmates c chain d trained e duties f call centres b obstacles
3 a gives it to an outside company to do. c Ravi Kumar, keyboard skills etc.
b succeed in dealing with a particular problem. d a scheme (paragraph 2)
c manages the project and makes sure the workers do it correctly. e Indian postal service, an ID card group.
2 in prison
While reading a was convicted of
1 a F; paragraphs 1, 2, 7 b T; para; 3 c NM d T; para 6 e F; para 8 f NM g T; para 9 b was sent to prison
h T; para 10 c a short sentence
2 a Prisoners will train in data entry. They will then be employed in an d be in jail
outsourcing centre to work for Indian or international companies. e a man serving life
b They are computer literate, professional people. c It is forbidden to have f escape
internet or phone access in prison. g is serving a sentence
d Positive. Kumar is enjoying it.
e Weaving rugs or welding bunkbeds.
f The Indian postal service and an ID card organisation. They need data entry.