26. Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets and perform the role play given below. Smelling Rats

A Belgian research project for detecting landmines, using specially trained sniffer rats, (1) _______________ (to launch) next week when the first batch of rodents (2) _______________ (to send) on their first assignment to Mozambique. Scientists (3) _______________ (to involve) in the project said that rats (4) _______________ (to be) in many ways better mine-hunters than dogs: “They learn quicker and do not get personally (5) _______________ (to attach) to the owner, so they are easier (6) _______________ (to transfer) to another trainer.”

Researchers also said rats, (7) _______________ (to be) lightweight, (8) _______________ (to be) easier (9) ______________ (to transport) and less likely to set off mines accidentally. “Their noses are closer to the ground, so they can operate in an area of high mine density where a dog may (10) _________________ (to confuse),” said Bartes Weetjens, who thought of the idea eight years ago after (11) _______________ (to recall) that the rodents he (12) _______________ (to breed) as a childhood hobby (13) _______________ (to have) an acute sense of smell.

On (14) _______________ (to detect) a mine, the rats scratch on the ground and then (15) _______________ (to reward) with a piece of banana.

It (16) _______________ (to estimate) that impoverished Mozambique (17) _______________ (to riddle) with about 500,000 landmines, the legacy of a 16-year civil war. The United Nations (18) _______________ (to believe) that since 1980, 9,000 Mozambicans (19) _______________ (to be) victims of landmines (20) _______________ (to lay) by both sides of the war.

If the de-mining (21) _______________ (to be) successful, the rats could (22) ___________________ (to deploy) in other mine-infested areas, such as Sudan or Cambodia. Mr Weetjens said he (23) _______________ (to hope) a successful project (24) _______________ (to change) “human attitudes toward rats, which for too long (25) _______________ (to see) only as pests.”

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

Role play. You are taking part in a meeting at the Ministry of Defence devoted to the problem of training sniffer rats for de-mining. Now you must decide whether rats are better than dogs in de-mining and whether more money should be allocated for developing the sniffer rats training program.

Role 1. You are the leader of the role play. Introduce the problem to be discussed and ask the participants to speak. Comment on their ideas and say who seems to be more convincing.

Role 2. You are Bartes Weetjens. Describe what rats can do and say why you think they are better than dogs in de-mining.

Role 3. You are Major Baines, a dog trainer with the US Army. You love dogs and you realise that if more money is allocated for training rats, dog programs are going to be reduced. Present as many arguments in favour of dogs as possible.

NB. Remember that emphatic speech can sound more convincing, so try to use as many emphatic structures as you can remember.