A short gapfill exercise for a vimeo video called "The Soft War" by Column Five

1. Many governments worldwide are
locked in a fight with their
citizens.

2. Many governments worldwide are
locked in a fight with their
citizens.
“worldwide” – (adj) means „global‟ and
usually describes a situation or large
organization that is basically everywhere
in the world.
e.g. Microsoft, the Internet, etc.

3. Many governments worldwide are
locked in a fight with their
citizens.
“worldwide” – (adj) means „global‟ and
usually describes a situation or large
organization that is basically everywhere
in the world.
“locked in a fight” – (adj phrase) means
fighting that will not stop.

4. ...on a scale of 0 to 100.

5. ...on a scale of 0 to 100.
“on a scale of _ to _” - (adj phrase) often
a phrase used to rate or rank something.
e.g. “On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is perfect *, I
would give you a 7.”
“On a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 is the best *, I
would give you a 1!”
“On a scale of terrible to excellent, I would say
you were very good.”
* If you use numbers you need to explain which
number is good.

6. Most private households only have
56k connections.

7. Most private households only have
56k connections.
“household” – (noun) referring to the
building and the family living in that
house.
e.g. The average household in Britain
earns £25,800 per annum.

8. In June 2009, Iranians took to
the streets in protest of
presidential election results.

9. In June 2009, Iranians took to
the streets in protest of
presidential election results.
“take to the streets” - (verb phrase) means to
protest something, usually with a large group of
people, by walking in the streets or standing outside
an important building.
e.g. “Protestors took to the streets after the
government said it would not change the law.”

10. Protestors relied heavily on the
Internet...

11. Protestors relied heavily on the
Internet...
“heavily” – (adv) often used to mean „a lot‟. Often
used with words like „rely‟, „depend‟, „invest‟, „influence‟
or „criticize‟.
e.g. Europe relies heavily on oil from the Middle East.
America has invested heavily in the War on Terror.
Public opinion often heavily influences politicians‟
opinions.
The Prime Minister was heavily criticized for not
doing more to help.

12. With social media proving to be
such a powerful revolutionary
tool, it‟s no wonder that the
Iranian government...

13. With social media proving to be
such a powerful revolutionary
tool, it‟s no wonder that the
Iranian government...
“it‟s no wonder that” - (phrase) meaning that
something is not surprising, „It‟s not surprising that…”
e.g. “It‟s no wonder that he failed the test, he
didn‟t study at all.”
“It‟s no wonder that she‟s tired, she has been
working very hard recently.”

14. ... only about 1000 individuals have
direct access to the Internet, the
rest of the population has access to
filtered content.

15. ... only about 1000 individuals have
direct access to the Internet, the
rest of the population has access to
filtered content.
“the rest of _” (noun phrase) talking about all other
people not talked about previously.
e.g. “20% of the population are very rich, the rest
of them are very, very poor.”
“Bill was happy with his goal, but the rest of the
team were disappointed with their performance.”

16. Burma recently launched a
intranet-like web portal that aims
to wean the public off popular
websites...

17. Burma recently launched a
intranet-like web portal that aims
to wean the public off popular
websites...
“aim” (verb) meaning „want‟ or „hope‟, used before
another verb.
e.g. “I aim to finish my work by 7pm.”
“We aim to increase production by 30% by next
year.”
“The Iranian government aims to disconnect the
country from the Internet by 2013.”

18. With all this considered, it‟s hard to
dispute that the war for Internet
access is well underway.

19. With all this considered, it‟s hard to
dispute that the war for Internet
access is well underway.
“With all this considered” – phrase used to start a
summary or conclusion. Basically it means “When you
think about all the arguments made before now.”

20. With all this considered, it‟s hard to
dispute that the war for Internet
access is well-underway.
“With all this considered” – phrase used to start a
summary or conclusion. Basically it means “When you
think about all the arguments made before now.”
“well-underway” – (adj phrase) used to describe a a
process where something has changed a lot but has
not finished.
e.g. “The lecture started 20 minutes ago. It is well
underway but it will not finished until 1pm.”

21. Text from “The Soft War”
from Column Five
on Vimeo