news bulletin – answers

Paris takes up torch-run gauntlet

questions

1. What does ‘take up the gauntlet’ in the title mean? to accept an invitation to do/continue something – here presumably following on from London
2. How many police were ‘drafted in’ ? 3,000
3. What were they protecting the Olympic torch from? sabotage attempts
4. What were the Chinese officials wearing? blue tracksuits (‘blue-track-suited officials’)
5. What were the French Police wearing? riot gear and roller-blades
6. What did they need to do at one stage to protect the torch? extinguish it and put it aboard a bus
7. How did the protesters manage to display the banner? they scaled the Eiffel Tower
8. What 2 aspects of China’s behaviour did the protesters demonstrate against? its rule in Tibet and crackdown on independence activists
9. Who came to blows in the streets of Paris? pro and anti Chinese demonstrators
10. What did the Chinese officials express? strong condemnation