First, listen carefully to this audio file:

Questions:

1. What is the common aim of all assassinations?
2. Is “Money” the main motivation for the murderer involved in the assassination?
3. Why does the writer believe this type of act does not end a problem?

Now, listen again to this audio file, and use the audio script if necessary:

Little triggers
So what exactly constitutes an assassination?
The word always implies the murder of someone important, usually involved in politics. And the assassin is sometimes doing it for money, but more often for a cause. The Anarchists of late 19th century Europe saw it as a legitimate political weapon that would cause the downfall of the whole ruling hierarchy: President Carnot of France, the Empress of Austria, and King Umberto I of Italy were all sacrificed to this philosophy, although the edifice refused to crumble. Political extremists of the Far Left followed the same path in Italy and Germany in the 1970s. At certain points in history, however, such acts can set off a far larger chain of violence, as occurred after the slaying of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary in 1914 or the Prime Minister of Rwanda in 1994.

Model Answers :

• What is the common aim of all assassinations?
  • The word always implies the murder of someone important, usually involved in politics. And the assassin is doing it more often for a cause.
• Is “Money” the main motivation for the murderer involved in the assassination?
  • No! Some saw it as a legitimate political weapon that would cause the downfall of a ruling system.
• Why does the writer believe this type of act does not end a problem?
  • At least in two cases, this type of elimination caused huge wars in Europe and Rwanda.