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Lahore Attack

Kumar Sangakkar gave a speech at Colin Cowdrey's lecture about the Lahore attack where the Sri Lankan cricket team was targeted by terrorists in 2009. He describes how the first test match passed without incident but an ominous comment from a teammate foreshadowed what was to come. During the second test, the terrorists attacked the team bus, injuring several players and killing several police officers. Sangakkar discusses how the players and team bonded and drew strength from each other and the people of Sri Lanka during their ordeal, emphasizing their commitment to representing their country.

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Thihansa Dewnethmi
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3K views3 pages

Lahore Attack

Kumar Sangakkar gave a speech at Colin Cowdrey's lecture about the Lahore attack where the Sri Lankan cricket team was targeted by terrorists in 2009. He describes how the first test match passed without incident but an ominous comment from a teammate foreshadowed what was to come. During the second test, the terrorists attacked the team bus, injuring several players and killing several police officers. Sangakkar discusses how the players and team bonded and drew strength from each other and the people of Sri Lanka during their ordeal, emphasizing their commitment to representing their country.

Uploaded by

Thihansa Dewnethmi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Worksheet

Lahore Attack – Kumar Sangakkar’s Speech at Colin Cowdrey’s Lecture

Name:…………………………………………………………………… Class:………………………………..

Read the text and answer following questions.

(a) How does the speaker prepare the readers/ listeners for the frightening event?

(b) When does the turning point occur?

(c) Write the following sentence in your own words:

“the first test played on a featherbed passed without great incident.”

(d) What was Sangakkara’s anticipation of the second test?

(e) Would you consider Thilan Thushara’s words as ‘ominous’? Is it a flash-forward

remark? Why? (read from line 20 to 39)

(f) Who were hit by the terrorist attack? What was the nature of the injury suffered by
each player?

(g) How did Sangakkara face up to the situation?

(h) How did the other players face up it?

(i) What was the emotional impact of this event on the cricketers?

(j) It is apparent that the attack made the cricketers empathize with their countrymen who

were threatened by terrorism. What line shows this empathy?

(k) To what does the speaker attribute the cricketers’ strength and self-confidence?

(l) Why does Sangakkara cite the soldier at the checkpoint? What does he try to illustrate
by this incident?
(m) What does the last line tell us about the relationship between the public and cricketers
in Sri Lanka?

Explain in your own words.

(a) Sangakkara’s speech is an unequivocal expression of commitment to his game. Would

you agree with this statement?

(b) The speech shows Sangakkara’s love for Sri Lankans. What has inspired this love?

(c) Could Sangakkara’s speech be used as a charter for cricketers?

(d) Do you think Sangakkara’s greatness is due to cricket? Or do you think Sri Lanka cricket

took a new dimension because of Sangakkara’s personality?

(e) What lessons could a young person learn from Sangakkara’s speech?

(f) What features give the speech the power that it has?

(g) Are there instances of humour in the speech? What are they? What is the effect of the

humour?

(h) Would it be correct to say that Sangakkara is a great orator? What arguments would you

put forward to support your view?


Past Paper Questions

1. “We kept steadying ourselves on the seats. No one spoke. No one uttered a sound.”

a. From which work are these lines taken? Who wrote them?

b. Why couldn’t the characters keep steady on their seats? Why didn’t they speak?

c. What is the situation that made the characters behave in this way?

2. “ It was like a rain on a tin roof. The bus was at a standstill…”

a. Name the work from which these lines are taken. Name the writer.

b. Why was the bus at a standstill? What caused this situation?

c. What is the literary device used in the first line? What is the effect created?

3. “ At the heart of The Lahore Attack is the love for cricket and fear of violence.” Discuss
this statement with reference to the text.

4. Above all, The Lahore Attack conveys to its readers the attachment towards one’s own
country. Do you agree? Discuss by referring to the text.

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