3.Read the article below. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. Beslan School Hostage Crisis North Ossetia -Russia – 1 September 2004

The Beslan school hostage crisis (also referred to as the Beslan school siege or Beslan massacre was a three day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 300. It began when a group of armed mostly Muslim Ingush and Chechen terrorists took more than 1,100 people (including 777 childrenhostage on 1 September 2004, at School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. The hostage taking was carried out by a group sent by the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, which issued demands of an end to the Second Chechen War. On the third day of the standoff, Russian security forces stormed the building, using tanks, flamethrower rockets, and other heavy weapons. A series of explosions shook the school, followed by a fire which engulfed the building and a chaotic gunbattle between the hostage-takers and Russian security forces. Ultimately, at least 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children, hundreds more were injured and many were reported missing.

Wednesday 1 September 2004. 8:24am. At the time there are about 1,100 people in the school building. About 30 masked, heavily-armed men and women force their way ____ Secondary School No 1. Shots are fired and 12 adults are killed. Later more shots are heard coming from the school. The terrorists – some wearing bomb belts – force their hostages _____ the gym. 9.49am: The first telephone contact with the hostage takers is made. They threaten to blow up the school if the police, who have formed a security cordon round the school grounds, decide to storm the gym. About 50 hostages are able to escape amidst the confusion. Russian President, Vladimir Putin, cuts short his holiday at the Black Sea and returns to Moscow. 1:58pm: The hostage takers threaten to kill 50 hostages ______ every one of their members killed in an attack by the security forces. To avoid further risk ______ the hostages, many of whom are chained _____ explosives, the local authorities decide to negotiate.Negotiation proves very difficult, the hostage takers refuse to allow the hostages food and water. The gym is extremely hot. Some hostages strip down _____ their underwear, others drink their own urine to quench their thirst.Thursday: The situation remains unchanged. By now the UN Security Council in New York has demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages in the terrorist attack”. US President George Bush offers whatever help and support may be necessary. 12.06pm: President Putin declares on television that the attack in Beslan is “Aimed at Russia itself”. He rejects the use of force to free the hostages. 2:44pm: Three mothers are released with their young children, half an hour later a further 11 women and 15 children are released.A short time later two explosions are heard near the school. Black smoke rises. The roof of the gym collapses. Twenty-six hostages, mothers with their children, nevertheless manage to escape. Friday, 1:00pm: More explosions can be heard in the school building. At 9:00 am the authorities announce that the hostage takers have shot 20 men.

1:00pm: Paramedics are allowed to retrieve several bodies, and again several explosions are heard. 30 women and children are able to flee in dangerous circumstances. They are shot at. Soldiers return fire.Almost three quarters of an hour later, some of the hostage takers try to flee into the surrounding houses. They are pursued by soldiers. At the same time, with no clear orders, Russian special forces storm the building. The gun battles intensify. In the chaos many hostages are able to escape as the security forces have blasted a large hole in the wall of the school building. At 3:17pm all the hostages who are still alive have left the building.At about 5:00 pm the situation has calmed down. The dead are found in the school building, most of them in the gym.Almost every house in Beslan is mourning someone. The town is in shock - people are paralysed by grief, rage and helplessness. Many of the children who witnessed the attack are traumatised. Since the events of September 2004 the Russian Orthodox Church, together with German emergency relief for children and other organisations, has been trying to help the victims to live with the pain and grief, to look beyond the horror and to try to lead a normal life again.

1. Explain the words in bold and give their Russian equivalents.

2. Write a short news report from the site of the terrorist attack. Use the vocabulary from ex.1.

3. Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome? Tell the class. Why do you think people might suffer from it? Read the article and check your guesses.