Ceausescus child spies

Level 1 Elementary

1 Key Vocabulary

Fill the gaps using these key words from the text.
gradually dictator recruit (verb) spy blackmail (verb)
complex archive sporty informer secret police

1. If you are , you enjoy playing different sports.

2. An is a large collection of old documents.

3. A is someone who uses force to take power and control a country.

4. If something happens , it happens slowly and in small stages or amounts.

5. An is someone who gives information secretly to the police.

6. The is a police force that works secretly to protect the government.

7. If you someone, you ask them to join an organisation.

8. A issomeonewhosejobistondoutsecretinformation.

9. If you someone, you say that you will tell people secrets about them if they do not give you
money or do what you ask them to do.

10. is the opposite of simple.

2 Find the Information

Lookinthetextandndthisinformationasquicklyaspossible.
1. What was the name of the Romanian dictator?
2. When did he die?
3. How did he die?
4. What was the name of his secret police?
5. What town did his son control?
6. How many child informers were there in this town?

Ceausescus police forced children to become spies

by Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest

In the late 1980s the countries of Eastern Europe were gradually becoming more liberal. The Romanian
dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu did not support this process and did not want Romania to become more liberal.
Now documents from the communist period in Romania have shown that Ceausescus secret police, known
as the Securitate, recruited thousands of children to spy on schoolfriends, parents and teachers.
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Ceausescus child spies
Level 1 Elementary
Ceausescu was shot in December 1989 and communist rule in Romania ended soon after. Now many peo-
ple in Romania are asking why some of the agents who recruited the child spies continued to work for the
security services after Ceausescu died in 1989. In every Romanian county there were complex networks
of these children, aged between 12 and 14, said Cazimir Ionescu, a member of the state council which is
studying all the Securitate documents. A Romanian historian, Marius Oprea, found a collection Securitate
documents in the Transylvanian town of Sibiu. Ceausescus son Nicu controlled Sibiu for many years.

In Sibiu in 1989 the Securitate recruited 830 informers; 170 of them were under the age of 18, Mr Oprea
said. If this was the same all over Romania, you could say that possibly 15% of the informers in the country
were children. Historians believe the Securitate had hundreds of thousands of informers by 1989, as Soviet
power began to weaken in Eastern Europe. What kind of information could these children give, except
information about their family, teachers, and so on? Mr Oprea asked. This shows that, by 1989, the
Securitate was controlling its own people.

The children had to tell Securitate agents about their friends and families opinions on the Communist party.
They also had to tell them if their friends and families listened to western radio stations, had any contacts
with foreigners or told jokes about Ceausescu.

Inthe1980sitwasdifcultforthesecretpolicetorecruitinformerssotheyhadtoblackmailpeople,even
children, with things they had done wrong at school or with things the police knew about them, Mr Oprea
said. The secret police were particularly interested in intelligent and sporty children because they were in
teams and clubs and had contact with many teachers, other children and their parents.

After 1989 many of those who recruited children got better jobs in the secret police, and some brought their
young spies to work with them when they left school. This is a tragedy which we must tell the public about
but we must also punish the people responsible for this situation, said Stejarel Olaru, a historian working
with Mr Oprea at the state institute for studying communist crimes.

MrOprearstheardaboutthechildspyprogrammesoonafter1989,butatthattimetheexcommunists
who were in power after the fall of Ceausescu were not interested in his story. Mr Oprea remained silent for
15 years. After the elections of 2004, the old politicians lost power and the Securitate archives were opened
up. Romania hopes to join the EU next January and the EU wants Romania to open all the old Securitate
archives so the public can see them.

3 Comprehension Check

Match the beginnings with the endings to make sentences about the text.

1. The Securitate used children

2. Some of the agents who recruited the child spies continued

3. Historians think the Securitate had

4. The child spies had to tell the Securitate

5. Inthe1980sitwasdifcultforthesecretpolice

6. The secret police were interested in intelligent and sporty children because
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NEWS LESSONS / Ceausescus child spies

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Ceausescus child spies
Level 1 Elementary
7. The EU wants Romania

8. By 1989 Soviet power was beginning

a. if their friends and families told jokes about Ceausescu.

b. they had contact with many teachers and other children.

c. to spy on their families, friends and teachers.

d. to recruit informers.

e. hundreds of thousands of informers by 1989.

f. to work for the security services after 1989.

g. to weaken in Eastern Europe.

h. to open up all the old Securitate archives.

4 Vocabulary Collocations: Verbs + Nouns

Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make collocations.
Check your answers in the text.

1. do a. power

2. tell b. a job

3. get c. school

4. leave d. the radio

5. lose e. wrong

6. listen to f. a joke

5 Vocabulary Prepositions

Fill the gaps using prepositions

1. work the security services

2. listen western radio stations

3. opinions something

4. have contact somebody

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Ceausescus child spies
Level 1 Elementary
5. tell jokes somebody

6. interested somebody or something

7. responsible something

8. hear something

6 Vocabulary Word Stress

Put these words from the text into two groups according to their stress.
support process secret police agent complex
except recruit blackmail punish about believe

A. 0 o B. o 0

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