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(from: www.breakingnewsenglish.com)
We are causing so much damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This bleak warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative impact on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the deaths of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers.
UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity at a rate never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the historical…rate."
Scientists are worried that governments will not do enough to try to reduce the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss measures to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be adopted at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan.
The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are facing extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a huge impact on marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse with the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.
TASKS FOR THE ARTICLE
Ex.1. READING: Read and translate the article.
Ex.2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
Ex.3. NATURE DISCUSSION: Students speak about nature with each other, often changing the partners.
Ex.4. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
damage / our planet / biodiversity / national economies / coral reefs / extinction / scientists / international frameworks / threats / species / environment / pollution
Ex.5. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: PLANET AT RISK: What’s at risk? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change again and share what you heard.
| What’s going wrong? | How can we reverse it? | |
| Oceans | ||
| Forests | ||
| Deserts | ||
| Animals | ||
| Weather | ||
| Rivers |
Ex.6. SPEAKING ON THE ENVIRONMENT: Students A strongly believe our environment will not survive; Students B strongly believe it will. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
Ex.7. THREATS DISCUSSION: What are the biggest threats to our planet? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Change partners and share your rankings again.
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Ex.8. VOCABULARY ON ECOSYSTEM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘ecosystem’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
Ex.9. TRUE / FALSE: Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
| a. | A new United Nations report says loss of biodiversity costs economies. | T / F |
| b. | The report gives us tips on points to help nature. | T / F |
| c. | The report says all coral reefs have already died. | T / F |
| d. | The rate of biodiversity loss is 1,000 times higher than ever before. | T / F |
| e. | Scientists are confident governments will tackle the damage. | T / F |
| f. | World leaders will adopt a new biodiversity framework in October. | T / F |
| g. | The report says more than 25% of corals might soon become extinct. | T / F |
| h. | The article predicts pollution will cause fish to start fighting each other. | T / F |
Ex.10. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
| 1. | causing | a. | gloomy |
| 2 | bleak | b. | coming up against |
| 3. | impact | c. | cut |
| 4. | huge | d. | supplies |
| 5. | extinction | e. | effect |
| 6. | reduce | f. | chosen |
| 7. | tackle | g. | dying out |
| 8. | adopted | h. | address |
| 9. | facing | i. | creating |
| 10. | stocks | j. | enormous |
Ex.11. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)
| 1. | We are causing so much | a. | global biodiversity loss |
| 2 | This bleak | b. | impact on nature |
| 3. | there are many important | c. | seen in history |
| 4. | man’s negative | d. | facing extinction |
| 5. | a rate never before | e. | damage to our planet |
| 6. | do enough to try to | f. | on biological diversity |
| 7. | discuss measures to tackle | g. | reduce the damage |
| 8. | adopted at a convention | h. | warning |
| 9. | huge numbers of species are | i. | made worse |
| 10. | This problem will be | j. | ecosystems on our planet |
Ex.12. GAP FILL: Fill in the gaps in the text using the words on the right.
| We are ____ so much damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This _______ warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in _____. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative ______ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the _______of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We ______to lose biodiversity at a ________ never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the ______ …rate." | continue rate impact bleak deaths causing historical danger |
| Scientists are _______ that governments will not do enough to try to _______ the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss ______ to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be _______ at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report ______ how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are facing _______ if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a ________ impact on marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made ______ with the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers. | adopted huge reduce extinction worried outlines worse measures |
Ex.13. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocations, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘global’ and ‘economy’.
| global | economy |
Ex.14. VOCABULARY: Circle the words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
Ex.15. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:
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Ex.16. NATURE DISCUSSION:
STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS
| a) | What did you think when you read the headline? |
| b) | What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘nature’? |
| c) | How important is nature to you? |
| d) | What do you think of man’s destruction of nature? |
| e) | Have you noticed any negative impact of humans on the environment? |
| f) | Do you take notice of these reports that environmental agencies bring out? |
| g) | Are you more worried about the destruction of coral reefs, forests or rivers? |
| h) | What do you think of the extinction rate given in the article? |
| i) | Do you think we can reverse the damage? |
| j) | What do you think of reintroducing species using their DNA? |
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS
| a) | Did you like reading this article? |
| b) | Is your government doing enough to protect your environment? |
| c) | How much of a “green” are you? |
| d) | What will it take for governments to get serious about biodiversity loss? |
| e) | Which are the worst countries for harming nature? |
| f) | Would you like to get back to nature? |
| g) | What measures should countries put in their international framework on biodiversity? |
| h) | Do you think there will be fish wars one day? |
| i) | What would you say to world leaders if you were a creature threatened with extinction? |
| j) | What questions would you like to ask the author of the U.N. report? |
Ex.17. LANGUAGE- MULTIPLE CHOICE: Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
We are causing so much damage to our planet that it will soon (1) ____ the global economy. This bleak warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are (2) ____ danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative (3) ____ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the (4) ____ of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity (5) ____ a rate never before seen in (6) ____ - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the historical…rate." Scientists are worried that governments will not do enough to try to reduce the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss (7) ____ to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international (8) ____ that will be adopted at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are (9) ____ extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a huge impact on (10) ____ life and many fish species will also disappear. (11) ____ will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse (12) ____ the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.
| 1. | (a) | effective | (b) | affects | (c) | effect | (d) | affect |
| 2. | (a) | on | (b) | in | (c) | of | (d) | from |
| 3. | (a) | impact | (b) | compact | (c) | pact | (d) | packed |
| 4. | (a) | dead | (b) | dies | (c) | deaths | (d) | deceased |
| 5. | (a) | in | (b) | on | (c) | at | (d) | to |
| 6. | (a) | historical | (b) | history | (c) | historian | (d) | histories |
| 7. | (a) | measures | (b) | measured | (c) | measurements | (d) | measuring |
| 8. | (a) | homework | (b) | handiwork | (c) | clockwork | (d) | framework |
| 9. | (a) | necking | (b) | facing | (c) | heading | (d) | nosing |
| 10. | (a) | maritime | (b) | naval | (c) | fishy | (d) | marine |
| 11. | (a) | oceans | (b) | species | (c) | countries | (d) | whales |
| 12. | (a) | with | (b) | at | (c) | of | (d) | in |
Ex.18. WRITING: Write about nature for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.
Unit XII
Дата: 2018-11-18, просмотров: 464.