The Environment

listen to ‘Pause For Thought with Mary Sargeant’ on audioBoom

Listen - Pause for Thought with Mary Sargeant - The Environment What issues does Mary mention? What solutions does she offer? Fill in the gaps. Use - aware bans communities disaster drastic ensure extinct flooding issue lifestyles measuring plentiful recycle species swamped A burning issue today centres around the environment and climate change. We have been made (1)___________ over the last few years of how our weather has changed and the (2)___________ it can bring to so many (3)___________ among us. We can all recall the (4)___________ of small villages, fields (5)___________ by water and animals left stranded. On the wider scene we have been made aware of the way which some (6)___________ on our planet, such as polar bears are in danger of becoming (7)___________ in the future unless we can change our (8)___________. We are asked to (9)___________ as much as we can. This can sometimes be difficult, particularly for an elderly person but it has become a necessary part of our daily life to think - can I recycle this item or not? It's also good to know, I think, that we in Devon are taking this (10)___________ seriously. I doubt if many people after then end of World War 2 gave a thought as to how they used water thinking that it was always there and (11)___________, particularly living in our part of the world. How things have changed with hosepipe (12)___________, no car washing, showering instead of bathing or just (13)___________ the water in our baths. Many of us will not be alive to see more (14)___________ changes, but our grandchildren will, and maybe we need to ask what can I do to (15)___________ that they enjoy what I have enjoyed in my life. It's up to us all.

Pollution and the environment - word formation

Word formation
Complete these sentences using the word on the right. The word has to be changed into the correct form. The first one has been done for you.

1. Smoke from factories is polluting the atmosphere.      POLLUTION
2. This is one of many                      problems.                          ENVIRONMENT
3. Pollution is very                      to people's health.               HARM
4. Fortunately there are now many                      groups.    CONSERVE
5. Their aim is the                      of all natural things.             PROTECT
6. Pollution is                      the environment.                           DESTROY
7. The effects of radiation can be very                     .             DAMAGE
8.                       waste is a big problem.                                        INDUSTRY


Answers below!

Where are the rainforests? - FCE gap fill

Here is a gap-fill exercise from First Certificate in English (FCE).

There are fifteen gaps in the text. The most common grammatical words that are removed from the text are:

• prepositions (e.g. on, in, to)

• quantifiers (e.g. little, few)

• auxiliary verbs (e.g. do, are, have)

• determiners (e.g. the, most, another)

• relative pronouns (e.g. whom, who, where)

• possessive adjectives (e.g. my, his, their)

Read the following text and fill in the gaps with an appropriate word.

Where are the rainforests?

Rainforests once occupied almost all the land around the Equator, (1)                      there is hot sun and rainfall almost every day. In these hot, wet areas, trees and (2)                                 kinds of vegetation grow fast, feeding massive numbers (3)                             insects and animals.

Until recently, the rainforests filled river valleys in warmer countries (4)                  Australia. They climbed hillsides of great mountain chains (5)                           as the South American Andes, and covered islands (6)                      Borneo to the West Indies.

In West Africa, the rainforests cover (7)                     wide strip of the coast from Sierra Leone to Gabon. In the last century these forests (8)                       mostly uninhabited. The Europeans arrived and soon began chopping (9)                the trees for timber and to make way for massive plantations of cocoa, peanuts and cotton.

Today, two thirds of the West African forests (10)                            gone. But elsewhere in Central Africa it (11)                                       still possible to find huge undisturbed forests. Nineteenth century explorers along (12)                 River Zaire called Africa the 'dark continent'. Even today (13)                                 are no roads in some places. The inhabitants include pygmies, (14)                                     are trying to lead (15)                                     lives in harmony with the forest.

Adapted from First Certifiacate Gold, Langman 2000

Answers below!

Habitat destruction Use of English exercise

Habitat Destruction

Read the text below and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each space. There is an example at the beginning (0).

0          A environs       B place            C environment                         D ground

All over the world, people are changing the face of the Earth. Wild areas are cleared for farming and to build roads and expand cities. Our factories, cars and power stations poison the (0) ..C... with polluting gases and chemical (1) ..... . As well as transforming the environment, we are destroying habitats, the homes of (2) ..... plants and animals.

Living things have evolved (3) ..... millions of years. Many animals and plants can only (4) ..... in certain environments. When (5) ..... areas are destroyed, wildlife cannot always (6) ..... to the new conditions and some species may (7) ..... . Thousands of species of plants and animals face extinction because of human activities.

People can also (8) ..... from habitat destruction. When forests are (9) ..... earth is washed away, this causes crop failure and starvation. There is the future to consider, too; plants provide essential food and can also be used in medicines. If species (10) ..... extinct, their potential value will never be known.

The scale of destruction is enormous. Swamps, forests, grasslands and jungles are being cleared at an increasing (11) ..... . Half of the world's tropical rainforests have (12) ..... been destroyed. Coral reefs, called the rainforests of the ocean because they are so rich in life, are (13) .....  around the world. We must limit the (14) ..... to habitats now (15) ..... they remain a valuable resource for the future.

1          A   rubbish       B   nonsense          C  remains             D   waste  

2          A   both            B   each                 C  every                  D   either  

3          A   over            B   in                      C  during                D   since  

4          A   persist         B   survive             C  go                       D   attend  

5          A   so                B   this                   C  such                   D   that  

6          A   adapt          B   use                    C  stand                 D   bear  

7          A   fade out      B   die out              C  give out             D   run out  

8          A   experience  B   feel                   C  suffer                 D   damage  

9          A   cut down    B   pulled down     C  put down          D   struck down  

10        A   get               B   die                    C  result                D   become  

11        A   degree          B   rate                  C  extent               D   index  

12        A   still              B   even                 C  already              D   yet  

13        A   threatened  B   violated            C  wasted              D   spoilt  

14        A   injury          B   hurt                  C  damage            D   pain  

15        A   so that         B   in order to        C   in case             D   as a result  

Adapted from Fast Track to FCE, Longman

Answers below!

The environment

Environmental problems

The natural world

Pollution

Energy

Useful verbs

Essay

Click on the image to listen to some instructions on writing an essay, you'll also find an interesting exercise.

Irregular verbs Games

                                              Click on the images to play these games!      

Conditional sentences practice

Some of you have asked for extra exercises on conditional sentences. So, here they are, just click on the links.

Zero Conditional
First Conditional
Second Conditional
Third Conditional
Different types
As long as, provided, providing, unless

Click on the image for an exercise!

Finland has world's best education system

                                                          Click on the image to listen

A new report into world education shows Finland has the best system. The global study is called "The Learning Curve" and is from the British magazine "The Economist". It aims to help governments provide a better education to students. The 52-page report looked at the education system in 50 countries. Researchers analysed millions of statistics on exam grades, literacy rates, attendance, and university graduation rates. Asia did well in the report, with South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore finishing second, third, fourth and fifth. The United States came 17th in the study, while Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia filled the bottom three positions in the top 50.

The Learning Curve reported on five things that education leaders should remember. The first is that spending lots of money on schools and teachers does not always mean students will learn. Second is that "good teachers are essential to high-quality education". The report said teachers should be "treated as the valuable professionals they are, not as technicians in a huge, educational machine". Numbers three and four are that a country's culture must have a strong focus on the importance of education, and parents have a key part to play. Finally, countries need to "educate for the future, not just the present." The report said: "Many of today’s job titles…simply did not exist 20 years ago."

Sources: timeshighereducation.co.uk / thelearningcurve.pearson.com
From: Breakingnewsenglish.com

SYNONYM MATCH:Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	report	a.	reading/writing
2	system	b.	necessary
3.	provide	c.	method
4.	analysed	d.	important
5.	literacy	e.	examined
6.	essential	f.	study
7.	valuable	g.	giant
8.	huge	h.	give
9.	key	i.	names
10.	titles	j.	precious

10 quick tips for writing essays

School memories

2nd Conditional

Try this  video quiz !

Talking about education

A good exercise (especially for Cambridge FCE) is to think about your own education and how you could describe it. Here is someone’s story:

When I was little I went to nursery school. Most of the time we played games and had fun but at the age of 5 I started primary school. We had to sit at desks and at break time I remember the playground being full of children I didn’t know. School education was a bit of a shock.

As I got older I got used to school and particularly enjoyed doing maths but English was a little more difficult! At the age of 12 (year 7), I went to secondary school. It was pretty large with over 1,400 pupils. The school was rather academic so there was pressure to do well in exams. Some of the teachers were quite strict but most were friendly. There were also a lot of extra-curricular activities such as music, drama, theatre visits and a large range of clubs.

At 16 I had to take GCSE’s and fortunately my grades were good enough to continue to the sixth form and study for my A-levels. We were given a lot of homework including a large number of essays. After 2 years of study I took my exams and managed to get to college.

University life was very different. We had a significant amount of independence and could choose which lectures to attend, although tutorials were compulsory unless you had a very good excuse. The tuition fees were not cheap and this made me even more determined not to flunk my finals but to do my best and get a good grade.

After graduating with a 2:1 degree, I decided not to do a masters or attempt a PhD but to start working for a small technology company. I went on a large number of courses and even had a mentor at work. Their coaching of me was incredibly useful.

I suppose education never ends.

Notes:

In Britain most schools are state (government) schools and are paid for through taxation. There are also independent (private) schools. The most well-known independent schools such as Eton are known as public schools!

British Qualifications

British Qualifications

GCSE	A Levels	Degrees	PhD
GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) are taken by secondary school students, at the age of 14-16 in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar (in Scotland, the equivalent is the Standard Grade). GCSE courses are taken in a variety of subjects, which are usually decided by the students themselves between the ages of 13 and 14 (in Year 9). Study of chosen subjects normally begins at age 14 (Year 10), and final examinations are then taken at age 16 (Year 11). At the end of the two-year GCSE course, each student receives a grade for each subject. These grades, from best to worst, are: A* (pronounced 'A-star') A B C D E F G	A-levels (Advanced Level) are taken by students in the final two years of secondary education (commonly called the Sixth Form), after they have completed GCSEs. It is a non-compulsory qualification taken by students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, students usually take Highers and Advanced Highers of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate. However, schools may choose to offer the A-Level as an alternative. A-levels are graded from A to E, along with a fail grade, U (Unclassified or Ungraded).	In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are two different types of degree: Honours degrees and Ordinary degrees. The degrees awarded carry a designation related to the broad subject area such as B.A. (Bachelor of arts), B.Sc (Bachelor of Science), B.Eng (Bachelor of Engineering) etc. Most degrees are honours degrees, with an option not to take honours. The standard length of a Honours bachelor's degree is 3 years. On successful graduation from a bachelor's degree, it is possible to extend your studies in the United Kingdom to study for a degree of Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MSc) etc.	A doctorate is an academic degree of the highest level. Traditionally, the award of a doctorate implies recognition of the candidate as an equal by the university faculty under which he or she studied.

- See more at: http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/education.html#sthash.qkSnwrCc.dpuf

Vocabulary Exercises

             If you want some extra practice for vocabulary on Education, try these exercises:

FCE Education 1
FCE Education 2
FCE Education 3

Education

Definitions

• to attend classes: to go to classes
• bachelors degree: an undergraduate course which usually lasts 3-4 years
• boarding school: a school where pupils live during term time
• distance learning: a way of studying where tuition is carried out over the Internet or by post
• face-to-face classes: as opposed to distance learning the traditional way of studying in a classroom with colleagues and a teacher
• to fall behind with your studies: to progress less quickly than others
• to give feedback: to offer guidance on a student’s work
• a graduation ceremony: an event where a successful student receives his or her academic degree
• higher education: education, usually in a college or university, that is followed after high school or secondary school
• an intensive course: a course that offers lots of training in order to reach a goal in as short a time as possible
• to keep up with your studies: to not fall behind
• to learn something by heart: to memorize it
• a mature student: a student who is older than average and who has usually returned to education after a period at work
• masters degree: a period of study which often follows the completion of a bachelors degree or is undertaken by someone regarded as capable of a higher-level academic course
• to meet a deadline: to finish a job or task in the time allowed or agreed
• to play truant: to stay away from classes without permission
• private language school: an independent school run as a business concern
• public schools: exclusive independent schools in the UK
• a single-sex school: a school where only boys or girls attend (as opposed to a mixed-sex school)
• to sit an exam: to take an exam
• state school: a school paid for by public funds and available to the general public
• subject specialist: a teacher who has a great deal of knowledge about the subject they teach.
• to take a year out: to spend a year working or travelling before starting university
• tuition fees: the money paid for a course of study
• to work your way through university: to have a paid job whilst studying to support yourself financially

Conditional

Click on the image for a presentation on conditional and some practice.

Definition of Bullying

Bullying is intentional aggressive behavior. It can take the form of physical or verbal harassment and involves an imbalance of power (a group of children can gang up on a victim or someone who is physically bigger or more aggressive can intimidate someone else, for instance).

Bullying behavior can include teasing, insulting someone (particularly about their weight or height, race, sexuality, religion or other personal traits), shoving, hitting, excluding someone, or gossiping about someone.

Bullying can cause a victim to feel upset, afraid, ashamed, embarrassed, and anxious about going to school. It can involve children of any age, including younger elementary grade-schoolers and even kindergarteners. Bullying behavior is frequently repeated unless there is intervention.

How to tell if your boyfriend is a slob

Exercises and script here