Exercise 1
The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN)
The WFN is a UK charity which aims to help the environment in different parts of the world. They give money to people who are trying to save their local environment from danger. They believe that the best projects:
– are practical
– are based on good science
– help local people but also depend on local people’s help.
Every year, they award up to £35,000 to people who run projects that will bring long-term positive change to the environment. With the help of the Whitley Award money, these people will be able to increase the size of their projects and become better known both in their own country and even abroad.
a Ekwoge Enang Abwe
The Ebo forest in Cameroon covers almost 2,000 km2 and is home to a unique mix of 11 primates, including gorillas and the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, the most endangered of the chimpanzees. These amazing chimps use tools to fish and open fruit. In addition, the spectacular Goliath frog, the largest frog in the world, lives here.
The Cameroon government is considering turning the Ebo forest into a national park with a focus on conservation research and tourism, but there are still threats from local people and large companies who want to use the land for farming.
Ekwoge Enang Abwe grew up in a village in Cameroon, so his love for chimpanzees began at an early age. He has played an important role in the area for almost a decade and, since 2010, he has been managing the Ebo Forest Research Project.
As well as encouraging local communities to be proud of the forest’s unique biodiversity, this project has been doing biological research in the forest. The project has regular contact with communities through environmental and conservation education. They hope they will be able to create a safe future for the Ebo forest.
b Dr Aparajita Datta
In 1995, Dr Aparajita Datta arrived at the Pakke Tiger Reserve in north-east India to study the local wildlife. Her attention was captured by a species of beautiful birds called hornbills. These birds are endangered because of hunting and the destruction of their forest home. Aparajita now leads a programme to conserve them.
India’s north-eastern region is known for its biological and cultural diversity. The area contains the world’s most northerly tropical rainforests with an estimated 7,000—8,000 species of flowering plants, and over 600 bird and 150 mammal species, including tigers and elephants. The region also has small tribal communities and these communities often depend on using the resources from the forest to survive. Aparajita and her team are working with local people and the government. They hope to find a balance between the conservation of wildlife and the needs of the local communities. Aparajita is spreading knowledge of the importance of hornbills to the forest – plants need them to spread their seeds. There is also a nest adoption programme, with money going to villagers who help to protect the birds.
c Çağan Şekercioğlu
Turkey has a huge variety of natural environments, from Mediterranean forests to coastal mountains. But many of these areas are threatened by the construction of new dams and roads. Çağan Şekercioğlu has been working hard to protect some of these areas. He is the first conservationist to win two Whitley Gold Awards.
In 2008, he won his first award for his work to protect the natural environment around Lake Kuyucuk, home to over 40,000 birds of 227 species. This work included research into the local wildlife, environmental education programmes for schools, and promoting nature tourism to support the local economy.
He won the award again in 2013 after he persuaded the government to create Turkey’s first Wildlife Corridor. Approximately 4.5 million trees will be planted to connect the Sarikamiş-Allahuekber National Park to the forests along the Black Sea coast and the Caucasus mountains in neighbouring Georgia. This will allow large animals, such as the wolf, brown bear and Caucasian lynx, to move freely and safely.
Çağan’s interest in conservation began when, as a teenager in Istanbul, a local wetland area where he had played as a small child was destroyed. This early experience inspired his life’s work of protecting Turkey’s wildlife habitats. For his next mission, he hopes to stop the construction of a dam that could destroy one of the world’s most important wetlands.
A. Read about the Whitley Fund for Nature below and answer the questions.
1 Who do they give money to?
2 How much money do they give?
3 What can winners do with the money?
B. Read your part of the article (a, b and c) and answer the questions below.
1 Where does the person work?
2 How did they first get interested in conservation?
3 What wildlife are they trying to protect?
4 Does the person work with local people? What does he/she do?
5 What does the person hope will happen in the future?
Answer
A
1 They give money to environmental projects in different parts of the world.
2 They give up to £35,000.
3 They can use the money for local environmental projects.
B
Text a
1 Ekwoge Enang Abwe works in the Ebo Forest in Cameroon.
2 He grew up in Cameroon so his love for chimpanzees began at an early age.
3 Eleven primates including the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee and gorillas, and the Goliath frog.
4 Yes, he does. He encourages local communities to be proud of the forest’s biodiversity, and he manages a project which does biological research in the forest.
5 He hopes they will be able to create a safe future for the Ebo forest.
Text b
1 Dr Aparajita Datta works in the Pakke Tiger Reserve in north-east India.
2 She arrived there to study the local wildlife, and her attention was instantly captured by the hornbills there.
3 She leads a programme to conserve hornbills in the region.
4 Yes, she works with local people and the government. She tells local people about what the hornbills do.
5 She hopes they will find a balance between wildlife conservation and the local communities’ needs.
Text c
1 Çağan Şekercioğlu works in different parts of Turkey.
2 A local wetland area near where he had played as a child was destroyed.
3 In 2008, his aim was to protect the natural environment around Lake Kuyucuk, including 40,000 birds of 227 species. In 2013, he persuaded the Turkish government to create Turkey’s first wildlife corridor, the largest conservation project in the country. Four and a half million trees will be planted, which will also allow large animals like the wolf, brown bear, and lynx to move freely and safely.
4 Yes, he does. His work has included education programmes for schools.
5 He hopes to stop the construction of a dam that could destroy an important wetland.
Exercise 2
Keeping our water clean
1 If you walk down the street and see someone throw a plastic bottle on the ground, you’ll probably get annoyed. You might even say something to that person. But do we react in the same way when we see people throwing rubbish into the sea? We all know how rubbish damages the environment on land, but we often forget the effect that it can have on environments like the sea, lakes and rivers, too.
2 First of all, water pollution looks terrible. Beautiful beaches can become covered in rubbish when whatever we have thrown into the water comes ashore. It’s just not pleasant to swim in rivers and lakes that have plastic bags floating in them.
3 Secondly, rubbish can hurt animals and birds that live in or by the water. If they see a plastic bottle, they may think it is food. However, when they try and eat the bottle, it can get caught in their mouth or stomach and stop them from eating anything else. Plastic bottles can also stop dolphins from breathing. Sometimes, fishing boats leave bits of fishing net behind in the water. Fish can get caught in this and die.
4 Finally, people forget that plastic contains chemicals which stay in the water. This is very bad for both fish and plants. If you eat fish containing these chemicals, then you can also get sick.
5 In conclusion, I would say that we need to worry about water pollution as much as we care about land or air pollution. We should all look after the seas, lakes and rivers, and remember to take our rubbish away with us.
A. Read Tomas’ essay about water pollution below. In his opinion, who should do something about this kind of pollution?
B. Read the essay again. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?
1 Tomas suggests that we probably don’t complain when people throw rubbish in water.
2 He suggests there’s more rubbish in lakes than on beaches.
3 Eating plastic can make animals and birds ill.
4 Forgotten bits of fishing net can kill fish.
5 Tomas thinks water pollution is worse than air pollution.
Answer
A
All of us.
B
1 T 2 F 3 T 4 T 5 F
Exercise 3
‘There is no such thing as climate change. Environmental scientists have been lying to us.’ Discuss.
A
All around the world, we hear stories of terrible weather becoming even worse. For instance, while forests in Australia are on fire, fields in Egypt are covered in snow. Environmental scientists explain that events such as these are due to climate change. They say that if we cannot protect the environment from pollution, we will definitely destroy the Earth, and everything and everyone that lives on it. Despite this, there are still many people who say that scientists have been lying to us and there is no such thing as climate change. This essay will look at both sides of the argument to see who is telling the truth.
B
First of all, it is necessary to remember that scientific opinion has changed many times since the end of the Second World War. For example, in the 1950s, average temperatures in many countries seemed to be rising. Some of the world’s best scientists said that this proved that the world was becoming hotter. However, in the early 1970s the world began to freeze. Many countries had the worst winters they had ever known. As a result, scientists made new predictions: the world was not becoming hotter, but much colder. After the freezing winters of the 1970s, world temperatures began to rise again in the 1980s and 1990s. Scientists changed their predictions again and decided that the world was now becoming too hot.
C
Some people have said that these examples prove that climate change does not exist. And it is true that scientists have made mistakes. However, I don’t believe this means that they are wrong about climate change. Even with advanced technology, it is very difficult to make predictions about the future of weather. The environment is very complex. It consists of billions of creatures and we should also remember that natural environments such as jungles, deserts and mountains are also alive. Therefore it is hard for environmental scientists to make accurate predictions about the weather because all living things change all the time. So although scientific predictions can sometimes be wrong, it does not mean that climate change is not real.
D
In conclusion, environmental scientists have not invented climate change. They have made mistakes but the important point is not whether the world s becoming hotter or colder but that the climate is becoming worse. We have an opportunity to prevent climate change and take action.
A. Read the student’s essay. Match the paragraphs A—D with function 1—6. There are two extra functions you do not need.
Paragraph A ………
Paragraph B ………
Paragraph C ………
Paragraph D ………
1 To describe the consequences of climate change
2 To describe weather problems
3 To give the student’s own opinion
4 To introduce the main topic and explain the purpose of the essay
5 To show why climate change might be true
6 To show why climate change might not be true
B. Read the essay again and tick (✓) the correct answer.
1 According to environmental scientists, …
a forest fires and snow have changed the world’s climate.
b pollution has created problems all around the world.
c it is not possible to protect the environment from climate change.
2 The writer explains that the purpose of her essay is …
a to consider two different opinions about climate change.
b to prove that climate change does not really exist.
c to prove that environmental scientists are telling the truth.
3 Why did scientists change their minds in the 1970s?
a because the weather changed unexpectedly
b because they could not predict changes in the weather
c because world temperatures had increased
4 The writer’s main purpose in paragraph B is to show …
a how the world’s weather changed after World War II.
b that scientists often disagree with each other.
c why some people might not believe in climate change.
5 According to the writer, why is it difficult to predict the weather?
a Environmental scientists do not have the correct equipment.
b The environment never stays the same for very long.
c There are not enough scientists to make accurate predictions.
6 The writer’s main purpose in paragraph C is to show …
a how difficult it can be to make accurate predictions.
b why scientists are wrong about climate change.
c why we should believe environmental scientists.
7 According to the writer, …
a it is not possible to protect the environment from pollution.
b terrible weather proves that climate change exists.
c we should not trust the predictions of environmental scientists.
C. Write an essay. Read the question below. Then use the Internet to find ideas, facts and information which agree and disagree with the statement. Decide whether you agree or disagree with the statement in the question.
‘Climate change is natural – sometimes the earth’s temperature is hot, other times it is cold. Climate change is not a consequence of pollution.’ Discuss.
Answer
A
A 4 B 6 C 5 D 3
B
1 b 2 a 3 a 4 b 5 b 6 a 7 b
