Worksheet 7

READING COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY

A. Complete the text with the words from the box below

 waves wetter  diseases  developing deadly  extreme

Floods and heat waves: our future?

The weather is changing. Temperatures and sea levels are rising. Summers are getting hotter, winters are getting
__________________. But what does that mean for us here in the UK? What will it be like to live here in the future?
And why should we even care?
In the first few years of this century alone, floods, storms and heat __________________ have shown just how
vulnerable we are to __________________ weather. In August 2004, a 9ft wall of water swept through the villages of
Boscastle and Crackington Haven, in Cornwall, washing 75 cars, six buildings and several boats out to sea.
Extreme weather events such as these become more frequent and more __________________ with climate
change: if average temperatures in the UK go up by as much as 5.8 ºC – the upper end of scientific predictions – by
2010, the effects will be unbearable ... and inescapable. Moreover, the effects of global warming could decimate
much of the ___________________ world as small islands and coastal areas become uninhabitable, whole regions
are plunged into long-term drought, agricultural productivity drops dramatically and the spread of infectious
__________________ increases exponentially.

B. Match the following environmental issues in COLUMN A with their definition in COLUMN B. There is one extra
definition. Write only the letters.
COLUMN A COLUMN B

1. climate change a) Organisms facing a very high risk of extinction.

b) The gradual slight warming of the air surrounding the Earth because
2. fossil fuel heat cannot escape through its upper levels.
c) A damage caused to air and water by harmful substances or waste.
3. greenhouse effect d) The process of cutting trees down for road and house building
along with the greed for meat production and wood business.
4. endangered species e) The process by which soil and rock are removed from the Earth's
surface by wind or water flow.
5. soil erosion f) all forms of climatic inconsistency.
g) coal, oil, natural gas that is burned.
6. deforestation

answer
1 2 3 4 5 6
Read the text carefully:

Respect The Land

When we consider a subject as general as the environment, we often focus on its

most obvious aspects – the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we put on the table.
Those things are critically important. But to me the environment is also about something less
obvious, though no less important. It is about our sense of community – the obligation we
have to each other, and to future generations, to safeguard God’s earth. It is about our sense
of responsibility, and the realization that natural beauty and resources that took millions of years to develop could
be damaged and depleted in a matter of decades. Those are values I learned firsthand as a young boy on my family’s
farm in Tennessee. We didn’t call it environmentalism back then; it was simply common sense.
Today the threats to our environment are even clearer to see – and much greater in scope and number. “We
live in a world where climate change, deforestation, holes in the ozone layer and air pollution are growing sources of
concern. Our challenge is to find new ways to address those problems by reaching back to our oldest values of
community and responsibility – by inspiring a greater respect for the land and the resources we share – even as
economies and societies advance and develop around the world.
Fortunately, as I have raised a family of my own, I have learned that we have millions of powerful allies in this
cause: our children. It is often children who remind their parents to recycle their cans or to bundle their newspapers.
It is often children who remind their parents of the simple miracles of nature – the crops that come from our farms,
the parks and lakes and campsites where families and communities gather.
If we are to protect and preserve our environment on a global scale, we all must do our part, as nations, as
families and as individuals. The need for awareness has never been greater, and the opportunity for us to make a
difference is just as great. If we practise and teach the right kind of care and commitment towards our environment,
it will continue not only to bring us its natural gifts, but also to bring us together.
Source: Al Gore, TIME Magazine(abridged and adapted)
http://www.time.com/time/reports/planet/challenge.html

B. Say whether these sentences are TRUE or FALSE. QUOTE from the text to support ALL your answers.
1. In Al Gore’s opinion, our sense of community is less important than focusing on obvious aspects such as air
pollution, food and the water we drink.
____ / __________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Al Gore became environmentally conscious before becoming an adult.
____ / __________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. He has learnt from his own peers that children are environmentally friendly.
____ / __________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. We all have to work together to preserve the planet.
____ / __________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

C. Reread paragraph 1 and find synonyms for these words:

1. issue 4. awareness
2. evident 5. spoilt, broken
3. to preserve 6. reduced by a large amount
D. Say who/what these words are referring to in the text (they are underlined):

1. that (line 6) ____________________________________________

2. who (line 15) ____________________________________________
3. it (line 21) ____________________________________________
GRAMMAR – ADVERBS
 CORRECTION
A. wetter; waves; extreme; deadly; developing; diseases

B. 1-f 2-g 3-b 4-a 5-e 6-d

B.
1. False: “But to me the environment is also about something less obvious, though no less important. It is about our
sense of community”.
2. True: “Those are values I learned firsthand as a young boy on my family’s farm in Tennessee”.
3. False: “Fortunately, as I have raised a family of my own, I have learned that we have millions of powerful allies in
this cause: our children. It is often children who remind their parents to recycle their cans or to bundle their
newspapers”.
4. True: “If we are to protect and preserve our environment on a global scale, we all must do our part, as nations, as
families and as individuals”.

C. 1.subject 2.obvious 3.to safeguard 4.realization 5.damaged 6.depleted

D. 1. natural beauty and resources 2. children 3. our environment

GRAMMAR – ADVERBS
A.
1.hard 2.fast 3.happily 4.politely 5.well 6.badly 7.carefully 8.correctly

B
1.faster 2.more clearly 3.more quickly 4.more slowly 5.more carefully 6.better

C
1.the hardest 2.the most carefully 3.the worst 4.the best 5.the most healthily