Páginas

Thursday, 1 December 2016

Eco-cities

Watch this video about the city of Hamburg and complete the information below

1.Fewer cars would mean a reduction of exhaust fumes
2.Hamburg’s target is to slash house gas emissions by 40%
3.Solar power boats show us that we can make do without coal and nuclear power
4.In the summer a membrane prevents too much heat buildup
5.The new neighbourhood tries to meet the highest environmental standards
6.A problem for cyclist is that the cycle lane network is underdeveloped
7.Sustainable mobility should encourage the use of non-motorised transport
8.A green energy plant is located on top of a former rubbish tip

Answers written in white. Select the text above to see them.

Transcribe the first minute:
A big field, goal posts, a pond and more benches and trees. They shouldn't build any grey schools; they feel so lonely; they should be bright and colourful. Fewer cars, becasue the exhaust that comes out of the back is unhealthy and it's bad for the environment. And it's not just the children at st catherine school in Hamburg who want more greenery, better buildings and fewer cars. The city has embraced those aims too. Over the next decade hamburg plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels; a target far more ambitious than those of most european cities. But hamburg is not an idyllic backwater. It's a large industrial centre and its harbour and major transport hub. So lots of people are asking how they aim to achieve these objectives: with lots of individual projects and by everyone doing their bit according to Enno Isermann

Urbanization: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad City

Learn more about this topic

Idioms

What do these mean?
  • everything but the kitchen sink
  • get your own house in order
  • be on the house
  • have a roof over your head
  • build castles in the air
  • throw money down the drain

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Solutions to Global Warming



True or False?
  1. Climate change has an immediate effect on us
  2. A small fee on CO2 content would be paid for by consumers
  3. Every citizen would get the same share of money from the fees
  4. This money must be spent on improving home energy efficiency
  5. Other countries will have to adopt the same policy
  6. Clean technologies will increase unemployment in jobs related to fossil fuels
Answers: 1F, 2F, 3T, 4F, 5T, 6F

Sunday, 13 November 2016

Let's pollute

Watch the following video (Best Short Film, Oscars Animated Nominee) and complete the blanks:


  1. Pollution is our heritage
  2. Nowadays polluting is better and more convenient than ever
  3. Even before the Industrial Revolution we were polluters at heart
  4. After hundreds of years man needed an allay
  5. Machines were a wonder of waste
  6. Some of our past habits were counterproductive
  7. Our ancestors would envy our toxines and contaminants
  8. Remember to always buy the latest trendy gadgets
  9. Corporations produce tons of cheap crap for you to buy
  10. Ask your congressman to eliminate all environmental restrictions
  11. Prepackaged and processed food has minimal nutritional value
  12. The best food for you is the one that has been sprayed with herbicides
Select the sentences to see the answers.
Leave a comment: Are we really like this?