EPISODE 266
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1
READING COMPREHENSION
ENVIRONMENT
We all live on the Earth (= this is the name of our planet) and we know that we should be very careful with the environment (= air, water, land, people and animals), but often we forget about it. There are still many animal species (= types of animals) on our planet, but in the future they may become extinct (= die out) so we must protect them (= keep them safe).
Another problem is pollution (= our planet is very dirty). People produce too much rubbish (= things they don’t need anymore) as they waste many things (= use them badly). We must recycle some materials (= use them again). We also should use environmentally friendly things (= things which are good for the environment).
More contexts for the new words:
- He wastes all his money! (= spends all his money in a stupid way)
- A mother always protects her children. (= takes care of)
EXERCISE 1
Decide if the sentences are correct or incorrect. Correct the sentences which are wrong.
- Cats, dogs and tigers are all examples of animal species.
- Recycling is environmentally friendly.
- An example of pollution is when you have dirty hands.
- If you waste something, you use it well.
- Our planet is called the Earth.
- Rubbish are things that you no longer need.
ENGLISH IN USE
Today we will look at another example of how to use „the”.
We live on the Earth
As you can see, we use „the” with the name of our planet. We do it because it is unique. When you want to talk about something which is unique, you should use „the” before its name, as in:
The Sun
The Moon
The sky
IDIOM CLOSE-UP
A/ Are you going to watch that TV show?
B/ No way! It’s rubbish!
When you say that something is rubbish, you say it is really bad.
PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP
When you want to be environmentally friendly and help recycle rubbish, you can sort it. The verb ‘sort’ can also be used in two phrasal verbs in this context.
- When you SORT something BY something, you sort it according to certain criteria.
Please sort your rubbish by type: glass, paper, or plastic.
Once the information is collected, the computer will sort it by date.
- When you SORT something INTO something, you put it into certain groups.
We sort our rubbish into two groups: organic and recyclable.
Sort the letters into three piles.
EXERCISE 2
Rewrite the sentences keeping the same meaning and using the word in capitals.
- Put the paints into categories according to their colour
BY ………………………………………………
- Divide the vegetables into three groups.
SORT ………………………………………………
- I hate this film!
RUBBISH ………………………………………………
NEWS
FULL RECYCLING BINS
The inhabitants of Sadyba have filed a protest to the city authorities, accusing them of inefficient administration of recycling bins in the area. The authors of the protest claim that the recycling bins are emptied much too rarely. During the week, true enough, they are emptied every day, but no one comes for them between Friday morning and Monday afternoon. As a result, all the rubbish keeps falling out of the bins throughout the weekend, littering the local little park. The local inhabitants suggested that more bins could be placed to solve the problem. So far they have received no official reply.
GLOSSARY
– filed a protest – wrote a letter of protest
– inefficient – not good enough
– claim – say
– littering – making dirty
>>Answers
KEY TO EXERCISES
Ex.1
- T
- T
- F – pollution exists when the planet is dirty
- F – you use it badly
- T
- T
Ex.2
- Sort the paints by colour.
- Sort the vegetables into three groups.
- This film is rubbish!
hide