Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm THPT: Sử dụng tài liệu đọc IELTS để nâng cao khả năng viết cho học sinh chuyên tại trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy

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Mục đích nghiên cứu sáng kiến nhằm giúp giáo viên sẽ sử dụng các bài đọc trong kỳ thi IELTS sắp xếp thành các chủ đề khác nhau. Khi dạy đọc trên lớp bên cạnh việc làm bài tập đọc hiểu giáo viên sẽ phân tích các từ vựng ở cấp độ nâng cao xuất hiện trong các bài đọc. Nhấn mạnh những cách diễn đạt hay tự nhiên mà người bản xứ thường dùng trong các bài viết học thuật. Bởi vì mỗi bài đọc trong kỳ thi IELTS chính là những bài viết mẫu chuẩn của người bản xứ, dó đó học sinh có thể học được rất nhiều điều về cách viết thông qua việc đọc hiểu các tài liệu này.

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Nội dung Text: Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm THPT: Sử dụng tài liệu đọc IELTS để nâng cao khả năng viết cho học sinh chuyên tại trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy

CỘNG HOÀ XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc ĐƠN ĐỀ NGHỊ CÔNG NHẬN SÁNG KIẾN Tên sáng kiến: Deploy IELTS reading materials to develop writing ability of gifted students at Luong Van Tuy gifted high school Tác giả: Hà Thị Thanh Thủy – Phó hiệu trưởng Trần Thị Thu Thủy - Giáo viên Phạm Thị Linh - Giáo viên Đơn vị công tác: Trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy Ninh Bình, tháng 04 năm 2023
CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc ĐƠN ĐỀ NGHỊ CÔNG NHẬN SÁNG KIẾN Kính gửi : Sở giáo dục và đào tạo Ninh Bình Tôi (hoặc chúng tôi) ghi tên dưới đây: TT Họ và tên Ngày tháng Nơi công tác Chức danh Trình độ Tỷ lệ năm sinh chuyên môn (%) đóng góp vào việc tạo ra sáng kiến 1. Hà Thị Thanh Thủy 23/11/1981 Trường THPT Phó Hiệu Thạc sĩ 30% chuyên Lương VănTrưởng Tụy 2. Trần Thị Thu Thủy 12/8/1979 Trường THPT Giáo viên Thạc sĩ 30% chuyên Lương Văn Tụy 3. Phạm Thị Linh 10/12/1993 Trường THPT Giáo viên Cử nhân 40% chuyên Lương Văn Tụy 1. Tên sáng kiến, lĩnh vực áp dụng Là tác giả (nhóm tác giả) đề nghị xét công nhận sáng kiến : “Deploy IELTS reading materials to develop writing ability of gifted students at Luong Van Tuy gifted high school” (Sử dụng tài liệu đọc IELTS để nâng cao khả năng viết cho học sinh chuyên tại trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy
Lĩnh vực áp dụng: Giảng dạy Tiếng Anh 2. Nội dung a. Giải pháp cũ thường làm: - Chi tiết giải pháp cũ: Trươc đây để nâng cao khả năng viết giáo viên thường đưa ra các đề bài theo từng chủ đề, cung cấp từ vựng và cùng học sinh brainstorm, lập sơ đồ tư duy để lên dàn bài và hướng dẫn học sinh viết bài - Ưu điểm: Học sinh có cơ hội được luyện viết, gặp nhiều dạng đề ở các chủ đề khác nhau, luyện brainstorm và tăng vốn từ vựng - Nhược điểm và những tồn tại cần khắc phục: Tuy nhiên, cách làm này chưa giúp học sinh, đặc biệt là các em học sinh lớp chuyên anh nâng cao được kiến thức nền – một trong những yêu tố quan trọng giúp học sinh phát triển ý khi làm bài. Đối với học sinh các lớp chuyên, các em sẽ gặp phải rất nhiều những chủ đề viết khó và mới nên việc có kiến thức nền ở các lĩnh vực khác nhau là vô cùng cần thiết. Bên cách đó việc chỉ cung cấp từ vựng một cách riêng biệt mà không đặt trong bối cảnh học thuật hoặc tình huống cụ thể khiến học sinh khó có thể dùng từ một cách chính xác, tự nhiên và phù hợp bối cảnh. b. Giải pháp mới cải tiến: - Mô tả bản chất của giải pháp mới: Giáo viên sẽ sử dụng các bài đọc trong kỳ thi IELTS sắp xếp thành các chủ đề khác nhau. Khi dạy đọc trên lớp bên cạnh việc làm bài tập đọc hiểu giáo viên sẽ phân tích các từ vựng ở cấp độ nâng cao xuất hiện trong các bài đọc. Nhấn mạnh những cách diễn đạt hay tự nhiên mà người bản xứ thường dùng trong các bài viết học thuật. Bởi vì mỗi bài đọc trong kỳ thi IELTS chính là những bài viết mẫu chuẩn của người bản xứ, dó đó học sinh có thể học được rất nhiều điều về cách viết thông qua việc đọc hiểu các tài liệu này. - Tính mới, tính sáng tạo của giải pháp: Sử dụng tài liệu đọc hiểu đề nâng cao kỹ năng viết học thuật cho học sinh 3. Hiệu quả kinh tế, xã hội dự kiến đạt được - Hiệu quả kinh tế: Các tài liệu viết chuẩn được thực hiện bởi người bản xứ, hay những tài liệu ngôn ngữ thường có giá thành rất cao. Tuy nhiên, nếu áp dụng phương pháp này giáo viên và học sinh sẽ tiết kiệm được nhiều chi phí vì các tài liệu cho kỳ thi IELTS rất phổ biến và dễ tìm kiếm trên Internet. - Hiệu quả xã hội: Học sinh được nâng cao vốn từ vựng học thuật, kiến thức nền ở nhiều lĩnh vực khoa học khác nhau. Qua đó phát triển kỹ năng viết nói riêng và kỹ năng ngôn ngữ nói chung ở cấp độ học thuật. 4. Điều kiện và khả năng áp dụng - Điều kiện áp dụng: Học sinh các lớp 10 chuyên Anh
- Khả năng áp dụng: Đây là dự án có khả năng áp dung cao đối với các lớp học sinh có năng lực tiếng Anh tốt vì tài liệu đọc IELTS hiện nay rất phổ biển và dễ dàng tìm kiếm được ở trên các websites học thuật. - Danh sách những người đã tham gia áp dụng sáng kiến lần đầu (nếu có): Họ vàNgày thángNơi công Trình độ chuyênNội dung công việc hỗ TT Chức danh tên năm sinh tác môn trợ Tôi (chúng tôi) xin cam đoan mọi thông tin nêu trong đơn là trung thực, đúng sự thật và hoàn toàn chịu trách nhiệm trước pháp luật. Ninh Bình, ngày 24 tháng 4 năm 2023 XÁC NHẬN CỦA LÃNH ĐẠO ĐƠN VỊ Người nộp đơn (Ký và ghi rõ họ tên)
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale of the study Writing is said to be a productive skill and according to Meyers (2005), writing is somewhat a talent, but it is primarily a skill and like any skill, it will be developed with practice. Ur (1996) argues that unlike speaking skills acquired intuitively, writing skills are in most cases taught and learned intentionally. However, writing is an intricate process that requires writers to convey their thoughts and ideas, and make them tangible and comprehensible. It is a challenging skill for nonnative speakers because writers must handle multiple concerns such as content, organization, purpose, vocabulary, punctuation, spelling, grammar accuracy, coherence and cohersion. In high school’s ELT setting, students are struggling to enhance their writing’s coherence since they did not know how to produce a logically organized and well-supported argument. ESL students’s writing ability could be tampered with by the overuse of the mother tongue and the limitation of academic vocabulary. From this real circumstance, the study is conducted with the aim to preparing students for their writing performance in the test in particular and help them improve their writing proficiency in general. 1.2. The aim of the study The study was conducted with the aim of identifying the effectiveness of deploying IELTS reading materials to develop writing ability of gifted students, with the assumption that IELTS reading materials support students to build and develop academic vocabulary and writing style, thereby improving the ideas in students’ essay. 1.3. Scope of the study This study was conducted with the participation of grade-10 students in Major English classes to investigate the influences of utilizing IELT reading passages on developing ideas of their writing pieces 1.4. The significance of the study It is hopeful that the research could provide a more insightful understanding of the potential of this approach to learning and devise more appropriate techniques and strategies including guides for lesson planning implemented in classroom as well as proposals of ways to enhance students’ self-study. A collection of practice exercises and samples is also included so that teachers and students can utilize it as a source of teaching and learning materials. 6|Page
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Definition of writing skill The concept of writing has long been discussed and investigated by many researchers in order to find out how to improve this productive skill effectively. As a result, opinions are divided in answering such questions as what writing skills are and how to teach them. Writing is a linguistic skill that is necessary for us to successfully express ourselves in our daily lives, especially in complex circumstances where logic is highly demanded, according to Pardede (2014, p. 57). Writing itself, according to Knapp and Watkins (2005, p. 82), is a disciplined activity that requires platforms for exchanging and assessing ideas like conversation or self-reflection. Sianturi, Silalahi and Purba (2020) also state that writing is the process of thinking and creating some ideas, mesages in sequences of orders. The sequences might just be two or three sentences long but the words have to be arranged and connected and make sense as a whole. In other words, they put emphasis in the significance of idea development, idea organization or coherence in general. 2.2. Challenges in Teaching Writing 2.2.1. Challenges to students Lack of language knowledge: The main barrier to developing and practicing writing skills in students is their inadequate academic vocabulary. Students frequently experience difficulties coming up with words and ideas when studying a challenging subject like science, politics, technology …..which can render them anxious when brainstorming. In some cases, students fail to use vocabulary naturally in the right context. Many students invariably want to show that they are academically superior by employing academic vocabulary. Nevertheless, they sometimes minimize the significance of specific terminology for particular themes. They utilize complex terms without fully understanding the context, which leads to misunderstanding the idea of content to convey. Lack of background knowledge is also an obstacle for students' writing process. Nation (2006) draws the following conclusion: "Learners need to know roughly 98% of the terms in the written or spoken language to be able to grasp what they hear or read well.” In other words, a student's ability to form ideas will not be hindered when exposed to novel or out-of-curriculum issues if they have a solid and comprehensive background, whereas students who lack background knowledge or who are unfamiliar with the subject would struggle. 2.1.2.2. Challenges to teachers. As can be referred from the previous part, writing is truly complex and it requires a lot of effort to be enhanced. There arises the need of looking into common problems hindering the process of teaching writing skills. According to Westwood (2008), writing is the most challenging skill to master since it needs the efficient cooperation of cognitive, linguistic, and psycho-motor processes. There are five 7|Page
components of effective writing namely purpose, audience clarity, coherence, and unity. Writing is therefore typically categorized as a complicated intellectual task. Writing becomes such a unique skill because instructional context is usually restricted to classroom settings. Progress with this skill is difficult if the teacher attempts to teach how to write together with what to write (Alidmat & Ayassrah, 2017). Feronica, Apriani and Edy (2021) also figure out the challenges of teaching language proficiency to high school students who acquire English comprehensively with higher accuracy and efficiency targets. 8|Page
CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION After finding out the problems encountered by students when writing essay, it is pivotal that the solutions be discussed. The teachers decided to deploy IELTS reading materials to develop writing ability of gifted students. 3.1. The effects of the IELTS reading for writing approach on the writing ability of the learners When it comes to the usage of specific phrases, authentic resources, especially “IELTS reading passages” are significantly more helpful than language provided in textbooks or any other educational materials. Because their primary audience is native speakers, they feature completely different topics, language, syntax, and other elements than traditional materials that have been adapted for second-language learners. Therefore, the integration between reading and writing will enable students understand and use English to a native level. IELTS reading passages provides examples of truly exceptional writing, thereby offering pupils with training in voice, structure, syntax, and language. Through IELTS reading texts, students also gain background knowledge in various academic fields, which might help them come up with ideas more effectively when writing essays. 3.2. Procedures 3.2.1. Select IELTS reading passages - Reading passages will be chosen and categorized according to the topics listed below. Health Environment/ Energy Sports Business Politics Tourism/ Travel Education Science Technology Work Food Fashion 3.2.2. Highlight academic vocabulary and ideas Teacher and students work together to analyze IELTS reading text and identify academic vocabulary, background information and topic-related ideas. The examples below show how reading material will be utilized to assist students enhance their vocabulary, phrases, and ideas. New words are highlighted and explained the meaning in the right column while ideas and expressions are underlined a. ENVIRONMENT 9|Page
The climate changers The romantic notion that early humans lived Harmony /ˈhɑːməni /: the combination of in harmony with their environment has taken simultaneously sounded musical notes to quite a battering lately. Modem humans may produce chords and chord progressions have started eliminating other species right having a pleasing effect from the start; our ancestors stand accused of synonyms:euphony, polyphony, consonance, wiping out mega fauna – from giant tunefu lness... flightless birds in Australia to mammoths in eliminating/ ɪˈlɪmɪneɪtɪŋ /: completely Asia and the ground sloth of North America – remove or get rid of (something) as they spread across the planet. synonyms: remove, get rid of, abolish, put an Even so, by around 6,000 years ago there end to, do away with, end,terminate, were only about 12 million people on earth. eradicate, destroy That’s a far cry from today’s 6.6 billion, accused/əˈkjuːzd /: charge (someone) with many of us guzzling fossil fuels, churning an offense or crime out greenhouse gases and messing with our planet’s climate like there’s no tomorrow. So it synonyms:charge with, indict for, arraign for, may seem far-fetched to suggest that humans take to court for, put on trial for… have been causing global warming ever since fauna/ˈfɔːnə /: the animals of a particular our ancestors started burning and cutting region, habitat, or geological period forests to make way for fields at least 7,000 years ago guzzling/ ˈgʌzlɪŋ /: eat or drink (something) greedily Yet that’s the view of retired climate scientist William Ruddiman, formerly of the churning/ ˈʧɜːnɪŋ /: to produce large amounts University of Virginia, Charlottesville. of something quickly, usually something Ancient farmers were pumping climate- oflow quality warming carbon dioxide and methane into the far-fetched / ˈfɑːˈfɛʧt /: unlikely and atmosphere long before recorded history unconvincing; implausible began, he says. Far from causing catastrophe, however, early farmers halted pumping / ˈpʌmpɪŋ /: force (liquid, gas, the planet’s descent into another ice age and etc.) to move by or as if by means of a pump kept Earth warm and stable for thousands of synonyms:force, drive, push, send, transport, years. raise, inject,... Could a few primitive farmers really have catastrophe/ kəˈtæstrəfi /: an event causing changed the climate of the entire globe? If great and often sudden damage or suffering you find this hard to believe, you’re not the halted / ˈhɔːltɪd /: bring or come to only one. Ruddiman’s idea has been hugely an abrupt stop controversial ever since he proposed it in synonyms:stop, come to a halt, come 2003. ‘Most new ideas, especially to a stop, come to a standstill, come controversial ones, die out pretty fast. It 10 | P a g e
doesn’t take science long to weed them out,’ to rest.. he says. Yet five years on, his idea is still not primitive / ˈprɪmɪtɪv /: dead. On the contrary, he says the latest being the first or earliest of the kind or evidence strengthens his case. ‘It has become in existence, especially in an early age of the clear that natural explanations for the rise in world greenhouse gases over the past few thousand years are the ones that are not measuring up, synonyms: and we can reject them,’he claims. prehistoric, primal, primary, original, aboriginal There is no doubt that the soaring levels of weed / wiːd /: remove unwanted plants from carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (an area of ground or the plants cultivated in that we see in the atmosphere today – causing it) a 0.7° C rise in average global temperature during the 20thcentury – are the result of suspect / ˈsʌspɛkt /: have an idea or human activities. In the late 1990s, however, impression of the existence, presence, or truth Ruddiman started to suspect that our of (something) without certain proof contribution to the global greenhouse began to synonyms:have a suspicion, have a feeling, become significant long before the industrial feel, be inclined to think, fancy… age began. This was when an ice core drilled drilled / drɪld /: produce (a hole) in something at the Vostok station in Antarctica revealed by or as if by boring with a drill how atmospheric C02 and methane levels have changed over the past 400,000 years. synonyms:bore a hole in, make a hole in, cut a Bubbles trapped in the ice provide a record of hole in, drill a hole in, bore, pierce,puncture.. the ancient atmosphere during the past three revealed / rɪˈviːld /: make (previously interglacials. unknown or secret information) known to What we see is a regular pattern of rises and others falls with a period of about 100,000 years, synonyms:divulge, disclose, tell, let coinciding with the coming and going of ice out, let slip, report, declare, post, ages. There are good explanations for these communicate.. cycles: periodic changes in the planet’s orbit and axis of rotation alter the amount of interglacials /ɪntɝːˈɡleɪ.si.ɚ/ relating to a period sunlight reaching the Earth. We are now in of milder climate between two glacial periods one of the relatively brief, warm interglacial orbit / ˈɔːbɪt /: the curved path of a celestial periods that follow an ice age. object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or Within this larger pattern there are regular moon, especially a periodic elliptical peaks in methane every 22,000 years that revolution coincide with the times when the Earth’s orbit makes summers in the northern hemisphere synonyms:course, path, track, rotation, cycle, warmest. This makes sense, because warm round northern summers drive strong tropical monsoons / mɒnˈsuːnz /: gió mùa ^^ monsoons in southern Asia that both encourage the growth of vegetation and cause thaw / θɔː /: become liquid or soft as a result 11 | P a g e
flooding, during which vegetation rotting in of warming oxygen-poor water will emit methane. Around the Arctic, hot summers thaw wetlands for synonyms:melt, unfreeze, soften, longer, again promoting both vegetation dissolve, defrost.. growth and methane emission. In recent times, however, this regular pattern swathes / sweɪðz /: a piece or strip of has changed. The last methane peak occurred material in which something is wrapped around 11,000 years ago, at about 700 parts per billion (ppb), after which levels began to fall. But instead of continuing to fall to what liberates/ ˈlɪbəreɪts /: oscillate or seem to Ruddiman says should have been a oscillate ( giải phóng, phóng thích ) minimum of about 450 ppb today, the atmospheric methane began to climb again 5,000 years ago. cultivation/ ˌkʌltɪˈveɪʃən /: the action of Working with climate modellers Stephen cultivating land, or the state of being Verves and John Kutzbach, Ruddiman has cultivated shown that if the levels of these gases had continued to fall rather than rising when they synonyms:growing, raising, farming, did, ice sheets would now cover swathes of planting northern Canada and Siberia. The world would be heading into another ice age. So why did both methane and C02 rise over the past few thousand years? In other words, why has this interglacial period been different from previous ones? Could humans be to blame? Agriculture emerged around the eastern Mediterranean some 11,000 years ago, then shortly afterwards in China and several thousand years later in the Americas. Farming can release greenhouse gases in various ways: clearing forests liberates lots of stored carbon as the wood rots or is burned, for instance, while flooded rice paddies release methane just as wetlands do. To find out more about early farming, Ruddiman began to dig around in studies of agricultural history.These revealed that there was a sharp rise in rice cultivation in Asia around 5,000 years ago, with the practice 12 | P a g e
spreading across China and south-east Asia. Here at least was a possible source for the unexpected methane rise. Sources: https://mini-ielts.com/1212/reading/the-climate-changers 13 | P a g e
The problem of climate change The climate of the Earth is always changing. In the past it has altered as a result of nat- ural causes. altered / ˈɔːltəd /: changed in character Nowadays, however, the term ‘climate change’ is or composition, typically in a generally used when referring to changes in our comparatively small but significant way climate which have been identified since the early part of the twentieth century. The changes we’ve predicted / prɪˈdɪktɪd/: stated or seen over recent years and those which are estimated as likely to happen in the predicted to occur over the next 100 years are future; forecast thought by many to be largely a result of human behavior rather than due to natural changes in the precedent / ˈprɛsɪdənt /: an earlier event atmosphere. And this is what is so significant about or action that is regarded as an example current climactic trends; never before has man or guide to be considered in subsequent played such a significant role in determining long- similar circumstances term weather patterns – we are entering the unknown and there is no precedent for what might greenhouse / ˈgriːnhaʊs /: the trapping happen next. of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere B The greenhouse effect is very important when we talk about climate change as it relates to the gases intensified / ɪnˈtɛnsɪfaɪd /: increase the which keep the Earth warm. Although the opacity of (a negative) using a chemical greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring pose / pəʊz /: present or constitute (a phenomenon, it is believed that the effect could be problem, danger, or difficulty) intensified by human activity and the emission of synonyms:constitute, present, create, gases into the atmosphere. It is the extra green- cause, produce, house gases which humans have released which are thought to pose the strongest threat. Certain worsened / ˈwɜːsnd /: make or researchers, such as Dr Michael Crawley, argue: become worse synonyms:aggravate, ‘even though this exacerbate, make worse natural phenomenon does exist it is without a doubt dispute / dɪsˈpjuːt/: a disagreement, human activity that has worsened its argument, or debate effect; this is evident when comparing data regarding the earth’s temperature in the last one synonyms:debate, hundred years with the one hundred years prior to discussion, discourse, that.’ Some scientists, however, dispute this as Dr disputation, argument, Ray Ellis suggests: ‘human activity may be 14 | P a g e
contributing a small amount to climate change but this increase in temperature is an unavoidable fact based on the research data we have compiled. C Scientists around the globe are looking at all the coral / ˈkɒrəl /: a hard stony substance evidence surrounding climate change and using secreted by certain marine advanced technology have come up with predictions coelenterates as an external skeleton, for our future environment and weather. The next typically forming large reefs in warm stage of that work, which is just as important, is seas looking at the knock-on effects of potential changes. For example, are we likely to see an increase in campaigns / kæmˈpeɪnz/: work in an precipitation and sea levels? Does this mean there organized and active way toward a will be an increase in flooding and what can we do particular goal, typically a political or to protect ourselves from that? social one How will our health be affected by climate change, synonyms:crusade, fight, battle, work, how will agricultural practices change and how will push wildlife cope? What will the effects on coral be? Professor Max Leonard has suggested, ‘while it lobbies / ˈlɒbiz/: a room providing a may be controversial some would argue that climate space out of which one or more other change could bring with it positive effects as well rooms or corridors lead, typically one as negative ones’. near the entrance of a public building. D synonyms:entrance There are many institutions around the world whose hall, hallway, hall, entrance, vestibule, sole priority is to take action against these renewable / rɪˈnjuːəbl/: (of a natural environmental problems. Green Peace is the resource or source of energy) not organisation that is probably the most well-known. depleted when used It is an international organisation that campaigns in geothermal / dʒiː.oʊ- ˈθɜːməl /: relating favour of researching and promoting solutions to to or produced by the internal heat of the climate change, exposes the companies and earth: governments that are blocking action, lobbies to change national and international policy, and bears replenished/ rɪˈplɛnɪʃt /: fill (something) witness to the impacts of unnecessary destruction up again and detrimental human activity. synonyms:refill, top up, fill up, recharge, E reload, The problem of climate change is without a doubt manufacture / ˌmænjʊˈfækʧə /: the something that this generation and the generations making of articles on a large scale using 15 | P a g e
machinery to come need to deal with. Fortunately, the use of renewable energy is synonyms:make,pr oducemass becoming increasingly popular, which means that produce, build, less energy is consumed as renewable energy is construct generated from natural resources— such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geo- thermal heat—which can stated/ ˈsteɪtɪd /: clearly be naturally replenished. Another way to help the expressed or identified; environment, in terms of climate change, is by specified travelling light. Walking or riding a bike instead of driving a car uses fewer fossil fuels which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In addition, using products that are made from recycled paper, glass, metal and plastic reduces carbon emissions because they use less energy to manufacture than products made from completely new materials. Recycling paper also saves trees and lets them continue to limit climate change naturally as they remain in the forest, where they remove carbon from the atmosphere. Professor Mark Halton, who has completed various studies in this field, has stated: ‘with all this information and the possible action that we can take, it isn’t too late to save our planet from over-heating and the even worse side-effects of our own activity. Source: https://mini-ielts.com/1213/reading/the-problem-of-climate-change- The truth about the environment For many environmentalists, the world seems to be hit-list / hɪt-lɪst /: getting worse. They have developed a hit-list of our a list of people to be killed for criminal main fears: that natural resources are running out; or political reasons that the population is ever growing, leaving less and less to eat; that species are becoming extinct in vast numbers, and that the planet's air and water are 16 | P a g e
becoming ever more polluted. But a quick look at the facts shows a different picture. First, energy and other natural resources abundant/ əˈbʌndənt /: existing or available have become more abundant, not less so, since the in large quantities; plentiful book The Limits to Growth' was published in 1972 by a group of scientists. Second, more food is now starving/ ˈstɑːvɪŋ /: (of a person or animal) produced per head of the world's population than at suffer severely or die from hunger any time in history. Fewer people are starving. Third, although species are indeed becoming extinct, only about 0.7% of them are expected to exaggerated/ ɪgˈzæʤəreɪtɪd /: represent disappear in the next 50 years, not 25-50%, as has (something) as being larger, better, or so often been predicted. And finally, most forms of worse than it really is environmental pollution either appear to have been transient / ˈtrænzɪənt /: lasting only exaggerated, or are transient - associated with the for a short time; impermanent early phases of industrialisation and therefore best cured not by restricting economic growth, but by accelerating / əkˈsɛləreɪtɪŋ /: increase in accelerating it. One form of pollution - the release amount or extent of greenhouse gases that causes global warming - synonyms:speed up, hurry up, get does appear to be a phenomenon that is going to faster, move faster extend well into our future, but its total impact is unlikely to pose a devastating problem. A bigger devastating / ˈdɛvəsteɪtɪŋ /: highly problem may well turn out to be an inappropriate destructive or damaging response to it. synonyms:destructive, ruinous, Yet opinion polls suggest that many people nurture disastrous, catastrophic, the belief that environmental standards are declining calamitous, and four factors seem to cause this disjunction disjunction / dɪsˈʤʌŋkʃən /: a lack of between perception and reality. correspondence or consistency mass / mæs /: relating to, done One is the lopsidedness built into scientific by, or affecting large numbers of research. Scientific funding goes mainly to areas people or things with many problems. That may be wise policy, but overstate / ˌəʊvəˈsteɪt /: express it will also create an impression that many more or state too strongly; exaggerate potential problems exist than is the case. Secondly, environmental groups need to be lobby / ˈlɒbi /: a group of people seeking noticed by the mass media. They also need to to influence politicians or public officials keep the money rolling in. Understandably, on a particular issue perhaps, they sometimes overstate their arguments. In 1997, for example, the World Wide synonyms:pressure group, 17 | P a g e
Fund for Nature issued a press release entitled: interest group, interest, 'Two thirds of the world's forests lost forever'. movement, campaign, The truth turns out to be nearer 20%. scepticism / ˈskɛptɪsɪzm /: a sceptical Though these groups are run overwhelmingly by attitude; doubt as to the truth of selfless folk, they nevertheless share many of the something characteristics of other lobby groups. That would synonyms:doubt, doubtfulness, matter less if people applied the same degree of dubiousness, a pinch of salt, lack of scepticism to environmental lobbying as they do to conviction, lobby groups In other fields. A trade organisation arguing for, say, weaker pollution controls is opposing / əˈpəʊzɪŋ /: conflict or instantly seen as self- interested. Yet a green competition with a specified or implied organisation opposing such a weakening is seen as subject altruistic, even if an impartial view of the controls synonyms:rival, opposite, combatant, enemy in question might suggest they are doing more harm than good. altruistic/ ˌæltrʊˈɪstɪk /: showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the A third source of confusion is the attitude of the well-being of others; unselfish media. People are clearly more curious about bad news than good. Newspapers and broadcasters are distortions / dɪsˈtɔːʃənz /: the action of there to provide what the public wants. That, distorting or the state of being distorted however, can lead to significant distortions of synonyms:warp, twist, contortion, bend, perception. An example was America's encounter buckle, with El Nino in 1997 and 1998. This climatic phenomenon was accused of wrecking tourism, estimated / ˈɛstɪmeɪtɪd /: (of a value or causing allergies, melting the ski-slopes and number) roughly calculated; approximate causing 22 deaths. However, according to an article in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the damage it did was estimated at US$4 billion but the benefits amounted to some US$19 diminished / dɪˈmɪnɪʃt /: make or become billion. These came from higher winter less temperatures (which saved an estimated 850 lives, reduced heating costs and diminished spring synonyms:decrease, decline, reduce, lessen, floods caused by meltwaters). shrink, The fourth factor is poor individual perception. dispose / dɪsˈpəʊz /: get rid of by People worry that the endless rise in the amount throwing away or giving or selling of stuff everyone throws away will cause the to someone else world to run out of places to dispose of waste. drastic / ˈdræstɪk /: likely to have a strong Yet, even if America's trash output continues to or far- reaching effect; radical and extreme: 18 | P a g e
rise as it has done in the past, and even if the adaptation / ˌædæpˈteɪʃ(ə)n /: he action American population doubles by 2100, all the or process of adapting or being adapted rubbish America produces through the entire 21st century will still take up only one-12.000th of the synonyms:converting, conversion, area of the entire United States. alteration, modification, adjustment, So what of global warming? As we know, carbon postponed / pəʊstˈpəʊnd /: cause or dioxide emissions are causing the planet to warm. arrange for (something) to take place at a The best estimates are that the temperatures will time later than that first scheduled rise by 2-3°C in this century, causing considerable problems, at a total cost of US$5,000 billion. prevent / prɪˈvɛnt /: keep (something) from happening or arising: Despite the intuition that something drastic needs to be done about such a costly problem, economic sanitation/ ˌsænɪˈteɪʃən /: conditions analyses clearly show it will be far more expensive relating to public health, especially the to cut carbon dioxide emissions radically than to provision of clean drinking water and pay the costs of adaptation to the increased adequate sewage disposal. temperatures. A model by one of the main authors Pessimistic/ ˌpɛsɪˈmɪstɪk /: of the United Nations Climate Change Panel shows tending to see the worst aspect of how an expected temperature increase of 2.1 things or believe that the worst degrees in 2100 would only be diminished to an will happen increase of 1.9 degrees. Or to put ft another way, the temperature increase that the planet would have experienced in 2094 would be postponed to 2100. So this does not prevent global warming, but merely buys the world six years. Yet the cost of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, for the United States alone, will be higher than the cost of solving the world's single, most pressing health problem: providing universal access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Such measures would avoid 2 million deaths every year, and prevent half a billion people from becoming seriously ill. It is crucial that we look at the facts if we want to make the best possible decisions for the future. It may be costly to be overly optimistic - but more costly still to be too pessimistic. Source: IELTS CAMBRIDGE 5 19 | P a g e
b. TOURISM WHITE MOUNTAIN, GREEN TOURISM The French Alpine town of Chamonix has been a strain /streɪn/: pressure on magnet for tourists since the 18th century. somebody/something because they But today, tourism and climate change are putting have too much to do or manage, or pressure on the surrounding environment. Marc something very difficult to deal Grainger reports. with; the problems, worry or A anxiety that this produces The town of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc sits in a valley at 1,035 metres above sea level in the Haute-Savoie Synonyms: stress, nervous, department in south-eastern France. To the northwest worry, anxiety, pressure, are the red peaks of the Aiguilles Rouges massif; to burden the south-east are the permanently white peaks of Mont Blanc, which at 4,810 metres is the highest hustle and bustle : A large amount mountain in the Alps. It’s a typical Alpine of activity and work, usually in a environment, but one that is under increasing strain noisy surrounding. from the hustle and bustle of human activity. alpinism /ˈælpɪnɪzəm/: the sport of B climbing high mountains, Tourism is Chamonix’s lifeblood. Visitors have been especially the Alps encouraged to visit the valley ever since it was discovered by explorers in 1741. Over 40 years later, in 1786, Mont Blanc’s summit was finally reached by a French via /ˈvaɪə/: by means of a doctor and his guide, and this gave birth to the sport of particular person, system, etc. alpinism, with Chamonix at its centre. In 1924, it Synonyms: by, through hosted the first Winter Olympics, and the cable cars and swarm /swɔːm/: a large group of lifts that were built in the years that followed gave people, especially when they are all everyone access to the ski slopes. moving quickly in the same direction Synonyms: group, horde, crowd C Today, Chamonix is a modern town, connected to the 20 | P a g e