Learning English with CBC

Listening Lessons for Intermediate Students
Based on the podcast “Manitoba This Week”
Broadcast date: May 10, 2008

Lesson 25: Self Study Edition

Level: Benchmark 5 and up

Topic: Action on Climate Change

Skill areas: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing

Language tasks: Listening – listening to a short interview for main ideas, details and inference

Speaking – expressing opinions

Reading – reading an information text and answering questions

Writing: writing a letter

Language competencies: Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Listening and Speaking Strategies, Sociocultural/sociolinguistic Competence

Extend your learning: Learn more about climate change

Calculate your own ecological footprint

Write a letter asking for action on climate change

Essential Skills[1]: Writing, reading text, thinking skills, oral communication, numeracy

Appendices: Transcript of the podcast

Answers to Worksheets

Attention students: You will need to print the lesson to be able to complete the activities.

Manitoba Memo

Canadians love their cars. While record high gas prices may mean we drive a little less, most experts believe it will take more than high gas prices to end our love affair with our vehicles.

What are the downsides to having over 12 million vehicles on Canadian roads? For decades we’ve been aware of the cost of building and maintaining streets and highways, traffic congestion and noise and air pollution. But in recent years a new concern has surfaced - vehicle emissions produce greenhouse gases. In fact, driving our cars and heating and cooling our homes are the two major ways individuals contribute to the build up of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. The fact that the earth is getting warmer and the climate is changing is well documented by scientists.

Some steps to reduce greenhouse gases are being taken. The Manitoba government has committed to meeting its Kyoto targets[2]. The government plans to reduce greenhouse gases to a level which is equal (or better) to taking every car in the province off the road. The City of Winnipeg is building more bike paths. The Government of Canada is helping people make their homes more energy efficient. And many corporations are working hard to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change is one issue where it really makes sense to “think globally and act locally.” Greenhouse gases know no borders and reducing emissions will require governments, industries and individuals to take action and make tough choices.

Background

1.  Before you listen, read the Manitoba Memo and fill in a K-W-L chart

Every week, there are news stories about the causes and effects of climate change. Fill in the chart which follows by writing down what you know about climate change (column one) and what you would like to know (column two). At the end of the lesson, you can fill in the third column (what you have learned about climate change).

Self Study: Action on Climate Change Learning English with CBC Page 2 of 17

I know / I want to know / I learned

Self Study: Action on Climate Change Learning English with CBC Page 2 of 17

2.  Think about the following questions

}  How do people get to school or work in your country? Do most people drive their own vehicles, do they take public transportation (bus, train, subway, or do they walk or bike?

}  How busy are the roads in your country? Are they more/less busy than roads in Winnipeg/Manitoba? Is the cost of gas higher or lower than it is in Manitoba? Is there more or less air pollution?

}  How do you find public transportation? What do you like about it? What don’t you like about it?

3. Words you need to know

Here are some words you need to know to understand the podcast. See if you can use each one of them in a sentence.


Vocabulary

record high If something is at a record high level, it is higher than it has ever been before. For example, gas prices in Manitoba are at a record high level. They have never been higher.

automatically If you do something automatically, it means you do it over and over in the same way, like a machine. For example, if you always turn right off your street in the morning, you may do that automatically even when you actually need to turn left to get to your destination.

convenient route A convenient bus route is one that is handy or easily accessible to you and meets your needs.

pet peeve A pet peeve is something that annoys or bothers you on a continual basis. For example, your pet peeve about taking public transportation at rush hour could be that you never get a seat.

shift work People who work in hospitals or factories often do shift work. They work for a specific period of time during the night or day and then they are replaced by other workers. There are always people working.

hitch a ride An informal way of asking someone to drive you somewhere for free. A hitchhiker is someone who stands by the side of the road with their thumb raised in the air hoping a driver will stop and give them a ride.

4. Predict what the podcast is about

In this podcast, reporter Leighton Klassen interviews two men who use their cars to get to work instead of taking the bus. Can you predict some of the reasons the men may give for not taking the bus?
Here are some sentence starters and some examples of what you could say:

One reason might be….that taking the bus isn’t convenient.

Another possible reason is …that they are shift workers.

Maybe…they just like to take their car.

It could be….that they don’t feel safe on the bus.

Possibly…

5. Get ready to listen

In this podcast, you will hear three speakers. You will hear:

Marcy Markusa – interviewer and host

Sean Sidel – worker

Dennis Wilman – worker

Play the podcast for the first time.


6. Listen for the main ideas

Read the following questions. When you listen to the podcast again, see if you can find the answers.

Why does Marcy think Winnipeggers will be taking the bus more often?

What are Sean’s reasons for not taking the bus? Are these good reasons in your opinion?

What are Dennis’ reasons for not taking the bus? Are these good reasons in your opinion?

7. Listen for the missing questions

This podcast is only part of the whole interview – we don’t hear the questions reporter Leighton Klassen asks the two men. We just hear what Sean and Dennis respond.

Listen to the podcast again. What questions do you think Leighton asked Sean and Dennis?

8. Listen for common strategies of spoken English

This time, listen carefully to Sean’s comments. His response has many strategies which are common to spoken English. Take a look at the transcript and see if you can find the following examples.

Lines / Example / Strategy
9/10
17/18 / uhm, ah / These are fillers and they are used as a time gaining strategy – they give the speaker time to think about what they want to say next
13/14
14/15 / I mean, really I mean and I don’t understand
I just figured everybody would, everybody, most people would / Repetition and re-phrasing is often used to clarify what is being said or while a speaker is searching for the word or expression they want to use.
17/18 / Really difficult, a kind of a, kind of a pain in my side actually / Hedging (kind of) is often used to soften what’s being said, to make is sound less harsh.

Does your first language have some or all of these kinds of features?

For a bonus point, can you correct the grammatical error in line 16?[3]


After you listen

a) Review your pre-listening predictions

Quickly review your pre-listening predictions. Did you correctly predict the kinds of reasons the men gave for not taking the bus?

b) Use the verb “to find” to talk about travel
We use some verbs to describe thoughts, feelings and opinions. An example is the verb “to find.” The verb is followed by an object, an infinitive (usually the verb “to be”) and an adjective in formal language. In informal language, the verb “to be” is often left out. For example:

I find the bus to be convenient. (formal)

I find the bus convenient. (informal)

Practice using the informal structure to find + noun or pronoun + adjective. Ask yourself the questions below and answer using an adjective from the suggestion box. Here’s an example:

Question: How do you find the bus system in Winnipeg?

Possible Answers: I find it convenient.

I find the bus convenient.

Questions
What about the public transportation system in your country? How do you find it?
What do you think of travelling by train?

How do you find airplane travel?

What do you think of the condition of the roads in Manitoba?

What do you think of the traffic in big cities?

How do you find cycling in Winnipeg?

Adjective suggestion box

convenient expensive inexpensive stressful relaxing slow

inconvenient crowded difficult to use easy to use a hassle fast

bumpy inefficient efficient confusing difficult easy enjoyable

c) Learn more about climate change and answer questions

Read the following information about climate change and then answer the questions which follow.

Our Climate is Changing[4]

What is climate change?

Most scientists in the world believe climate change is a serious threat to the planet. Climate change is the term used to describe the warming of the earth’s temperature (also called global warming) and the severe and unusual weather conditions which result.

What causes climate change?
Climate change is caused by excessive greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The most common gas is carbon dioxide. The earth naturally produces the perfect amount of greenhouse gas, but when we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, we add more. The more greenhouse gas we produce, the thicker the blanket around the earth’s atmosphere becomes. This blanket traps heat around the planet and makes it hotter. The 1980’s and 1990’s were the warmest decades on record.

What are some of the effects of climate change?
Scientists are concerned about how climate change affects the earth’s physical and biological systems. Examples of physical changes are shrinking glaciers, melting permafrost and warmer oceans. Biological changes include earlier spring blossoms and bird migrations, insect surviving in parts of the world where they’ve never survived before and threats to wildlife populations (like the polar bears).

Who’s responsible for climate change?

Industry, governments and individuals all produce greenhouse gases. The emissions produced by individuals are about 25% of the total. Eighty percent of these emissions are from vehicles and home heating and cooling. Greenhouse gas emissions are often referred to as “carbon footprints.”

Does climate change affect all countries equally?

When it comes to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the world is like a single country. The earth’s atmosphere is a resource to all and it has no borders. But countries don’t produce the same level of greenhouse gases and they have different carbon footprints. And although the world’s poorest people have the smallest footprint, their countries are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, like tsunami’s, cyclones and drought.


What can be done?

Even if we were able to freeze the world’s greenhouse gas emissions at today’s levels, scientists believe that the climate is already committed to significant warming for hundreds of years to come. They believe environmental organizations, industry, the United Nations, countries around the world and individuals must all work together to confront this serious problem. The planet is sending out an SOS[5] and it needs all of us to respond.

Think about the following statements and decide whether they are true or false.

Question / T or F
1. Climate change and global warming are two terms which describe the same thing. / T
2. A small number of scientists believe climate change is a severe threat to the planet.
3. The greenhouse gases we produce form a blanket around the earth which makes it hard for heat to escape.
4. All greenhouse gases in the atmosphere come from industry, government and individuals.
5. Scientists are concerned about the physical and biological changes to the earth which are caused by climate change.
6. If Canadians took public transportation and stopped driving cars to work and school, our country’s carbon footprint would be much smaller.
7. Countries which produce the highest level of greenhouse gases are most likely to be affected by climate change.
8. If individuals and industries stopped producing greenhouse gases tomorrow, the world would soon return to its normal temperature.

Here are a couple more questions to think about:
1. How concerned are you personally about climate change and how it is affecting the planet? Here are some ways you could start your answer.

I’m very concerned because…

I’m not very concerned because…

I’m not sure what to think because…

2. Do you think it will be easy or difficult to get individuals, industries and governments to change their behaviour and make reducing greenhouse gases a priority? Here are some ways you could start your answer.