Ex.1.Gap-fill: Fill in the blanks below with the correct form of the verb in parentheses. Negative, passive and continuous subjunctive forms are possible.

1. It's important that she (remember) _____to take her medicine twice a day.

2. I suggest that Frank (read) _____ the directions carefully before assembling the bicycle. He doesn't want the wheels to fall off while he is riding down a hill.

3. Mrs. Finkelstein demanded that the heater (repair) _____ immediately. Her apartment was freezing.

4. It's vital that the United States (focus) _____ on improving its public education

system. What we do now will affect our country for generations to come.

5. The monk insisted that the tourists (enter) _____ the temple until they had removed their shoes.

6. I am not going to sit here and let her insult me. I demand that she immediately

(apologize) _____ for what she just said.

7. Judy asked that we (attend) _____ her graduation ceremony next week.

8. Was it really necessary that (sit) I _____ there watching you the entire time you

were rehearsing for the play? It was really boring watching you repeat the scenes

over and over again.

9. It is important to remember that Janine (think) _____ very differently from you.

She may not agree to the changes you have made in the organization of the company.

10. It's a little difficult to find the restaurant. I propose that we all (drive) _____

together so that nobody gets lost along the way.

11. The woman insisted that the lost child (take) _____ to store's information desk

so his parents could be paged.

12. The nutritionist recommended that Sally (reduce) _____ her daily fat intake.

13. The environmental leader felt it was extremely important that the people of the

city (allow) _____ to voice their concerns over the new hotel being built on the bay.

14. She told me that the government (regulate) _____ the airline industry. I don't know if that is true.

15. The sign at the pool recommended that you (swim) ____ after eating a large meal.

16. It is necessary that a life guard (monitor) _____ the summing pool while the

children are taking their swimming lessons.

17. The sun is scorching today. I suggest you (put) _____ on sun block immediately before you get a sun burn.

18. John insists that Sarah (invite) _____ to the wedding; otherwise he will not attend.

19. I think it's an interesting fact that she (come) _____ from Estonia.

20. It is imperative that the world (work) _____ towards a solution to global warming before the weather patterns of the world are disrupted irreparably.

 

WORKING ON THE ARTICLE

Loss of Nature Will Damage Economies

(from: www.breakingnewsenglish.com)

We are causing so much damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This bleak warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative impact on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the deaths of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers.

 UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity at a rate never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the historical…rate."

Scientists are worried that governments will not do enough to try to reduce the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss measures to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be adopted at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan.

The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are facing extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a huge impact on marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse with the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.

 

TASKS FOR THE ARTICLE

Ex.1. NATURE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about nature. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

Ex.2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

damage / our planet / biodiversity / national economies / coral reefs / extinction / scientists / international frameworks / threats / species / environment / pollution

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

Ex.3. PLANET AT RISK: What’s at risk? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change again and share what you heard.

	What’s going wrong?	How can we reverse it?
Oceans
Forests
Deserts
Animals
Weather
Rivers

Ex.4. ENVIRONMENT: Students A strongly believe our environment will not survive; Students B strongly believe it will. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

Ex.5. THREATS: What are the biggest threats to our planet? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Change partners and share your rankings again.

Deforestation Pollution Nuclear war Climate change

Species extinction Deadly viruses Overpopulation Globalization

Ex.6. ECOSYSTEM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘ecosystem’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

Ex.7. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or

false (F).

a.	A new United Nations report says loss of biodiversity costs economies.	T / F
b.	The report gives us tips on points to help nature.	T / F
c.	The report says all coral reefs have already died.	T / F
d.	The rate of biodiversity loss is 1,000 times higher than ever before.	T / F
e.	Scientists are confident governments will tackle the damage.	T / F
f.	World leaders will adopt a new biodiversity framework in October.	T / F
g.	The report says more than 25% of corals might soon become extinct.	T / F
h.	The article predicts pollution will cause fish to start fighting each other.	T / F

Ex.8. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	causing	a.	gloomy
2	bleak	b.	coming up against
3.	impact	c.	cut
4.	huge	d.	supplies
5.	extinction	e.	effect
6.	reduce	f.	chosen
7.	tackle	g.	dying out
8.	adopted	h.	address
9.	facing	i.	creating
10.	stocks	j.	enormous

Ex.9. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	We are causing so much	a.	global biodiversity loss
2	This bleak	b.	impact on nature
3.	there are many important	c.	seen in history
4.	man’s negative	d.	facing extinction
5.	a rate never before	e.	damage to our planet
6.	do enough to try to	f.	on biological diversity
7.	discuss measures to tackle	g.	reduce the damage
8.	adopted at a convention	h.	warning
9.	huge numbers of species are	i.	made worse
10.	This problem will be	j.	ecosystems on our planet

Ex.10. GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

We are ____ so much damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This _______ warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in _____. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative ______ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the _______of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We ______to lose biodiversity at a ________ never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the ______ …rate."

continue rate impact bleak deaths causing historical danger

Scientists are _______ that governments will not do enough to try to _______ the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss ______ to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be _______ at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report ______ how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are facing _______ if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a ________ impact on marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made ______ with the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.

adopted huge reduce extinction worried outlines worse measures

Ex.11. READING: Read and fill in the gaps

We _____ damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This bleak warning _____ United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where ______ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the deaths of coral reefs, _____ areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We ____ at a rate never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher ____." Scientists are worried that governments will not do _____ the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss _____ global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be adopted at a convention _____ in October in Japan. The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers ______ extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a _____  marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse with the ______ the world’s rivers.

Ex.12. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates,

other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘global’ and ‘economy’.

global

economy

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

Ex.13. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

Ex.14. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise.

Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new,

interesting, worth learning…?

Ex.15. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

Ex.16. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

causing bleak negative huge lose 1,000

reduce tackle adopted serious facing worse

Ex.17. STUDENT NATURE SURVEY: Write five GOOD questions about

nature in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his /

her own paper.

Ex.18. NATURE DISCUSSION:

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘nature’?
c)	How important is nature to you?
d)	What do you think of man’s destruction of nature?
e)	Have you noticed any negative impact of humans on the environment?
f)	Do you take notice of these reports that environmental agencies bring out?
g)	Are you more worried about the destruction of coral reefs, forests or rivers?
h)	What do you think of the extinction rate given in the article?
i)	Do you think we can reverse the damage?
j)	What do you think of reintroducing species using their DNA?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Is your government doing enough to protect your environment?
c)	How much of a “green” are you?
d)	What will it take for governments to get serious about biodiversity loss?
e)	Which are the worst countries for harming nature?
f)	Would you like to get back to nature?
g)	What measures should countries put in their international framework on biodiversity?
h)	Do you think there will be fish wars one day?
i)	What would you say to world leaders if you were a creature threatened with extinction?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the author of the U.N. report?

Ex.19. LANGUAGE- MULTIPLE CHOICE:

We are causing so much damage to our planet that it will soon (1) ____ the global economy. This bleak warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are (2) ____ danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative (3) ____ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the (4) ____ of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity (5) ____ a rate never before seen in (6) ____ - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the historical…rate." Scientists are worried that governments will not do enough to try to reduce the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss (7) ____ to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international (8) ____ that will be adopted at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are (9) ____ extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a huge impact on (10) ____ life and many fish species will also disappear. (11) ____ will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse (12) ____ the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.