essay climate change c1

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Free English Lessons

A talk about climate change – listening lesson (c1-c2).

Climate change is one of the hottest topics around nowadays. Listen to a woman giving a talk in a conference call to colleagues, concerning what their company plans to do to tackle the issues. You will review the grammar of complex sentences, learn vocabulary related to climate change and colloquial expressions, and focus on the pronunciation of the schwa. This free lesson from Oxford Online English is for advanced learners.

Listen to the dialogue at normal speed here:

or listen to a slower version here:

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-25pc-slower.mp3

I’ve called this talk “There Is No Planet B” because it’s a bit of a catchphrase 1 at the moment – Greta Thunberg used it at a recent climate conference, as you know. It’s also the title of a book by Mike Berners-Lee, from the University of Lancaster – and if his name rings a bell, it’s because his brother Tim founded the world wide web. Well, his book outlines some of the biggest climate changes the world currently faces and what we could do about them. I truly recommend it!

Now, I know there are always voices of doubt – I’ve had a few naysayers 2 already saying “don’t make us feel guilty for destroying the planet” and “remember the Ice Age – global warming isn’t just a manmade thing”. Well … so what if it isn’t? Whatever you think causes greenhouse gases, using up the earth’s finite resources is 100% human. The planet doesn’t drill for its own oil. The fossil fuel industry might say “we all depend on oil – everything you buy relies on something having been delivered by a petrol-driven vehicle at some point; fossil fuels are the backbone of our comfortable lifestyles!” … well … they won’t be when they’re all gone. There is no oilfield B!

So, our company wants to make more than just a token effort – we don’t want to be accused of greenwashing, claiming to be eco-friendly while actually continuing as we always have. To do that, every one of us needs to be on board, including the doubters – because saving the planet means saving money too! If you fill your car with petrol, there’s only a certain number of journeys you can make before you have to fill her up again! The longer you can avoid using the car, the more time before you have to pay for more petrol. The same should go for water, gas and electricity: the trouble is you turn on the tap and there’s always water; you turn the knob and the gas comes out; the lights always come on at the flick of a switch. You get your bill every quarter and think “hmm, that’s gone up a bit!”, but what if those utilities were actually just like that tank of petrol? You’d soon think twice about using water if it came from a tank in the garden and you had to pay for someone to fill it up every time – particularly if when you phoned them they said “nah, sorry mate, it’s all gone”.

Our company pledge is for every member of staff to do one thing less in your working life, one thing less in your home life and even one thing less in your social life. In work life, you might print less, or do it double-sided; in your own time, cover yourself in soap in the shower before you turn the water on; when you’re with friends, put all your phones in the middle of the table and pledge not to look at them until you leave – you’re using the phone less, so you won’t have to charge the battery so soon, and you’ll use less of the electricity in the tank.

Now, I’ve created a pledge page on the intranet 3 site – if you’d like to go there now, you’ll see it on the right-hand side. I’m gonna stop talking for a moment or two and ask you to go there now and enter some pledges …

Some of the language that you might not know in this recording is explored in the exercises below, which are designed to guide you through understanding the speaker. These notes concern other words not included in the exercises. We recommend that you try the exercises first and come back to refer to these notes if you need to.

1. catchphrase = a phrase or slogan that a lot of people have started saying, or that one person (e.g. a quiz show host) always says in a certain context 2. naysayer = a person who tends to give negative opinions, particularly when these opinions are in opposition to more common views 3. intranet = a company’s internal network of websites, only available to those with password-controlled access, or using certain computers

The speaker also mentions Greta Thunberg and Mike Berners-Lee . Click the links to read more about them.

A Talk About Climate Change – exercise 1 Comprehension: identifying the speaker’s opinion

A lot of what the speaker says in this talk is her own opinion, but there are also some examples of ideas expressed by other people, which she quotes and then comments on. Can you tell which is which?

Read five quotes of things that the speaker says and listen for them in the full recording (above). Decide if they are her own opinion or if she is quoting someone else. If it’s the latter, decide why she is mentioning it.

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1 . Question

1. “There is No Planet B.”

• This is her own original idea, and she has invented the phrase herself.
• Although this represents her opinion, other people have used this phrase before her.
• These are other people’s words, which do not fit with her own view.

2 . Question

2. “Global warming isn’t just a manmade thing.”

• This is her own opinion, and she wishes to convince listeners to agree.
• This is an opinion expressed by others, which she dismisses as less important than her own idea.
• This is someone else’s view, but she says she doesn't understand it.

3 . Question

3. “Fossil fuels are the backbone of our comfortable lifestyles!”

• This is her own claim. She is defending the use of fossil fuels.
• This is a view opposed to her own, which has been claimed by a specific person.
• She is suggesting a common viewpoint, which she then argues with.

4 . Question

4. “Saving the planet means saving money too.”

• This is the view of the speaker, which she justifies with a specific example.
• She is quoting a view that a lot of people say, so as to mock it.
• She’s acknowledging a valid point by other people, but showing how it’s flawed.

5 . Question

5. “Cover yourself in soap in the shower before you turn the water on.”

• This is the speaker’s own idea and she’s suggesting that her listeners do it.
• This is an idea that the speaker has read and she’s reporting what happened when she tried it.
• She’s quoting an idea by somebody else, which she thinks is a waste of time.

A Talk About Climate Change – exercise 2 Vocabulary: climate change words

There are a number of words in the talk related to climate change, the environment and man’s use of the earth’s resources.

Read a definition of five terms used by the speaker, and listen for them in the recording. Write the words exactly as the speaker says them.

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The words appear in the same order as the questions. Click ‘Hint’ for a rough time reference for each one.

1. = chemical substances like carbon dioxide and methane that are produced by human activity and remain in the earth’s atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping (like what happens in a greenhouse) (two words – compound noun, used in plural form)

2. = an underground area, found below land or sea, in which a liquid fossil fuel is found (one word – noun)

3. = giving the impression of doing things that are environmentally friendly, while carrying on with activities that are not (one word – verb in gerund form, used as a noun)

4. = the things that are provided by a company or the government to be used in the home, e.g. water, gas and electricity (one word – noun, used in plural form)

5. = promise publicly to do something, often for the benefit of a good cause (one word – noun, used in singular and plural form in the recording + verb, used in the imperative form; you should write the imperative verb or singular noun, which are both the same spelling)

If you listen to the recording at normal speed, you will hear the answer somewhere within the following sections:   1. 0.45-1.00 2. 1.15-1.25 3. 1.25-1.35 4. 2.00-2.25 5. used several times between 2.35 and the end

A Talk About Climate Change – exercise 3 Vocabulary: colloquial expressions

The speaker uses a number of informal and figurative expressions. This is very common in ordinary conversation but less common in very formal speeches. Since this is a less formal speech in a modern tech-age, her register is formal at times and more informal at others.

Listen to five utterances from the recording and fill in the gaps with the exact words that you hear.

Use contractions when the speaker does. Click ‘Hint’ to see a clue about what each missing phrase means.

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-vocab-rings-a-bell.mp3

1. “It’s also the title of a book by Mike Berners Lee, from the University of Lancaster – and if his name , it’s because his brother Tim founded the world wide web.”

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-vocab-a-token-effort.mp3

2. “Our company wants to make more than just .”

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-vocab-be-on-board.mp3

3. “To do that, every one of us needs to , including the doubters.”

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-vocab-fill-her-up.mp3

4. “If you fill your car with petrol, there’s only a certain number of journeys you can make before you have to again.”

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-vocab-its-all-gone.mp3

5. “… particularly if when you phoned them they said ‘nah, sorry mate, ‘.”

1 = sounds familiar 2 = enough to satisfy requirements but no more 3 = participate and support a venture 4 = put petrol in your car until the tank’s full – the colloquial version uses a female pronoun 5 = there’s no more available

A Talk About Climate Change – exercise 4 Grammar: conjunctions in complex sentences

The grammar we use in speaking tends to be less complex than in writing. There are more short and simple sentences. However, complex sentences should still be used to link ideas. If you can do this when speaking, you’ll get higher grammar scores, as well as improving what some exams call ‘coherence’ and others call ‘discourse management’ – both mean helping the listener to follow how your ideas are connected.

Look at some complex sentences from the recording and write one conjunction from the box in each gap. There are three that you don’t need to use.

Listen to the recording (above) to check your answers before you click ‘Finish Quiz’.

1. “I’ve called this talk ‘There Is No Planet B’ it’s a bit of a catchphrase at the moment.”

2 & 3. “We don’t want to be accused of greenwashing, claiming to be eco-friendly actually continuing we always have.”

4. “You’d soon think twice about using water it came from a tank in the garden and you had to pay for someone to fill it up every time.”

5. You’re using the phone less, you won’t have to charge the battery so soon.

A Talk About Climate Change – exercise 5 Pronunciation: the schwa

Do you use the schwa when you speak? Native speakers do it a lot, even though most probably don’t know what it is! It’s the name of the vowel sound /ə/ – the vowel in the word ‘the’ when it comes before a consonant. It also occurs on the unstressed syllables of words like c o mput e r and a bout, as well as in the unstressed weak forms of common words like t o , f or and a t. In fact, it’s been calculated that more than 60% of unstressed syllables in English are pronounced with the schwa. It’s by far the most common sound in English!

Listen to five utterances by the speaker and decide how many times she uses the schwa.

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-pron-the-flick-of-a-switch.mp3

1. This utterance contains five syllables. How many times does the speaker pronounce the schwa?

• three times

The schwa does not occur on stressed syllables. Since at least one syllable in an utterance must be stressed, it can’t be in all five syllables here! If you’re uncertain, think: stressed syllables don’t contain the schwa – so count the stresses instead of the schwas!

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-pron-and-what-we-could-do-about-them.mp3

2. Which of these words includes the schwa?

You need to choose three answers.

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-pron-you-turn-on-the-tap.mp3

3. Which words contain the schwa?

• ‘you’, ‘the’ and ‘and’
• ‘turn’, ‘always’ and ‘water’
• ‘on’, ‘tap’ and ‘there’s'

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-pron-the-same-should-go-for-water.mp3

4. This time, write the missing words, all of which include a schwa.

“ same should go water, gas electricity.”

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Climate-crisis-pron-put-all-your-phones.mp3

5. There are 20 words and 23 syllables in this utterance.

On average, you can expect nearly half of the words in any utterance to be stressed since they convey meaning, while just over half of the words would typically be function words that should be unstressed.

Remember that about 60% of unstressed syllables in a typical sentence contain the schwa. Here, then, this would mean six or seven of the 23 syllables would have the schwa.

How many times does the schwa appear in the clip?

• six times or fewer
• seven times or more

This is a really difficult question – and opinions might differ about the exact number! If you doubt whether a sound is a schwa, try saying the word by itself slowly: is the vowel sound different from the one the speaker uses?

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