Shark finning

Level: Advanced / C1

This week is Shark Week!
Read this article about shark finning and answer the following questions:
1) How much can shark fins sell for?
2) True or false: shark fins are very nutritious
3) Why is demand for shark fins growing in China?
4) According to this article, how many sharks are killed by finning each year?
5) Why do sharks reproduce and mature so slowly?


Answers below!



ANSWERS!

1) $300 per pound
2) False
3) With China's economy growing, more people can afford this luxury symbol
4) 88-100 million
5) Because they are at the top of their food chain and have few predators

Recycling - crossword

Some good vocabulary again in this Recycling crossword (plus one really difficult word!).

Volcanoes - crossword

Some great vocabulary in this Volcanoes crossword.

European wildlife being illegally killed

Level: Advanced / C1

Read this article about illegal killing of European wildlife, then answer the following questions:
1) Who wrote the report?
2) How many Brown Bears were poisoned in Spain?
3) Data for the report came from how many countries?
4) Where did the European Conference on Illegal Killing of Birds take place?
5) What is Boris Barov's job?


Answers below!




ANSWERS!
1) BirdLife
2) Seven
3) 38
4) Larnaka, Cyprus
5) European Conservation Manager at BirdLife Europe

Tenses and time expressions - grammar lesson 5

Tenses and time expressions – polar test

Level: Pre-intermediate / A2

Put the verb in brackets into the correct tense – Present simple, Present Continuous or future (going to or will). If there is no verb, use if, when, or as soon as.

British explorer Robin Drake says the first international polar expedition ¹                          (start) next week. They ²                                    (try) to reach the North Pole on a 65-day, 480-mile journey. ³                                   Drake ⁴                                      (succeed), he ⁵                                     (be) the first man to walk to both the North and South poles.

Drake ⁶                                    (go) on the Icewalk Expedition with navigator Alan Winterson. ⁷                           they ⁸                                       (arrive) in Thule, in northern Greenland, walkers from Russia, the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada and Italy ⁹                          (join) them. ¹⁰                                     they ¹¹                                      (get) to their base camp, Eueka, inside the Arctic Circle, they ¹²                                           (have to) build huts to protect them from temperatures as low as -55 Celsius.

‘We ¹³                                      (do) a lot of experiments to see how much pollution there is in the area,’ said Robin. ‘The results ¹⁴                                      (help) us to understand the effects of pollution on the planet, including the greenhouse effect.’ ¹⁵                          the weather ¹⁶                         (be) good enough, they ¹⁷                                          (make) a film of the expedition. Robin said,’ ¹⁸                                we ¹⁹                           (get) back home, we ²⁰                            (show) it to people all over the world.’

Adapted from New Headway Pre-intermediate, OUP

Answers below!

ANSWERS!

British explorer Robin Drake says the first international polar expedition ¹IS GOING TO START next week. They ²ARE GOING TO TRY to reach the North Pole on a 65-day, 480-mile journey. ³ IF Drake ⁴ SUCCEEDS, he ⁵ WILL BE the first man to walk to both the North and South poles.

Drake ⁶IS GOING on the Icewalk Expedition with navigator Alan Winterson. ⁷WHEN/AS SOON AS they ⁸ARRIVE in Thule, in northern Greenland, walkers from Russia, the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada and Italy ⁹WILL JOIN them. ¹⁰WHEN/AS SOON AS they ¹¹GET to their base camp, Eueka, inside the Arctic Circle, they ¹²WILL HAVE TO BUILD huts to protect them from temperatures as low as -55 Celsius.

‘We ¹³ARE GOING TO DO a lot of experiments to see how much pollution there is in the area,’ said Robin. ‘The results ¹⁴WILL HELP us to understand the effects of pollution on the planet, including the greenhouse effect.’ ¹⁵IF the weather ¹⁶IS good enough, they ¹⁷WILL/ARE GOING TO MAKE a film of the expedition. Robin said,’ ¹⁸AS SOON AS       we ¹⁹GET back home, we ²⁰WILL SHOW it to people all over the world.’

The countryside - crossword

Some good vocabulary to practice in this crossword from the BBC Learning English website:

Countryside crossword

How was it? Let me know please.

Ten minute reading: Ospreys in England

Read this article about ospreys in England and answer these questions:
1 What is a newly hatched bird called?
2 How big is Kielder Park?
3 Which four organisations have been working on the Osprey project?
4 What does fledge mean?
5 How far do Ospreys migrate

Answers below!



ANSWERS!
1. A chick
2. 62,000 heactares
3. The Forestry Commission, Northumberian Water, the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, the RSPB.
4. The stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of a chick's parents raising it to a fully grown state.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fledge
5. 9,000 miles

Sea creatures - crossword

Some good vocabulary in this week's crossword - and some interesting idioms!
Sea creatures crossword

Serengeti road project

Level: Advanced / C1

A controversial road project through the Serengeti had been cancelled.
Read this article about it and answer these questions:

1 What habitats does the Serengeti national park protect?
2 How many herbivore take part in the mass migrations in the national park?
3 How many bird species can be found in the Serengeti?
4 Who does Dr Markus Borner work for?
5 How many vehicles would have used the new road?

Answers below!




ANSWERS!!

1 Grassland and savannah
2 Two million
3 450
4 Frankfurt Zoological Society
5 800 a day by 2015, 3000 a day by 2035