News-based English language activities from the global newspaper

Page 1

March 2009
Level ≥ Advanced
Style ≥ Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
­English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardianweekly.co.uk/learningenglish/. You can also
find more advice for teachers and learners on the site
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Germans told to eat less meat to save planet

Cuts . . . a deli in Munich shows off popular meat products  Camay Sungu/AP

2 Verbs from the article

Before reading
1 Work with a partner and discuss the questions
­below.
a How often do you eat meat and how much do you
eat?
b What type of meat do you eat (if any)?
c Why might eating meat be bad for the environment?
d Why do you think eating meat might ­increase your
“carbon footprint”?
To find out about and calculate your carbon
­footprint go to: footprint.wwf.org.uk
Match the phrases to make definitions.
a If you urge someone to do something,
b If you issue a warning or some advice,
c If you call for something to happen,
d If you boycott something,
e If you discredit something,
1 you refuse to buy something as a way of protesting.
2 you try hard to persuade them do it.
3 you make people stop respecting it.
4 you publicly ask for something to be done
5 you make it known in a formal and public way. ≥2
 News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 2
3 Look at the headline, photo and caption of the
­article. Guess the answers to the questions below.
a In terms of eating meat, how does ­Germany com-
pare to other European countries?
b What percentage of their total calorie intake do Ger-
mans get from meat?
c Why should German people now eat less meat?
d Who would like Germans to eat less meat?
Article
Germans told to eat less meat to
save planet
1 For a nation that loves its bratwurst and schnit-
zel, the message is not a welcome one. Germans
have been urged to rethink their meat-eating
habits if they want to help the planet.
2 Germany’s federal environment agency has is-
sued a strong advisory for people to eat meat
only on special occasions and otherwise to model
their diet on that of Mediterranean countries.
3 Germans are among the highest meat consum-
ers in Europe, obtaining about 39% of their total
calorie intake from meat and meat products,
compared with 25% in Italy.
4 “We must rethink our high meat consumption,”
said Andreas Troge, president of the UBA, the
government’s advisory body on environmental
issues.
5 He said agriculture was responsible for about
15% of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and
meat production was the most energy-intensive
form of farming. With that in mind, he suggested
that reducing meat consumption was a logical
step forward.
March 2009
6 “It hardly means sacrificing quality of life,”
said Troge. “I don’t believe that the Italians are
­particularly unhappier than us as a result [of
­eating less meat].”
7 Troge’s comments were criticised by farming
experts and politicians. Edmund Geisen, agri-
cultural adviser to the liberal Free Democrats,
accused Troge of in effect calling for a boycott
of German products. “Andreas Troge should
stop trying to damage the nation’s appetite by
discrediting agricultural production,” he said,
calling his attack on meat “populist and one-
­dimensional”.
8 Hilmar Steppat, of Germany’s vegetarian asso-
ciation, VeBu, welcomed the move, saying: “It’s
good to see politicians are finally waking up to
the fact that the amount of meat we eat is unsus-
tainable.” He added that although the number
of vegetarians had increased from 0.4% in 1983
to about 10% today, Germans were still very big
consumers of meat.
9 Findings by the World Wildlife Fund also
support the claim that meat production is
­environmentally damaging. In its recent ­Living
Planet report, it said a single kilogram of beef
­requires 16,000 litres of water, taking into
­account a three-year lifespan for a cow, the grain
it eats in its lifetime, and the water it drinks.
Kate Connolly Berlin
Glossary
advisory body (noun) a group of specialists who give
advice to a government
energy-intensive (adjective) using a lot of energy
populist (adjective) claiming to represent the opinions
and wishes of ordinary people
unsustainable (adjective) when something cannot be
continued at the same rate or level
≥3
 News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 3

March 2009

f According to Troge, eating less meat doesn’t mean . . .

While reading
1 Read the first six paragraphs again. Complete the
sentences.
a Germans like eating types of meat such as . . .

2 Read the rest of the article from ­paragraph seven

b The environment agency thinks people should
only . . .
c The environment agency wants people to copy . . .
­onwards. Decide if these sentences are true (T) or
false (F).
a Most farming experts and politicians welcomed
Troge’s comments.
b Geisen thinks Troge wants to stop people buying
German products.
c Steppat believes that the level of meat consump-
tion is unsustainable.
d The number of German vegetarians has gone
down slightly.
e The World Wildlife Fund would disagree with
Troge’s opinions.
f 16,000 litres of water are needed for one kilogram
of beef.

3 Discuss the questions below.

Do you agree with Troge’s opinions about eating meat?
Would people listen to and follow his ideas in your
country?

After reading
d Compared to Italians, Germans . . . 1 Vocabulary related to the environment
Use the words in brackets to make new words to
complete the summary.
In Germany the government’s advisory body
on (a) (environment)
­issues has asked people to cut their meat (b)
(consume). It is believed that
the (c) (produce) of meat in
the (d) ­(agriculture) sector is
e About 15% of Germany’s greenhouse gases come responsible for 15% of the country’s greenhouse gas
from . . . (e)  (emit). ­Campaigners think
that any change may be a (f)
(particular) slow process because many people are still
significant (g) (consume) of
meat.

≥4
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 4

March 2009

2 Verb patterns
Complete the sentences below with the infinitive or Activity
-ing form of the verb in brackets.
a It’s important (consume) Letter writing
less meat if you want (help) 1 Work with a partner. Choose an environmental
the environment. problem in your country.
b Eating different food doesn’t mean
(lose) your quality of life. 2 Plan a letter to a national newspaper about the prob-
c The government has urged everybody lem. Look back at the article to find useful phrases
(reconsider) their lifestyle. for developing an argument. For example:
d Families should avoid We must rethink our . . .,
(have) meat every day. It’s a logical step forward . . . ,
e People have been told Politicians are finally waking up to the fact that . . .
(change) their daily diet.
f The environment agency should stop 3 Each write a letter. Swap letters with another pair
(make) people feel bad about and discuss the arguments.
their food.
g It’s good (see) that some
politicians now understand the problem.

2aFbTcTdFeFfT
intake from meat e agriculture f sacrificing quality of life
ranean diet d consume much more meat/get a higher proportion of their calorie
1 a bratwurst and schnitzel b eat meat only on special occasions c the Mediter-
While reading

agency.
3 a They eat much more. b 39%. c To save the planet. d The federal environment
to see 2a2b5c4d1e3
2 a to consume, to help b losing c to reconsider d having e to change f making g Before reading
ticularly g consumers
1 a environmental b consumption ­­c ­production d agricultural e emissions f par- Answers
After reading