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Once Upon a Picture - Images to Inspire - Teaching Resources

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Once Upon a Picture - Images to Inspire - Teaching Resources

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I’ve, Simon Harwood, Penelope Cruz Galicia, Picasso, Denmark, Tom, Sarah, Louise

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GAMES T:\Teachers folders\Simon Harwood\Senior 5\ \Week Jan. - ppt download

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Choose a game 90-second alphabet Answer YES Call my bluff Countdown Crazy Sentences Hidden Word How often do you floob? Just a minute Magic Thimble One minute, one lie Transform Me Word Tennis

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Story Dice Roller. Available to play online

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Moving and Flying with your coursebook - using a scene picture - World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Anne Robinson provides top practical tips and ideas for teachers on how to prepare young learners for success in the Cambridge English Movers and Flyers Tests. In this post, she shares how you can use scene pictures from your coursebook to prepare for those tests. Does my coursebook cover the language needed for the Tests?

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REPORTING VERBS CAE and FCE - Details - Kahoot!

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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FCE PART 4

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MARTI FCE

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PictureQuotes.com features the best picture quotes and sayings on the web, plus an easy to use picture quote maker. Create your own beautiful picture quotes to share with family and friends.

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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Complete First for Schools_Unit Test 1 (PLUS)

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One of the four criteria on which your CAE writing papers are going to be assessed is Language. Not only does it evaluate how accurate you are (that is if there are any mistakes in the texts) but also, and it's even more important, how wide the range of your vocabulary and grammar is. Accuracy and vocabulary range are topics for further posts. What I am going to talk about today is how you can be successful in showing a rich enough range of grammatical structures in your CAE writing papers.

Having studied loads of materials for CAE preparation including such coursebooks as CAE Gold, CAE Objective, Complete CAE and CAE Result, I can say that there is a certain number of grammatical structures which are considered to be sophisticated enough for the advanced level writing. What it means is that you are very likely to get a high score for your range of grammar if you make a good use of these structure.

Here they are

1. Emphasis with Inversion

This is when we use inverted word order AUXILIARY VERB + SUBJECT (generally characteristic of questions) in affirmative sentences to make them sound more emphatic.

You can use inversion after certain 'negative' expression at the beginning of the sentence:
- never / rarely / seldom / never before /
- not until / not since / not for one minute / not even once / at no time
- on no account / under no circumstances/ in no way / on no occasion
- only when / only if / only in this way / only then / only after
- little
- not only ... but also
- scarcely / hardly / barely ...when
- no sooner ....than

Here are some example sentences with the inversion:
Never before had I seen such a professional performance.
Not until it was too late did they see the sign.
Under no circumstances should you let children play with fire.
Little did he realise that he was being watched.
Scarcely had she got home when the phone rang.

You can also use inversion in conditional sentences, which is very common in formal pieces of writing such as a letter of complaintor apology. What we do is omit 'if' and change the places of the subject and the predicate.

Should I receive no satisfaction, I will be forced to take matters a step further.
Had he known, he would have made arrangements.

You can find a good presentation on Inversion here

2. Cleft Sentences

This is certain structures that help us emphasise a particular part of a sentence.

- IT IS / WAS + SUBJECT / OBJECT + [THAT / WHO ...]
It is the principal who is responsible for the school budget.
It is for the school budget that the principal is responsible.

- WHAT + SUBJECT + VERB + INFINITIVE

What we need is to address the road congestion issue.

- ALL / THE LAST THING + SUBJECT + VERB + IS / WAS

The last thing people want is encroaching on the suburbs.

3. Participial Clauses

They may be used for the following reasons:

- to link two events in time
- to provide a reason
- instead of a conditional construction.

Opening the door, I saw ... (= when I opened the door...)
Being the richest of us, she paid the bill (= because she was the richest...)
Eaten in small quantities, chocolate is good for our health (= if you eat it in small quantities...)

4. Relative Clauses

Be sure you know how to use both identifying and non-identifying relative clauses.

The person to whom the letter is addressed lives is Moscow.
The roads in the inner city are heavily congested, which is why it may take hours to get to your workplace.

5. Comparative Structures (Double Comparatives / All the More)

The more absurd it appeared, the more appealing it became.
The lack of any programme for changing the industry is all the more striking given the obstacles that the likes of John Davis persistently put in their way.

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CAE Writing: Grammatical Structures to Use

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One of the four criteria on which your CAE writing papers are going to be assessed is Language. Not only does it evaluate how accurate you are (that is if there are any mistakes in the texts) but also, and it's even more important, how wide the range of your vocabulary and grammar is.

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B2 First for Schools Writing Answer sheet

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Welcome to our A2 Animals Word Search. Learn words about different animals that are commonly used at this developing stage of learning English by playing this game. Can you find the words in the A2 Animals Word Search?
Learning about different animals. Developing stages of learning English.
Look for the animals in the word search. How quick can you find them? Try again to get a faster time.

The more words you encounter and understand, the broader your day-to-day vocabulary will become. Our word games and puzzles are an excellent way to help to reinforce spellings in your mind.

Especially helpful are exercises that are focussed on a theme or topic as these provide word retention practice so you can be confident to read, write, speak and listen successfully. We have many activities to get your English up to speed in no time.

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A2 Animals Word Search | Vocabulary Skills | Developing Stage

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Welcome to our A2 Animals Word Search. Learn words about different animals that are commonly used at this developing stage of learning English by playing this game. Can you find the words in the A2 Animals Word Search? Learning about different animals. Developing stages of learning English.

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Pigeon. Taboo words: wings, fly, bird, animal, Smoke. Taboo words: cigarette, air, grey, fire, Queen. Taboo words: England, crown, king, palace, Business. Taboo words: career, money, company, office, Sickness. Taboo words: Health, ill, virus, feel, Swim. Taboo words: water, sports, sea, move, Good-looking. Taboo words: beautiful, attractive, face, appearance, Gardening. Taboo words: flowers, plants, fruit, grow, Calendar. Taboo words: date, timetable, day, month, Spider-man. Taboo words: superhero, powers, Peter Parker, mask, Knowledge. Taboo words: information, subject, learning, books, Breathe. Taboo words: air, lungs, live, oxygen, Poland. Taboo words: country, Europe, place, capital, Horror. Taboo words: fear, movie, monster, feeling, Blue. Taboo words: colour, sea, sky, eyes, Fame. Taboo words: star, celebrity, know, everyone, Sword. Taboo words: weapon, kill, metal, sharp.

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Pigeon. Taboo words: wings, fly, bird, animal, Smoke. Taboo words: cigarette, air, grey, fire, Queen. Taboo words: England, crown, king, palace, Business. Taboo words: career, money, company, office, Sickness. Taboo words: Health, ill, virus, feel, Swim. Taboo words: water, sports, sea, move, Good-looking. Taboo words: beautiful, attractive, face, appearance, Gardening.

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Cash (money, check, payment), Pirate (ship, steal, treasure), Tornado (storm, wind, damage), Coconut (tree, oil, white), Lottery (win, money, ticket), Hike (walk, woods, mountain), Dinosaur (giant, extinct, lizard), Crowd (people, many, herd), Crown (royal, jewels, tradition), Tropical (hot, storm, island), Survey (ask, questions, opinion), Warrior (soldier, war, attack), Surgeon (doctor, hospital, operation), Make up (pretty, lip stick, put on), Educate (child, learn, school), Lawn (grass, mow, green), Arrest (jail, police, handcuffs), Minimum (lowest, wage, amount), Sail (ship, ocean, wind), Cooperate (together, unite, work), Gadget (small, device, tool), Sit-up (exercise, abdomen, fitness), Canvas (paint, art, material), Stretch (leg, straight, long), Sculpture (stone, art, carving), Edible (eat, food, bite), Refugee (war, danger, migration), Workout (exercise, run, keep fit), Fiction (unreal, detail, story), Misery (suffer, unhappiness, lonely), Rumour (talk, gossip, untrue), Tan (sun, skin, colour), Double (twice, number, amount), Myth (Greek, legend, history), Hunt (deer, gun, forest), Retired (work, old, pension), Spread (disease, infect, virus), Mansion (live, house, expensive), Fragile (delicate, break, glass), Sip (drink, mouth, dry).

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Cash (money, check, payment), Pirate (ship, steal, treasure), Tornado (storm, wind, damage), Coconut (tree, oil, white), Lottery (win, money, ticket), Hike (walk, woods, mountain), Dinosaur (giant, extinct, lizard), Crowd (people, many, herd), Crown (royal, jewels, tradition), Tropical (hot, storm, island), Survey (ask, questions, opinion), Warrior (soldier, war, attack), Surgeon (doctor,

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What is feminism? | A-Z of ISMSs Episode 6 - BBC Ideas

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Was life better before the internet? - BBC Ideas

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A nostalgic look back at some of the simpler pleasures of the past, when we spent our leisure time playing board games and browsing record shops.

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B2 First for Schools Writing Answer sheet

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Ten entertaining ways to practise personality adjectives with activities for all ages and levels. In this post, you'll find listening,writing, speaking activities and games to help students master this vocabulary.
This is me.
Ask students to work in pairs and write down as many personality adjectives as they can in two minutes.

On the board write three columns: positive, negative and neutral adjectives and ask students to provide adjectives for the three columns. Have students choose one adjective from each column to describe their personality and in pairs talk about how these adjectives they have chosen are representative of their personality. Ask students to elaborate on their answers and provide examples to support their choice of adjectives.

Roleplays
Prepare cards with a personality trait written on it (talkative, cheerful, arrogant, stubborn, immature, possessive...etc). Give students a card telling them this is their personality. Pair up students and ask them to start a conversation and act the way the card says until their partner guesses what adjective they were given. Ask students for example to talk about buying a present for the teacher or deciding on what do at the weekend.
Reading your signature.
What does your signature say about you? According to handwriting analysts, signatures reveal a lot about your personality.

1. Ask students to write the sentence Write soon on a piece of paper and then sign under the sentence.

2. Ask them to work in pairs and look at their partner's signature and explain what it means. See interpretation here

3. Ask them to discuss whether they agree with their partner's interpretation and why or why not.

What's your job?
Research has shown that different personality traits tend to have distinct preferences in their choice of careers. On the board write the jobs below. Ask students in pairs to choose five and discuss what personality types the jobs would attract and why. Then discuss their choices with another pair:

Tax inspector Teacher politician computer programmer librarian

Actor fashion model psychologist entrepreneur judge
Acting out
Prepare cards with personality adjectives. Divide the class into 2 teams. For each team's turn, set a time (1 minute).

On the board write the sentence: I want to go to the cinema tomorrow.

Team 1 begins and choose a player to sit at the front of the class. The player draws a card and acts out the phrase according to the adjective on the card. When the team guesses correctly, he can draw another card. He continues until the time is up. The timer is set again for the other team, and turns continue until all the slips are gone. Count the slips and give those points to their teams.
Quotes.
On the walls of the class stick the following quotes. Students in threes stand up and discuss what the quote means and whether they agree or disagree with them.

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. Bruce Lee.

It is better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for someone you are not. André Gide.

If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am

Beauty attracts the eye but personality captures the heart.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

It'd never too late for what you might have been. George Elliot.

Guess who. A speaking or writing activity.

Speaking. Before the class, prepare a set of pictures of famous people with very clear personality traits. For this activity the students are sitting in pairs, one student (A) facing the board and the other (B) with his back to the board. Display the photo of a celebrity and ask student A to describe this person in general terms focusing on his personality.

Writing. Before the class, prepare a collage with pictures of famous people with very clear personality traits. Ask students to write a description of one of them focusing on their personality without saying their names. Descriptions are read aloud and students will need to determine the identity of the person being described.
The four big questions.
Tell students you're going to analyse their personality by asking them four key questions to which they should answer using three adjectives for each question. Adjectives cannot be repeated.
1. Choose a colour, the first colour that comes to mind.
Once you have that colour, list three adjectives that describe it.

2. Choose an animal, the first animal that comes to mind.
Once you have selected an animal, list three adjectives that describe it.

3. Choose a body of water like a river, ocean, sea, or lake. Once you have chosen a body of water, list three adjectives that describe it.

4. Let's say you are in a white room with no windows no doors, list three emotions that you are feeling.

When you are done answering those questions, highlight the following to get your results: your colour represents what you think of yourself, the animal represents what you think of other people, the body of water represents your love life, and the white room represents what you will feel like when you are about to die.
Birth order
Do you think birth order has any influence on our personality?

Ask students to work in groups of 4. Tell them they are going to see a video where personality is related to birth order. Assign each person in the group the task of writing down information they can gather from the video about either first borns, middle children, last borns or only children.

Whole class discussion. Starting with "first-borns", write on the board all the information the students learnt from the video. Start a class discussion where first borns in the class will say whether they agree or disagree with the content in the video. Repeat procedure for middle children, last borns and only children.
Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe. also known as noughts and crosses or Xs and Os is a game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 (3×4 in this game) grid. The player who succeeds in placing three of their marks in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row wins the game.

In this game, to place their mark they'll need to talk for about two minutes about the question in the box.

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10 Games and Activities to Practise Personality Adjectives.

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Ten entertaining ways to practise personality adjectives with activities for all ages and levels. In this post, you'll find listening,writing, speaking activities and games to help students master this vocabulary. This is me. Ask students to work in pairs and write down as many personality adjectives as they can in two minutes.

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Daffodils – William Wordsworth (An Inspirational Poem)

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Pigeon. Taboo words: wings, fly, bird, animal, Smoke. Taboo words: cigarette, air, grey, fire, Queen. Taboo words: England, crown, king, palace, Business. Taboo words: career, money, company, office, Sickness. Taboo words: Health, ill, virus, feel, Swim. Taboo words: water, sports, sea, move, Good-looking. Taboo words: beautiful, attractive, face, appearance, Gardening. Taboo words: flowers, plants, fruit, grow, Calendar. Taboo words: date, timetable, day, month, Spider-man. Taboo words: superhero, powers, Peter Parker, mask, Knowledge. Taboo words: information, subject, learning, books, Breathe. Taboo words: air, lungs, live, oxygen, Poland. Taboo words: country, Europe, place, capital, Horror. Taboo words: fear, movie, monster, feeling, Blue. Taboo words: colour, sea, sky, eyes, Fame. Taboo words: star, celebrity, know, everyone, Sword. Taboo words: weapon, kill, metal, sharp.

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Pigeon. Taboo words: wings, fly, bird, animal, Smoke. Taboo words: cigarette, air, grey, fire, Queen. Taboo words: England, crown, king, palace, Business. Taboo words: career, money, company, office, Sickness. Taboo words: Health, ill, virus, feel, Swim. Taboo words: water, sports, sea, move, Good-looking. Taboo words: beautiful, attractive, face, appearance, Gardening.

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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In this post, I am describing activities where students practice using past modal verbs for speculation and deduction. I have been using them with upper-intermediate, advanced, FCE, and CAE students who often struggle with the concept of using modal verbs for something other than expressing ability or obligation.

Deduction: Crime Scene Investigation

Variant A

This activity is usually lots of fun and enables you to engage the whole group into the creation process. Here is what you need:

a setting (a living room, a classroom, an office etc. confined spaces usually work best)

a character (who sadly gets murdered in the first scene)

a set of clues (written words of pictures) that might be either completely random or somehow connected.

The aim of the game is to recreate the events leading to the main character's death. Analysing clues that gradually appear during the investigation, students invent what must / might / can't have happened at the crime scene before they arrived.

Here is a Google presentation I have been using with my students. After each clue appears, they have to produce a conclusion.

Clue #1: You look around the office, terrified. Suddenly, you notice a cigarette butt on the floor!
What is your conclusion? Anna might have been a smoker. / The killer might have been a smoker. / The killer must have smoked after killing Anna.
Deducing who the killer was is not really the objective here but the students often get very engaged and invent very convincing storylines.

Download the presentation here.

Variant B

If you like improvising and work with like-minded students, you might make them responsible for the story:

without informing them where the game is going (don't mention the murder yet) ask your students to come up with:

Then, explain that the person has been found dead in the place and 10 random objects have been spotted at the crime scene. Ask your students to deduce what each object had to do with the crime using past modals. You might work together or divide your students into pairs/groups. Make sure to provide some relevant examples of the target language.

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Using past modals for speculation and deduction: 3 activities

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In this post, I am describing 3 activities where students practice using past modals for speculation and deduction. Good for upper-intermediate sts.

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Astronauts | B2 First Use of English Part 3 | Upper-Intermediate Level

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Read this article about astronauts for the B2 First Use of English Part 3 which practice for Cambridge English Assessment exam.

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You need to describe pictures at almost every level of Cambridge exams, but not just any pictures. It's important to practise with pictures that are similar to what you will find in the exam. In FCE Speaking Part 2, you'll see pictures connected to a variety of topics which are considered standard at B2 level. For FCE, describing pictures will generally involve talking about a person of group of people participating in some type of activity. The people themselves may be the focus of the question, or it may be related to the experience or place.

Check here for 5 complete First (FCE) Speaking exams as part of Breakout English's premium materials collection.

First (FCE) Speaking Part 2 Topics

At B2 level you start to see a wider variety of speaking part 2 topics. There can be questions related to everyday activities, but also about feelings, time, society or environment. These more abstract topics first appear in B2 exams like the First Certificate.

Here's a list of topics that come up at B2 and are likely to be seen in FCE Speaking Part 2 pictures.

communication

competition

culture and customs

daily life

education

entertainment and media

environmental issues

family and friends

fashion

feelings and emotions

food and drink

free time activities

health, medicine and fitness

hobbies and leisure

house and home

money

obligations

places and buildings

relations with other people

science and technology

shopping

social interaction

society

sport

technology

the natural world

time

transport

travel and holidays

weather

work and jobs

As you prepare for First Speaking Part 2, find appropriate pictures to describe and a question to answer. We've got a selection below based on the topic list, but if you are looking for more pictures to describe, look for two pictures on the same topic and consider carefully what question could be asked about them.

First (FCE) Speaking Part 2 Example

In part 2 of the First (FCE) Speaking Exam you will be asked to compare two pictures and to answer a question about those pictures. You have one minute to complete the task. Your partner will then be asked a question about your pictures. This should be a short answer (approximately 30 seconds). The process is then repeated with the other candidate.

Here is an example of a First (FCE) Speaking Exam Part 2.

In this part of the test, I'm going to give each of you two photographs. I'd like you to talk about your photographs on your own for about a minute, and also to answer a question about your partner's photographs.

(Candidate A), it's your turn first. Here are your photographs. They show people communicating in different ways.

I'd like you to compare the photographs, and say why the people are communicating in these ways.

All right?

............................................................

Thank you.

(Candidate B), do you talk on the phone much? ...... (Why? / Why not?)

............................................................

Thank you. (Can I have the booklet, please?)

Now, (Candidate B), here are your photographs. They show people cooking.

I'd like you to compare the photographs, and say why you think the people are enjoying these experiences.

All right?

............................................................

............................................................

Thank you. (Can I have the booklet, please?)

The examiner won't verbally interact with you while you are speaking, but they may encourage you to speak more using gesture if your minute has not finished. It's important to continue speaking until the examiner stops you by saying "Thank you". If you stop speaking before your time is up, you may find yourself waiting in an awkward silence.

The Materials

Practise with these First Speaking Part 2 pictures. Either use them from the website or download the pdf to practise, print or display.

If doing it with a class, don't be strict about the time limit with the first set of pictures, but as your students get more practice, make them complete the task with the one minute limit. Write down things that they do well and errors. After each set of pictures, do a correction/praise feedback stage before trying again.

Check here if you are looking for some more materials about how to do First (FCE) Speaking Part 2 and some useful phrases.

EXAM PART: Speaking

EXAM SKILLS: Comparing and contrasting, discourse management, using a range of appropriate vocabulary

TIME: 5-10 minutes per set of pictures + feedback

Download the pictures

Pictures to describe

Communication

Food and drink

Relations with other people

Travel

Education

Feelings

Obligation

Natural world

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First (FCE) Speaking Part 2 Pictures - Breakout English

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FCE Speaking Part 2 pictures connected to a variety of topics considered standard at B2 level. Exam preparation from Breakout English.

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B2 First for schools self-study writing activities Part 1

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FCE Speaking Exam Part 2 Example Question — Coyote English

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Prepare for the FCE Speaking Exam. Here is an example question, two example answers and a list of useful expressions

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Here are some more questions to practice the FCE Part 2 speaking exam. The FCE part 2 speaking exam focuses on your ability to compare two picture and also your ability to be coherent when you're speaking by yourself for a relatively long time. Fluency and coherence are heavily emphasized in this portion of the speaking exam.

Compare these two photos and say which one of them you find most enjoyable:

Compare these two photos and say which one of them you find most enjoyable

Example Answer:

In these two pictures we can clearly see people having fun, although the people in these pictures are having fun in quite different environments. In the picture on the left, there are two women having fun in the snow, while in the picture on the right there is a father and daughter having fun on the beach. Both locations are great in my opinion because even though the climate in one is hot and in the other it is cold, there are plenty of fun activities to do in either.
I personally prefer the heat, I love surfing, swimming even building sandcastles, but I have plenty of friends who enjoy the cold. I have friends who love skiing, snowboarding, and all sorts of cool activities people can do in the snow.
In the end, there is no wrong answer when it comes to this question, it just depends on whether you are willing to leave your comfort zone and try something new.

Compare these two images and say whether it is better to eat out or cook at home:

Compare these two images and say whether it is better to eat out or cook at home

Example Answer

There are advantages and disadvantages both to eating at home and to eating out. When we eat out in my family, it is usually a special occasion, for example a fun Friday night, someone's birthday or any other special event. While eating at home is nothing out of the ordinary. In my family we eat at home most days. Some families eat out more often than others and I have friends whose family never cooks at home because nobody likes cooking or because it is cheaper for them to eat out. When comparing both photos, I tend to lean towards eating at home, there is a feeling of coziness associated with home cooked food and although eating at a restaurant is great, it doesn't compare to a nice home cooked meal with your family and friends.

Compare these two pictures and say whether it is better to work at home or in an office:

Compare these two pictures and say whether it is better to work at home or in an office

Example answer

A good working environment is essential to being productive and having a good work-life balance. In these two pictures we can see two quite common examples of how people are choosing to work nowadays. One the one hand, working from home allows you to see your friends and family more, but some people say it blurs the line between work and personal life, as we are doing both activities in the same space. On the other hand, working from the office can feel like a bit of a waste of time as people have to commute there and sometimes the work done in the office could easily be done at home. I believe there needs to be a compromise because many people feel like there is no need in spending five or six days a week holed up in a stuffy office. In my view, there should be two or three days of office work and two or three days of home-office work, in this way, meetings would be reserved for the office time and people could be productive at home during their home-office hours.

Compare these two pictures and say whether it is better to drink tea or coffee and why:

Compare these two pictures and say whether it is better to drink tea or coffee and why

Example answer

This sometimes feels like a controversial question because coffee and tea have some avid fans and it sometimes feels like you can only like one or the other. The obvious answer as to which is the healthiest feels fairly obvious. Tea is healthier than coffee. Why? Because tea is just water with some dried leaves in it. There is barely any difference between some herbal teas and just drinking hot water. Even though the answer to this question seems straightforward, many people have pointed out the health benefits provided by coffee. I am not an expert, but I have heard coffee is quite a healthy drink as well. I will say though that coffee warrants moderation, but I have never heard anybody tell me to drink less tea!
In conclusion, although both drinks are healthier than drinking a soda or drinking a beer, my money is on tea being healthier because it's basically just water and there is nothing healthier than water.

Compare these two pictures and say whether it is better to draw by hand or using a computer:

Compare these two pictures and say whether it is better to draw by hand or using a computer

Example answer

These two pictures show people drawing in two separate ways. Drawing on paper almost feels like something teenagers would say is from the past, while drawing on a computer or tablet feels like a much more futuristic way to draw. I know many people will say that drawing on a tablet computer is much more practical because we all live our life in a computer now. By drawing it in a digital format it is easier to share online on our social medias, but I must say, that there is no comparison to drawing on a piece of paper. It is like comparing reading a real book and a digital book. Although the digital book is much more convenient, as we can have many of them in one device, many people like me would say that a real book is a far superior reading experience. Also, computers tend to tire your eyes after a while and so drawing on paper might be better for them.
Regardless of whichever method you choose to draw in, the most important thing is that people continue being creative and creating art in whatever format for people to enjoy.

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FCE Part 2 Speaking Questions (II) - Oscar Lessons

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Here are some more questions to practice the FCE Part 2 speaking exam. The FCE part 2 speaking exam focuses on your ability to compare two picture and also your ability to be coherent when you're speaking by yourself for a relatively long time.

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SEGMENTS

Activists are expressing outrage in the wake of the decision by the United Arab Emirates to appoint oil executive Sultan al-Jaber as President of this year's UN climate treaty negotiations at COP28 in Dubai. Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance and May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, join Host Steve Curwood to explain the concerns and discuss how fossil fuel interests are deflecting progress in the treaty process. (10:25)

/ Sandy Tolan

Some Florida sugarcane growers near the Everglades still use the archaic method of burning fields to remove the tops and leaves before harvesting the sweet cane stalks. Nearby residents say the smoke and ash promote adverse health effects. As reporter Sandy Tolan explains, communities of color nearby assert they bear a disproportionate burden of adverse health effects from the resulting smoke and ash pollution. (21:39)

/ Peter Dykstra

Journalist Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood this week to discuss a proposal to phase out gas cooking stoves linked to health risks. and They also consider the climate rhetoric of the new Republican Chair of the US House Science, Space and Technology Committee. And in history they look back to President Nixon's 1970 State of the Union address with its soaring language about protecting the environment. (04:33)

In addition to the devastating human toll of Russia's war on Ukraine, marine scientists have documented recent mass strandings of dolphins and porpoises in the Black Sea. A key suspect is military sonar, which can disorient cetaceans that use sound to navigate. Alix Kroeger, a freelance journalist from the UK, spoke with researchers in the region about the impacts of war on marine mammals and joins Host Bobby Bascomb to explain. (08:33)

Bottlenose dolphins can use clicking noises for echolocation and navigation, and they speak to each other using special whistles. Wild Quest recorded these dolphin noises in the Bahamas. (01:10)

Show Transcript

230120 Transcript

HOSTS: Bobby Bascomb, Steve Curwood

GUESTS: May Boeve, Alix Kroeger, Mithika Mwenda

REPORTERS: Peter Dykstra, Sandy Tolan

[THEME]

CURWOOD: From PRX - this is Living On Earth.

[THEME]

CURWOOD: I'm Steve Curwood.

BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb

The United Arab Emirates appoints the head of an oil company to preside over the 2023 UN climate treaty summit.

BOEVE: If this isn't a bridge too far, appointing an oil executive to this post then what is? We have to be able to vociferously call out these egregious decisions for the embarrassments that they are.

CURWOOD: Also, some communities of color disproportionally suffer air pollution from sugar cane harvest burning.

WALKES: The ash, affectionately known as the black snow. Ash is just raining down upon everything in the community. Your homes, your cars, your food. It's almost apocalyptic at times, especially when fields are being burnt simultaneously. You know the smoke can block the sun out. The community actually turns dark. It's like, wow, man, this is this is crazy.

CURWOOD: That and more this week on Living on Earth - Stick Around!

[NEWSBREAK MUSIC: Boards Of Canada "Zoetrope" from "In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country" (Warp Records 2000)]

[THEME]

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood.

BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb.

There is outrage over the decision of the United Arab Emirates to have the head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company preside over the COP28 climate treaty summit this fall in Dubai. Critics say it is a blatant conflict of interest to have oil CEO Sultan al-Jaber lead the UN climate talks which has the mission to transition the world away from the very resource that makes his company wealthy. There have been outcries around the world demanding a replacement.

CURWOOD: Yes, I reached Mithika Mwenda, the Executive Director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, based in Nairobi and asked his opinion:

MWENDA: I was really, really shocked.

CURWOOD: To what extent does it feel like, if Sultan Al-Jaber is the President of the COP, that it's like "the fox guarding the henhouse?"
MWENDA: That is it. It's, it's like putting a hyena in the same place with the sheep. We would urge the UAE government to really listen to the cries of the people: women in the Congo forest; Indigenous people in Africa; smallholder farmers whose crops are withered away because there is no rainfall and the thousands of people in the Horn of Africa who are facing starvation as a result of the changing climate. We may not have the power of money, but the power of the people will prevail. The United States is thinking that addressing climate change is like charity to Africa. It is not, because this is not going to be an isolated problem for Africa. It is going to be only that it is coming gradually, and incrementally, because when we are going to sink in this global titanic, all of us are going to perish, though we are going to perish at different times.

CURWOOD: May Boeve the Executive Director of 350.org is on the line now from California, hi there May!

BOEVE: Great to be here, Steve.

CURWOOD: So what was your reaction when you heard that Sultan Al Jaber had been appointed President of COP 28?

BOEVE: I was angry. It's like appointing the head of Smirnoff to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. [LAUGHS] Who are we kidding here, you know? This really risks the legitimacy of these meetings in the eyes of the public, because we're on the verge of this massive energy transition around the world. And so to appoint someone who embodies the status quo-what we're trying to move away from-it just doesn't make any sense.

CURWOOD: Now remind us of what the responsibility the President of the COP has during the climate negotiations. What's the role that he or she plays?

BOEVE: So the COP President is the most important governing role at the COP, responsible for setting agendas, and this person also helps set the tone internationally. And that's also really important because the two weeks of the COP are a moment when the global media spotlight is on the topic of climate change. And so our ability as social movements to tell the story of how we are fighting the climate crisis, so much of that happens around the COP. There are often mass marches and protests and actions that really help bring movements together, to remind us everything that we have at stake and the urgency of the fight. And so that tone setting role of the Presidency matters a tremendous amount with so much at stake. And so that's another reason that we're deeply concerned about this appointment.

CURWOOD: Now, of course, the fossil fuel industry has been present at the UN climate treaty meetings before. In fact, at each of the last two COPs more than 500 fossil fuel lobbyists were present. And even going back to Kyoto, Maurice Strong, who chaired kind of the special committee to get things done there -- yes, he was a former undersecretary of the United Nations, but he also was a former oil man from Canada. So, it's not as if the fossil fuel industry has never been involved here. Why is this different?

BOEVE: Well, let's be clear. There are a lot of records that are being broken when it comes to climate change. And we're most familiar with the records around extreme heat and weather disasters. But we're also breaking records for fossil fuel lobbyist influence in this process. So, I was at COP 27 in Egypt; a record breaking amount of lobbyists were present. And you see them everywhere. They're not even hiding. They're, they're in plain sight, making deals. And last year in Egypt, there were some important decisions taken, particularly for the most vulnerable countries in the world. And at this COP, there are some crucial decisions that have to be made to follow up from those decisions last year. And so, if we run the risk of stepping back from where we were, we have a real problem on our hands. And we can't let that happen.

CURWOOD: By the way, there's a fair amount of grumbling from last year's COP that did create this loss and damage fund. But so far there hasn't been a dime put in it.

BOEVE: Exactly. And those are the types of decisions that are taken at subsequent years' COPs. I think that the decision to establish the loss and damage facility, that was a really important thing that happened last year. So, we celebrate this, and we have to keep the momentum going.

CURWOOD: Now, John Kerry, President Biden's international climate envoy, came out in support of Sultan Al Jaber to be president of this COP. What do you make of his support?

BOEVE: I wonder if it's just a diplomatic gesture, because there's a lot of that at these conferences. There's a lot of countries not wanting to criticize one another. There's a lot of patting each other on the back that happens in these settings. And in this country, where the US finally joined the party and put meaningful national legislation on the table in advance of a COP, we've been waiting decades for this moment, it finally happened. The rest of the world looks at the US like, okay, too little too late people, but we're glad you're here. The US has to take its global role seriously. And so, this welcoming of the appointment is eyebrow raising, to say the least. If this isn't a bridge too far, appointing an oil executive to this post, then what is? And we have to be able to vociferously call out these egregious decisions for the embarrassments that they are. And I think people deserve better than diplomatic niceties at this late stage of the climate crisis.

CURWOOD: Now, what kind of action or reaction to this appointment do you think is likely? I mean, what about boycotts? What about a walkout? Wouldn't be the first time that this would happen. But how could a major walkout impact COP 28?

BOEVE: It would be significant and different. I've been part of previous walkouts of previous COPs that usually happen because something unforgivable has happened in the process. And we all collectively decide to stand with the countries who are saying enough is enough. So there is precedent for this. And there is discussion about whether this decision is an example where we just cannot stand by and let this happen and attend and give it legitimacy with our presence. The thing to keep in mind, which is the other side of that coin, is that this is the one time when every country is present, every country has a voice, small countries, large countries, everybody's there, and for a lot of the activists that we work with, this is a rare chance to be present with delegates from your country who are fighting climate change. And in the US we are so accustomed to often an antagonistic relationship with government and activists over climate. In a lot of parts of the world that's not true. There's actually a lot of collaboration and solidarity between particularly the most impacted countries. And so missing a COP is a really hard decision in those settings. And so much of the climate crisis, as we know, is about equity. It's about who's affected. It's about whose solutions are listened to, it's about who suffers and who doesn't, and to what degree. In a forum like this one with the UN, there is a tremendous amount of space at the table for everyone. And that matters quite a lot.

CURWOOD: May, to what extent is this UN process, this Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change treaty, to what extent is this even working some 30 years on with the climate emergency advancing so quickly? You're in California, I don't have to tell you about the crazy weather you have there and around the rest of the world.

BOEVE: The way I think about the annual UN climate talks is that for a problem as big as climate change, and as global as climate change, there has to be a way for every country to work together on solutions. There's no way to envision the scale of action we need without a process hosted by the United Nations. And it can't be the only game in town. We need every possible mechanism to address this problem. And that's why I'm so glad that there are multiple venues where people are problem solving about climate change, whether it's forums of mayors that are convened every year by C40, whether it's forums of activists that my colleagues at 350 and many other groups are part of convening, whether it's state officials, and even librarians and athletes now have fora to discuss how to fight climate change. So, we all have to be involved, but there is no substitute for an intergovernmental process at the UN. And for all of its flaws, we have to make it better. And that's why we have to speak up when decisions are taken like this appointment of Al Jaber, we have to raise our voices and say this is not okay because this process means something to us and it means a lot more to people who are the most affected by climate change.

CURWOOD: May Boeve is the executive director of the group 350.org. Thanks so much for taking the time with us today, May.

BOEVE: My pleasure.

Related links:
- Associated Press | "African Activists Cast Doubt Over Climate Talks' Credibility"
- Associated Press | "John Kerry Tells AP He Backs UAE Oil Chief Overseeing COP28"
- Read the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance statement about Sultan al-Jaber's appointment
- Upstream | "Adnoc Chief's Role in COP28 Summit Sparks Backlash"
- KBC Channel 1 | "COP 28 Politics: Consortium Dismisses Appointment of Oil Executive"
- The Guardian | "Let's face reality. Fossil fuel interests have destroyed the COPs - we need something new"
- Read more about 350's work here
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[MUSIC: Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate, "Be Mankan" on Ali and Toumani, by Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate, Nonesuch Records]

BASCOMB: Coming up - The fight for clean air in communities of color downwind from the ash and smoke from the sugar cane burning in Florida. That's just ahead on Living on Earth.

ANNOUNCER: Support for Living on Earth comes from Sailors for the Sea and Oceana. Helping boaters race clean, sail green and protect the seas they love. More information @sailorsforthesea.org. Support also comes from Friends of Smeagull the Seagull and Smeagull's Guide to Wildlife. It's all about the wildlife right next door to you! That's Smeagull, S - M - E - A - G - U - L - L, SmeagullGuide.org.

[CUTAWAY MUSIC: The Gypsy Kings, "Moorea" on The Best Of the Gypsy Kings, by Gypsy Kings, Nonesuch Records]

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb.

CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood.

Sugar cane is a perennial grass that can be harvested as many as five times before being replanted, and for centuries growers would set fields on fire to burn off the tops and leaves before harvesting the sweet canes stalks. Many modern sugar growers use mechanical harvesters to strip away those tops and leaves rather than pollute the air with ash and particulates from burning. But burning still persists in Palm Beach County Florida, where, with support from the Pulitzer Center, reporter Sandy Tolan found this cheap old-fashioned method is imposing disproportionately high health costs on nearby communities of color.

VOICE 1: Maintain a traffic white highway departing 110.

[PLANE AUDIO SFX]

TOLAN: The single engine Cessna flies low, its shadow flitting along the edge of the Everglades. Decades ago, hundreds of square miles were dug, drained, and scraped, then the rich muck planted in sugarcane.

HARTMAN: So, what we're passing is called the Everglades Agricultural Area.

TOLAN: The Atlantic Ocean sparkles in the east. Just along the shore, the mansions of the sugar barons of Palm Beach.

[TRAFFIC CHATTER SFX]

TOLAN: At a thousand feet, we look down on the source of that wealth: half a million acres of sugarcane. Most of that sea of monoculture belongs to U.S. Sugar, and to Florida Crystals, part of the Fanjul sugar empire.

[TRAFFIC CHATTER SFX]

TOLAN: Our plane banks to the west. We can see Muck City - the nickname for the largely black towns of Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay. Also known as the Glades.

HARTMAN: I believe that is Belle Glade.

TOLAN: Allie Hartman is with Friends of the Everglades - part of a coalition of environmentalists and local Glades residents fighting the pre-harvest burns.

HARTMAN: Yeah. So, on the left side of the plane here, we're seeing a massive sugarcane burn that starts along that crop line there. And it will continue burning until that entire field has been burned. What it does is it removes what they would call the trash material until only the sugarcane stalk is left. It's a cheaper method for harvest.

TOLAN: Cheaper, and dirtier. How dirty?

[BURNING SFX]

TOLAN: To understand that, I get back on the ground, ride down a washboard cane road, and stop my rental car in front of the flames.

[CAR SFX, BURNING SFX]

TOLAN: It's getting really hot!

TOLAN: From the fire comes smoke; from the smoke: ash. Tons, and tons of ash. The people of Muck City told me about it.

VOICE 2: The ash, unaffectionately known as the black snow. Ash is just raining down upon everything in the community. Your homes, your cars, your food...

VOICE 3: It's like black ash all over the place. It's like raining ash.

VOICE 4: Out of nowhere, you know, you're just sitting there, boom! Ash is on you, you look at your clothes, hey, I got ash on my clothes.

VOICE 5: It messed up our cars and messed up our houses. It messed up our hair. I have natural hair, and when it gets in there, it's really hard to get out.

VOICE 6: Stay inside, keep your windows down or whatever.

VOICE 7: As much as I can try to keep him indoors and say, son, we can't go outside. He's a boy. You know, he wants to run and climb the trees.

VOICE 8: I'm sitting out trying to enjoy a drink. You know, my drink has ash in it and I have to do something about this.

VOICE 9: You would think, like, where is this coming from? Why is it like this?

VOICE 10: It's like it's almost apocalyptic at times, especially when fields are being burnt simultaneously. You know the smoke can block the sun out... the community actually turns dark. It's like, wow, man, this is this is crazy.

TOLAN: It would be crazy just about anywhere else. But the three towns that make up Muck City are company towns. Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar sponsor little leagues, scholarship programs. They helped pay for a couple of local parks and a community center. But all that comes with a message: don't mess with the burns. Just live with the ash.

PHILLIPS: You know, we felt like, okay, this is just normal. this is what we've been seeing all our life.

TOLAN: This is community activist Kina Phillips of South Bay.

PHILLIPS: You really didn't think like, wow, all these people got asthma like this. Why is this happening? Like, you just don't think about it.

TOLAN: But then Kina Phillips had a grandson.

PHILLIPS: When my grandbaby was born, we noticed that when we take him outside and because it was the burning season, he struggled to breathe. And it got to the point where we had to put him on a machine.

TOLAN: She worked in a hospital and had already started noticing something.

PHILLIPS: Witnessing the increase of people coming in and having to be put on an asthma machine. Or we having to call the ambulance for the kid, to send them to the emergency room because of the shortness of breath and respiratory problems. But when all of these things start happening at one time, you're like, wait, hold on, there's a problem here.

TOLAN: So Kina Phillips, working with the former mayor of South Bay, called in the Sierra Club. The Stop the Burn Campaign was born.

PHILLIPS: We came on board and refused to be quiet about it.

TOLAN: Then their colleague Robert Mitchell formed the Muck City chapter of Black Lives Matter. Ms. Phillips says, this is an environmental justice issue.

PHILLIPS: It's racism.

TOLAN: Soon after, they called on Colin Walkes, then the mayor of Pahokee.

WALKES: The Glades welcome my family from the island of Barbados. I migrated here in 1982 with my mom, dad, sister, and brothers

TOLAN: Colin Walkes sits in a city park in Pahokee, the waves of Lake Okeechobee lapping the shore. He was 10 years old when his family moved to Muck City. After Pahokee High, Colin Walkes moved away for a while. Joined the army. Got his bachelor's in criminal justice. Became a probation officer. And then about 12 years ago, he came back with his own family.

WALKES: One of the reasons I got involved, too: I have a young son that is asthmatic. And since he's been here, he's had about maybe eight or nine asthma attacks. it happens during the Christmas break, you know, during Thanksgiving.

TOLAN: In other words, when the burns were going on. He began to worry about those burns. Then he ran for mayor of Pahokee, and won. He met with Kina Phillips and joined the Stop the Burn campaign.

WALKES: When I was in office, of course, I spoke out against the industry and I don't really call it speaking out. I called it an ask, to basically stop the practice of sugar cane burning.

TOLAN: And adopt safer, cleaner green sugar harvesting, with no burning. In Brazil and Australia, studies indicate green harvesting reduces soil erosion and conserves water. But Mayor Walkes soon realized he, and Kina Phillips, and a handful of other activists, were in a pretty small minority. And that had consequences.

WALKES: Speaking out against our industry as far as the practice of sugar cane burning is kind of like a death sentence here in the community when it comes to your livelihood.

TOLAN: When Colin Walkes ran for re-election, he lost. And then he lost a lot more.

WALKES: The most extreme thing that happened to me was happened in 2021 where I was actually fired from my job.

TOLAN: It was his fulltime job in community engagement, for a local nonprofit. When he engaged citizens on public health and sugarcane burning, he said powerful people complained, and he was out.

WALKES: And it really rocked me. You know, you have a daughter in college, you know, two young sons in the home, a wife. You got a mortgage, car notes and all these type things. I actually lost my home, you know?

[WAVES SFX]

WALKES: You have kinds, you know, my boys, oh. "We've got track meets coming up, Dad, or we got this with the band, you know, we got this with robotics." So, it's a tough situation to be in when you have to tell your kid, well, uh, uh, not going to be able to make the meet, not going to be able to make the meet because of basics like gas. You can see the disappointment in your kid's face. "Aw, Dad, man, I thought you was gonna make it to it."

[WAVES SFX]

WALKES: For about a month, we were actually homeless. I actually slept in the park for two nights, here in Pahokee, yeah. We lived in the in the homeless shelter for about a week, a week and a half. You know, my kids were staying with my mom, you know, but we were in the homeless shelter.

TOLAN: The former mayor had to think fast: He put the family savings into a gigantic charcoal smoker and food trailer.

WALKES: This is the firebox...

TOLAN: Now, Coal Brothers Cuisine began showing up at little league and high school football games on the weekends.

WALKES: ...and this is all indirect heating...

[FOOD SIZZLING SFX]

TOLAN: And Colin Walkes kept speaking out against the burns. The campaign wants this year to be the last burn season.

[FOOD SIZZLING SFX]

TOLAN: And so how unsafe are the burns, really? You hear a lot of stories about asthma attacks, more nebulizers in use, strange rashes, even people moving away entirely to get out from under the Black Snow. There's a whole lot of anecdotal evidence of health problems, and not just from the Stop the Burn folks. There's not much official interest in Muck City for in-depth health investigations. Internal studies by the Palm Beach county health department did link cane burning to toxic pollution and potential respiratory and carcinogenic effects. That's according to an investigation by Pro Publica and the Palm Beach Post. Publicly, though, a state official said there was no such proven link. And the many pro-sugar people here say critics are hyping the dangers without enough evidence.

JACKSON MOORE: I'm Tammy Jackson Moore. I've been in the Glades about 30 years, raised my children here.

TOLAN: Ms. Jackson Moore is co-founder of Guardians of the Glades, a community group aligned with the big sugar companies. She says the ash doesn't rain down every day during the burning reason, and when it does --

JACKSON MOORE: I get up and I sweep my porch and I go on about my day. I have never had an asthma attack since I moved here to this community. But I had terrible asthma when I lived in Jacksonville. Do people have asthma in our community? Absolutely. Can we equate their asthma to sugar cane burning? I don't think so. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a scientist. I don't think it's equated. There may be something that helps to trigger their asthma during the during the burning season, but that something could be what's growing here. It could be some of the flowers, it could be anything. But to say that it is because of sugar cane burning, and lay it all on sugar cane burning, I think that's unfair.

TOLAN: You may be wondering what Big Sugar is saying. To me? Very little. I called, texted, emailed dozens of times. Finally, someone called back saying: we're not going to meet with you. A PR person for the Fanjuls' Florida Crystals wrote to say that because of previous stories they called unfair and inaccurate, they'd agree to an interview only if it were live on the air and unedited. Which rules out this and just about any other radio program or podcast, so, kind of unrealistic. Florida Crystals did send a statement signed by their vice president. He spent three pages describing their charitable work in education, sponsoring the Muck City Hall of Fame, providing sugar and rice during Covid and other efforts. About the burns, this, read by my colleague:

VOICE 11: Pre-harvest sugarcane prescribed burns are closely regulated and permitted on a daily, field-by-field basis by Florida Forest Service. Before authorizing or denying a permit, the state agency uses state-of-the-art computer modeling with real-time information about atmospheric and meteorological conditions. Air quality monitoring and data show that the area where sugarcane is farmed has some of the best air quality in the State of Florida - better than the state average, year after year.

TOLAN: Just to note: we did edit the company's statement. Reading it out loud, at a normal pace, it took me 13 minutes - almost as long as this entire story. But, what about that air quality claim? Is the air quality around the cane and in Muck City actually better than the rest of Florida? Well...

FERGUSON: To begin with, we know that the amount of particulate matter pollution produced annually by pre harvest sugar field burning during the harvesting season is roughly equivalent to the amount of particulate matter pollution produced by automobile vehicles throughout the state of Florida per year.

TOLAN: That's the Sierra Club's Patrick Ferguson, an organizer and attorney who set up shop in a storefront in Belle Glade, to work with Kina Phillips, Colin Walkes and other local campaign leaders. He points to studies in peer-reviewed journals linking cane burning to high concentrations of particulate matter, and to release of carcinogenic chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde. Bottom line, Ferguson says:

FERGUSON: The issue of sugar cane burning is a serious public health problem.

TOLAN: In late 2021 a joint study by Stanford University and NPR found that some of the worst air in the U.S. is in Florida's sugarcane plantations. So, wait: How could the area have both the cleanest air in the state and the worst air in the country? Some say it all comes down to air quality monitors: where they're located, how often they sample, and simply, how many there are.

FERGUSON: The federal air quality monitors that are used to determine compliance with national ambient air quality standards are generally determined by population densities.

TOLAN: And since there just aren't that many people in the Glades: far fewer monitors. So, reporters for ProPublica and the Palm Beach Post set up their own air sensors to register particulate matter, and documented big spikes in pollution during the burns - spikes that the other monitors seemed to miss, says Patrick Ferguson.

FERGUSON: And on days when there were spikes of particulate matter pollution it was when sugar cane burning was blowing in the directions of some of these monitors.

TOLAN: Now. Big Sugar disputes this. The companies accused Pro Publica of "selectively presenting their preferred interpretation" in support of a "biased conclusion," even suggested they were collaborating with environmental activists - charges the journalists refuted.

NEWS REPORT: A new study raises some troubling concerns about the air quality in western Palm Beach County. CBS 12's Al Pefley says the study looked at the results of sugarcane burning...

TOLAN: But then, late last summer, a peer-reviewed study said particulate matter from the burns contributed to between two and three additional deaths per year across South Florida. It made the evening news.

NEWS REPORTER 2: Researchers from Florida State University looked at information from an atmospheric dispersion model... (dips under)

TOLAN: In the Glades, U.S. Sugar issued a statement.

NEWS REPORTER 3: ...saying the FSU study is based on estimates and conjecture, and the statement says, quote, "shame on Florida State University for having its good name associated with such shoddy work."

[BURNING SFX]

TOLAN: But, no matter how good the air really is, no matter how harmful the ash and smoke, there's one question the pro-sugar folks could never seem to answer.

[BURNING SFX]

TOLAN: Why do state officials allow the burns, when the ash falls on communities of color Muck City. And yet, they ban the burns when the wind blows east, toward majority-white communities: the stables and equestrian riding clubs of Wellington, and the Fanjul mansions in Palm Beach?

TOLAN: Sounds hard to believe, right? But documents from a public records request to the Florida Department of Agriculture show: it's a fact. I wanted someone from the sugar industry willing to face my microphone. For a long time, I couldn't find anyone.

REV. REASE: Let us stand and greet everyone, look around...

TOLAN: And then one day, of all places, - in church, I found him.

REV. REASE: God bless you. It's so good to see everyone here this morning

TOLAN: I've come to talk to Rev. Robert Rease, a pro-sugar pastor.

REV. REASE: ...Come up and greet the congregation...(dips under)

TOLAN: But, surprise, here in the Lord's house, there's State Rep Rick Roth -- a politician and a sugar grower,

ROTH: Morning, everyone. It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord. Praise God.

TOLAN: He's hawking votes two days before the election...

ROTH: My heart is in the Glades. I've got muck underneath my toes. Thank God I am here today. We need people that fear God to run for public office. Please, I'm asking for your vote...

TOLAN: Now, Rick Roth slips out the back door. And a little rudely, I suppose, so do I.

[DOOR CLICKING, WALKING SFX]

TOLAN: Representative Roth? Representative Roth?...

[WALKING SFX]

TOLAN: He's a bit surprised to see me. But he agrees to talk - and he insists, there's nothing dangerous in the ash.

ROTH: Well, it's funny. We've been doing cane burning ever since the industry really got going in the early 1960s. We have air quality monitoring. We have regulations. Burning is not dangerous to your health unless you're standing out in it and trying to breathe it. It's not an air quality issue. I don't think it's a health issue.

TOLAN: I want to ask you one more question...

TOLAN: This burning question: If everything is so safe, why let the Black Snow fall on Muck City, but then, when the wind blows east, toward those wealthier communities, pull the permits?

TOLAN: And a lot of people in Belle Glade feel like that's not fair.

ROTH: The cities had nothing to do with that. This is a Florida regulation.

TOLAN: But what do you think about that? I mean, they're like...

ROTH: Well, the issue is you always have to make decisions. This is not a hazard. It is obviously an agenda.

TOLAN: But why would why...

ROTH: I'm saying it's an agenda, It's not an issue.

TOLAN: No, but I'm asking you, what about when the wind shifts and they pull the permits?

ROTH: (Pause) The, the regulations are done to do the least amount of harm possible. There is no data, no scientific data, to my knowledge. But you've asked four questions on this issue. Like it's as important as the economy, and it's not.

GOSPEL SINGER: Jesus loves the little children...all the children of the world. Red, yellow, black and white, they're all precious in his sight...

[MARCHING BAND SFX]

TOLAN: In Muck City, right up there with church, is football. This place has produced some 60 NFL players over the years. And no event pulls together the community - sugar boosters and burn critics alike - than the annual Muck Bowl game between Belle Glade and Pahokee high schools. It's Florida's 'Friday Night Lights' - and it's where I find Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson, just before kickoff.

MAYOR WILSON: We support our industry 100%. We make that clear with everybody.

TOLAN: Mayor Wilson gets pretty annoyed when he talks about the stop the burn campaign.

MAYOR WILSON: I've been here practically all my life. I was born in the city of Belle Glade. I have grandkids here. My kids are here. Do you really believe that I will expose my kids to an environment that's going to really be hazardous, to kill them? I have to be crazy. I love my family more than anything in this world. So all the critics and the naysayers, those folks who always got something to say, you know what? It's a part of life. We move on.

[FOOTBALL GAME SFX]

ANNOUNCER: We do want to make sure we give recognition to Florida Crystal. Let's give it up to all of our large donors...

CHEERLEADERS: BE! AGRESSIVE! B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E! BE! AGRESSIVE...

[FOOTBALL GAME SFX, CHEERING SFX]

TOLAN: Just before halftime, I find the former mayor of Pahokee, and now-barbecue maestro, Colin Walkes. Today, his alma mater is already ahead by three touchdowns, and the former Pahokee high linebacker is serving up ribs.

WALKES: Nothing ever replaces the experience of the mock bowl, you never forget it's like it's constantly playing in your head...you know I can visualize my last mock bowl from 1991. You know, you replay it in your head, all the tackles, all the plays.

TOLAN: Unlike Mayor Wilson, Mayor Walkes took on the sugar companies. After losing two jobs, losing his home, he had to reinvent himself with his Coal Brothers smoked meat.

WALKES: And my love and passion for cooking come from my mom and dad, you know, again, from Barbados, so my food has a kind of Caribbean taste to it

TOLAN: I get chicken on a stick. Tasty and a little bit sweet. Colin Walkes says, it's all good.

WALKES: Never in a million years would I thought I would have been in a situation like that. It cost me a lot. But we're rebuilding and I thank God for his grace and mercy once again, you know, for a sound mind and spirit and soul and a clean heart, you know, that you can rebuild. This is a story of redemption, you know? Yeah. Because I'm happy. Yeah, I'm happy, so...

[CHEERING SFX]

TOLAN: And one thing that would make him even happier: If this year, out on those hundreds of thousands of cane fields, it's the very last season of the burning.

[CHEERING, APPLAUSE SFX]

TOLAN: For Living on Earth, this is Sandy Tolan, in Palm Beach County, Florida.

VOICE 12: That's what we do! That's what we do!

[CHEERING, APPLAUSE SFX FADES]

CURWOOD: Support for Sandy's story came from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

Related links:
- Watch Friends of the Everglades' video series The Last Burn Season here
- Click here to read Pro Publica's work on sugarcane burning in Florida
- See how sugarcane burns color Belle Glade's landscape on NASA's Earth Observatory
- Miami Herald | "Florida's Sugar Harvest Sends Fields Up in Smoke. Some Residents Are Literally Sick of It."
- Visit Sandy Tolan's Website
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[MUSIC: Habib Koite & Bamada, "Foro Bana" on Ma Ya, by Habib Koite/arr. Habib Koite & Bamada, Putumayo Artists]

BASCOMB: Coming up - the tragedy of the War in Ukraine reaches under the sea to Dolphins and porpoises. That's just ahead on Living on Earth.

ANNOUNCER: Funding for Living on Earth comes from you, our listeners, and United Technologies, combining passion for science with engineering to create solutions designed for sustainability in aerospace, building industries, and food refrigeration.

[CUTAWAY MUSIC: Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, "Music for a Found Harmonium" on Plectrasonics, by Simon Jeffes, CMH Records]

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb.

CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood

And on the line now from Atlanta, Georgia is living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra. Hey, Peter, what do you have for us this week? There from Atlanta.

DYKSTRA: Hi, Steve, what we're going to treat you with an all Washington segment. Yes, there's stuff going on in Washington. The nation's premier consumer watchdog agency is the Consumer Product Safety Commission. And one of its commissioners, Richard Trumka, Jr. suggested that we should consider moving away from gas cooking stoves. There are so many things that have been cited in so many studies in recent years indoor air pollution, major cause of asthma, the production of soot, the production of other toxic chemicals. And of course, those gas stoves are a contributor to climate change.

CURWOOD: And how did Washington respond to this news? And because, in fact, it's true that gas stoves are not so healthy for us.

DYKSTRA: Well, the Republican Party and the oil and gas industry felt mighty threatened by the notion of banning gas stoves, except the fact that no one in the Biden administration nor Commissioner Trumka suggested that anyone was banning gas stoves, the Consumer Product Safety Commission police are not going to come in, in the dark of night and unhook your gas stove and haul it away. Trumka suggested that there possibly would be no gas hookups built into new homes. There are some places like Berkeley, California that have already made this law, New York State is considering the same thing. The CPSC is actually going to study this later in the year. But nobody, nobody said that gas stoves should be banned, and the one you may have now should be shut down.

CURWOOD: And if you do have one right now, and you're concerned about your health, just use that overhead hood to exhaust the fumes or open a window.

DYKSTRA: A partial but easy fix.

CURWOOD: Hey, what else do you have for us?

DYKSTRA: Well, we're looking at the new Republican Chair of the House Science Committee, Representative Frank Lucas, Republican of Oklahoma, he acknowledges that climate change is real, in part because the farmers in his Oklahoma district keep telling him how things are changing. More intense storms, more intense droughts, heat waves, his Republican predecessor up until 2019, Texas Congressman, Lamar Smith was a hardcore denier.

CURWOOD: But what does he say about the oil and gas industry that's so important there in Oklahoma?

DYKSTRA: Well, the gas industry from the perspective of just about every member of Congress in a state like Oklahoma needs protecting his policies and speeches have shown a strong need to protect, it's not certain that he's going to do anything to follow through on his own acknowledgments, that climate change is real. Oklahoma, don't forget to in addition to farming, and oil and gas is a place where the wind comes roaring down the plane. And wind power has actually become a big deal there as well.

CURWOOD: Yeah, they're in the transition right next to all those wind farms across the border there in Texas. Okay, well, let's take a look back in history now, Peter.

DYKSTRA: On January 22 1970, in his State of the Union address, Richard Nixon said this.

NIXON: Restoring nature to its natural state is a cause beyond party and beyond factions. It has become a common cause of all the people of this country.

DYKSTRA: Well, imagine that a bipartisan approach to environmentalism. Nixon, of course, was a pioneer in many ways on the environment. During his watch,

CURWOOD: Yeah, he created the Environmental Protection Agency for one thing.

DYKSTRA: Yeah, the Clean Air Act was signed by Nixon, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and not only did he say environmental things, those things are evidence that he followed through on many of them.

CURWOOD: Well, there's a lot to not like about Richard Nixon. But when it comes to environmental action, apparently, there's a lot to like.

DYKSTRA: He was not a crook on environmental issues, as far as we know.

CURWOOD: Well thanks, Peter. Peter Dykstra is a regular contributor to Living on Earth. And we'll talk to you again real soon.

DYKSTRA: All right, Steve, thanks a lot. Talk to you soon.

CURWOOD: And there's more on these stories on the living on Earth webpage. That's loe dot org.

Related links:
- Learn more about Childhood Asthma and Gas Stoves in the United States
- New York Times | "Ban Gas Stoves? Just the Idea Gets Some in Washington Boiling."
- Union of Concerned Scientists | "Should New Gas Stoves Be Banned?"
- E&E News | "Meet the New GOP Chair of the House Science Committee"
- Read Richard Nixon's 1970 Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union
- Watch President Richard Nixon's Message to Congress on the Environment
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[MUSIC: Oklahoma! Studio Orchestra/Jay Blackton, Overture from the original Oklahoma! soundtrack, by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Angel Records]

BASCOMB: It's been almost a year since Russia first invaded Ukraine and the Black Sea remains a critical theater of the war. The Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine in 2014, is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, which uses the area as a base from which to launch missiles and send its submarines to patrol the waters. Some say hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of the war, and marine mammals are another unspoken casualty. Mass stranding's of cetaceans, or dolphins, whales, and porpoises, are often linked to the use of military sonar, which disorients animals that use sound to navigate. So, many marine scientists working in the Black Sea are looking to sonar as the likely culprit for some 2,000 marine mammals that have washed up dead since the war began. Scientists assume many more died further from the shore and sank undetected, a suspicion they can't confirm since the Black Sea is an active war zone. Alix Kroeger is a freelance journalist from the UK. She spoke with researchers in the region about the impacts of war on cetaceans. Alix, welcome to Living on Earth!

KROEGER: Thank you.

BASCOMB: So it sounds like the Black Sea has really become a war zone. And many of the cetaceans that live there have become a casualty of that war. Can you tell us about that, please?

KROEGER: That's right. So in the Black Sea, you have very significant populations of cetaceans, and they seem to have been quite badly affected by all this unusual movement in the Black Sea. I spoke to a conservationist from Romania, who said that the number of dead cetaceans washing up on the Romanian portion of the of the coast had nearly doubled between January and May. So in 2021, they had fewer than 100 washing up dead. In 2022, they had 194. What's changed? It's the war in Ukraine. There has been a lot of disturbance. If you think of helicopter noise over the Black Sea, submarines using sonar to get through, all the unusual movement there's been, that has really disturbed some of the marine life. For example, it's driven more porpoises and dolphins towards the Bulgarian portion of the coast because they've just been displaced by all this unusual activity.

BASCOMB: Well, displacement is one thing, washing up dead is another. What is actually causing them to die in this way?

KROEGER: Well, the scientists suspect that it is the use of sonar by military submarines. And that disturbs the dolphins and porpoises because that's how they navigate. That's also how they find food. They use their own sonar, these whistles and beeps and clicks to get through the sea. But this very powerful sonar that the submarines are using, it damages the animals' inner ears. They are thrown off course, they can be washed up on shore, they get into shallower waters, waters that they're not used to, maybe where they can't get as much food as they used to. And they can't get themselves back out again. The problem is because it's military, there's a high degree of secrecy attached. Navies don't particularly want to give all the details of how their sonar operates. Because that could give an advantage to any future opponents. So it's difficult for the scientists to get the exact details on what's going on, and how that affects marine life.

BASCOMB: So it sounds like you know, if you had a hawk, for instance, that was blind and still expecting it to be able to navigate the world and feed itself. It's a similar situation here for cetaceans, with this, you know, damage to their ears.

KROEGER: I think that's right, yeah, they just can't function in the way that they normally did. And, you know, the Black Sea, if you look at it on a map, it almost looks like an inland lake. So there's relatively little water coming in or out. One of the peculiarities of the Black Sea is that it's actually anoxic. It's dead below I think about 150 meters, so any pollutants can stay for a long time. And if you think of the military activity, sonar may be disturbing dolphins and porpoises in particular, but there's also things like undersea explosions. If submarines are firing missiles, there's pollution. If some of those missiles are shot down, if those then fall into the Black Sea, that causes pollution. And of course, if you think of that massive Russian warship, the Moskva, that was sunk off Snake Island, everything that was in that is now resting on the seabed, and potentially causing damage to the ecosystem.

BASCOMB: So now that we know this is such an issue for cetaceans in the Black Sea, what can be done about it? What are local conservation organizations and governments suggesting here?

KROEGER: Well, the reason I got interested in this story in the first place was reading about a Ukrainian scientist who works in a national park on the Black Sea coast, and he was talking to his colleagues all around the Black Sea, and totting up unusual numbers of dead cetaceans and raising the alarm. He came up with this idea for a protected area, just off the coast. And he's got the Ukrainian Ministry of Environment interested in investigating this, because at the moment, there are very few areas where injured dolphins or porpoises can recover. There are marine protected areas designated under international law around the Black Sea. But the problem is enforcement. There is illegal fishing that goes on. And while there have been efforts to crack down on bycatch, porpoises and dolphins getting caught in fishing gear and dying that way, if the fishing itself is illegal, it's very difficult to control that. What was interesting, I spoke to you know, these conservationists in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine. They all know each other. They all work together, they go to the same conferences, they share data. So they are working really hard, and they are pooling their resources. The problem is with the war, it's just too difficult to do much research, to get out to sea, you can imagine. And so these datasets that they have spent years building up, they are going to have unavoidable gaps in them. And I think that is really difficult for science. But what is more promising is the way that some conservationists, the Ministry of Environment in Ukraine, they're looking to beyond the war, what happens next? And trying to think of a plan and, okay, how can we do this better in future? So yes, it looks pretty bad at the moment. But they are trying to preserve some optimism at least.

BASCOMB: I mean, we all want to stay optimistic, of course. But in times of war, everything becomes difficult. And you need all of these many countries that you mentioned earlier to coordinate and to work together towards this goal. And, you know, I think it's safe to say that Russia, you know, isn't exactly respecting civilian life in times of war. So what hope is there do you think of them respecting these marine mammals and working towards this goal of conservation?

KROEGER: I think that's a very valid question. And the answer is probably not particularly edifying. Certainly, the Russian military has not shown a great respect for the life of its own soldiers. We've heard these accounts of conscripts, newly mobilized soldiers, being thrown into what's described as a meat grinder on the Eastern Front. Russian casualties, human casualties have been very high. Would they respect marine life? I wouldn't want to place a lot of money on it. The scientists may be another matter. And before the war broke out, there was cooperation with scientists from Russia, with their counterparts in other countries. Who knows what it will look like afterwards, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. The priority will probably be on restoring the human population, rebuilding the cities. And after that, there will be more opportunity to look at what remains of the natural world, but that could be quite a long way off.

BASCOMB: Alix Kroeger is a freelance journalist. Alix, thank you so much for your time today.

KROEGER: Thanks very much for talking to me.

Related links:
- BBC Future | "How the War in Ukraine Is Killing Marine Mammals"
- About Tuzly Estuaries National Park (Ukraine)
- About Mare Nostrum (Romania), which has documented a high number of strandings since the war began
- NOAA Fisheries | "Dolphins and Porpoises"
- NOAA Fisheries | "Beaked Whale Strandings in the Mariana Archipelago May Be Associated with Sonar"
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[SFX DOLPHIN SOUNDS]

BASCOMB: Bottlenose dolphins live in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, including the Black Sea.

[DOLPHIN SOUNDS]

BASCOMB: To echolocate and navigate the world around them they send out a series of rapid clicks, each roughly 100 microseconds long.

[DOLPHIN SOUNDS]

BASCOMB: They also use whistles to communicate with other dolphins. Each individual has its own signature whistle, sort of a name within the pod. Mother dolphins whistle almost continuously to newborn calves to imprint their name upon them. These Bottlenose Dolphins were recorded in the Bahamas by Wild Quest.

[DOLPHIN SOUNDS]
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[MUSIC: RiME, "The Song of the Sea (Instrumental)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-QDlXjg4yw]

CURWOOD: Living on Earth is produced by the World Media Foundation.
Our crew includes Fern Alling, Naomi Arenberg, Paloma Beltran, Iris Chen, Josh Croom, Jenni Doering, Mark Kausch, Mark Seth Lender, Don Lyman, Jusneel Mahal, Louis Mallison, Aynsley O'Neill, Sophia Pandelidis, Jake Rego, El Wilson, and Jolanda Omari.

BASCOMB: Tom Tiger engineered our show. Alison Lirish Dean composed our themes. You can hear us anytime at L-O-E dot org, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, and like us, please, on our Facebook page - Living on Earth. We tweet from @livingonearth. And find us on Instagram at livingonearthradio. I'm Bobby Bascomb.

CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Thanks for listening!

ANNOUNCER: Funding for Living on Earth comes from you, our listeners, and from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, in association with its School for the Environment, developing the next generation of environmental leaders. And from the Grantham Foundation for the protection of the environment, supporting strategic communications and collaboration in solving the world's most pressing environmental problems.

ANNOUNCER 2: PRX.

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SEGMENTS Activists are expressing outrage in the wake of the decision by the United Arab Emirates to appoint oil executive Sultan al-Jaber as President of this year's UN climate treaty negotiations at COP28 in Dubai.

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Moby Dick — Download Free at Planet eBook

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Talking about free time is one of the first things we learn to do in a language. However, often the vocabulary we get in textbooks isn't enough to understand native-speakers of English talking about how they spend their free time. This is because in casual conversation with friends, people often like to use expressions and idioms. Here are ten expressions and idioms that will help you explain what you do in your free time in English just like an native speaker.

Hang out at the mall

When friends hang out, it means they are relaxing and having fun together. The mall (shopping center) is the perfect place to hang out and chat with your friends. Hang out is a phrasal verb and the two words will have a different meaning if you separate them so make sure to keep them together. Put the place you are hanging out and the person you are hanging out with afterwards.

Catch some rays

Prefer the outdoors? Get outside and catch a few rays (enjoy the sunshine) at the beach. The beach or the park is the ideal place to enjoy the sun with people you know. Another similar expression is to sunbathe, which means to lie in the sun until you get a sun tan (your skin goes browner). Be careful to use sunscreen (cream to protect your skin) or you might get sunburnt!

Enjoy a cup of joe

Cafes are the perfect place to talk with your friends over a cup of joe. No - you don't need a friend called Joe! A cup of joe is just a cup of coffee. Sometimes people call a cup of coffee a cup of Java and in the UK, people often call a cup of tea or coffee a cuppa.

Go window-shopping

This doesn't mean that you are are shopping for windows! Window-shopping means looking through shop windows or browsing in stores without buying anything. A great way to have fun without spending money. Make sure you don't get too tempted to buy things, though!

Shoot some hoops

The next time somebody asks you to go to the park and shoot some hoops, don't worry, they just want to have a game of basketball with you! In the UK, where soccer is more popular than basketball, you could go for a kickaround (play soccer) with your friends.

Chow down at a fast-food joint

Chow down simply means to eat. A fast-food joint is a great place to have a pizza or a burger, and relax. We can use the word 'joint' to talk about other places to eat, too. If you don't eat meat, you can go to a veggie (vegetarian) joint and if you don't eat any animal products, you can go to a vegan joint.

Paint the town red!

It's the weekend. Time to party! Go out with your friends and paint the town red! Red symbolizes fun and excitement. Painting the town red means to have a fun-filled night out. You might even pull an all-nighter and stay out for the whole night!

Catch a flick

If your friends ask you to the cinema to catch a flick, they are asking you to see a movie with them. You could also catch a play at the theater or catch a show downtown. Afterwards, you could catch a train, catch a bus or catch a cab to get home easily.

Keep it low-key

Planning a relaxing, quiet night at home with a small group of friends? Tell them you are having a low-key night. This is the opposite of going out and painting the town red.

Grab some munchies and hit the road

Get away on a car-trip with your friends. Don't forget to grab some popcorn, candy, or other munchies (food, especially snacks). Once you have your snacks, it's time to get out there and hit the road (start your journey)!

Now you have ten different free-time activities you can talk about in English, all that's left to do is decide which one you are going to do this weekend!

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Idioms and expressions to talk about your free time in English

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Talking about free time is one of the first things we learn to do in a language. However, often the vocabulary we get in textbooks isn't enough to understand native-speakers of English talking about how they spend their free time.

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Winter. Past Simple or Past Continuous game

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Modal verbs are are the bread and butter of every grammar class. Students encounter them at all levels, from foundation to proficiency. In C-level classes, students should be able to recall all types of modal verbs and identify what job they do. Modal verbs can signify ability, probability, advice, request, permission, prohibition, obligation, certainty, and . Of course, teaching students about all nine of these categories in one session would be like drinking water from a firehose. So I've provided three learning activities aimed to engage C-level students and develop their fluency of modals of possibility. It's important that students are equipped with useful phrases, expressions that they can actually use.

Part 1: Warm up

1. Write these sentences on the whiteboard and ask students to work in pairs to explain what they mean in their own words. Monitor students for five minutes.

2. Select volunteers to explain each sentence. Based on your monitoring, choose some students that you noticed were correct and a few that were incorrect. Confirm/correct meaning and allow students time to write down any notes.

(Teacher notes in red)

"You could learn a thing or two." You might gain experience/knowledge

"The two racers are neck and neck. It could go either way." Both racers can win

"I can't stand you!" You are being annoying/irritating

"Whenever I see gelato I can't help myself!" I cannot resist eating it

"I can't wrap my head around it." I cannot understand the concept/idea

"Would you mind taking out the trash." Please take out the trash

"I can't hack it." I'm not qualified enough to complete this task

"You should have known better than to trust him." You were not supposed to trust him

3. Ask students if they can guess the topic of the lesson. If they guess modal verbs, elicit all the modal verbs that they know. Tell them you will be focusing on modals used to qualify possibility. Write the following on the whiteboard:

Must

Shall

Will

Could

Would

Should

Ought to

May / Might

Can

Part 2: Practice

1. Before class, the teacher writes sentences like these on small, numbered sticky notes and posts them around the room. Leave out the modal in each sentence. Sentences should look something like this:

Justin finished a marathon.

He ___ be tired.
* Must is the only possible answer here because Justin finished a marathon, which means that there is a high possibility (certainty) that he is tired.
Example sentences (remember to blank out the modal verb in each case):

Justin finished a marathon.

He must be tired.

Shall we have supper?

I couldn't go out last night. I had to look after the kids.

Would you mind doing the washing up tonight?

They should arrive within the hour.

The exam ought to be easy.

Might/May I have some of your fries? (formal)

Can I have some? (inf.)

We can try again tomorrow.

2. Allow students to walk around the classroom silently and write down their guesses in a notebook. Once they've made their guesses, have them compare with two other students. After that, elicit answers and give them explanations. Correction should take no longer than 2 mins. Make sure that the students have all these sentences written down somewhere in their notebook.

Part 3: Produce

This 30-minute group work activity (3-4 people) requires:

1. Ask students to write down a list of well-known destinations in the United States. Let them share their answers with a partner. Ask them which destination they would travel to if they had the chance. Take a minute to get them thinking about the theme: traveling in the U.S.

2. Students are going to plan a 1-week vacation in the United States. In small groups, they will come up with ten possible things that they can do on this trip.

One group can only travel within a 200-mile radius from where they landed.

One group must stay on the west coast.

One group has a budget of $10,000 for the whole trip.

One group must visit Las Vegas.

3. All groups must visit four areas of interest, and all groups will be given specific restrictions.

4. The students will compose an itinerary and post it on the wall. It can include designs, drawings, and must be a minimum of 100 words.

Here is a model for students to read before they start:

Itinerary: 1 week in the Pacific Northwest

Group restrictions: Must visit a rainforest / 200 mile travel radius.

Starting off in Seattle, we ought to see the Space Needle first, then Pike Place Market. While we're there we mustn't forget to pick up some souvenirs for family back home, or miss the wonder of the famous fish-throwing mongers.

But, we may not want to spend all our time in Seattle. We could take the ferry to Bainbridge Island, which should cost us around $10. It should take around 40 minutes to cross Elliott Bay. From there, we walk north to Puget Sound and can start fishing for oysters, geoducks, and other native marine life.

Olympic National Park can be an intimidating place for first-time visitors. But since we shall have a guide, there's no need to worry. We certainly won't miss the mossy trees of Hoh Rainforest, or the twin sea stacks at Rialto Beach.

5. Once groups have finished composing their itinerary, they will tape their itinerary somewhere around the room. Students are given 5 minutes (max) to read the information.

6. To wrap up the lesson, the students must find a new partner and work together to create 9 sentences, employing one modal verb per sentence, about any of the places mentioned. Remind them that cannot take these sentences directly from their own itineraries. Instead, they can stand up and read it off one of the itineraries from around the room.

7. The teacher monitors until the end of the class and answers any final questions.

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Grammar lesson plan: Modals of possibility, for levels C1+ ‹ EF Teacher Zone

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Modal verbs are are the bread and butter of every grammar class. Students encounter them at all levels, from foundation to proficiency. In C-level classes, students should be able to recall all types of modal verbs and identify what job they do. Modal verbs can signify ability, probability, advice, request, permission, prohibition, obligation, certainty, and .

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Modal verbs in songs worksheet and video

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Gerunds and Infinitives (in songs) worksheet

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Thanks for a fun webinar!

Two things I would like to give you:

✉️ The LessonStream Post
Two or three times a month, I send out regular storytelling ideas to my subscribers. It's all free and if you give me your email, I'll be very happy to add you to the list. (You can unsubscribe at any time).

I'll send you these as soon as you sign up below.
Jamie :)

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Thanks for a fun webinar! Two things I would like to give you: ✉️ The LessonStream Post Two or three times a month, I send out regular storytelling ideas to my subscribers. It's all free and if you give me your email, I'll be very happy to add you to the list.

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English news and easy articles for students of English

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Interesting - Page 2 of 233 - English news and easy articles for students of English

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We write news in three different levels of English. We want to help you understand English more. Now all students can enjoy reading and listening to news.

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How do you define Joyful Learning?. Handout: Verbal and Visual Word Association Share with an elbow partner Do you have a memory of a learning experience that brought you joy? What elements of the experience made it joyful?. Engaging Minds in the Classroom: The Surprising Power of Joy.

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The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running - Simone Weil
The NEP 2020 is landmark policy on redefining Indian Education. It not only asserts that students must learn how to learn but also that learning must be discovery based, experiential and joyful.

Enjoyable learning takes place in a relaxed setting with the educator as a facilitator who embarks on a journey of inquiry along with students. Pleasure and ownership also comes with a sense of achievement and accomplishments that a child achieves while going about his/her learning, thus a feeling a creating something, making a connect with real life is a key for this competency based positive experience.

In this Presentation we are displaying Joyful Learning, a CBSE initiative handbook's key features crucial terms along with skills and abilities a child requires to achieve a joyful learning experience and that as facilitators we can all view and understand what Joyful Learning is truly about all about.

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The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running - Simone Weil The NEP 2020 is landmark policy on redefining Indian Education. It not only asserts that students must learn how to learn but also that learning must be discovery based, experiential and joyful.

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Published 30 October 2020

We have been living in a world full of changes, especially during these months of the pandemic and its social restrictions. Teachers have researched and learnt a lot during this period. Adapting their teaching to new ways of working, from online to gradually conducting face-to-face classes again. We have been using a wide variety of new platforms, apps and tools and yes, they have made our lives easier. Nevertheless, the more we switch to the online universe of teaching, the more we realise how important it is to go back to basics. Focusing on elements that can make our classes relevant as well as effective. Let us look at some of these key elements: Planning, Clarity, Relevance and Flexibility.

Planning - teaching with confidence

It does not matter whether it is face-to-face or remote teaching - planning is pivotal for a successful class. In addition to setting clear aims for your lesson, planning helps you build the best possible way to achieving your goals. This provides you with a better control of timing, allowing for necessary changes or adaptations whilst teaching is taking place. Planning also enhances your level of confidence, since you have analysed and sequenced all activities and procedures into a relevant and logical lesson.

In our course, Interchange 5th edition, you can use the Teacher's Edition for general instructions and then adapt the suggestions to your students' needs and your teaching style. You can plan a single lesson or a whole unit; and you can also organise all the extra resources you have for each unit on a chart and keep it at hand. So every time you plan a lesson, you will know immediately the resources you have available and if there is enough time to use them. An example from a unit in the Teacher's Edition can be viewed here.

Clarity - teaching with conviction and assurance

When you know what you are doing, no matter the task, you will be able to fulfil it with conviction and self-assurance. The same thing happens to students - if they are aware of what they are supposed to do and how to achieve their goals, they are more likely to participate and be successful in whatever activity you set for them. Clarity is vital for their understanding of the task, goals and procedures of an activity. Clarity will enable them to select the best strategies to achieve their goals. This reflective process will allow them to learn, even from their mistakes. A game, for instance, might be fun - but without clear instructions, it can turn your class into chaos. However, a game with clear instructions can be well played and enjoyed. Here's an example of a game which can be easily adapted to suit both remote or face-to-face classes.

Relevance - teaching with enthusiasm

There is nothing more enthusiastic and motivating than active student participation in a task. Participation can be generated by relevant content and meaningful activities, where students can spot the significance/purpose of what they are doing. Projects are good examples of that, an opportunity for students to put the 'Four C's' into practice:

communication,

collaboration,

critical thinking

creativity

In the times of a pandemic, projects are a good way of keeping students connected and working out of class.

Have a look at the two projects suggested below (one for beginners and one for intermediate students). Both projects can be adapted to enable social distancing as well as mixed-ability groups. This is another important role of relevance, creating appropriate content at a level to suit individual students' needs.

Flexibility - teaching with ease

Online or face-to-face - we have learnt a lot. We are facing new challenges every day and we are using our creativity to innovate and think outside the box. We search for comfort and new ideas, sharing our experiences with our friends and co-workers, during and after one of the many webinars that became a great source of input and reflection. Variety is certainly one of the tools we use in order to adapt our teaching to this new landscape we are in, finding new ways of teaching the same content. We became experts in doing so. On the other hand, teaching with ease also comes from getting extra support for that. Here is an example - a link for a remote teaching guide for the Interchange series, mostly used for face-to-face classes:

Thinking back, what have we learnt during these past few months?

We have learnt that we are capable of learning anything, including new ways of teaching.

We've learnt that we can use the books we like in a way that better suits our students.

We have also learnt that change cannot affect the quality of our teaching... as long as we keep teaching with joy!

All the sample activities are from the Interchange 5th edition series. For more information on Interchange, visit our website.

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Interchange 5: Teaching with Joy | World of Better Learning

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Published 30 October 2020 We have been living in a world full of changes, especially during these months of the pandemic and its social restrictions. Teachers have researched and learnt a lot during this period. Adapting their teaching to new ways of working, from online to gradually conducting face-to-face classes again.

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In this captivating passive voice game, students play snap by matching active and passive sentences that have the same meaning. Divide the students into pairs. The pairs write down five active sentences and their passive voice equivalents. When they have finished, each pair joins with another pair to make a group of four. Pairs then take it in turns to read out one of their active or passive voice sentences for the other pair to provide the active or passive equivalent. After that, give each group a set of active and passive voice sentence cards, which they shuffle and place in a pile on the table. The students turn over the top card, read it together, and then place it face up on the table. The students then take it in turns to turn over a card and read it aloud to the group. The other students listen and try to find a card that has the same meaning already on the table. If there is such a card, the first person to place a hand on the card and shout 'Snap', wins the pair of cards. If there is no match, the student places the card face up on the table. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. As an extension, students can play a pelmanism game with the cards.

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Passive Voice ESL Activities, Games and WorksheetsPre-intermediate (A2)Intermediate (B1) Name ThreeESL Passive Voice Game - Reading, Listening and Speaking Activity - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 30 minutesIn this free passive voice game, students practice making 'Name three' questions in the past and present passive.

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Get the most frequent terms in an tag cloud representation, powered by HTML5.

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CAUSATIVES: get, have, make | Movies & TV Series