Look in the text and find the following words and expressions. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.

1. A verb meaning to make an organized and determined attempt to deal with a problem. (para 1)

2. A noun meaning a group of people who make decisions or judgments. (para 1)

3. A noun meaning the type of place an animal normally lives. (para 2)

4. A verb meaning to look after an animal until it is fully grown. (para 2)

5. A verb meaning to do something to try to stop something bad from becoming worse. (para 4)

6. An adjective meaning loud and with force. (para 5)

7. A two-word expression meaning of the same value as something else. (para 6)

8. An adjective meaning powerful or effective. (para 9)

 

V. Verb + noun collocations

Match the verbs from the left-hand column with the nouns in the right-hand column.

1. change 2. generate 3. bring about 4. tackle 5. host 6. halve 7. propose 8. lead

a climate change b. consumption c. a campaign d. a solution e. gases f. a reduction g. eating habits h. an event

 

VI. Two-word expressions

Complete the expressions. Note that two words are used twice. Check your answers in the text.

1. g__________________ gases

2. c__________________ change

3. g__________________ warming

4. e__________________ problems

5. c__________________ dioxide

6. h__________________ benefits

7. e__________________ impact

8. c__________________ emissions

 

VII. Discussion

Would you be willing to reduce your meat consumption to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What other ways could people help to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases that contribute to global warming?

 

LISTENING

A Chinese eco-city

City of dreams

Mar 19th 2009 | DONGTAN

From The Economist print edition

Still on the drawing-board

IDEAS about tackling China’s myriad environmental woes, from soil erosion to polluted waterways, tend to come in outsize packages—hardly surprising, given the scale of the damage. Bold environmental solutions are as appealing to policymakers as they are to engineers who want to put their stamp on the cities of tomorrow. One such project is Dongtan, a planned eco-city on an alluvial island near Shanghai. Designed by Arup, a British design firm, to house 500,000 people on a 8,600-hectare (21,250-acre) site, it was billed as a low-carbon alternative to urban sprawl and a blueprint for other eco-cities. But four years on, not a single green building has gone up on the site.

The reason lies not in the spluttering global economy but in the political corridors of Shanghai, the powerful city to which Chongming island belongs. A prime mover behind Dongtan was a former Shanghai Communist Party chief, Chen Liangyu, who steered the land into the hands of Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation, or SIIC, a state-owned developer, and lent his prestige to the project. Then, in 2006, Mr Chen was sacked for property-related corruption. He was later convicted and is under house arrest. The way big land deals are done in Shanghai has been changed.

A noticeable loser is Dongtan. Arup’s original plan had 50,000 residents moving in by 2010, when Shanghai hosts the World Expo. That has now been quietly dropped. Arup’s Roger Wood says SIIC has opted to put construction on hold, pending further permits. He denies, however, that the project has been cancelled. On a recent visit to the site, your correspondent found an SIIC business centre and a shuttered hotel, neither of which appear in the master plan. Local residents say the hotel, outside the site proper, was a private villa owned by Mr Chen, who presumably enjoyed his excursions to Chongming.

A new bridge and tunnel spanning the estuary is already completed and will open to traffic later this year. That should boost land prices on Chongming, and may give SIIC a nudge to develop—or sell—the Dongtan site. It also raises the question, however, of what constitutes an eco-city. Arup had envisaged a compact, mostly carfree community. Residents would live and work in green research centres and other such industries, buy local produce and use renewable energy. The new road link, however, puts Shanghai within commuting distance.

Locals also talk excitedly of future sales of holiday and retirement homes—hardly the original idea. Critics also point out that building an eco-city on farms near hugely important wetlands, which attract rare migrating birds (and birdwatchers), was always dubious. For its part, Arup said the wetlands would be protected by a buffer zone around the city.

A more obvious strategy might seem to be to rebuild a polluted industrial zone in China’s rustbelt and insist on smart design and energy efficiency. But China is urbanising so relentlessly that vast tracts of housing will have to be built somewhere. By 2030, the urban population is forecast to reach 1 billion, according to McKinsey Global Institute. Better to plan new, more efficient cities than allow car-dependent urban sprawl to eat up farmland around existing urban centres, goes the thinking. Better still, of course, to build them.

Climate change

A sinking feeling

Mar 12th 2009

From The Economist print edition