Unit 10 Environmental matters
Inside view
Conversation 1
Janet Hi!
Mark Hi!
Kate How are you?
Mark I'm OK, thanks. How're you guys?
Kate Good.
Mark Good ... Oh, that traffic! It's getting worse and worse!
Kate Tell me about it, it's awful! Don't you worry about your health when you're cycling? All that pollution! Like, what are we breathing in? They really should do something about it!
Mark I think they intend to - or at least they keep talking about it.
Janet Shall we go inside?
Mark Yea.
Mark You know, it sounds crazy, but it might be an idea to ban cars from the centre of the city. I nearly got hit by a crazy driver earlier.
Kate Are you OK?
Mark Yes, I'm fine.
Janet Would they really do that - ban cars?
Mark It's possible. It'd sort out the traffic problems. And it would reduce pollution.
Janet I don't think that would be very popular with drivers.
Mark But it would be safer for cyclists.
Kate Supposing they introduced a congestion charge?
Mark Like in London?
Janet Do you think it would stop people driving into Oxford?
Mark It'd stop some people.
Kate They could always extend the Park and Ride scheme.
Janet It's a good idea.
Kate If people actually use it.
Mark Hey, I haven't told you, I'm going to a meeting of the Environmental Action Group tonight.
Kate You are? Good for you!
Mark Yes, I'm just concerned about the environment. I've decided to get more active, believe it or not.
Janet I guess we all should.
Kate I know, you're right... Excuse me ...
Conversation 2
Janet By the way, Mark, how did your meeting go?
Mark Quite interesting, actually.
Janet So what did they talk about?
Mark Uh, recycling, mostly. They have this plan ... that everyone should write to the Council. Ask them to collect more rubbish. You know, like, all the plastic, which they don't do. I'm going to write a letter this evening.
Janet Really? You know, I think I might go to the next meeting. I've been meaning to do something ... get more active about the environment.
Mark Yes, we all need to. Global warming, ice caps melting, pollution. Doesn't it worry you?
Janet Yes, it's really frightening.
Mark Hey, it would be great if you came to the meeting, Janet. The Action Group really wants to make students more aware of what they can do to help.
Janet You know, I think everyone knows what they should do. But they don't do it -1 don't do it.
Mark I'm the same. Actually, there's something we could do right now.
Janet What?
Mark There's this poster they want to put up all over the university. It tells you easy ways of saving energy. I'm looking at it, here, look ...
Janet "Use less hot water ..."
Mark They've asked us to print it out and put it up in college. You want to help me?
Janet Sure! It might be an idea to ask Kate to help.
Mark Yes, let's ask her. But why don't we print it out — right now?
Janet Sure.
Outside view
The weather is a very popular topic of conversation in Britain. That's because the weather changes a lot.
Sixty-five per cent of all the days in Britain are overcast - dull, grey and often cold. That's 260 dull days. What do people find to talk about? When the weather is good, people complain that it's too hot. When it rains, they say it's too wet. When it isn't sunny, they say it's too cold. The seasons in Britain are fairly clear. Winter lasts from December to February. It's cold and wet but doesn't often snow. Spring is from March to May. It starts to get a bit warmer and there are more sunny days. The summer months are June, July and August, when it can be very hot. Then the autumn - September, October, November - often has foggy, cold, wet days, and the leaves fall from the trees. It's not surprising that Britain has got one of the most important weather centres in the world. The Met Office employs over 1,000 years. They provide weather forecasts for radio, television and newspapers - and on the Internet. Two huge supercomputers analyze information from many sources, including satellites. This is very different from some of the early weather forecasts. These instruments were used for the earliest weather forecasts. This is the first one - published in The Times in 1879. Scientists at the Met Office make weather forecasts for the public and for special purposes - military, shipping, airlines and many others. The Met Office also looks at environmental issues such as global warming and climate change. The computers can predict the tropical storms and hurricanes that cause so much damage around the world. The trouble is, weather changes very quickly so nobody ever believes the weather forecast. They still go out in their shorts and get wet! But at least it's something to talk about.
Listening in
Passage 1
Bridget These days everyone is talking about building houses that are eco-friendly - houses that use energy as efficiently as possible. But although there's a lot of talk about eco-houses, not many people have actually built one. Today we talk to a young couple who have done exactly that. Jacky and Lenny Carter are in their 30s with one child, and their house in west Wales is a splendid example of what an eco-house should be. I'm here now at their house and they're going to show me round it.
Jacky Hi, Bridget.
Lenny Welcome.
Bridget It's great to see you. It's quite cold out here.
Lenny Yes, do you want to come in?
Bridget I'd love to, but can we look at the outside of the house first?
Lenny Sure.
Bridget It's very attractive. It's built of timber and it's two storeys high.
Jacky Yes, we got the timber from Sweden, where they know how to build wooden houses, but it's reclaimed wood, wood that's been used before.
Bridget I like the house a lot. So tell me more about it. When did you first start thinking about building an eco-house?
Lenny We thought about it for years. It was our dream, really, wasn't it, Jacky?
Jacky Yes, when we met we found that we both wanted to do the same thing - build a house that used as little energy as possible.
Bridget So how did you do it?
Lenny Well, we bought a very old cottage and we knocked it down. That was the first step.
Jacky We found an architect who had some experience with eco-houses and we spent about eight months designing the house. We used local builders and as much as possible, local materials.
Bridget And those are solar panels on the roof, aren't they?
Lenny Yes. They provide hot water in summer and warm water in winter for the underfloor heating.
Bridget Underfloor heating? Can we go inside and take a look?
Lenny Sure.
Bridget It's lovely and warm in here. And gosh, yes, the floors do feel warm. Urn, lovely.
Jacky Yes, we love the underfloor heating. And it's so cheap, compared to using electricity.
Bridget So how much are your heating bills?
Jacky Very low. They've gone down by about 70 per cent.
Bridget That's a lot of money you've saved.
Jacky Absolutely. Let's go into the kitchen.
Bridget What a wonderful kitchen. Did you put it in yourselves?
Lenny Yes, we did. It's made of reclaimed wood again.
Bridget I'd love to own a kitchen like this. Can we see the rest of the house?
Passage 2
Part 1
Presenter People are slowly returning to their homes after tornadoes hit the states of Maryland and Mississippi yesterday. At least 30 people have died and hundreds have been injured. Thousands of people are without electricity due to the high winds and many are now homeless.
Dawn Busby, who lives with her family in Nelsonia in southern Maryland, tells her story.
Dawn We'd just had Sunday lunch and we were talking about what we were going to do that afternoon. A neighbour rang to tell us there were storm warnings and my kids got really excited. It started pouring with rain and it got really dark.
We weren't really worried, it didn't sound as if the tornado was coming our way. But we turned on the radio and then the announcer said that there was another tornado and it was coming our way. My daughter, who's 13, got real frightened and wouldn't let go of my arm. But my husband and brother went outside to watch the storm - you could see it coming in from the east real fast - these huge black clouds. I shouted to the men to come to the basement and they came running inside. The wind was pulling at their clothes - it was really strong.
Part 2
Dawn I couldn't really believe it was going to happen but then a huge black cloud suddenly appeared in the sky, very near us, and it was coming towards our street. It was making a sound like a train. It was very loud and truly terrifying. We ran, I mean we really ran, down to the basement and there was a window there so we could watch. I was holding my daughter and my husband was holding Pete, who's only seven.
Then something amazing happened. The thing was moving towards us and I thought, "This is it, we're going to die." And then it stopped, just stopped, as if it was deciding which way to go - and then it just took off to the left. None of us could believe it. We all started laughing as if something really funny had happened. I suppose in a way it had. We ran outside and the whole street was outside. Everyone was shouting and cheering and hugging each other. I've never had a day like that - ever.
