The lingerie company Triumph International has developed a bra that may help reduce global warming. Women can now keep warm and protect the environment. The bra is very fluffy and a little bulky. It is full of reusable gel pads that can be heated in a microwave or boiling water. The eco-bra may not be chic and sleek, but might please women who prefer extra padding. Triumph recently unveiled the bra in Japan as part of its “Warm Biz” campaign. It hopes the bra will keep women warmer and reduce the need for heating. This will cut the amount of greenhouse gases in the environment.

A spokesperson for Triumph Japan said: “We hope this will not only help prevent global warming but also provide a little fashion chic to the office.” The bra comes only in white and has matching shorts. It has an attached scarf that is meant to keep one’s neck warm. It also has a small, red, chili pepper-shaped pendant hanging from the front. Unfortunately, the heated lingerie set is still at the development stage and will not be in the stores any time soon. Triumph will instead use the technology to develop a range of warm and eco-friendly clothing. It wants to produce functional clothes that help save the planet.

WARM-UPS

1. UNDERWEAR: In pairs / groups, talk about underwear. Are you interested in underwear? Do you spend a lot of money on underwear? Is it fashionable? What do you look for or think about when buying socks, lingerie and other items of underwear? How has the kind of underwear you wear changed over the years?

2. ECO-FASHION: What do you think of eco-fashion or eco-clothing? In pairs / groups, discuss how the following items of clothing could be made more eco-friendly. Would you buy and wear the clothes you talked about?

Bra Shoes Necktie Baseball cap

Suit Watch Perfume T-shirt

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Lingerie / bras / keeping warm / protecting the environment / microwaves / chic / heating / greenhouse gases / offices / scarves / shorts / chili / eco-friendly clothes

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. BRA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “bra”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. SAVE ENERGY: What can we do to save energy in our everyday lives and thus reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions? Discuss this with your partner(s). Focus on these areas:

Having breakfast Commuting or going to school Keeping warm or cool My hobby

Cooking At home in the evening A letter to the government Studying English

6. ECO-CLOTHING OPINIONS: Do you agree or disagree with these opinions? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. All clothes should be eco-friendly.
2. We should recycle our clothes instead of throwing them away.
3. Leather should be banned – it is very bad for the environment.
4. All winter clothing should be solar heated to reduce the need for heating oil.
5. Clothes should be the natural color of their fabrics to avoid using polluting dyes.
6. People should be fined for wearing environmentally unfriendly clothes.
7. Wearing eco-friendly clothes will have no impact on the environment.
8. Eco-friendly clothes should have “Warm Biz” and “Cool Biz” logos.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A bra that was described in the Kyoto Protocol has been developed.	T / F
b.	The bra contains gel pads that need to be heated in a microwave.	T / F
c.	The bras are ultra thin and ultra light.	T / F
d.	The bras might keep women warmer and reduce the need for heating.	T / F
e.	The maker hopes the bras will bring fashion chic to offices.	T / F
f.	The bras have a heated scarf-like attachment to warm one’s neck.	T / F
g.	The bras will soon be on sale in colder countries around the world.	T / F
h.	The maker wants to produce functional clothes that help the planet.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	lingerie	volume
b.	reduce	variety
c.	extra	add
d.	unveiled	more
e.	amount	stop
f.	prevent	cut
g.	provide	shown
h.	meant	make
i.	range	underwear
j.	produce	supposed

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	developed a bra that may	of its “Warm Biz” campaign
b.	protect the	help reduce global warming
c.	gel pads that can be heated	of warm and eco-friendly clothing
d.	unveiled the bra in Japan as part	to keep one’s neck warm
e.	cut the amount of greenhouse	at the development stage
f.	provide a little fashion	gases in the environment
g.	an attached scarf that is meant	environment
h.	the heated lingerie set is still	any time soon
i.	will not be in the stores	in a microwave or boiling water
j.	develop a range	chic to the office

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Kyoto Protocol heated bra developed

The lingerie company Triumph International has ________ a bra that may help reduce global warming. Women can now ________ warm and protect the environment. The bra is very fluffy and a little bulky. It is ________ of reusable gel pads that can be heated in a microwave or ________ water. The eco-bra may not be chic and sleek, but might please women who ________ extra padding. Triumph recently unveiled the bra in Japan as ________ of its “Warm Biz” campaign. It hopes the bra will keep women warmer and ________ the need for heating. This will cut the amount of greenhouse ________ in the environment.		boiling keep gases developed part full prefer reduce
A spokesperson for Triumph Japan said: “We ________ this will not only help prevent global warming but also provide a little fashion chic to the office.” The bra ________ only in white and has matching shorts. It has an ________ scarf that is meant to keep one’s neck warm. It also has a small, red, chili pepper-shaped pendant ________ from the front. Unfortunately, the heated lingerie set is ________ at the development stage and will not be in the stores any time ________. Triumph will instead use the technology to develop a ________ of warm and eco-friendly clothing. It wants to produce functional clothes that help ________ the planet.		range still comes save attached soon hope hanging

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Kyoto Protocol heated bra developed

The lingerie company Triumph International has __________ a bra that may help reduce global warming. Women can now keep warm and ________ the environment. The bra is very fluffy and a little ________. It is full of reusable gel pads that can be heated in a microwave or ________ water. The eco-bra may not be chic and sleek, but might please women who prefer extra ________. Triumph recently unveiled the bra in Japan ___ _____ ___ its “Warm Biz” campaign. It hopes the bra will keep women warmer and ________ the need for heating. This will cut the amount of greenhouse ________ in the environment.

A spokesperson for Triumph Japan said: “We hope this will ____ _____ help prevent global warming but also _________ a little fashion chic to the office.” The bra comes only in white and has matching shorts. It has an attached scarf that is ________ ___ keep one’s neck warm. It also has a small, red, chili pepper-shaped pendant hanging from the front. Unfortunately, the heated lingerie set is _______ ____ the development stage and will not be in the stores any time soon. Triumph will instead use the technology to develop a ________ of warm and eco-friendly clothing. It wants to produce functional clothes that _____ _____ the planet.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘fashion’ and ‘chic’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “ECO-FRIENDLY CLOTHES” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about eco-friendly clothes, the environment and fashion.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

lingerie protect gel padding campaign gases

chic matching neck hanging stores range

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you know about the Kyoto Protocol?
3. What do you think of the idea of heated bras?
4. Would you buy heated underwear?
5. How important do you think it is for underwear to be stylish?
6. How do you keep warm in the winter or cool in the summer?
7. What other kinds of eco-clothing could be developed?
8. Do you think people don’t take the idea of eco-friendliness seriously enough?
9. What is more important for you when buying clothes - functionality, style or price?
10. In what ways is the fashion industry harmful to the environment?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Are you surprised that there isn’t more eco-clothing on sale?
4. Do you think a bra full of heated gel pads will sell well?
5. What do you think of the idea of heated underpants?
6. What do you think of the “Warm Biz” idea?
7. Triumph International said the new bra would “provide a little fashion chic to the office”. Do offices really need chic bras?
8. Would you wear clothes that helped the planet, even though they looked a little strange or silly?
9. Will you now think more carefully about the clothes you wear?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

ECO-CLOTHING: You work for a company that specializes in creating eco-friendly clothes. In pairs / groups, design a new item of clothing that is good for the environment. Agree on the following points:

POINTS	REASONS
The item of clothing
A catchy name or slogan
The design
How it helps the environment
An idea for the TV commercials
Ideas to make it sell
Materials, sizes, colors, etc
Other

• Change partners and show each other your ideas for your eco-clothing.
• Give each other feedback and advice on how to improve them.
• Present your ideas to the rest of the class.
• In pairs / groups, discuss the presentations and vote on the best ideas. Which ones would you buy?

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the Triumph International eco-bra. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. KYOTO PROTOCOL LIFE: Make a poster describing ways in which we can live our everyday lives in the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all think of similar ideas?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the boss of a clothing company or fashion house. Tell him / her your ideas for eco-clothes. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	lingerie	underwear
b.	reduce	cut
c.	extra	more
d.	unveiled	shown
e.	amount	volume
f.	prevent	stop
g.	provide	add
h.	meant	supposed
i.	range	variety
j.	produce	make

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	developed a bra that may	help reduce global warming
b.	protect the	environment
c.	gel pads that can be heated	in a microwave or boiling water
d.	unveiled the bra in Japan as part	of its “Warm Biz” campaign
e.	cut the amount of greenhouse	gases in the environment
f.	provide a little fashion	chic to the office
g.	an attached scarf that is meant	to keep one’s neck warm
h.	the heated lingerie set is still	at the development stage
i.	will not be in the stores	any time soon
j.	develop a range	of warm and eco-friendly clothing

GAP FILL:

Kyoto Protocol heated bra developed

The lingerie company Triumph International has developed a bra that may help reduce global warming. Women can now keep warm and protect the environment. The bra is very fluffy and a little bulky. It is full of reusable gel pads that can be heated in a microwave or boiling water. The eco-bra may not be chic and sleek, but might please women who prefer extra padding. Triumph recently unveiled the bra in Japan as part of its “Warm Biz” campaign. It hopes the bra will keep women warmer and reduce the need for heating. This will cut the amount of greenhouse gases in the environment.

A spokesperson for Triumph Japan said: “We hope this will not only help prevent global warming but also provide a little fashion chic to the office.” The bra comes only in white and has matching shorts. It has an attached scarf that is meant to keep one’s neck warm. It also has a small, red, chili pepper-shaped pendant hanging from the front. Unfortunately, the heated lingerie set is still at the development stage and will not be in the stores any time soon. Triumph will instead use the technology to develop a range of warm and eco-friendly clothing. It wants to produce functional clothes that help save the planet.

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