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Date: Dec 5, 2007
THE ARTICLEDivorce is bad for the environmentDivorce is bad for the environment. This is the conclusion of a research study carried out by ecologists at Michigan State University in the USA and published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'. Researchers found that divorce has different kinds of negative impacts on the planet, including a higher demand for resources and a lower rate of efficiency in the use of household resources. The research team analyzed data on married couples and their use of resources in 12 countries, including the USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico and South Africa. Lead researchers Eunice Yu and Jianguo Liu discovered that divorce led to smaller average household sizes, which resulted in a larger number of total households and thus a greater demand for energy, water, and land. In many countries around the world divorce rates have been rising. "A married household actually uses resources more efficiently," said Mr Liu. He added that people seemed surprised by his findings at first, and then after thinking about it, decided it was simple. He said: "People have been talking about how to protect the environment and combat climate change, but divorce is an overlooked factor that needs to be considered." His report states that in America in 2005, divorcees could have saved more than 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water if they had stayed married. In percentage terms, divorcees used 42-61 percent more resources per person compared with a married person. To help save natural resources, Yu and Liu recommended that governments consider the environmental impact of divorce and separation. WARM-UPS1. DIVORCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Walk around the class and talk to other students about possible links between divorce and the environment. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. TWO-MINUTE DIVORCE DEBATES: Have the following fun 2-minute debates. Students A strongly believe in the first argument, students B the second. Change pairs often.
4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: With your partner(s), discuss the possible impact on Earth’s environment of these situations: ___ an increase in divorce ___ more and more people being able to speak English ___ a huge increase in the popularity of the colour pink ___ Mickey Mouse being totally unpopular ___ a doubling of the ant population ___ people becoming ten times happier ___ people watching, reading and listening to the news more often ___ 1960s fashion making a comeback 5. DIVORCE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘divorce’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 6. QUICK ROLE PLAY: Student A believes divorce has no impact on the environment; Student B believes divorce has a huge impact on the environment. Role play their conversation. Change partners often. Change partners again and talk about your roles and conversations. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.Divorce is bad for the environment. This is __________________ research study __________________ ecologists at Michigan State University in the USA and published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'. Researchers found that divorce has __________________ negative impacts on the planet, including a higher demand for resources and a lower rate of efficiency __________________ household resources. The research team analyzed data on married couples and their use of resources in 12 countries, including the USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico and South Africa. Lead researchers Eunice Yu and Jianguo Liu discovered __________________ smaller average household sizes, which resulted in a larger number of total households ________________ demand for energy, water, and land. In many countries around the world divorce __________________. "A married household actually uses resources more efficiently," said Mr Liu. He added that people seemed surprised __________________ first, and then after thinking about it, decided it was simple. He said: "People have been talking __________________ the environment and combat climate change, but divorce is an overlooked factor that needs to be considered.” His report states that in America in 2005, divorcees ______________________ than 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water if they had stayed married. In percentage terms, divorcees used 42-61 percent more __________________ compared with a married person. To help save natural resources, Yu and Liu recommended that governments consider the environmental ____________________ separation. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘negative’ and ‘impact’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. 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. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
STUDENT DIVORCE SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about divorce in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
-------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGECORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article. Divorce is bad for the environment. This is the conclusion (1) ____ a research study carried (2) ____ by ecologists at Michigan State University in the USA and published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'. Researchers found that divorce has different kinds of negative (3) ____ on the planet, including a higher demand for resources and a lower rate of efficiency in the use of household resources. The research team analyzed (4) ____ on married couples and their use of resources in 12 countries, including the USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico and South Africa. (5) ____ researchers Eunice Yu and Jianguo Liu discovered that divorce led to smaller average household sizes, which resulted in a larger number of total households and (6) ____ a greater demand for energy, water, and land. In many countries around the world divorce (7) ____ have been rising. "A married household (8) ____ uses resources more efficiently," said Mr Liu. He added that people seemed surprised by his findings at first, and then after thinking about it, decided it was simple. He said: "People have been talking about how to protect the environment and (9) ____ climate change, but divorce is an overlooked factor that needs to be considered.” His report states that in America in 2005, divorcees could have saved more than 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water if they (10) ____ stayed married. In percentage terms, divorcees used 42-61 percent more resources (11) ____ person compared with a married person. To help save natural resources, Yu and Liu recommended that governments consider the environmental impact of divorce and (12) ____.
WRITING:Write about divorce for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK1. 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 about the report on divorce and the environment. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. DIVORCE: Make a poster about divorce rates around the world and how societies treat divorcees differently. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all include similar things? 4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about how we can use the Earth’s resources more efficiently. Include imaginary interviews with a river and the sky. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down new words and expressions. 5. LETTER: Write a letter to your government leaders. Give them three suggestions on what they should do about divorce and its impact on the environment. Give them three reasons they should act immediately. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Divorce is bad for the environmentDivorce is bad for the environment. This is the conclusion of a research study carried out by ecologists at Michigan State University in the USA and published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'. Researchers found that divorce has different kinds of negative impacts on the planet, including a higher demand for resources and a lower rate of efficiency in the use of household resources. The research team analyzed data on married couples and their use of resources in 12 countries, including the USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico and South Africa. Lead researchers Eunice Yu and Jianguo Liu discovered that divorce led to smaller average household sizes, which resulted in a larger number of total households and thus a greater demand for energy, water, and land. In many countries around the world divorce rates have been rising. "A married household actually uses resources more efficiently," said Mr Liu. He added that people seemed surprised by his findings at first, and then after thinking about it, decided it was simple. He said: "People have been talking about how to protect the environment and combat climate change, but divorce is an overlooked factor that needs to be considered.” His report states that in America in 2005, divorcees could have saved more than 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water if they had stayed married. In percentage terms, divorcees used 42-61 percent more resources per person compared with a married person. To help save natural resources, Yu and Liu recommended that governments consider the environmental impact of divorce and separation. LANGUAGE WORK
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