Skip to main content

THE PLASTIC BAG BAN

The future of the Earth is in our hands, literally. Our planet seems to depend on the way we choose to carry our groceries home, which leads us to one of the most controversial topics nowadays: the plastic debate.

Well, I've prepared a listening exercise for you to do. I took a news item from NPR about the plastic bag ban in San Francisco. Listen to the story and complete the following sentences. When you finish, check the answers at the end of this post and listen once more, now reading the transcript at the same time.

1. A year ago politician Ross Mirkarimi couldn’t imagine __________ he was going to cause.

2. Roplast Industries in Oroville is one of the manufacturers of plastic bags who got a __________ after the plastic ban was passed.

3. A new bag containing more plastic will hold five or six times as much as the standard disposable bag with the advantage of being _________.

4. The best thing about the ChicoBag folds up into a tiny ________ sack.

5. The bag ban was abandoned in Fairfax because of the ________ by the plastic bag industry.

6. The plastic industry threatened to sue on __________.


This issue is the talk of town in the USA now because one supermarket chain, Whole Foods, has decided to stop offering disposable plastic bags to customers. You can read about this in this article from USA Today and, if you have time, you can also watch this video or this video, both covering this piece of news. However, some people claim that with this measure, there is more than meets the eye. Watch this video about Whole Foods Whole Fraud if you want to know more:




KEY TO THE LISTENING EXERCISE:
1. what a stir
2. boost in business
3. reusable
4. wallet-sized stuff
5. threat of a lawsuit
6. environmental grounds

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

SMART GOAL SETTING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING HABITS

Why learning a language is a daily commitment. 7 ways to develop good habits in language learning. How to set SMART goals in language learning . 7 Ways to Develop Good Language Learning Habits from Transparent Language, Inc. Top ten reasons to learn a language. Fawlty Towers  (tv series). Top ten Fawlty Towers moments (watchmojo.com video) Hilarious!!!

LISTENING + SCRIPT

My dear students, here you can find different websites where you can practise listening on your own. Some of the websites include exam practice exercises. Others, however, only provide the videos but you can read the script at the same time, which, as you all know, it's good practice for your learning. Just click on the words TRANSCRIPT, SCRIPT, TEXT or something similar and get ready to improve your listening skill! PBS NewsHour  (American English) ABC The World Today  (Australian English) CNN Students News (American English) NPR (American English) Click on TOPICS VOA News (American English) Future Radio (British English) BBC Learning English  (British English) Here you have a link to a list of British radio stations . Before choosing one, please have a look at the information about the location so that you can have a go at different accents. Listening + script + exercises: http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/ http://www.instant-practice.com/...

TODAY IS ... REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Remembrance Day in the UK Remembrance Sunday: veterans march past the Cenotaph in memory of the fallen and defiance of terror (The Telegraph) Events to remember servicemen and women who died in conflict VIDEO   (BBC News) When is Remembrance Sunday 2016? Why do we wear poppies to remember war dead? (Sunday Express) British War Poets      Wilfred Owen: Dulce Et Decorum Est Top ten war poems (The Guardian) Remembrance Sunday READING EXERCISE