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TRAFFIC POLLUTION DAMAGES KIDS' LUNGS

Canal: CANAL 1 Date 2009-05-26 10:58:30

 

TRAFFIC POLLUTION DAMAGES KIDS' LUNGS

 

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS:

 

Road pollution ___________________ to children’s health. That’s the worrying conclusion of the longest and largest study* ever undertaken into the effects of traffic fumes on _________________. Researchers from the University of Southern California spent 13 years studying children who lived within 500 meters of busy highways. They found ________________ 3,600 children in the study had significantly weakened lungs. Researchers said this meant the children could have breathing problems for the ___________________. The main author of the study W. James Gauderman said: "Someone suffering a pollution-related deficit in lung function as a child will probably have less than healthy lungs all of _______________.” He added: "If you live in a high-pollution area and live near a busy road, you get _________________ damage.”

Gauderman and his team ________________________ on youngsters who lived near busy roads. Once a year, the team measured the children's lung power. It checked how much air the children could release in ______________ how quickly it could be released. The team found that by their 18th birthday, children who _______________________ of a highway exhaled three per cent less air compared with children who lived one-and-a-half kilometers away. Further, the highway children’s lung power was seven per cent _____________ rate at which they could exhale. Gauderman said that: "Even if you are in a relatively low regional pollution area, living near a road produces lung problems." About a _____________________ moved away from busy roads during the study but stayed near the same community. Their ____________________ healthily.

 

ANSWERS:

is a serious danger/child development/that most of the/rest of their lives/his or her life/a doubling of/conducted their research on/one breath/lived within 500 metres/weaker in the/third of the children/lungs developed more/

 

QUESTIONS:

 

- What do you think of road pollution?

- Do you live or have you lived near a busy road?

- Is there a lot of road pollution near where you live?

- What is the worst pollution you have encountered?

- What is your government doing to tackle road  pollution?

- What bothers you more, road pollution or noise pollution?

- Do you think motorists should pay to use busier roads?

Published by: ANA Mª BLAS VICENTE| Comments (0) Read comments | Listen this post

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THE MYSTERY OF AMERICA`S VANISHING BEES

Canal: CANAL 1 Date 2009-05-26 10:25:42

 

THE MYSTERY OF AMERICA`S VANISHING BEES

 

LISTENING AND FILL IN THE GAPS:

 

The disappearance _________________ bees is worrying agriculturalists in 24 states across the USA. Honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate across America. Their absence is _________________ the production of crops and the livelihoods of farmers. It is _________________ that bees contribute around $14bn to the U.S. economy as they go about their business of pollinating flowers. The unexplained vanishing act is _________________ the lucrative harvest of avocados, almonds and kiwi fruits, as well as numerous other fruits and vegetables. This will result in higher prices for consumers. In some states, over half of the bee populations have _________________. Some beekeepers have reported losses of more than 70 per cent of their bee stocks. The phenomenon has baffled scientists, who are now as busy as bees _________________ an explanation.
One U.S. beekeeper _________________ explain what has happened to his bees. David Bradshaw, 50, from California, told the New York Times that he had never seen anything like _________________ beekeeping. He estimates that half of his 100 million bees have gone. He said he has known of bees to disappear before but that this is America’s _________________. Experts have put forward several theories including _________________ swarms of bees, or bee viruses resulting in what scientists are calling a “_________________”. A further possibility is that the bees are stressed out. With the factory-like, intensive farming methods used in the USA, bees _________________ more often than nature intended. This may have lowered their immunity to viruses and harmed _________________ bees to produce eggs.

 

 
 
ANSWERS:
 
of millions of/beginning to threaten/a little known fact/likely to affect/vanished without trace/to come up with/is at a loss to/it in all his years of/first national bee crisis/a cold snap felling/colony collapse disorder/are put to work much/the ability of queen/
 
 
 
QUESTIONS:
 
·        What do you think is behind the mystery?
·        How valuable do you think bees are to nature?
·        Are there any animals that are busier than bees?
·        What kind of economic damage do you think the disappearance of bees could do?
·        What would happen to the world if all bees vanished?
·        Do you think the bee mystery is a warning about global warming?
·        What do you think bees would like to say to humans?
·        What do you think would cause bigger damage to the planet, the disappearance of bees or ants?

 

Published by: ANA Mª BLAS VICENTE| Comments (0) Read comments | Listen this post

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