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Lesson 3. Writing an Essay Giving an Opinion
1. DISCUSS Do you enjoy visiting museums? Why/Why not?
2. FOCUS ON USING NOTES In your English class you have been talking about museums. Now, your English teacher has asked you to write an essay. Write your essay using all the notes and give reasons for your point of view: A visit to a museum is a rewarding experience for people of all ages. Do you agree? NOTE Write about: ü learning ü entertainment ü ... (your own idea) A trip to a museum can be useful and fun for young and old alike. The exhibitions in different kinds of museums help people of all ages to understand the world and travel in the past, present and future. The variety of things one can learn about in museums is impressive. Historical museums, for instance, help us undererstand our past by displaying objects and information show us how our ancestors lived and survived. Others, such as scientific and technological museums and museums of natural history, give visitors the opportunity to explore different aspects of the world around them. Furthermore, a visit to a museum can be both fun and engaging. Many museums today use huge visual and interactive displays that stimulate the visitors' imagination and make the experience very realistic. Finally, a visit to a museum can also be an excellent way to educate voung children. Many museums today have special programmes that help children appreciate what a museum has to offer so they can learn from their visit. Lifelike displays are able to attract the children's attention and are much more vivid and memorable than information in a textbook. To sum up, a visit to a museum is valuable for both adults and children. The creative and imaginative exhibitions can be entertaining and at the same time educational.
TOPIC SENTENCES A. Read the sentences underlined in the essay. These sentences are called topic sentences. What do you think their function is? B. Read the note below and then answer questions 1 and 2. NOTE Topic sentences introduce the central idea of the paragraph. The other sentences in the paragraph develop the idea expressed in the topic sentence by expanding on it, giving examples or explaining it. 1. Ih the second paragraph, what examples of museums does the writer mention? What does he/she say about them? 2. ln the third paragraph, how does the writer justify his/her argument that a museum can be an excellent way to educate children? C. The topic sentence from the paragraph below is missing. Read the paragraph and choose the most appropriate topic sentence a, b or c. When you watch a film, you are able to leave all the day's stress and problems behind. You sit back in your comfortable seat and let yourself be transported to another reality. Moreover, a night out at the cinema is a great way to get out of the house, meet up with friends and break your evening routine of TV. a. There is no doubt that the cinema as a form of entertainment is not as popular as it once was. b. The cinema is a popular form of entertainment that is both relaxing and stimulating. c. Entertainment, whether it is watching a film at the cinema or doing whatever else you enjoy, is a significant aspect of our lifestyle.
4. WRITING TASK In your English class you have been talking about leisure activities and how they help to reduce stress and anxiety. Now your teacher has asked you to write an essay. Write your essay using all the notes and give reasons for your point of view: Listening to music is probably the best way to fight stress and anxiety. NOTE Write about: ü effect ü adaptability ... ü (your own idea) TIP When writing an essay expressing an opinion: • state the idea in your topic sentence clearly so that the reader knows what the focus is. • ensure that your topic sentence relates directly to and supports the claim you made in the introduction. • do not make your topic sentence too general or broad because you will not be able to develop the idea adequately. • do not make your topic sentence too limited or narrow in scope because you will not have anything to say about it.
AN ESSAY GIVING AN OPINION I You can use the following linking words/phrases to:
Lesson 4. Cleaning up the Environment: Hard Work and Creativity 1. PRE-READING Discuss. • Is the area you live in polluted? If yes, what kinds of pollution are a problem? • What can people do to help keep the environment clean? • How can we make people more aware of environmental issues?
2. READING FOR GIST Read the article quickly and answer the following question. What is the main idea of the article? a. People shouldn't throw rubbish in the river. b. Coal mines pollute the water. c. People can help keep their communities clean. d. With time, polluted water will turn into clean water. Cleaning up the Environment: Hard Work and Creativity All communities and industries have an impact on the environment. Sometimes, this impact is so serious that people become worried about the amount of pollution in their area. But in communities around the world, people are also finding ways to clean up their environments. Here are just two of their stories. Many cities are built near rivers. Rivers provide water and facilitate transport to communities. They are also a beautiful setting for biking and walking trails. Birds and other wildlife depend on them for food and Þ habitat. However, rivers that flow through cities can become choked with rubbish and pollutants. One such river was the Bow River in Calgary, Canada. One day, twelve-year-old Sandra Crawford was walking along the side of the Bow River. She noticed an entire 15 mattress lying in the river. She tried to pull it out on her own, but she could not. So Sandra wrote a letter to the newspaper saying that too much rubbish had been thrown into the river. Her feelings were shared by many citizens, and they decided to do something about the pollution. That was back in 1967. Sandra's complaint led to the annual Pathway and River Cleanup. Every May, teams of volunteers head out to the river to pick up rubbish and carry it out. Many people volunteer with 25 their families, or with their friends or colleagues. Others belong to clubs that do outdoor activities such as hiking, bird watching, cycling, or fishing. Participation in the cleanup is encouraged by local politicians. Each team chooses a part of the river to clean up and appoints a leader. Teams may win prizes, too. One year, the prize went to the team who found the most unusual piece of rubbish. Some teams found money and abandoned vintage cars. The winner came across a glass bottle full of notes 35 -the thoughts of a homeless man on his life. Other places are too dirty even for dedicated volunteers to clean up. They need professionals called landscape architects, who are both scientists and artists. Blacklick Creek, in Pennsylvania, was the site of a coal mine for almost sixty years. 2500 people lived and worked in the town when the mine was operating, but when it closed down, few stayed behind. The mine left not only a ghost town but a whole area which has been polluted with old machinery and harmful chemicals. The water of the creek was so acidic that people used to throw their dogs in it to kill the fleas. If you swam in the creek, your hair would turn orange. As the water travelled farther away, it made the water of other towns dirty. Julie Bargmann had an idea to clean up Blacklick Creek while keeping its history alive. To her, making old industrial sites clean and safe is an art. While some people might try to hide the damage, Bargmann uses what she finds to create a new look for the landscape. Orange water is just one of the bizarre colours chemical pollutants cause. Bargmann allowed water to collect in orange pools and planted bright red sugar maple trees around them. Over time, the pools will fade to yellow, as the chemicals break down. When the water turns 60 a healthy blue colour, the red trees will be replaced by blue-green sycamore trees. Other polluted water flows into a wetland, where bacteria will eat the sulfur in it, turning it once again into clean water. All the processes are completely natural and save money as well. Bargmann even left the old mining equipment and buildings in place so that the people who worked in the mines, often doing dangerous jobs, could visit and remember their lives there. No place will ever be the same once a city has been built or an industry has taken something from the earth. However, places can be kept safe and pleasant to live in or visit through the hard work and creativity of people.
3. READING FOR DETAILS Read the article again and answer the questions 1-5. Choose a, b, c or d. 1. What did Sandra Crawford do to help clean up the river? a. She got together some volunteers to pick up rubbish. b. She pulled an old mattress out of the river. c. She talked to her fellow citizens. d. She wrote a letter to the newspaper about the river. 2. What is a key feature of the annual Pathway and River Cleanup? a. a sports competition b. unusual prizes c. group work d. participation of politicians 3. The author mentions Blacklick Creek as an example of a. an unpleasant place to swim in. b. a polluted place that affected thousands of people. c. a polluted area which can't be cleaned up without help from professionals. d. water pollution which is too dirty to clean up. 4. Julie Bargmann believes that a. nobody should see the damage to the environment caused by the coal mine. b. people should be able to visit the coal mine and remember its history. c. sycamore trees help clean up polluted water. d. the owners of the coal mine should take away their old machinery. 5. Once the process of cleaning up in Blacklick Creek is over, what will the colours in the landscape be? a. orange and red b. yellow and red c. blue and blue-green d. blue-green and red
4. GUESSING THE MEANING OF UNKNOWN WORDS A. Look at the following words from the text and choose the most suitable meaning a, b, c or d. 1. choked with 2. vintage a. full of a. useful b. suitable for b. harmful c. dependent on c. classic d. sate from d. modern
B. Match the phrasal verbs with their meanings. 1. clean up a. find by chance 2. pick up b. separate into parts 3. came across c. remove dirt or pollution 4. closed down d. stop work and activities forever 5. break down e. lift
5. POST-READING Discuss. • Have you ever participated in an event like the annual Pathway and River Cleanup? If yes, what did you do? If not, would you be interested in doing something like that? • What do you think of Julie Bargmann's idea to clean up Blacklick Creek?
Date: 2016-04-22; view: 2932
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