lataiwish

Teabag2009

Arab Medical University
Faculty of Public Health
Graduate Studies 2009
Prof. Muftah S. Lataiwish
lataiwish@yahoo.com
www.lataiwish.piczo.com

I- Computers and Health
Scientists have identified several potential health hazards for people who spend many hours of the day using computers. Eyestrain, perhaps accompanied by headaches, is the most common. Proper lighting, frequent breaks, and regular cleaning of the display screen are helpful. Backaches and stiff necks comprise the second most common health problem, frequently decreasing people's ability to concentrate and perform at peak levels. Good posture, use of a well-designed, adjustable chair that supports the lower back, periodic breaks, and a program of stretching and deep-breathing exercises help alleviate stress and tension. A type of repetitive stress injury, called carpal tunnel syndrome, is the result of severe muscle fatigue and nerve compression. Proper posture, proper positioning of the wrists and hands, and frequent breaks are usually good preventive measures.
Display screens, or monitors emit low-level electromagnetic radiation, which has been linked, some say, to an increased incidence of cancer, birth defects, and miscarriages. Newer monitors emit reduced levels of radiation.

A- Complete the blanks using your own words. You may use a dictionary.
Scientists have identified several potential health _________ for people who spend many hours of the day using computers. Eyestrain, ___________ accompanied by headaches, is the most common. _________ lighting, frequent breaks, and regular cleaning of the display screen are helpful. Backaches and stiff necks comprise the second most common health _________ , frequently decreasing people's ability to concentrate and _________ at peak levels. Good posture, use of a well-designed, adjustable chair that supports the lower back, periodic breaks, and a program of stretching and deep-breathing exercises help ___________ stress and tension. A type of repetitive stress injury, called carpal tunnel syndrome, is the _________ of severe muscle fatigue and nerve compression. Proper posture, proper positioning of the wrists and hands, and frequent __________ are usually good preventive measures.
Display screens, or monitors emit low-level electromagnetic radiation, which has been ___________, some say, to an increased incidence of cancer, birth defects, and miscarriages. Newer monitors emit reduced levels of radiation.
B- Write a summary for the passage.
C- List some of the problems that a person may encounter in using the computer for many hours.
D- What advice would you give to computer users?
E- Consult the right reference and define the following words:
cancer
birth defects
miscarriages
radiation.
Fatigue

(Pre-intermediate vocabulary exercise.)
By about 30,000 years ago, modern humans had spread to almost all parts of the world. They were almost exactly the same as people of today, (1) ...... a little shorter.
These people lived mainly by hunting. They caught antelope, rabbits, pigs, elephants, birds and (2) ...... animals. Some of the animals they killed were (3) ...... large. This shows that the people must have lived in large groups and worked (4) ....... The people in the groups probably had leaders.
The work of the men and the women was (5) ...... very different. The men hunted and built places to live in. They made tools. The women prepared food and looked after the children. They made clay pots and used skins to make (6) ....... Living in large groups helped their language to develop. People started to make paintings on the walls of caves at this (7) ....... Most of the paintings show animals and hunting scenes. They also made carved (8) ...... out of bone and stone.
1 A) so B) with C) although D) since
2 A) other B) another C) some D) all
3 A) quite B) always C) anyway D) surprise
4 A) along B) anyway C) together D) fast
5 A) little bit B) probably C) immediately D) some
6 A) cloth B) clothe C) clothes D) clothed
7 A) age B) year C) life D) time
8 A) object B) objects C) objections D) objectives

These lists show you which words are used most often. They give you examples of their correct use in phrases or sentences. Note that some words may be used as noun, verb, adjective etc. For definitions and more uses and different meanings of these words you should refer to a good online dictionary or printed book dictionary of English.
area
The area of a circle is the radius squared multiplied by pi.
This learning activity should help you to understand how to calculate the area of a circle.
authority
The Health Authority gives money to the hospitals.
body
Her body is healthy but her brain is damaged.
Human communication is affected by body language and tone of voice as well as the actual words spoken.
book
I read the book from cover to cover.
The film is not a patch on the book (colloquial; not as good as).
business
The abolition of restrictions encourages business expansion.
What business is it of yours?
There was a conflict of interest between his business investments and his job as minister.
Money laundering is used to transfer money from drugs, smuggling and other crimes into legitmate business accounts.
She has a good reputation as a business leader.
His business affairs are kept separate from his political position.
The business students argued about the difference in meaning between
Her university degree is in Business Administration.
car
He was injured in a car accident.
My car has broken down so I will have to go by bus.
New car drivers must learn to operate the controls with skill.
The car repair job took 3 days.
The road was wide enough for the car to overtake.
You can use my car to drive to town.
If you approach the airport from the south, you will see a large car park.
The car factory has installed a new assembly line.
I need to insure my car against fire, theft and collision damage risks.
case
I'll wait for you in case you are late.
You travel light; you have only one case and I have several bags.
He always carried his credit card in case of emergency.
centre
The sun is the centre of our universe.
change
She wished for a change in the weather.
He brought a change of clothes.
I didn't have any small change so gave him paper money.
My decision is final; you will not persuade me to change my opinion.
child
He was convicted of child abuse.
My child is sick. Her children are 6 and 8 years old.

city
Mr Khan works in a city office.
Which way (direction) is it to the city centre?
The football club signed an agreement with the city council.
The baby was born at 03:30 in the city hospital.
He said that Vancouver is the best city bar none. (
London is the capital city of England.
Land is very expensive - especially in city centres and crowded countries.
community
There is a public party tonight in the community hall.
company
The accountant produced the company accounts for the tax inspector.
Don't keep company with bad people.
The company went into administration and eventually closed down.
The labour union leaders and the company management reached a pay deal and averted a strike.
The company has advertised a new post - Chief Accounting Officer.
council
The local council looks after street cleaning.
She was elected to the Council of Ministers.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the act of war and called for a ceasefire.
They applied to the local council for planning approval to build a new office block.
country
We visited a country park.
France is a large country in Europe.
It is your duty to be loyal to your country and be a good citizen.
court
The court of King Rascali was corrupt.
The judge sits in court and hears criminal cases.
The court is very busy - the judge has to hear several cases this week.
The lawyer submitted a detailed argument to the court claiming that the defendant had an alibi.
He asked the court to award the plaintiff $50000 for the serious injuries he has suffered.
The decison of the district court was overturned by the higher court of appeal.
day
The day after tomorrow is Thursday.
The unnecessary movement of vehicles every day is a major cause of pollution.
development
Educational development is very important for the nation.
Foreign governments give development aid to poorer countries.
The Expressionist movement was an important stage in the development of modern art.
door
Please close the door when you go out.
effect
What effect will this have on my salary?

'One third of homes dependent on benefits'
This newspaper article is used in the questions and learning activities that follow.
One in three households across Britain is now dependent on the state for at least half its income, it emerged today. Official government figures indicate that more than seven million households are getting most of their income from government welfare payments. The figures also reveal the huge gulf in welfare dependency between single parent and two-parent households.
The figures were quoted in a report by Civitas, a right-wing think-tank, and it is scathing about how New Labour welfare policy has been designed to "create grateful voters rather than independent people". In many single-parent homes with two children, the proportion of families that would be financially crippled without state support is now as high as 61 per cent. That compares with just 9% in a two-parent home.
The figures, prepared by the Department for Work and Pensions but cited today in the new report from Civitas, paint a stark picture of how Britain 's dependency culture has grown over the last few decades. Gordon Brown has been repeatedly attacked for building up a society heavily reliant on tax credits and other state aid. The Chancellor's tax credits scheme was "only the most prominent example of welfare policies intended to create a grateful electorate rather than free-thinking citizens", the report says.
However, the report also suggests that David Cameron's Conservatives are worried about seeming uncaring, and therefore not ready to take drastic action and copy American-style policies that have produced huge drops in benefit claims in the United States . The claim was denied by a spokesman for the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, who said the Tories were developing policies to reduce the size of Mr. Brown's state.
According to David Green from Civitas, the author of the report, data on the real scale of state dependency have only been collected for the last five years or so. But he estimated that the proportion of households dependent on state handouts for at least 50 per cent of income had been probably as low as five per cent in the 1960s. It rose during the 1970s and 1980s, especially because of soaring unemployment under the Thatcher government.
His report in the current issue of Civitas Review makes the wider point that politics is no longer providing the answers to Britain 's problems. The Blair years had "tested to destruction" the notion that big spending on health, education and welfare was the answer. There was a widespread perception that high crime, failing schools, unsustainable immigration and the low quality of the NHS were "not being properly confronted by our political leaders".
Mr. Green went on: "Even Conservatives who are concerned about the failure of public sector monopolies in health and education are slow to criticise the Blair Government's approach". That was because "they know that calling for a reduced role for the state in health and education is to invite being caricatured as uncaring". Mr Green urged the Tories not to accept the modern view that individual action and liberty were the same as "selfish individualism".
A government spokesman last night defended the scale of state help, saying: "It is thanks to our system of tax credits and the New Deal that we have two million more people in work than in 1997. We have also raised hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty."
The analysis of benefit dependency, based on the latest DWP statistics, will strike a chord with a report from the Reform, another right-wing think-tank. Last year it warned that the Government had created a benefits regime that "actively dissuades millions from bettering their position".
Frank Field, the Labour former welfare minister, has also called for the system to be reformed. Welfare should be "a floor on which people built and not a ceiling which made it impossible for them to pass through", Mr Field said. Last night David Laws, the Liberal Democrat's welfare spokesman, also accused the Chancellor of helping to bolster the dependency culture.
The shadow chancellor Mr Osborne said: "Under Gordon Brown the role of the state has multiplied and government has got bigger and bigger. This is exactly the opposite of what a competitive enterprise economy needs."
(Adapted from an article by Brendan Carlin in The Weekly Telegraph.)
Activity 1 - before reading the article
1. What do you understand by the expression welfare support?
2. Do people in your home country receive welfare support? What for?
3. Who should receive welfare support?
4. Do you know the meaning and origin of right-wing and left-wing in politics?
Activity 2 - before reading the article in detail
Scan the text and find the significance of these figures and names.
• 7 million
• Civitas
• 61%
• 9%
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Gordon Brown
• David Cameron
• David Green
• 1970s and 1980s
• 2 million more
• hundreds of thousands
• Reform
• Frank Field
Activity 3 - read the text silently
Note the following key words:
• gulf --- scathing --- stark --- reliant --- drastic --- handouts --- regime
• perception --- unsustainable --- confronted --- caricatured --- legitimate
Activity 4 - Complete these sentences using the above words:
• The man claimed that he was the ...... heir to the throne and he demanded an investigation.
• The priest went from street to street giving ...... to the people who were sleeping rough but he was criticised for this by the police.
• The ...... at the prison was very strict and he had no choice but to follow it.
• There was an enormous ..... between him and his children and however hard he tried he was unable to cross it.
• The cartoons in the television programme ...... him in a cruel way, but he was pleased because it would have been worse to have been ignored.
• The human rights body, Liberty , issued a ...... attack on the police for the way in which they handled the case.
• His counselor said that it was important that he ...... his fears if he wished to overcome them.
• There was a ...... contrast between his views and those of his brother.
• The way in which we are using fossil fuels is ...... and we must switch to renewable sources of power.
• He was very ...... on his bicycle and went almost no-where outside his house without it.
• The ...... of many people is that the government was totally wrong in its policy over Iraq .
• His debts were getting too great so he took ...... steps and cut up his credit cards and sold his car.
Activity 5 - Based on the article, are these statements true or false?
1. Most single-parent families are now dependent on government welfare payments.
2. The Civitas report suggests that the government policies encourage people not to work.
3. The Conservatives are unwilling to challenge Brown's policies because they don't want their policies to resemble American policies too closely.
4. The Thatcher government was the initial cause of the rising rates of welfare payments.
5. The report suggests that providing additional funds will not in itself improve health and education in the UK .
6. Mr. Green did not want a reduced role for government in health and education because this would be seen as selfish and uncaring.
7. Reform believes that providing welfare payments makes people lazy.
8. It is probable that Frank Field would not agree with Civitas or Reform but he does want the welfare system to be reformed.
Activity 6 - Exploration of language
1. What is the difference between quoted (in para 2) and cited (in para 3)?
2. The newspaper article uses several different verbs to avoid repeating words like wrote or said. What words are used? For example, in para 1: indicate and reveal
3. Are there any emotive words used in the article? By whom? Why?
4. Explain the meaning of the expression 'tested to destruction'. Do you have similar sayings in your first language?
5. There are at least nine examples of metaphor in the passage. Can you find them?
6. Discuss with other students: 'Does welfare support discourage people from working?'

Triathlon: The unholy trinity
Swimming, cycling, running - the triathlon produces such amazing fitness benefits that there's an explosion in the event's popularity. by Alex Wade (The Independent)
You will find questions and exercises after the article.
1. I can remember the feeling of elation as if it were yesterday. I had just completed the Perranporth Triathlon - an event made up of an 800m swim, a 38km cycle ride and a 7.5km run - and, exhausted, had collapsed on the beach. Around me many other competitors were reacting similarly. But, though so weary that we could barely speak, we all wore a look of exhausted joy. We were, as surfers say after a good session, stoked.
2. A full Olympic triathlon consists of a 1.5km swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run. Dedicated training is required before taking one on, but there are easier options. A sprint triathlon consists of a 750km swim, a 20km cycle and 5km run. A super-sprint triathlon consists of a 400m swim, a 10km ride and a 2.5km run.
3. Triathlon made its debut in the Olympics at the Sydney Games in 2000. An estimated 80,000 people watched the triathlon at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The London Triathlon - one of the world's most popular - is now in its 11th year. Triathlon is the fastest-growing sport in the UK, with a 10 per cent year-on-year growth in competitor numbers. Last year's London Triathlon saw an extraordinary 11,000 entries, and across the UK event organisers say the same thing: more and more people are signing up for a discipline that the observer might conclude is more like to torture than fun.
4. Triathlon's rise to mass appeal owes much to its appearance in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The word "triathlon", meaning an athletic event of three contests, may be derived from Ancient Greek but it was not until Sydney that triathlon featured in the Olympics. The men's gold was won by Canadian Simon Whitfield, but two Britons, Simon Lessing and Timothy Don, captured the public imagination with performances that took them to top 10 finishes.
5. Triathlon was on its way. The following year, in 2001, there were 1,000 entrants to the London Triathlon, all eager to see how they would do over the three disciplines that define the contemporary triathlon: swimming, cycling and running, in that order. It is the multi-disciplinary nature of triathlon that accounts for much of its appeal, as well as the way in which contests are run, as Ian Smith, an amateur triathlete, explains. "Triathlon allows someone who's not brilliant at any one event to compete in three. Having three sports to master, or at least perform competently, means that training is more interesting than if you're just running, swimming or cycling. You can test your limits and compete against others."
6. The health benefits are a factor in triathlon's increasing popularity. Triathlon is an endurance sport but results in relatively little stress on ankles and knees. It provides an excellent cardiovascular workout - professional triathletes are among the fittest sportspeople. Training for a triathlon is a great cardiovascular workout, as well as a way of building and maintaining muscle tone. Because there are three sports, with more emphasis on swimming - which is non weight-bearing - and cycling, which is marginally weight-bearing, triathlon is also a natural progression for runners whose knees have suffered too much.
7. Intensive training is not always necessary. You need to put in between four and six hours a week to complete a triathlon, and if you cycle to work, you've taken care of a lot of the training. Newcomers can try the shorter events, sprint-triathlon, which are held over shorter distances.
8. A full Olympic triathlon is, indeed, a daunting prospect. The swim, held over 1.5km, can prove a rapid awakening for newcomers since it takes place in the company of hundreds of others. The cycle ride of 40km is more than enough for most people, and to add a 10km run would appear to be insane. A competitor's official time includes the transition between the individual legs of the race, including the time it takes to change kit.
9. The profile of the typical triathlete suggests that the acquisition of accessories will not break the bank. A survey by Starfish Consulting states that the average triathlete is 30 years old, works in senior management and has a high disposable income. He - and increasingly, she - is brand aware and enjoys a healthy, outdoors lifestyle. The majority are between 25 and 40; 47 per cent are university educated and 57 per cent earn more than £40,000 pa.
10. My own experience of the Perranporth Triathlon, held each September in Cornwall, came thanks to a friend whose sense of my welfare led her to enter me in the event without my knowledge. "You'll love it!" she promised. The more I learned of Perranporth annual race, the more I doubted my friend's intentions. The Perranporth triathlon is notorious as one of the hardest in the UK, thanks to its environment: often rough seas, hilly terrain for the cycle ride and a strength-sapping run along sand at the end. But on the day, despite pounding surf, I somehow made it round the circuit. And even though, at the end, I could neither speak nor move, I had never felt better!
Intermediate level
A Pre-reading activity
1. What sports do the students enjoy? Why?
2. Write the word triathlon in the centre of the board. Ask the students to brainstorm what comes to mind with regard to this sport. List their points on the board around the central word.
3. Discuss the points they have made. Add to their points as necessary. Write any new words on the board.
4. If the triathlon becoming more or less popular? Why?
5. Ask the students if they have ever done a triathlon. Would they like to? What preparations would you do?
B Use these words to complete these sentences.
• elation
• weary
• debut
• eager
• endurance
• stress
• daunting
• profile
• notorious
• cardiovascular
1. My friend was suffering from ...... problems after completing the race and he was rushed to hospital.
2. There is a short stretch or road near us which is ...... for bad accidents and six people have died there.
3. He was fit and well trained and he was very ...... for the match to start.
4. Having finally passed his final set of exams after so much work, he felt a tremendous sense of ...... .
5. We had several applicants for the bob and so we looked at ...... of each of them.
6. A triathlon is a race of ...... because it involves three different sports and takes a long time to complete.
7. Many runners, long-jumpers and triple-jumpers suffer knee problems because of the tremendous ...... that they put on their knees.
8. She worked extremely hard and felt very ...... by the end of the week.
9. The British driver Lewis Hamilton made his ...... in Formula 1 racing in 2007.
10. Climbing a steep rock wall, or starting on a PHD course, can both be very ...... for most people, and they don't want to do it.
C Scan the text and find the importance of these words and expressions in the text.
• 11,00 entries
• Sydney Games
• Simon Whitfield
• non weight-bearing
• Starfish Consulting
• Perranporth Triathlon
D Read the passage silently
E Answer the questions
1. Define stoked.
2. What's the difference between a sprint and a super-sprint triathlon?
3. If 11,000 people signed up for the London triathlon last year, how many might we expect next year?
4. What was it that significantly increased interest in the triathlon?
5. What is one of the reasons why triathlons are so popular?
6. In health terms, why is the triathlon a good sport?
7. In your own words, what sort of people typically take part in triathlons?
8. What makes the Perranporth triathlon a tough race?
F Explain the meaning of these expressions.
1. mass appeal (Para 4)
2. captured the public imagination (Para 4)
3. multi-disciplinary nature (Para 5)
4. muscle tone (Para 6)
5. a rapid awakening (Para 8)
6. not break the bank (Para 9)
7. disposable income (Para 9)
8. brand aware (Para 9)
9. doubted my friend's intentions (Para 10)
10. hilly terrain (Para 10)
G Find words in the text that fit in the following categories.
• Words used to describe the triathlon
• Words used to describe how triathletes feel
H The writer uses various adjectives to paint a clear picture of what is in his mind; for example:
• rough seas
• hilly terrain
• strength-sapping run
• pounding surf
What adjectives could you use to describe how you might feel?
• at the end of a triathlon
• after falling in love!
I Arguments for and against
1. Your teacher will divide the class into two groups.
2. First, each student should work alone; make a list of all the arguments for and against training for triathlons and taking part in competitions.
3. Get together one other with another student who has done the same task. Compare your lists.
4. Join with two other students who had the other task. Discuss. Put forward the arguments for and against triathlons.
5. Report back to the teacher. List the strongest for/against arguments on the board.
6. For homework, write a report for a youth club in your home area making the arguments for and against triathlons.

This adapted newspaper article is used in the questions and learning activities that follow.
This passage on climate change is continued in Part 2.
If you have access to a recording of the passage, you should listen to it several times before reading the text and answering the written questions.
1. The Murray is the lifeblood of Australia's farming country, a legendary river that once thundered 1,500 miles from the Snowy Mountains to the Southern Ocean. Now, it's choking to death in the worst drought for a thousand years, sparking water rationing and suicides on devastated farms. But is this a localised national emergency, or a warning that the Earth is running out of water?
2. Australian farmers pride themselves on their resilience. They take pleasure in living in a sun-burnt country of droughts and violent rain storms. Conservative and deeply sceptical, many dismiss global warming as hogwash. But with unprecedented water scarcity and the Murray , the country's greatest river system, on the verge of collapse, warning bells are ringing around the globe.
3. Financially, the drought is affecting places as far away as the UK , pushing up the cost of bread in British supermarkets as wheat prices reach a 10-year high. Scientists are looking on nervously, wondering if what is happening in Sydney could be the future for other towns and cities around the world.
4. Professor Tim Flannery, an Australian environmental scientist and an international leader on climate change, has no doubts. ' Australia is a harbinger of what is going to happen in other places in the world,' he says. 'This can happen anywhere. China may be next, or parts of western USA . There will be emerging water crises all over the world.' In Kenya , the herdsmen of the Mandera region have been dubbed the 'climate canaries' - the people most likely to be wiped out first by global warming. In Australia , the earth's driest inhabited continent, it is the farmers who are on the frontline.
5. This extended dry spell began in 1998. Four years later came the once-in-100-years drought. Last year was declared a once-in-a-millennium event. Every city, except for Darwin , is facing water restrictions. Rivers are reduced to a trickle a child can jump across. Old Adaminaby, a town drowned by a reservoir 50 years ago, has resurfaced from its watery grave. Distressed koalas have been drinking from swimming pools. The list goes on.
6. The extent of the crisis was illustrated in January, when the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced a £4.5bn package to take control of the Murray-Darling basin, the nation's food bowl, accounting for 41% of Australia 's agriculture and £9bn worth of agricultural exports. The region covers an area the size of France and Spain combined, and is home to almost 3 million people. But its famous waterway, the River Murray, no longer holds sufficient water to flow out into the sea. Despite Howard's massive rescue plan to overhaul the water system, six months later the irrigation taps to the region's farmers were turned off.
7. In March 2006, Professor Flannery's The Weather Makers was published in the UK , spelling out in detail what awaits us unless we decarbonise our world by 2050. He has been described by Sir David Attenborough as 'in the league of the all-time great explorers', and he was the 2007 Australian of the Year. Floods and violent storms have caused havoc along Australia 's eastern seaboard, beaching one 40,000-tonne tanker like an aluminium dinghy. I put it to Flannery that the difficulty with global warming is that many areas are facing freak flooding. 'General modelling suggests that every degree Celsius of warming leads to a 1% increase in rainfall globally,' he explains. 'But these downpours are not spread evenly, causing intense bursts and downpours of rain in some places and not in others. We are learning about this 1% effect as we go.'
8. In his book, Flannery describes the dramatic decline in winter rainfall in southwestern Australia since the Sixties. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has forecast that on the east coast, rainfall could drop by 40% by 2070, along with a steep rise in temperature and an increased chance of bush fires. Last November, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report added to the predicted misery, stating that 'the annual flow in the Murray-Darling basin is likely to fall by 10-25% by 2050', resulting in a decline in production from agriculture and forestry.
9. Five years ago, during the last major drought, I travelled through western Queensland, across a fragile, red-baked landscape that was obviously not suited to the hooves of millions of cattle and sheep (there are no Australian native animals with cleft hooves) and met farmers whose dreams were crumbling to dust. Back then, there was virtually no mention of global warming. The problem was attributed to the dry, cyclical conditions caused by El Nino, a powerful climatic event linked to the Pacific Ocean , which drives rain-bearing clouds away from the continent.
10. Fast-forward to July 2007 and few scientists doubt the 'big dry' is caused, in part, by climate change. Some refer to it as a climate shift; others, like Flannery are unequivocal that it is a foretaste of what's to come. As the first developed nation to experience such a prolonged dry spell, it's no wonder that the rest of the world is looking on to see how Australia copes - and what lessons can be learned.
11. What is remarkable is the swing among ordinary Australians over the past 12 months. The release of the Stern Report by British economist Sir Nicholas Stern and a rise in food prices have combined as a loud wake-up call. Now, as the stress of trying to squeeze every drop out of an over-stretched waterway threatens to tear communities apart, fierce public debate has forced the environment to the forefront of this year's general election. In order to avoid water shortages, two massive desalination plants will be built in Victoria and NSW, following the construction of Perth 's successful de-salination plant. The government also announced it would ban incandescent light bulbs, which contribute to greenhouse gases.
12. For Flannery, these are baby steps. 'We could be the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy. We've got solar potential; we've got a geo-thermal province in central Australia and the best potential for wind power off the east coast.' For Anne Jensen, an academic who's been studying the ecology of the lower Murray in South Australia for 25 years, it's a question of priority. 'Everyone is fighting to keep what they've got in a situation where people are going to need to give something up,' she says. 'While everyone is on rations, we have to make sure that the river is healthy enough to support us all.'
Adapted from an article by Claire Scobie in The Observer newspaper.

Part 1
Activity 1 - before listening/reading
1. Write the words climate change and add any words or expressions that you associate with this expression.
2. Do you believe that climate change is happening? What do you think are the causes of climate change?
3. Do you think everyone (around the world) is in agreement about the concept of climate change? Who is not in agreement, and why?
4. Where do you think climate change is having the most impact at the moment, and in what ways?
5. Try to find pictures (newspapers/Internet/magazines) illustrating:
• drought
• flooding
• high temperatures
• glaciers receding
• ice-floes melting
• animals suffering
• higher prices in shops
• coral dying
• old people suffering in high temperatures (e.g. in France).
6. Working with a friend, prioritise them in terms of their importance and discuss your reasons.
Activity 2
1. If possible, listen to a recording of the first five five paragraphs for the overall or general meaning.
2. Listen a second time and note down answers to these questions with a word or phrase:
• Which river is being described?
• Where is it?
• What is happening to it?
• Do the farmers agree that climate change is happening?
• What other country is being affected by these problems in Australia ?
• Who is Professor Tim Flannery?
• What are drinking in swimming pools?
You may need to listen to the recording more than once.
3. If possible, discuss the answers with a partner.
4. Make a note of a word or words that mean the same as:
• dying
• doubtful / unwilling to believe
• rubbish / nonsense
• fearfully
• bringer of bad news
• labelled
• a very small flow of water
• an area where water is stored
5. Try to answer these questions.
• What has happened to the Murray River ?
• What are two immediate results of the drought? (water rationing / suicides)
• What important question is being asked?
• What are scientists worried about?
• What does Tim Flannery believe is going to happen in the future?
• What is every city in Australia facing?
• What's happened to Old Adaminaby?
6. Read the first five paragraphs carefully.
• What dramatic (journalistic?) language is used by the writer in Para 1?
• How would you describe Australian farmers in your own words?
• What does the farmers are on the frontline mean?
• Where can we find climate canaries? What does this expression mean?
Activity 3 - Scanning
Scan the text and find the significance of these figures and expressions:
• £4.5bn
• 41%
• £9bn
• an area the size of France and Spain combined
• 3 million people
• March, 2006
• 1%
• drop by 40% by 2070
• 10-25% by 2050
Activity 4 - Use these words to complete the sentences.
legendary devastated resilience sceptical unprecedented verge overhaul havoc freak fragile cyclical unequivocal prolonged
• The ancient vase was very ......... and we were afraid that it would break.
• The small town was ......... by the violent storm and took years to recover.
• The floods caused ......... in the region and thousands of houses were destroyed.
• The ......... nature of the weather meant that the heavy rain fell every second year.
• Despite all the problems the family faced they were able to overcome them because of their ......... .
• He was ......... in his view of what was best for the country and he asserted his views strongly at every meeting.
• When he saw the ........., folksinger in his town, he could hardly believe his eyes.
• I was very ......... about what he said and didn't altogether believe him.
• The long and painful operation ......... his life, but not for many months.
• We had never seen anything like it; his actions were ......... .
• They had to ..... the machinery completely before the start of the new year to make sure that it worked properly.
• The team was on the ......... of making many new discoveries when their funding was cut and they were forced to stop.
• The weather was unlike anything we had seen before and the ......... storms that came that year destroyed many trees in our orchard.
Activity 5 - Intensive reading
Read the text carefully and answer these questions.
• Why is the Murray-Darling basin so important?
• What the two main effects of climate change in Australia ?
• What was the major difference the writer found between 2002 and 2007 on visits to Australia ?
• How is this crisis affecting politics?
• What immediate steps has the government taken to alleviate the problems?
• Do you think that Flannery is angry? What evidence is there?
Activity 6 - Discussion questions
What do you know about El Nino (El Niño)?
What do you know about the Stern Report.
Activity 7 - Exploration of language
1. There are a number of examples of metaphor in the text; for example:
• the lifeblood of Australia's farming country
How many others can you find?
2. Explain the meeting of these following:
• Para. 2: ... pride themselves on their resilience.
• Para. 7: ... like an aluminium dinghy.
• Para. 7: We are learning about this 1% effect as we go.
• Para. 12: While everyone is on rations ...
Level: Upper-Intermediate / Advanced
This adapted newspaper article is used in the questions and learning activities that follow.
This is a continuation of the passage on climate change (see Part 1).
1. The River Murray used to be compared to America's Mississippi. During the 19th century, paddle steamers were a familiar sight along its lazy green-grey currents, ferrying goods from town to town. Covering an area of more than one million km2, the Murray basin carries water from the tropical north in Queensland to the Darling River, and from the Murray's source in the Snowy Mountains to the outskirts of Adelaide, 1,500 miles downstream.
2. Nearly 60 years ago, the Snowy Hydro scheme was opened. The scheme promised to provide a reliable supply of water to the Murray. The dry, fertile country to the west was transformed into dairy pastures, orchards and lush rice fields. Years of over-allocation for irrigation, as well as drought, has resulted in a pitifully low stream level. In June 2006, the catchment area received an inflow of 700 gigalitres. A year later, it had plummeted to 300 gigalitres. (One gigalitre is 1,000,000,000 litres.)
3. Some people question whether climate change is the cause. Louise and Andrew Burge are farmers but they refute evidence that the current drought is driven by climate change. They showed me a series of old photographs showing the Murray in drier conditions than now. 'Global warming represents a herd mentality with a herd mentality for the solutions,' she said.
4. According to a UN report, per capita, Australia's emissions of greenhouse gases are among the highest in the world. As the drought bites, the conflict between farmers, traditionally portrayed as rampant land-clearers, and environmentalists, is brought to the fore. In reality, while all the farmers I spoke to were global warming sceptics, they were passionate conservationists. Many farmers argue that the current drought is very similar to that of the 1890s and 1940s.
5. Nonetheless, the effect on rural towns all along the Murray is acute. Figures from the Reserve Bank reveal that rural debt has doubled from £10bn in 1999 to £20bn in 2005. In Deniliquin, 20 minutes from the Burges' farm, the wide streets are eerily quiet. That evening, in the empty Federal Hotel, I meet Wayne Cockayne, a 44-year-old whose eyes stare into the mid-distance. 'This town's gone backward,' he says, taking a sip on a Diet Coke. 'In 1979, when I left school, the town was prospering. Now farmers' children are leaving the land.'
6. For the past four years, Cockayne hasn't made a cent from the cereals on his 3,000-acre property 20 miles south of Deniliquin. This year he had to pay for water to be trucked in to flush his toilet. He grits his teeth. 'I know about depression,' he goes on. 'I locked myself in at home for four days. Then I got in the family car and drove into town. A friend found me slumped over the steering wheel crying. I never thought I'd be a person who would suffer from it.'
7. 'In the first seven years, I had, on average, two people a year from the farming community who presented with depression,' Dr Harry von Rensburg tells me in his surgery in Barham, 60 miles west of Deniliquin. This year he is 'actively managing' more than 120 farmers, including some of the most high-profile landowners in the district. A psychologist comes once a week and has back-to-back appointments. 'If we could get her twice a week we would fill that.' A national mental health report stated that one farmer commits suicide in Australia every four days. I ask Dr Von Rensburg whether this figure is accurate.
8. 'Absolutely. In the past three years there have been eight suicide attempts here. A handful are on suicide watch - their spouses or children have taken control of firearms.' He leans back in his big black chair. 'Shooting is the most favoured method; second is hanging.' Von Rensburg puts this dramatic increase down to the drought's longevity and the uncertainty it brings. 'People are asking themselves, will this be ongoing? Are we going to see our landscape change? Will we survive?'
9. Neil Eagle is another farmer who questions climate change. He is the grand old man of orchard farming in the region, a sprightly 73-year-old with large, dirt-encrusted hands and a deep, rumbling voice. He refuses to be beaten. Eagle's family has been living around Eagle Creek since 1870. 'As far as temperature changes go, in the Forties and Fifties it was definitely hotter than it is now,' he says. 'I don't agree with the doom and gloom merchants that the sea is going to rise.' He gives a wry smile. 'It's become nearly a religion, this idea of global warming.'
10. But some 300 miles west of Eagle Creek, in South Australia, Anne Jensen is witnessing a collapse of entire ecosystems on the floodplains. In the Nineties, one local from Kingston-on-Murray described this as a 'garden of Eden' for river red gums, some 400 years old. Today it resembles a graveyard. Jensen sees the 'hundreds of thousands of trees' dying in the Lower Murray as 'a combined effect of a man-made drought in the river system, together with the severe natural drought which is proving to be the last straw'.
11. The twisted, ashen-grey branches of the black box eucalyptus and river gums are stark indicators of the region's deteriorating health. These hardy trees require natural flooding to survive. They have done without a decent drink for over a decade. 'If we got a flood in the next two to three years we could save the river, but only with enormous amounts of rain.'
12. A mile from Kingston is Banrock Station. More famous for its crisp white wines than its pioneering conservation strategies, this vineyard pumps profits back into restoring the local wetlands. It has had considerable success, but due to the minimal amount of water in the Murray allocated for the environment, and the rising salinity, they can only achieve so much.
13. What has struck me is that if temperatures continue to rise globally, as predicted, what is happening now in Australia will occur in other regions where countries share one river system - the Euphrates in the Middle East, the Mekong in Asia. The World Bank estimates that by 2025, about 48 countries will experience water shortages, affecting more than 1.4bn people, the majority in under-developed regions. Here in Australia, at least the economy is robust and competing groups whose livelihoods depend on the dwindling flow of the Murray can sit down and talk. Where rivers cross borders, it won't be a case of negotiating and compromise - it will be war.
14. The future of many Australian farmers hangs in the balance. Last year the drought whittled 1% off the national economy, and this year reduced the available annual milk supply by more than a billion litres. During Australia's winter, the blistering summer is still several months away. But Professor Mike Young warns that already 'Adelaide is in a very frightening situation. If it doesn't rain and the dams don't fill, there isn't enough water in the system to supply the city.'
Learning activities for Part 2
Activity 1 - before listening/reading
Assuming that global warming is happening, how do you believe it could affect you in the next 20 years? Work in pairs and then report on what you have discussed.
Activity 2 - listening activities
1. If possible, listen to a recording of the first 5 paragraphs. Listen out for this information.
a) What used to be seen on the Murray River?
b) What's a gigalitre?
c) What do Louise and Andrew Burge not believe?
d) What two groups are in conflict?
e) What has happened to farmer debt?
2. Play the tape again listen out for words that mean the same as:
a) changed completely
b) fell very dramatically
c) reject
d) uncontrolled
e) very serious
f) strangely and worryingly
3. What evidence has the Burge family got against climate change?
4. Why is Wayne Cockayne unhappy?
Activity 3 - Reading
1. Scan the text to find references to the following:
o 300 gigalitres
o UN report
o rampant land-clearers
o passionate conservationists
o depression
o 120 farmers
o every four days
o 1870
o 400 years old
o Banrock Station
o 48 countries
o a billion litres
2. Read the text carefully. What examples of metaphor can you find in those paragraphs?
3. Does Dr Von Rensburg have enough support?
4. What does Neil Eagle mean when he says 'It's become nearly a religion, this idea of global warming' (para. 9).
5. When it comes to sorting out climate problems over water, what advantage does Australia have over some other areas of the world?
Activity 4 - Exploration of language
1. Look at these sentences; the first is from the text:
• A national mental health report stated that one farmer commits suicide in Australia every four days.
• The headteacher said that pupils are not allowed to smoke.
• The government stated that a man dies of lung cancer every 30 minutes.
Notice the use of both the Past Simple and the Simple Present in this sentence.
Now make up sentences of your own using this combination of sentences.
2. What is meant by 'a wry smile' (para. 9)? In what other ways can we describe a smile? Divide them into two groups: honest smiles and others.
'Smoking Ban' worksheet
Smoking ban in all English pubs and clubs

In 2007, MPs in the UK voted by a huge margin to ban smoking from all public places including pubs and private members' clubs in England. The Commons decided by a margin of 200 to impose a ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces. This law took effect on 1 July 2007.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the change would "save thousands of people's lives. I'm absolutely delighted. This is really a historic day for public health." Ministers gave a free vote amid fears Labour MPs could rebel against plans to exempt clubs and pubs not serving food.
The Cabinet was split on how far restrictions - set out in the Health Bill - should go, with Conservatives calling government policy a 'shambles'. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Charles Clarke all voted for a blanket ban. But Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Defence Secretary John Reid and Education Secretary Ruth Kelly opposed it.
Elspeth Lee, of Cancer Research UK , said: "This is really going to affect generations to come and make the nation a lot healthier." However, Simon Clark, director of smoking support group Forest , said: "This is a double whammy and an unnecessary and illiberal piece of legislation that denies freedom of choice to millions of people. The Government should educate people about the health risks of smoking but politicians have no right to force people to quit by making it more difficult for people to consume a legal product."
The Cabinet originally proposed prohibiting smoking only in pubs serving food, in line with Labour's election manifesto. A free vote was offered after many Labour MPs, fearing a partial ban could increase health inequalities among customers and staff, threatened to rebel. Ministers came up with three choices: a total ban; exempting private clubs; or exempting clubs and pubs not serving food. Many MPs opposed a smoking ban on civil liberties grounds.
The government predicts an estimated 600,000 people will give up smoking as a result of the law change. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said ministers had "put forward proposals which their own backbenchers thought were completely unworkable". But it was "a very important step"; he added there "had to be a culture that encourages better health". Conservative MPs were offered a free vote on the issue.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb said: "This legislation is good news for tens of thousands of bar staff up and down the country. The key issue has always been the health and safety of people who work in public places." In a recent report, the Commons health select committee said a total ban was the "only effective means" of protecting public health.
Employment law consultancy Peninsula found that 91 per cent of workers are in favour of the legislation. A survey conducted by the British Thoracic Society concluded that far from having a negative impact the smoking ban has provided a welcome boost for business.
Similar smoking bans have been introduced in more than a dozen U.S. states, including California and New York, as well as in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, but the U.K. is the largest country thus far to adopt a national ban.
To explain the changes, the government paid for TV advertisements, national newspaper ads, and billboards and signs on trains and buses. One showed a man walking through different locations -- a cafe, a pub, a garage and an office -- explaining that smoking would be banned from all enclosed public places from July 1. A second advert showed the same man walking through a pub, a garage and a restaurant, warning people they could be fined for breaking the ban.
It is a company's responsibility to enforce the ban. A person who smokes in a bar could be fined £30 (US$60), but the bar's owner could face a fine of as much as £2,500 (US$5,000). Companies must put up no-smoking signs, minimum of about 3 inches (75mm) wide, including in all their vehicles.
(Modified article from BBC website.)
Activity 1 - Use these words to complete the sentences below.
civil liberties, illiberal, split, double whammy, shambles
historic, backbenchers, partial ban, exempt, margin, predict
1. There is a healthy ..... in favour of the change in the rules.
2. The day that the phone call was made across the Atlantic was a ..... occasion.
3. Students are ..... from some of the taxes that they will have to pay once they graduate.
4. The student leaders were ..... over what to do about the rise in student fees. Some wanted to demonstrate while others wanted to refuse to attend classes.
5. Some people have said that the first few weeks after the invasion of Iraq were a ..... and this was one of the main causes of the problems that followed.
6. The collapse of his business and the departure of his girl friend was a ..... that he found difficult to recover from.
7. Governments that are regarded as very ..... will find it very difficult to obtain loans and grants from international institutions.
8. There has been a ..... on hunting whales from some years because some species are still hunted by Norway, Japan and Russia.
9. Tony Blair was accused of undermining some ..... when he was Prime Minister by, for example, lengthening the time that suspects could be held in jail.
10. It's difficult to ..... what will happen in the future but most people believe that life will change significantly as a result of global warming.
11. ..... are often believed to be little more than lobby fodder and to have very little power or influence.
Activity 2 - Scan the text and find the significance of these words and expressions in the text.
1 July 2007
Home Secretary Charles Clarke
Education Secretary Ruth Kelly
Simon Clark
600,000
Andrew Lansley
91 per cent
£30
£2,500
Activity 3 - Read the passage carefully and answer these questions:
1. Is there evidence to suggest that businesses will suffer from the smoking ban?
2. Give examples of enclose public spaces this will affect.
3. Why did ministers give MPs a free vote?
4. What's a blanket ban?
5. Simon Clark puts forward 6 arguments against the ban. What are they?
6. How did the new law differ from the government's original plans?
7. Why did they change their view?
8. What choices were the MPs given?
9. Why did the Liberal Democrats support the new law?
Activity 4 - What do you think
1. Where might you be surprised to find no smoking signs nowadays?
2. Do you think other countries will follow the same policy?
3. In which countries are smoking rates either very high or actually rising?
4. How much does an average packet of 20 cost in the UK ? How much of that is tax?
5. If cigarettes are so bad for people (a) what did cigarette producers say in the past and (b) what do they say today?
Activity 5 - Advertising
What methods have cigarette manufacturers used to sell cigarettes in the past?
What methods do they use today?
Activity 6 - Verbs
Underline all examples of passive verbs.
Underline all examples of the Present Perfect; explain why this tense has been used.
Activity 7 - Adjectives
The writer uses various adjectives to paint a picture or to make meaning more specific. What adjectives can you find in paragraphs 1-5 in the passage? Underline them.
Now try to replace as many of those adjectives as you can with other adjectives that are least similar in meaning.
Activity 8 - Homework
Write an interview between a journalist and a) a representative of a cigarette manufacturer and b) someone in favour on banning smoking.

Task#1
Rewrite the following infromation regarding Mr. Edwards in a CV format.

Prof. Mary Andrew University of New York MBA Dept. 45671 marydew@newyork.edu

Mr. Edwards has obtained his BS in Mathematics in 1988. He worked for five years in an accounting department in an American company form 1989 to 93. From 94 to 99 he was appointed the manager of First National Bank in Bloomington Indiana.

He likes reading computer programming and traveling

He obtained his MBA from University of Boston in 2001
From 2002 to 2004 he held a new position to run a chain of RITZ Hotels and restaurants in Boston.
Jane Pollus. Director of Accounts ABC Company New York 23456 janepo@pictel.net

James Edwards was born on Feb. 14, 1956 married lives in Buffalo New York. At 234 Swords Street
BN 16441 American jedwards@hotmail.com

Joe Adams First National Bank Boston 32456 adams@fnbank.com

From 2005 to 2008 he teaching Accounting at University of Buffalo
_____________________________________________________
Task #2
Write a covering letter for the above CV trying to apply to a post of lecturer at Indiana University to the head of the department of Accounting in the Business School at 23 University Avnue 47471 Reference No. 776 dated on March 4, 2008.
assignment is due on April,14 2008.
You may send your work via my email: lataiwish@garyounis.edu as an attachment.
Good luck.

Piczo