UN says eat less meat to curb global warming

Level 2 Intermediate

1 Key words

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.

consumption ruminant gluttony simplistic contradictory

graze livestock flatulence controversial habitat

1. An animal’s ____________________ is the place it normally lives.

2. ____________________ is when a person or animal has too much gas in their stomach or intestines.
3. If two or more ideas are ____________________, they disagree with each other and cannot both or all be true.
4. ____________________ is the process of eating or drinking something.
5. If an idea is ____________________, it causes strong disagreement or disapproval.
6. A ____________________ idea treats something in a way that makes it seem simpler than it really is.
7. When animals ____________________, they eat grass growing in a field.
8. ____________________ is the collective word for animals such as cows, sheep and pigs that are kept
on farms.
9. A ____________________ is an animal such as a cow or sheep that brings food back from its stomach into its
mouth to chew it a second time.
10. ____________________ is the bad habit of eating more than you need.

2 Find the information

Look in the text and find the answers to these questions as quickly as possible.

1. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization how much of global greenhouse gas emissions are

produced by meat production?

2. How much meat protein does the average person in the UK eat each day?

3. By what percentage is UK meat consumption above WHO guidelines?

4. Which is the more effective global warming agent – methane or carbon dioxide?

5. By what percentage does Compassion in World Farming want to reduce meat consumption by 2020?

6. What percentage of UK emissions is generated by livestock?

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NEWS LESSONS / UN says eat less meat to curb global warming / Intermediate
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UN says eat less meat to curb global warming
Level 2 Intermediate
UN says eat less meat to curb enjoy it,” said Torode. “Too much meat for any
global warming person is gluttony. But there’s a more important
• Climate expert urges radical shift in diet question here: where [the meat] comes from. If we all
• Industry unfairly targeted – farmers bought British food and stopped buying imported food
Juliette Jowit, environment editor we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions.”
September 7, 2008 6 Pachauri will be speaking at an event organized
1 According to the world’s leading expert on global by animal welfare group Compassion in World
warming, people should give up meat for one day a Farming, which has calculated that if the average
week if they want do something that would help tackle UK home reduced meat consumption by 50%, that
climate change. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the would reduce emissions more than if people cut
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate car use by 50%. The group wants the government
Change, said that people should then go on to reduce to lead campaigns to reduce meat consumption by
their meat consumption even further. So far this is the 60% by 2020. Campaigners have also pointed out
most controversial advice the panel has given on how the health benefits of eating less meat. The average
individuals can help tackle global warming. person in the UK eats 50g of protein from meat a day,
equivalent to a chicken breast and a lamb chop – a
2 Dr Pachauri said diet change was important relatively low level for rich nations but 25-50% more
because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions and than World Heath Organization guidelines.
other environmental problems – including habitat
destruction – associated with rearing cattle and other 7 Professor Robert Watson, a government scientific
animals. It was relatively easy to change eating habits adviser, said the government could help educate
compared to changing means of transport, he said. people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it
should not ‘regulate’. “Eating less meat would help,
3 The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization there’s no question about that, but there are other
estimates that meat production causes nearly 20% things,” Watson said.
of global greenhouse gas emissions. These gases
are generated during the production of animal 8 However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for the pig
feeds, for example, while ruminants, particularly industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had
cows, emit methane, which is 23 times more effective been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find
as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide. The out which activities had the biggest environmental
agency has also warned that meat consumption will impact and reduce those. Some ideas were
probably double by the middle of the century. contradictory, he said – for example, one solution
to emissions from livestock was to keep them
4 “Reducing meat consumption is the most attractive indoors, but this would damage animal welfare.
option because it can be done almost immediately “Climate change is a very young science and our
and it will bring about reductions in greenhouse view is there are a lot of simplistic solutions being
gas emissions in a short period of time,” said proposed,” he said.
Pachauri. “Give up meat for one day [a week]
initially, and then continue to decrease it,” said the 9 Last year a report into the environmental impact
Indian economist, who is a vegetarian. However, of meat eating claimed livestock generated eight
he also said that other changes in lifestyle would per cent of UK emissions – but eating some meat
help to tackle climate change. “That’s what I want to was good for the planet because some habitats
emphasize: we really have to reduce consumption benefited from grazing. It also said vegetarian diets
in every sector of the economy.” that included lots of milk, butter and cheese would
probably not reduce emissions much because dairy
5 Pachauri can expect some strong responses from cows produce the potent greenhouse gas methane,
the food industry to his advice, though he has which is released through flatulence.
received unexpected support from restaurateur
John Torode, who is about to publish a new book, © Guardian News & Media 2008
John Torode’s Beef. “I have a little bit of meat and First published in The Observer, 07/09/08
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NEWS LESSONS / UN says eat less meat to curb global warming / Intermediate
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UN says eat less meat to curb global warming
Level 2 Intermediate

3 Comprehension check

Are these statements True (T) or False (F) according to the text?

1. If people reduced car use by 50% it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than if they reduced meat
consumption by 50%.

2. Dairy cows release methane through flatulence.

3. Meat consumption is expected to double by the middle of the 21st century.

4. The average person in the UK eats less meat than the WHO guidelines recommend.

5. Eating less meat is good for your health.

6. If everyone became vegetarian, greenhouse gas emissions would decrease dramatically.

4 Find the word

Look in the text and find the following words and expressions. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.

1. A verb meaning to make an organized and determined attempt to deal with a problem. (para 1)

2. A noun meaning a group of people who make decisions of judgments. (para 1)

3. An adjective meaning extremely large. (para 2)

4. A phrasal verb meaning to make something happen. (para 4)

5. A phrasal verb meaning to tell someone something. (para 6)

6. A two-word expression meaning of the same value as something else. (para 6)

7. A noun meaning effect. (para 8)

8. An adjective meaning powerful or effective. (para 9)

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NEWS LESSONS / UN says eat less meat to curb global warming / Intermediate
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UN says eat less meat to curb global warming
Level 2 Intermediate
5 Two-word expressions

Match the words from the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make expressions
from the text.

1. greenhouse a. welfare

2. climate b. benefits

3. global c. change

4. environmental d. diet

5. carbon e. impact

6. health f. dioxide

7. animal g. warming

8. vegetarian h. gases

6 Word building

Complete the table.

verb noun
1 consume
2 reduce
3 emit
4 destroy
5 solve
6 respond
7 propose
8 advise

7 Discussion

Apart from reducing the amount of meat you eat, what other ways can you reduce energy consumption?
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NEWS LESSONS / UN says eat less meat to curb global warming / Intermediate
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UN says eat less meat to curb global warming
Level 2 Intermediate

KEY

1 Key words 4 Find the word

1. habitat 1. tackle
2. flatulence 2. panel
3. contradictory 3. huge
4. consumption 4. bring about
5. controversial 5. point out
6. simplistic 6. equivalent to
7. graze 7. impact
8. livestock 8. potent
9. ruminant
10. gluttony
5 Two-word expressions

2 Find the information 1. h

2. c
1. 20% 3. g
2. 50g 4. e
3. 25-50% 5. f
4. methane 6. b
5. 60% 7. a
6. 8% 8. d

3 Comprehension check 6 Word building

1. F verb noun
2. T 1 consume consumption
3. T 2 reduce reduction
4. F
3 emit emission
5. T
6. F 4 destroy destruction
5 solve solution
6 respond response
7 propose proposal
8 advise advice
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NEWS LESSONS / UN says eat less meat to curb global warming / Intermediate
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