Breaking News English

5-speed listening (Level 4)

EU votes for universal phone charger

Slowest

Slower

Medium

Faster

Fastest

Try Level 5 | Level 6

MY e-BOOK

See a sample

This useful resource has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for …

warm-ups

pre-reading and listening

while-reading and listening

post-reading and listening

using headlines

working with words

moving from text to speech

role plays,

task-based activities

discussions and debates

and a whole lot more.

More Listening

Spelling | Dictation

READING:

Have you ever thought why phone chargers are all different? European lawmakers have thought about the same thing. Consumers should be happy with a new common-sense plan. The EU decided that smartphone companies must make the plug that connects to the electricity supply the same. However, the connector to the phone itself doesn't have to be the same. This will puzzle many people who wanted a standardized connector too.

The variety of adaptors is bad for the environment. People buy a new phone, throw away their old charger and buy a new one with their new phone. The new law will reduce this electronic waste, which is currently 51,000 tons a year. A politician said the incompatibility of chargers for electronic devices was "a nightmare and a real inconvenience for consumers". Manufacturers must follow the new law by 2017.