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Holland ordered to cut greenhouse gases (27th June, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

A court in Holland has ordered the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least a quarter by 2020. Three judges said the decision was, "to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower than those in 1990." Environmentalists hope others around the world will follow Holland's lead in a global drive to reduce emissions. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, echoed this sentiment, saying: "This historic ruling will have far reaching consequences in the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world." Bill Hare of Climate Analytics agreed. He said: "This could be the first judicial warning shot to governments around the world."

The judges' ruling came after 900 Dutch citizens took legal action against the Dutch government to get it to comply with international regulations. Holland was far behind many other countries in reducing carbon emissions. It was on target for a 14 to 17 per cent reduction by 2020. The Dutch court decided this was unacceptable for a country as developed and progressive as Holland. It also said that hitting a target of just 17 per cent would cause huge embarrassment for the Dutch. The Dutch government must now accelerate existing plans to close coal plants, increase the use of windmills, solar energy and other renewables, and drastically cut the amount of gas it takes out of the ground.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33253772
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/06/24/dutch-class-action-suit-forces-government-to-cut-global-warming-emissions-faster/
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/06/24/Dutch-court-orders-government-to-cut-greenhouse-gases/2031435154828/

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. GREENHOUSE GASES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about greenhouse gases. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

court / greenhouse / decision / environmentalists / global / drive / member / sentiment / legal action / regulations / target / unacceptable / progressive / accelerate / ground

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. GLOBAL PROBLEMS: How can we solve these global problems? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Solution	Likelihood of this happening
Global warming
Overpopulation
Refugees
Religious intolerance
Cybercrime
Human trafficking

4. FOSSIL FUELS: Students A strongly believe the world can end its use of fossil fuels within the next decade; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. CUTTING EMISSIONS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best ways of cutting emissions at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• hydrogen fuel cars

• carpool

• turn off lights

• use the stairs

• save water

• buy local produce

• walk

• recycle

6. CO2: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "CO2". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A Dutch court ordered the Dutch government to cut emissions.	T / F
b.	Dutch emissions must be 25% lower than they were in 1990.	T / F
c.	A member of the European Parliament said the ruling was not historic.	T / F
d.	A man said the ruling would lead to shootings around the world.	T / F
e.	The ruling was because 900 citizens took the government to court.	T / F
f.	Holland was well ahead of other countries in meeting targets.	T / F
g.	The Dutch court said Holland's targets would have been embarrassing.	T / F
h.	Holland will now work more slowly in closing coal plants.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	ordered	a.	obey
2.	at least	b.	significant
3.	sentiment	c.	very big
4.	historic	d.	instructed
5.	agreed	e.	decision
6.	ruling	f.	point of view
7.	comply	g.	concurred
8.	progressive	h.	volume
9.	huge	i.	at the minimum
10.	amount	j.	modern

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	by at least	a.	to reduce emissions
2.	the world will follow	b.	other countries
3.	a global drive	c.	other renewables
4.	have far reaching	d.	shot to governments
5.	the first judicial warning	e.	amount of gas
6.	citizens took	f.	a quarter
7.	Holland was far behind many	g.	of just 17%
8.	hitting a target	h.	consequences
9.	solar energy and	i.	legal action
10.	drastically cut the	j.	Holland's lead

GAP FILL

A (1) ____________ in Holland has ordered the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at (2) ____________ a quarter by 2020. Three judges said the decision was, "to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent (3) ____________ than those in 1990." Environmentalists hope others around the world will follow Holland's lead in a global (4) ____________ to reduce emissions. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, (5) ____________ this sentiment, saying: "This historic ruling will have far (6) ____________ consequences in the Netherlands, Europe and the (7) ____________ of the world." Bill Hare of Climate Analytics agreed. He said: "This could be the first judicial (8) ____________ shot to governments around the world."

echoed
court
lower
reaching
warning
least
rest
drive

The judges' (9) ____________ came after 900 Dutch citizens took legal action against the Dutch government to get it to (10) ____________ with international regulations. Holland was (11) ____________ behind many other countries in reducing carbon emissions. It was on (12) ____________ for a 14 to 17 per cent reduction by 2020. The Dutch court decided this was unacceptable for a country as developed and (13) ____________ as Holland. It also said that hitting a (14) ____________ of just 17 per cent would cause huge embarrassment for the Dutch. The Dutch government must now accelerate existing plans to close coal (15) ____________, increase the use of windmills, solar energy and other renewables, and (16) ____________ cut the amount of gas it takes out of the ground.

far
progressive
ruling
drastically
comply
plants
target
target

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least a ______
	a. quartile by 2020 b. quarter by 2020 c. quart or by 2020 d. quadrant by 2020
2)	Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower ______
	a. than these in 1990 b. than them in 1990 c. than that in 1990 d. than those in 1990
3)	Environmentalists hope others around the world will ______
	a. follow Holland's lead b. follow Holland's read c. follow Holland's reed d. follow Holland's raid
4)	This historic ruling will have ______ in the Netherlands
	a. for reaching consequences b. fear reaching consequences c. four reaching consequences d. far reaching consequences
5)	He said: "This could be the first judicial warning ______
	a. shoot to governments b. shot to governments c. shots to governments d. shout to governments
6)	The judges' ruling came after 900 Dutch citizens ______
	a. took legally action b. took legalise action c. took legality action d. took legal action
7)	unacceptable for a country as developed and ______
	a. progressive as Holland b. regressive as Holland c. progress if as Holland d. regress if as Holland
8)	It also said that hitting a target of just 17 per cent would ______
	a. caused huge embarrassment b. cause huge embarrassment c. causes huge embarrassment d. because huge embarrassment
9)	The Dutch government must now accelerate existing plans ______
	a. to close coal plants b. to close coal plans c. to close coal prance d. to close coal parlance
10)	drastically cut the amount of gas it takes ______
	a. out of a ground b. out of that ground c. out of this ground d. out of the ground

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A court in Holland (1) ___________________ Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions (2) ___________________ quarter by 2020. Three judges said the decision was, "to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower than those in 1990." Environmentalists hope others around the (3) ___________________ Holland's lead in a global drive to reduce emissions. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, (4) ___________________, saying: "This historic ruling will (5) ___________________ consequences in the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world." Bill Hare of Climate Analytics agreed. He said: "This could be the (6) ___________________ shot to governments around the world."

The judges' ruling came after 900 Dutch citizens (7) ___________________ against the Dutch government to get (8) ___________________ international regulations. Holland was far behind many other countries in reducing carbon emissions. It was (9) ___________________ 14 to 17 per cent reduction by 2020. The Dutch court decided this was unacceptable for a country as developed and progressive as Holland. It also said that hitting a (10) ___________________ 17 per cent would cause huge embarrassment for the Dutch. The Dutch government must now (11) ___________________ plans to close coal plants, increase the use of windmills, solar energy and other renewables, and (12) ___________________ amount of gas it takes out of the ground.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Who ordered Holland to cut its emissions?
2.	By when must Holland cut emissions by a quarter or more?
3.	Who hopes other countries will follow Holland's lead?
4.	Where did a politician say the ruling would affect apart from Holland?
5.	What is the name of the company Bill Hare works for?
6.	How many people took the Dutch government to court?
7.	What was the original target for Holland's emissions?
8.	What would a target of 17% make Holland feel?
9.	What will Holland now close faster than before?
10.	What will the Dutch government take less of out of the ground?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	Who ordered Holland to cut its emissions?	6.	How many people took the Dutch government to court?
	a) Greenpeace b) a court c) the USA d) the UN		a) 900 b) 800 c) 700 d) 600
2.	By when must Holland cut emissions by a quarter or more?	7.	What was the original target for Holland's emissions?
	a) 2017 b) 2018 c) 2019 d) 2020		a) 17-20% b) 13-17% c) 14-17% d) 15-18%
3.	Who hopes other countries will follow Holland's lead?	8.	How would a target of 17% make Holland feel?
	a) environmentalists b) oil companies c) European countries d) coal miners		a) embarrassed b) good c) angry d) bored
4.	Where did a politician say the ruling would affect apart from Holland?	9.	What will Holland now close faster than before?
	a) Asia b) South America c) Europe d) India		a) coal plants b) windmills c) renewables d) solar energy stations
5.	What is the name of the company Bill Hare works for?	10.	What will the Dutch government take less of out of the ground?
	a) The Clean Air Co. b) Climate Analytics c) Environment Anonymous d) Greenpeace		a) earth b) oil c) gold d) gas

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Carpooling

You think carpooling is the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): using the stairs, buying local produce or walking everywhere.

Role B – Using the stairs

You think using the stairs is the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): carpooling, buying local produce or walking everywhere.

Role C – Buying local produce

You think buying local produce is the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): using the stairs, carpooling or walking everywhere.

Role D – Walking everywhere

You think walking everywhere is the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their ways aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): using the stairs, buying local produce or carpooling.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'greenhouse' and 'gas'.

greenhouse

gas

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

quarter
1990
follow
this
rest
first

900
far
14
target
coal
ground

GREENHOUSE GASES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about greenhouse gases in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

GREENHOUSE GASES DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'C02'?
3)	How are greenhouse gases in your country?
4)	What do you do to help the environment?
5)	What do you think of the decision of the Dutch court?
6)	Why are countries so slow to act to reduce emissions?
7)	How likely do you think it is that other countries will follow Holland's example?
8)	What is the most important job of an environmentalist?
9)	What 'far-reaching consequences' might the ruling have?
10)	Why have people kind of forgotten to act on climate change?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	Why aren't people in your country doing more to help Earth?
13)	Why do you think Holland had fallen behind?
14)	What signs of climate change can you see in your country?
15)	What is the biggest problem posed by climate change?
16)	How embarrassing would the old targets have been for Holland?
17)	What renewables are there in your country?
18)	What do you know about climate change?
19)	What will the climate be like in one hundred years from now?
20)	What questions would you like to ask Holland's leader?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

A court in Holland has ordered the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at (1) ____ a quarter by 2020. Three judges said the decision was, "to (2) ____ that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower than (3) ____ in 1990." Environmentalists hope others around the world will follow Holland's lead in a global (4) ____ to reduce emissions. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, (5) ____ this sentiment, saying: "This historic ruling will have far reaching consequences in the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world." Bill Hare of Climate Analytics agreed. He said: "This could be the first (6) ____ warning shot to governments around the world."

The judges' ruling came after 900 Dutch citizens (7) ____ legal action against the Dutch government to get it to comply (8) ____ international regulations. Holland was far behind many other countries in reducing carbon emissions. It was (9) ____ target for a 14 to 17 per cent reduction by 2020. The Dutch court decided this was unacceptable for a country as developed and (10) ____ as Holland. It also said that hitting a target of just 17 per cent would cause huge embarrassment for the Dutch. The Dutch government must now (11) ____ existing plans to close coal plants, increase the use of windmills, solar energy and other renewables, and (12) ____ cut the amount of gas it takes out of the ground.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	last	(b)	lost	(c)	least	(d)	lest
2.	(a)	ensure	(b)	censure	(c)	insure	(d)	reassure
3.	(a)	those	(b)	them	(c)	that	(d)	they
4.	(a)	drive	(b)	ride	(c)	fly	(d)	sail
5.	(a)	banked	(b)	wrapped	(c)	bloated	(d)	echoed
6.	(a)	justice	(b)	judgementally	(c)	judge	(d)	judicial
7.	(a)	took	(b)	had	(c)	did	(d)	gave
8.	(a)	over	(b)	as	(c)	via	(d)	with
9.	(a)	on	(b)	at	(c)	in	(d)	to
10.	(a)	regressive	(b)	progressive	(c)	progression	(d)	regression
11.	(a)	acceleration	(b)	accelerate	(c)	accelerator	(d)	accelerates
12.	(a)	drastically	(b)	drastic	(c)	practical	(d)	heartily

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	by at least a rerutaq
2.	Three dgesju
3.	a global drive to reduce smiiesons
4.	eedohc this sentiment
5.	have far reaching nesecncsqeuo
6.	the first iuadcjli warning shot to governments
Paragraph 2
7.	900 Dutch iestcizn
8.	international reilusgonat
9.	as developed and rveoispsgre as Holland
10.	lcraceeaet existing plans
11.	solar energy and other rnslwaeebe
12.	atalsrdilyc cut the amount of gas

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	rest of the world." Bill Hare of Climate Analytics agreed. He said: "This could be the first judicial warning
( )	target for a 14 to 17 per cent reduction by 2020. The Dutch court decided this was unacceptable
( )	for a country as developed and progressive as Holland. It also said that hitting a target of just
( )	17 per cent would cause huge embarrassment for the Dutch. The Dutch government must now
( )	renewables, and drastically cut the amount of gas it takes out of the ground.
( )	accelerate existing plans to close coal plants, increase the use of windmills, solar energy and other
( )	with international regulations. Holland was far behind many other countries in reducing carbon emissions. It was on
( )	echoed this sentiment, saying: "This historic ruling will have far reaching consequences in the Netherlands, Europe and the
( )	The judges' ruling came after 900 Dutch citizens took legal action against the Dutch government to get it to comply
( )	by 2020. Three judges said the decision was, "to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at
( )	shot to governments around the world."
( 1 )	A court in Holland has ordered the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least a quarter
( )	least 25 per cent lower than those in 1990." Environmentalists hope others around the world will follow Holland's
( )	lead in a global drive to reduce emissions. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch member of the European Parliament,

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	a Cut emissions least gas at quarter greenhouse by .
2.	be year Emissions % at 2020 in lower least will the 25 .
3.	world hope will others follow around the Environmentalists .
4.	have This far historic reaching ruling consequences will .
5.	to shot warning judicial first The governments .
6.	government action against Citizens the took Dutch legal .
7.	behind far was Holland countries other many .
8.	was decided Dutch unacceptable this court The .
9.	coal close to plans existing Accelerate plants .
10.	the Cut ground the of out takes it gas of amount .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

A court in Holland has ordered / ordering the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least / last a quarter by 2020. Three judges said the deciding / decision was, "to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower than them / those in 1990." Environmentalists hope others around the world will following / follow Holland's lead in a global drive / ride to reduce emissions. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch membership / member of the European Parliament, echoed this sentiment, saying: "This historic / history ruling will have far / for reaching consequences in the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world." Bill Hare of Climate Analytics agreed. He said: "This could be the first judicial warring / warning shot to governments around the world."

The judges' ruling / ruled came after 900 Dutch citizens took legal action against the Dutch government to get it to comfy / comply with international regulations. Holland was far behind many other countries in reduction / reducing carbon emissions. It was on / in target for a 14 to 17 per cent reduction as / by 2020. The Dutch court decided this was unacceptable for a country as developed and progressive was / as Holland. It also said that hitting a target of just 17 per cent would cause huge / hugely embarrassment for the Dutch. The Dutch government must now decelerate / accelerate existing plans to close coal plants, increase the use of windmills, solar energy and another / other renewables, and drastically / drastic cut the amount of gas it takes out of the ground.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

_ c__rt _n H_ll_nd h_s _rd_r_d th_ D_tch g_v_rnm_nt t_ c_t gr__nh__s_ g_s _m_ss__ns by _t l__st _ q__rt_r by 2020. Thr__ j_dg_s s__d th_ d_c_s__n w_s, "t_ _ns_r_ th_t th_ D_tch _m_ss__ns _n th_ y__r 2020 w_ll b_ _t l__st 25 p_r c_nt l_w_r th_n th_s_ _n 1990." _nv_r_nm_nt_l_sts h_p_ _th_rs _r__nd th_ w_rld w_ll f_ll_w H_ll_nd's l__d _n _ gl_b_l dr_v_ t_ r_d_c_ _m_ss__ns. G_rb_n-J_n G_rbr_ndy, _ D_tch m_mb_r _f th_ __r_p__n P_rl__m_nt, _ch__d th_s s_nt_m_nt, s_y_ng: "Th_s h_st_r_c r_l_ng w_ll h_v_ f_r r__ch_ng c_ns_q__nc_s _n th_ N_th_rl_nds, __r_p_ _nd th_ r_st _f th_ w_rld." B_ll H_r_ _f Cl_m_t_ _n_lyt_cs _gr__d. H_ s__d: "Th_s c__ld b_ th_ f_rst j_d_c__l w_rn_ng sh_t t_ g_v_rnm_nts _r__nd th_ w_rld."

Th_ j_dg_s' r_l_ng c_m_ _ft_r 900 D_tch c_t_z_ns t__k l_g_l _ct__n _g__nst th_ D_tch g_v_rnm_nt t_ g_t _t t_ c_mply w_th _nt_rn_t__n_l r_g_l_t__ns. H_ll_nd w_s f_r b_h_nd m_ny _th_r c__ntr__s _n r_d_c_ng c_rb_n _m_ss__ns. _t w_s _n t_rg_t f_r _ 14 t_ 17 p_r c_nt r_d_ct__n by 2020. Th_ D_tch c__rt d_c_d_d th_s w_s _n_cc_pt_bl_ f_r _ c__ntry _s d_v_l_p_d _nd pr_gr_ss_v_ _s H_ll_nd. _t _ls_ s__d th_t h_tt_ng _ t_rg_t _f j_st 17 p_r c_nt w__ld c__s_ h_g_ _mb_rr_ssm_nt f_r th_ D_tch. Th_ D_tch g_v_rnm_nt m_st n_w _cc_l_r_t_ _x_st_ng pl_ns t_ cl_s_ c__l pl_nts, _ncr__s_ th_ _s_ _f w_ndm_lls, s_l_r _n_rgy _nd _th_r r_n_w_bl_s, _nd dr_st_c_lly c_t th_ _m__nt _f g_s _t t_k_s __t _f th_ gr__nd.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

a court in holland has ordered the dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least a quarter by 2020 three judges said the decision was "to ensure that the dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower than those in 1990" environmentalists hope others around the world will follow holland's lead in a global drive to reduce emissions gerben-jan gerbrandy a dutch member of the european parliament echoed this sentiment saying "this historic ruling will have far reaching consequences in the netherlands europe and the rest of the world" bill hare of climate analytics agreed he said "this could be the first judicial warning shot to governments around the world"

the judges' ruling came after 900 dutch citizens took legal action against the dutch government to get it to comply with international regulations holland was far behind many other countries in reducing carbon emissions it was on target for a 14 to 17 per cent reduction by 2020 the dutch court decided this was unacceptable for a country as developed and progressive as holland it also said that hitting a target of just 17 per cent would cause huge embarrassment for the dutch the dutch government must now accelerate existing plans to close coal plants increase the use of windmills solar energy and other renewables and drastically cut the amount of gas it takes out of the ground

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

AcourtinHollandhasorderedtheDutchgovernmenttocutgreenhouseg
asemissionsbyatleastaquarterby2020.Threejudgessaidthedecision
was,"toensurethattheDutchemissionsintheyear2020willbeatleast2
5percentlowerthanthosein1990."Environmentalistshopeothersarou
ndtheworldwillfollowHolland'sleadinaglobaldrivetoreduceemissions
.Gerben-JanGerbrandy,aDutchmemberoftheEuropeanParliament,e
choedthissentiment,saying:"Thishistoricrulingwillhavefarreachingc
onsequencesintheNetherlands,Europeandtherestoftheworld."BillHa
reofClimateAnalyticsagreed.Hesaid:"Thiscouldbethefirstjudicialwar
ningshottogovernmentsaroundtheworld."Thejudges'rulingcameaft
er900DutchcitizenstooklegalactionagainsttheDutchgovernmenttog
etittocomplywithinternationalregulations.Hollandwasfarbehindman
yothercountriesinreducingcarbonemissions.Itwasontargetfora14to
17percentreductionby2020.TheDutchcourtdecidedthiswasunaccept
ableforacountryasdevelopedandprogressiveasHolland.Italsosaidth
athittingatargetofjust17percentwouldcausehugeembarrassmentfor
theDutch.TheDutchgovernmentmustnowaccelerateexistingplansto
closecoalplants,increasetheuseofwindmills,solarenergyandotherre
newables,anddrasticallycuttheamountofgasittakesoutoftheground.

FREE WRITING

Write about greenhouse gases for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

All fossil fuels should be phased out within a decade. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about greenhouse gases. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. RENEWABLES: Make a poster about sources of renewable energy. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. FOSSIL FUELS: Write a magazine article about phasing out the use of fossil fuels within a decade. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on climate change. Ask him/her three questions about greenhouse gases. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to cut them. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

T

c

F

d

F

e

T

f

F

g

T

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	ordered	a.	instructed
2	at least	b.	at the minimum
3.	sentiment	c.	point of view
4.	historic	d.	significant
5.	agreed	e.	concurred
6.	ruling	f.	decision
7.	comply	g.	obey
8.	progressive	h.	modern
9.	huge	i.	very big
10.	amount	j.	volume

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	A court
2.	2020
3.	Environmentalists
4.	Europe and the rest of the world
5.	Climate Analytics
6.	900
7.	14-17%
8.	Embarrassed
9.	Coal plants
10.	Gas

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

d

3.

a

4.

c

5.

b

6.

a

7.

c

8.

a

9.

a

10.

d

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Holland ordered to cut greenhouse gases (27th June, 2015)

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