The Reading / Listening - Green Shipping - Level 3

Most people associate the company Michelin with car tyres, guide books and stars for quality restaurants. However, the French tyre maker is now helping ships to be more environmentally friendly. The company has tested giant sails that it hopes will make shipping greener. Shipping currently produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers, container ships and giant cruise ships rely on fossil fuels to move around the world's oceans. Experts say the industry produces around 940 million tons of CO2 annually, and that it is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gasses. Michelin's engineers say their revolutionary new sails could reduce the amount of CO2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent.

Michelin is using the ancient technology of sails to tackle the most urgent problem facing the world today – climate change. Boats have used sails for 5,000 years to cross oceans or travel along rivers. The new Michelin sails are different. They are inflatable. This means a ship's crew can fill the sails with air to inflate them to full size. The sails can be deflated quickly if a ship needs to sail under a low bridge. The sails Michelin tested are 280 square metres in size. The company hopes to start manufacturing and selling them in 2022. A company spokesperson said: "Our aim is to contribute to the de-carbonization of maritime transport." He added that the good thing about wind is that it is a free fuel.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Green Shipping - Level 0,  Green Shipping - Level 1   or  Green Shipping - Level 2

Sources
  • https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/cargo-ships-sails-michelin-spc-intl/index.html
  • https://robbreport.com/motors/marine/michelin-nifty-new-inflatable-sail-aims-decarbonize-large-vessels-1234619071/
  • https://www.slashgear.com/michelin-wing-sail-mobility-project-makes-massive-cargo-ships-more-efficient-10677143/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. SHIPPING: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about shipping. 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?
       people / company / tyres / stars / sails / oil tankers / experts / greenhouse gas / ship
       technology / problem / ocean / crew / bridge / company / manufacturing / transport
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SAILING CARS: Students A strongly believe cars should have sails; Students B strongly believe that's a silly idea. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. GREENER: How can these things be made greener? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

How It Can Be Greener

Will This Happen?

Trains

 

 

Shopping malls

 

 

Libraries

 

 

Airplanes

 

 

Computers

 

 

Houses

 

 
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. GREEN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "green". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. GREEN INDUSTRIES: Rank these with your partner. Put the greenest industries at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Teaching
  • Tourism
  • Farming
  • Wind farms
  • Fishing
  • Forestry
  • Nuclear power
  • Cars

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. associate a. Make lower or smaller in number or size.
      2. quality b. At the present time.
      3. currently c. A source of power like coal, oil and gas.
      4. rely d. Link someone or something with something else in your mind.
      5. fossil fuel e. Every year.
      6. annually f. How good or bad something is.
      7. reduce g. Depend / Totally need something to keep going.

    Paragraph 2

      8. ancient h. Changes in weather patterns around the world.
      9. tackle i. Can be filled with air to make it bigger.
      10. urgent j. Give something (e.g. money or time) to help do or provide something.
      11. climate change k. Make a big effort to make a problem smaller or make it go away.
      12. inflatable l. Let the air out of something.
      13. deflated m. Needing emergency action now.
      14. contribute n. Very, very, very old.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. Michelin makes tyres and operates restaurants.     T / F
  2. Michelin is making green, blue and red sails for ships.     T / F
  3. The shipping industry causes around 2.5% of greenhouse gasses.     T / F
  4. Michelin's sails could cut CO2 from shipping by 20%.     T / F
  5. The article says sails are ancient technology.     T / F
  6. Boats have been using sails for 15,000 years.     T / F
  7. The new sails cannot go under bridges.     T / F
  8. A Michelin spokesperson said wind power is not free.     T / F

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

  1. associate
  2. helping
  3. experts
  4. annually
  5. reduce
  6. ancient
  7. crew
  8. manufacturing
  9. spokesperson
  10. fuel
  1. specialists
  2. making
  3. cut
  4. sailors
  5. assisting
  6. power source
  7. link
  8. representative
  9. yearly
  10. very, very old

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

  1. car
  2. be more environmentally
  3. oil
  4. fossil
  5. reduce the amount of CO2
  6. tackle the most urgent problem
  7. cross
  8. if a ship needs to sail under
  9. 280 square
  10. the good thing
  1. fuels
  2. produced
  3. metres in size
  4. facing the world today
  5. tankers
  6. a low bridge
  7. tyres
  8. about wind
  9. friendly
  10. oceans

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
quality
industry
engineers
tested
amount
associate
responsible
container

Most people (1) _____________________ the company Michelin with car tyres, guide books and stars for (2) _____________________ restaurants. However, the French tyre maker is now helping ships to be more environmentally friendly. The company has (3) _____________________ giant sails that it hopes will make shipping greener. Shipping currently produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers, (4) _____________________ ships and giant cruise ships rely on fossil fuels to move around the world's oceans. Experts say the (5) _____________________ produces around 940 million tons of CO2 annually, and that it is (6) _____________________ for about 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gasses. Michelin's (7) _____________________ say their revolutionary new sails could reduce the (8) _____________________ of CO2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
low
crew
free
size
tackle
quickly
oceans
contribute

Michelin is using the ancient technology of sails to (9) _____________________ the most urgent problem facing the world today - climate change. Boats have used sails for 5,000 years to cross (10) _____________________ or travel along rivers. The new Michelin sails are different. They are inflatable. This means a ship's (11) _____________________ can fill the sails with air to inflate them to full size. The sails can be deflated (12) _____________________ if a ship needs to sail under a (13) _____________________ bridge. The sails Michelin tested are 280 square metres in (14) _____________________. The company hopes to start manufacturing and selling them in 2022. A company spokesperson said: "Our aim is to (15) _____________________ to the de-carbonization of maritime transport." He added that the good thing about wind is that it is a (16) _____________________ fuel.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) car tyres, guide books and stars ______
     a.  for quality restaurant
     b.  for quality restaurants
     c.  for qualify restaurants
     d.  for qualify restaurant
2)  oil tankers, container ships and giant cruise ships rely ______
     a.  on fossil fuels
     b.  in fossil fuels
     c.  an fossil fuels
     d.  un-fossil fuels
3)  Experts say the industry produces around 940 million tons ______
     a.  off CO2 annually
     b.  of CO2 annually
     c.  oft CO2 annually
     d.  over CO2 annually
4)  it is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of the world's ______
     a.  greenhouse gas is
     b.  greenhouse gaseous
     c.  greenhouse gasses
     d.  greenhouse gas sis
5)  their revolutionary new sails could reduce the amount of CO2 produced by ______
     a.  the shipping industry
     b.  the shipping industrial
     c.  the shipping in dust tree
     d.  the shipping industrious

6)  Michelin is using the ancient technology of sails to tackle the ______
     a.  most urgently problem
     b.  most urge ant problem
     c.  most urgent problem
     d.  most urgency problem
7)  Boats have used sails for 5,000 years ______
     a.  to across oceans
     b.  to cross oceans
     c.  to crossing oceans
     d.  to crossed oceans
8)  This means a ship's crew can fill the sails with air ______
     a.  to infiltrate them
     b.  to conflate them
     c.  two in flute them
     d.  to inflate them
9)  The sails Michelin tested are 280 square ______
     a.  metre in size
     b.  metres in size
     c.  metres on size
     d.  metre sin size
10)  He added that the good thing about wind is that it is ______
     a.  a flea fuel
     b.  a freer fuel
     c.  a freed fuel
     d.  a free fuel

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Most (1) ____________________ company Michelin with car tyres, guide books and (2) ____________________ restaurants. However, the French tyre maker is now helping ships to be more environmentally friendly. The company (3) ____________________ sails that it hopes will make shipping greener. Shipping currently produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers, container ships and giant cruise ships (4) ____________________ fuels to move around the world's oceans. Experts say the industry produces around 940 million tons (5) ____________________, and that it is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gasses. Michelin's engineers say their revolutionary new sails could (6) ____________________ of CO2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent.

Michelin is using the ancient technology of sails (7) ____________________ most urgent problem facing the world today - climate change. Boats have used sails for 5,000 years (8) ____________________ or travel along rivers. The new Michelin sails are different. They are inflatable. This means a ship's crew can fill the sails with (9) ____________________ them to full size. The sails can be deflated quickly if a ship needs to sail under a low bridge. The sails Michelin tested are 280 square (10) ____________________. The company hopes to start manufacturing and selling them in 2022. A company spokesperson said: "(11) ____________________ to contribute to the de-carbonization of maritime transport." He added that the good thing about wind is that it is (12) ____________________.

Comprehension questions

  1. What does Michelin give to quality restaurants?
  2. What does the article say the shipping industry produces a lot of?
  3. What ships were mentioned besides cruise ships and container ships?
  4. How much global greenhouse gas is shipping responsible for?
  5. How much might Michelin's sails cut the amount of shipping CO2?
  6. What does the article say is the world's most urgent problem?
  7. For how long have boats used sails?
  8. Who will fill the Michelin sails with air?
  9. How large are the sails?
  10. What did a Michelin spokesperson say was a free fuel?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What does Michelin give to quality restaurants?
a) reviews
b) stars
c) free tyres
d) money
2) What does the article say the shipping industry produces a lot of?
a) waves
b) jobs
c) smoke
d) CO2
3) What ships were mentioned besides cruise ships and container ships?
a) tug boats
b) space ships
c) oil tankers
d) warships
4) How much global greenhouse gas is shipping responsible for?
a) 2.5%
b) 3.5%
c) 4.5%
d) 5.5%
5) How much might Michelin's sails cut the amount of shipping CO2?
a) 30%
b) 20%
c) 10%
d) 12%

6) What does the article say is the world's most urgent problem?
a) climate change
b) poverty
c) food
d) war
7) For how long have boats used sails?
a) 15,000 years
b) 10,000 years
c) 5,000 years
d) 20,000 years
8) Who will fill the Michelin sails with air?
a) the ship's crew
b) the Michelin boss
c) no one
d) a special team
9) How large are the sails?
a) 820 square metres
b) 80 square metres
c) 20 square metres
d) 280 square metres
10) What did a Michelin spokesperson say was a free fuel?
a) love
b) air
c) wind
d) water

Role play

Role  A – Fishing
You think fishing is the greenest industry. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their industries are not so green. Also, tell the others which is the dirtiest of these (and why): tourism, forestry or nuclear power.

Role  B – Tourism
You think tourism is the greenest industry. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their industries are not so green. Also, tell the others which is the dirtiest of these (and why): fishing, forestry or nuclear power.

Role  C – Forestry
You think forestry is the greenest industry. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their industries are not so green. Also, tell the others which is the dirtiest of these (and why): tourism, fishing or nuclear power.

Role  D – Nuclear Power
You think nuclear power is the greenest industry. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their industries are not so green. Also, tell the others which is the dirtiest of these (and why): tourism, forestry or fishing.

After reading / listening

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

'green'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'ship'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • tour
    • helping
    • rely
    • lot
    • 940
    • could
    • ancient
    • 5,000
    • crew
    • 280
    • 2022
    • free

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Green Shipping

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'ship'?
    3. What do you know about the company Michelin?
    4. How important is shipping?
    5. How can we make ships more environmentally friendly?
    6. What do you think of oil tankers having sails?
    7. What are the good and bad things about sails?
    8. Does the world need so many luxury cruise ships?
    9. How worried are you about CO2?
    10. What other things could use sails?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'green'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think of travel guides?
    5. What do you think of boats with sails?
    6. Are there other ancient technologies we could use today?
    7. What do you think of inflatable sails?
    8. Do you think the sails will be successful?
    9. What do you think of wind energy?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the engineers at Michelin?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Most people (1) ____ the company Michelin with car tyres, guide books and stars for quality restaurants. However, the French tyre (2) ____ is now helping ships to be more environmentally friendly. The company has tested giant sails (3) ____ it hopes will make shipping greener. Shipping currently produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers, container ships and giant cruise ships (4) ____ on fossil fuels to move around the world's oceans. Experts say the industry produces around 940 million tons of CO2 annually, and that it is responsible (5) ____ about 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gasses. Michelin's engineers say their revolutionary new sails could (6) ____ the amount of CO2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent.

    Michelin is using the ancient technology of sails to (7) ____ the most urgent problem facing the world today - climate change. Boats have used sails for 5,000 years to (8) ____ oceans or travel along rivers. The new Michelin sails are different. They are inflatable. This means a ship's (9) ____ can fill the sails with air to inflate them to full size. The sails can be deflated quickly if a ship needs to sail under a low bridge. The sails Michelin tested are 280 square metres (10) ____ size. The company hopes to start manufacturing and selling them in 2022. A company spokesperson said: "Our aim is to (11) ____ to the de-carbonization of maritime transport." He added that the good thing about wind is that it is a (12) ____ fuel.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     mingle     (b)     knowledge     (c)     associate     (d)     rubber    
    2. (a)     maker     (b)     baker     (c)     taker     (d)     faker    
    3. (a)     that     (b)     what     (c)     such     (d)     so    
    4. (a)     rely     (b)     delay     (c)     relay     (d)     ply    
    5. (a)     at     (b)     as     (c)     by     (d)     for    
    6. (a)     deuce     (b)     deduce     (c)     induce     (d)     reduce    
    7. (a)     tackle     (b)     foul     (c)     deal     (d)     hack    
    8. (a)     steam     (b)     row     (c)     zoom     (d)     cross    
    9. (a)     crew     (b)     clue     (c)     crow     (d)     claw    
    10. (a)     on     (b)     in     (c)     at     (d)     by    
    11. (a)     view     (b)     contribute     (c)     advice     (d)     matter    
    12. (a)     free     (b)     freely     (c)     freeze     (d)     freedom

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. stars for itlyqau restaurants
    2. carbon dodxiie
    3. oilsfs fuels
    4. peessnribol for about 2.5 per cent
    5. their uelnryvoitaor new sails
    6. CO2 produced by the shipping yursdnit

    Paragraph 2

    1. nacniet technology
    2. cross canseo or travel along rivers
    3. fill the sails with air to nlftaie them
    4. nfgiauntmucra and selling them
    5. Our aim is to ctiterbnou
    6. the de-carbonization of maritime orsarntpt

    Put the text back together

    (...)  manufacturing and selling them in 2022. A company spokesperson said: "Our aim is to
    (...)  gasses. Michelin's engineers say their revolutionary new sails could reduce the amount of CO2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent.
    (...)  Michelin is using the ancient technology of sails to tackle the most urgent problem facing the world
    (...)  produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers, container ships and giant cruise ships rely
    (...)  contribute to the de-carbonization of maritime transport." He added that the good thing about wind is that it is a free fuel.
    (...)  restaurants. However, the French tyre maker is now helping ships to be more environmentally
    (...)  friendly. The company has tested giant sails that it hopes will make shipping greener. Shipping currently
    (...)  tons of CO2 annually, and that it is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse
    (...)  low bridge. The sails Michelin tested are 280 square metres in size. The company hopes to start
    (...)  today - climate change. Boats have used sails for 5,000 years to cross oceans or travel along
    (...)  on fossil fuels to move around the world's oceans. Experts say the industry produces around 940 million
    (...)  rivers. The new Michelin sails are different. They are inflatable. This means a ship's crew can fill the sails with
    (...)  air to inflate them to full size. The sails can be deflated quickly if a ship needs to sail under a
    (...) Most people associate the company Michelin with car tyres, guide books and stars for quality

    Put the words in the right order

    1. associate   tyres   .   People   Michelin   with   the   car   company
    2. ships   more   be   to   environmentally   friendly   .   Helping
    3. dioxide   .   lot   produces   a   currently   Shipping   carbon   of
    4. around   940   say   produces   million   industry   Experts   tons   .   the
    5. of   Sails   CO2   could   the   reduce   produced   .   amount
    6. using   sails   .   ancient   of   technology   is   Michelin   the
    7. the   problem   most   the   Tackle   world   .   facing   urgent
    8. crew   can   sails   fill   ship's   air   .   with   A
    9. 2022   .   selling   Michelin   start   hopes   them   in   to
    10. aim   to   the   is   contribute   to   Our   de-carbonization   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Most people associates / associate the company Michelin with car tyres, guide books and stars for quality / qualify restaurants. However, the French tyre maker is now helping ships to be more environmentally friendly. The company has tested / testing giant sails that it hopes will make shipping greener. Shipping currently / currency produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers, container ships and giant cruised / cruise ships rely on fossil fuels / fuelling to move around the world's ocean / oceans. Experts say the industry produces around 940 million tons of CO2 annually, and that / what it is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas / gasses. Michelin's engineers say their revolutionary newly / new sails could reduce the amount of CO2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent.

    Michelin is using the ancient technology of / to sails to tackle the most urgent problem facing / fading the world today - climate change. Boats have used / using sails for 5,000 years to cross oceans or travel under / along rivers. The new Michelin sails are difference / different. They are inflatable. This means a ship's crew can fill the sails with air to inflate / inflation them to full size. The sails can be deflated quickly / quick if a ship needs to sail under a low bridge. The sails Michelin tested are 280 square metres in size. The company hoping / hopes to start manufacturing and selling them in 2022. A company spokesperson said: "Our arm / aim is to contribute to the de-carbonization of maritime transport." He added that the good thing about wind is that it is a free / freely fuel.

    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)

    M_st  p__pl_  _ss_c__t_  th_  c_mp_ny  M_ch_l_n  w_th  c_r  tyr_s, g__d_  b__ks  _nd  st_rs  f_r  q__l_ty  r_st__r_nts.  H_w_v_r,  th_  Fr_nch  tyr_  m_k_r  _s  n_w  h_lp_ng  sh_ps  t_  b_  m_r_  _nv_r_nm_nt_lly  fr__ndly.  Th_  c_mp_ny  h_s  t_st_d  g__nt  s__ls  th_t  _t  h_p_s  w_ll  m_k_  sh_pp_ng  gr__n_r.  Sh_pp_ng  c_rr_ntly  pr_d_c_s  _  l_t  _f  c_rb_n  d__x_d_  _s  __l  t_nk_rs,  c_nt__n_r  sh_ps  _nd  g__nt  cr__s_  sh_ps  r_ly  _n  f_ss_l  f__ls  t_  m_v_  _r__nd  th_  w_rld's  _c__ns.  _xp_rts  s_y  th_  _nd_stry  pr_d_c_s  _r__nd  940  m_ll__n  t_ns  _f  C_2  _nn__lly,  _nd  th_t  _t  _s  r_sp_ns_bl_  f_r  _b__t  2.5  p_r  c_nt  _f  th_  w_rld's  gr__nh__s_  g_ss_s.  M_ch_l_n's  _ng_n__rs  s_y  th__r  r_v_l_t__n_ry  n_w  s__ls  c__ld  r_d_c_  th_  _m__nt  _f  C_2  pr_d_c_d  by  th_  sh_pp_ng  _nd_stry  by  20  p_r  c_nt.

    M_ch_l_n  _s  _s_ng  th_  _nc__nt  t_chn_l_gy  _f  s__ls  t_  t_ckl_  th_  m_st  _rg_nt  pr_bl_m  f_c_ng  th_  w_rld  t_d_y  -  cl_m_t_  ch_ng_.  B__ts  h_v_  _s_d  s__ls  f_r  5,000  y__rs  t_  cr_ss  _c__ns  _r  tr_v_l  _l_ng  r_v_rs.  Th_  n_w  M_ch_l_n  s__ls  _r_  d_ff_r_nt.  Th_y  _r_  _nfl_t_bl_.  Th_s  m__ns  _  sh_p's  cr_w  c_n  f_ll  th_  s__ls  w_th  __r  t_  _nfl_t_  th_m  t_  f_ll  s_z_.  Th_  s__ls  c_n  b_  d_fl_t_d  q__ckly  _f  _  sh_p  n__ds  t_  s__l  _nd_r  _  l_w  br_dg_.  Th_  s__ls  M_ch_l_n  t_st_d  _r_  280  sq__r_  m_tr_s  _n  s_z_.  Th_  c_mp_ny  h_p_s  t_  st_rt  m_n_f_ct_r_ng  _nd  s_ll_ng  th_m  _n  2022.  _  c_mp_ny  sp_k_sp_rs_n  s__d:  "__r  __m  _s  t_  c_ntr_b_t_  t_  th_  d_-c_rb_n_z_t__n  _f  m_r_t_m_  tr_nsp_rt."  H_  _dd_d  th_t  th_  g__d  th_ng  _b__t  w_nd  _s  th_t  _t  _s  _  fr__  f__l.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    most people associate the company michelin with car tyres guide books and stars for quality restaurants however the french tyre maker is now helping ships to be more environmentally friendly the company has tested giant sails that it hopes will make shipping greener shipping currently produces a lot of carbon dioxide as oil tankers container ships and giant cruise ships rely on fossil fuels to move around the worlds oceans experts say the industry produces around 940 million tons of co2 annually and that it is responsible for about 25 per cent of the worlds greenhouse gasses michelins engineers say their revolutionary new sails could reduce the amount of co2 produced by the shipping industry by 20 per cent

    michelin is using the ancient technology of sails to tackle the most urgent problem facing the world today  climate change boats have used sails for 5000 years to cross oceans or travel along rivers the new michelin sails are different they are inflatable this means a ships crew can fill the sails with air to inflate them to full size the sails can be deflated quickly if a ship needs to sail under a low bridge the sails michelin tested are 280 square metres in size the company hopes to start manufacturing and selling them in 2022 a company spokesperson said our aim is to contribute to the decarbonization of maritime transport he added that the good thing about wind is that it is a free fuel

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    MostpeopleassociatethecompanyMichelinwithcartyres,tourguidesa
    ndstarsforqualityrestaurants.However,theFrenchtyremakerisnowh
    elpingshipstobemoreenvironmentallyfriendly.Thecompanyhasteste
    dgiantsailsthatithopeswillmakeshippinggreener.Shippingcurrentlyp
    roducesalotofcarbondioxideasoiltankers,containershipsandgiantcru
    iseshipsrelyonfossilfuelstomovearoundtheworld'soceans.Expertssa
    ytheindustryproducesaround940milliontonsofCO2annually,andthat
    itisresponsibleforabout2.5percentoftheworld'sgreenhousegasses.M
    ichelin'sengineerssaytheirrevolutionarynewsailscouldreducetheam
    ountofCO2producedbytheshippingindustryby20percent.Michelinisu
    singtheancienttechnologyofsailstotacklethemosturgentproblemfaci
    ngtheworldtoday-climatechange.Boatshaveusedsailsfor5,000year
    stocrossoceansortravelalongrivers.ThenewMichelinsailsaredifferen
    t.Theyareinflatable.Thismeansaship'screwcanfillthesailswithairtoinf
    latethemtofullsize.Thesailscanbedeflatedquicklyifashipneedstosailu
    nderalowbridge.ThesailsMichelintestedare280squaremetresinsize.
    Thecompanyhopestostartmanufacturingandsellingthemin2022.Aco
    mpanyspokespersonsaid:"Ouraimistocontributetothede-carboniza
    tionofmaritimetransport."Headdedthatthegoodthingaboutwindisth
    atitisafreefuel.

    Free writing

    Write about green shipping for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    All ships should have sails to make them greener. Discuss.

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    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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. SHIPPING: Make a poster about shipping. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. SAILS: Write a magazine article about requiring all ships to have sails. 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 shipping. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to make shipping greener. 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

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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