Vocabulary, Reading and Writing 1. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of becoming vegetarian?

Think about health, animal welfare, and the environment 2. Read the article. How many of the points you thought of does it mention? Is it time to give up meat? I care about climate change, animal suffering and the condition of people in developing countries. So six months ago I became a vegetarian or, as a friend puts it, I stopped eating anything with a face or a fin. It hasnt been easy, and Im in danger of lapsing, but Im glad I did it and I still believe in all the reasons that persuaded me to say no to meat and fish. The first and most obvious reason why I gave up meat was because Im against cruelty to animals. With the aim of maximising profits and minimising cost, animals are crammed into confined spaces, and they rarely see the light of day before being slaughtered. These animals are deprived of exercise, fed drugs to fatten them up and genetically altered to grow faster. As a result, conditions are ideal for the spread of diseases such as bird flu and foot-and-mouth. Secondly, I wanted to do my bit to fight global warming. The meat industry is one of the leading sources of the greenhouse gases that has led to global warming. In fact, a United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trains and planes in the world combined. In other words, theres no point in driving fuel-efficient cars and using energy-saving light bulbs if you eat meat every day of your life. Giving up meat also helps the global poor. 840 million people are still going hungry today, and yet there is more than enough food in the world to feed the entire human population. The problem is that crops that could be used to feed the hungry are instead being used to fatten animals raised for food. Finally, I became a vegetarian for health reasons. A diet high in meat and low in fresh fruit and vegetables leads to higher rates of heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. And I must admit, I have felt better since Ive shunned meat and fish. But my friends continue to treat me like an eccentric animal-lover with a fussy attitude to food. They worry about inviting me for dinner, and Im getting bored with soggy lasagne and goats cheese salad. What is more, one of the reasons that Im in danger of having to compromise my beliefs is that its almost impossible to find a restaurant that has a decent vegetarian menu. I still believe that being a vegetarian has many benefits. However, you dont need to give up meat altogether to make a difference. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off the US roads. On balance, I think that it is possible to eat organic meat and fish from animals that have lived a wild and free life, and retain the moral high-ground. Like so many things in life, its all about moderation. 3. Look at the underlined words and phrases. Try to guess the meaning from the context, and then complete the glossary below.
Glossary. a. cram (v): squeeze or pack tightly b. . (v): stop doing sth (failure) c. ...(v): avoid d. ..(v): miss/not eat e. .(v): kill f. . (n): plant grown for food g. (n): flat, think part of a fish h: (n): medical condition in which blood is blocked from reaching the brain i: .(adj): difficult to please j: (adj): unpleasantly soft and wet k. .. (phrase): do what you can to help l. .(phrase): be morally correct.

4. Use all the linkers in the table below to complete the summary of the article. Some linkers can go in more than one place. Organising ideas Adding more Connecting information contrasting ideas Furthermore However Even though Although Showing cause Concluding and effect So To sum up Consequently

The writer talks about becoming a vegetarian. He explains that the meat industry is focused on profits, and (1)_____ they dont care about animal welfare. Animals are kept in overcrowded conditions. (2)____, disease spreads quickly. He goes on to talk about the environment. He explains that vehicle emissions are among the biggest causes of greenhouse gases. (3)____, the meat industry is worse than all of them put together. He then explains that (4)____ there is enough food in the world to feed the entire world population, people are still starving because crops are being used to feed animals, not people. The writer claims that if you eliminate meat from your diet you are less prone to heart disease. (5)____, vegetarians are less likely to develop other illnesses such as cancer and diabetics. (6)_____ the writer feels better since he gave up meat, he admits that it can be a problem when eating out. (7)____, he recommends becoming a vegetarian, but says that even cutting down on meat and fish will be beneficial for the environment. 5. There are ten more linkers in bold in the article. Add each of them to an appropriate column in the table above. 6. Read this article about bottled water and underline the correct linker Whats so bad about bottled water? Production of bottled water has grown over the past thirty years from nothing into a $16 billion-per-year business. However/Furthermore, a backlash has begun, and environmentalists are urging people to go back to the tap. In other words/The first reason why you should seriously think about giving up bottled water, they say, is that its bad for the environment. The manufacturing of plastic bottles requires vast quantities of petroleum. As a result/Although factories create toxic waste and release it into the environment. What is more/so, the overwhelming majority of plastic water bottles arent recycled. In virtually every part of the world, discarded water bottles swell landfills and release hazardous toxins into air and water when they are burned in industrial incinerators. Even though/In other words, bottled water is a major contributor to global warming. Secondly/On balance, the distribution of bottled water is fuel-intensive. In the USA alone, one billion bottles of water are moved around each week in trucks, emitting polluting gases and wearing down the roads. In fact/However, some high-priced waters are shipped from one side of the planet to the other. Finally/To sum up, bottled water isnt even better for your health. Tap water regulations in many countries are far stricter than those for bottled water. Furthermore/So, tap water contains fluoride, which promotes strong teeth and prevents tooth decay. Consequently/But as bottled water consumption has increased, so has tooth decay. As a result/To sum up, by staying off bottled water, and encouraging others to do so, you will be doing the planet an enormous favour and benefiting your own health as well.