‘A role model’: how Seville is turning leftover oranges into electricity

Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes

Article summary: The article describes how Key:

waste oranges could be used to generate 1. blossom
electricity. 2. deposited
3. hazard
Time: 60 minutes 4. methane
5. ferments
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing 6. purification
7. fructose
Language focus: Vocabulary 8. waste
9. surplus
Materials needed: One copy of the 10. landfill
worksheet per student
11. fertilizer
12. sustainability
13. squash
1. Warmer 14. resistant
15. grove
There is no correct answer to this activity as the order
will depend on each student’s individual ideas about 3. Comprehension check
which methods of generating power are better for the
environment and which cause more environmental The answers given are only suggested answers
damage. However, energy production that is based on and students may correctly answer the questions in
fossil fuels (e.g. coal and oil) is generally considered different ways.
worse for the environment. Check that students
understand the meaning of hydroelectric power (where Key:
water power is used to generate electricity, usually after 1. They are a hazard for pedestrians and a problem for
building a large dam). Make sure that students give Seville’s cleaning department.
reasons for their choice. You could also ask students to 2. methane
think of at least one advantage and one disadvantage of 3. 35 tonnes
each method before they put them in order. 4. €250,000
5. to run one of the water purification plants
2. Key words 6. to put surplus electricity back into the grid
7. 73,000
Ask students to do the exercise individually and 8. almost 40 per cent
then compare their answers in pairs or small groups. 9. Asia
Encourage students to use some of this vocabulary 10. around 1,000 years ago
actively by asking them questions such as ‘What are
the advantages and disadvantages of using fertilizer 4. Using key language
on agricultural land?’, ‘What might happen if bacteria
become resistant to antibiotics?’ and ‘What kind Students could be asked to do this exercise individually
of hazards do people encounter in their everyday and then compare their answers in pairs. Note that both
lives?’ Point out that orange grove, lemon grove and, electricity and energy could collocate with generate but
particularly, olive grove are the most common uses of energy is needed later with consume. Point out that
the word ‘grove’. In the text, trees deposit oranges on launch can also be used with other nouns in the sense
the streets. You could also mention that you can deposit of starting something, e.g. a project, a programme, a
money in a bank. Note that the text describes ‘a different new product, a campaign. If a plant takes root, it begins
kind of juice’. The word juice here is a slang term for fuel to grow somewhere, but ideas, beliefs and systems can
or electrical power. also take root, in the sense that they become established
and accepted.
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 ‘A role model’: how Seville is turning leftover oranges into electricity
Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes

Key:
1. c
2. e
3. f
4. a
5. d
6. b

5. Discussion

Allow students time to note down their ideas about each

statement and encourage them to say why they agree or
disagree with each one.

6. In your own words

Students should search on the internet using the phrase

“new ways of generating electricity”. Ask students to
choose four or more different ways and write a short
report comparing their potential. They should also
highlight the one they think is the most interesting
or which has the most potential. Encourage them, if
possible, to include statistics in their report. This activity
is probably best done as a homework task.

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Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.

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Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS

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