Real Exam English Episode 8 – The

Environment

Use Of English Exercises (answers at the end):

1. Choose the correct word to complete the sentence:

A. I recorded a BBC documentary to watch, which is Primates, it’s a three-part series, it’s
having a ____ at primates.

(a) view (b) sight (c) glance (d) look

2. What is the missing word?

(a) I think individuals can have a number of different impacts with regards ____ the

environment.

3. Word Formation – Form a word to fit the gap, using the word in brackets.

I understand that it’s a wonderful documentary from the point of view of photography, but it’s
a little bit ______ from the point of view of narrative. (WEIGH)

4. Sentence Transformation – Transform the sentence using 3-6 words, using the word in
brackets.

In addition to lowering your electricity bill, you are helping the environment by using less
energy.

(REDUCING)

Not _______________ your electricity bills but you are also helping the environment by using
less energy.
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Real Exam English, my name is Trevor and today we’re talking about the
environment.

This is a topic that is really rich in vocabulary, you´ve some classic vocab like Global warming,
climate change, greenhouse gases, deforestation, there’s loads and loads of big, impressive
words you can use so it´s essential that you get yourself a good list of vocabulary you can use.
IT´s also a subject that comes up very frequently in exams and I reckon every single English
textbook has a chapter on the environment so it´s pretty easy and really important to have lots
of practice speaking, reading and writing about it.

In today´s episode we have some inversions, which is something you are expected to know at
c1 level and above, and something you really should try to get into more or less all of your
writings.

Today we have speakers from the UK, the United States and Ireland so you have a nice variety
of accents to practice listening to.

Try to listen two times if you can as it will be a lot easier the second time around. As usual you

Trevor: Do you think it would be a good idea to reward people for the amount of rubbish they
recycle?

Keith(USA): I grew up in a different place and where I grew up you could get a …..you would
pay a deposit on certain items, like I guess it would be included in the price when you paid for
it and when you recycle it you get the refund. So, like for aluminium cans, glass bottles, things
like that, you’d get the money back for it. I mean when I was in college, I would pick up all the
recycling from our apartment, y’know cause my roommates were lazy and with all the money I
made from that I’d buy myself beer. So yes, I think that would be good if you get rewarded.
That would be nice.

Ok, we have a couple of phrasal verbs here. The first one is to grow up, this is
used for talking about the things that happened while you were a child , for example I grew up
in the countryside in Ireland. And We had pick up which means to lift something from a
surface, for instance please pick up your pens and begin writing.

You may have noticed this speaker is from the USA, he said aluminium cans, which is
pronounced its aluminium cans in the UK, which is quite different. In most English tests
examiners don´t mind if you use American English or British English but you should be
consistent, you shouldn’t change between the two of them.

Trevor: Are young people in your country taught to save energy or protect their local
environment?

Paul(UK): I don’t know if they are taught in any specific sense, I suppose they are and I would
say that young people in general in this country, or in any country, at least in the Western
world, are aware of these things, so I guess they must have been taught it some time.
However, I wouldn´t say they are specifically taught those kinds of things, there’s probably a
more wholistic approach to it. I wouldn´t really know what goes on in schools or from the point
of view of parenting but I would suppose that there is some teaching involved in school. I
suppose at a primary school level.

Trevor: If you were asked to give a talk to young children what subject would you choose?

Paul: On the environment?

Trevor: Just in general.

Paul: Well, seeing as though we were talking about the environment just there, if I was to talk
about anything to do with environment probably something to do with conservation, and
habitat, extinction of species. I think this is…. it’s personally important to me and it´s
something of great importance in the world today so probably something along those lines.

Trevor: Have you seen a television program about the natural world lately?

Paul: Lately, no, I recorded one on the iplayer to watch, which is Primates, it’s a BBC
documentary, three-part series, it’s having a look at primates. I understand that it’s a
wonderful documentary from the point of view of photography, the techniques the use to
capture some of the images are tremendous but it´s a little bit lightweight from the point of
view of narrative, from what I understand. But that´s the only one, since I´ve been here I haven
´t actually watched any nature documentary, but that´s one I have earmarked for the future.

Ok, so we had some super environment vocabulary here like conservation, habitat and the
extinction of species, And we also heard a couple of different ways to say how good something
is, we had wonderful and we had tremendous. As mentioned in previous episodes its
absolutely essential to have a variety of ways to say how good, or how bad something is.

Just one more expression to point out here and that is to have something earmarked for the
future. This basically means that you plan to use something at a later point in the future. So in
the example the speaker has a TV series earmarked to watch later or for example a company
could earmark some of its annual budget to spend on buying new computers.

Trevor: So, the next speaker is from London and speaks with what is known as RP, or received
pronunciation and is the English accent you would hear on the BBC. Interestingly, it is said that
only 2% of the British population speak with RP but it is a nice clear accent so hopefully you
can understand everything. That said, the audio isn´t great so if you can´t understand
everything then request the transcript over on Facebook or Instagram. The answer is quite
long but it is so packed full of such wonderful vocabulary and expressions I think it´s worth
listening to it all. OK, here we go.

Trevor: What impact can individuals have concerning environmental issues?

Ofordi(UK): I think individuals can have a number of different impacts with regards to the
environment. It really depends on how active people are, but I think there are a number of
changes we can make in terms of what we buy, what we do in terms of how far we travel,
what kind of travelling we do, y´know whether we use hybrid cars, electric cars, bicycles or
whether we get on an airplane regularly or not. You can also have an effect on the
environment if you choose to carbon offset. And I think within the home there´s a lot we can
do in terms of not just recycling but swapping out the lightbulbs for LED because that uses far
less energy. Not only are you reducing your electricity bills, but you are also helping the
environment by using less energy. Similarly, there are things we can do in cold countries like
cavity insulation, or wall insulation to stop heat escaping in colder climates. We can be more
ethical in terms of what we buy, if you look at the life cycle of a product from extraction to the
disposal of it at the end of its life. You can look, how many airmiles has this piece of tech I´ve
decided to buy. How much carbon has been used to make it. Is there an environmentally
cheaper version that is cheaper and can I buy that. So there´s a whole host of things people
can do.

Wow, what an amazing answer. The speaker got lots of vocabulary in there, particularly about
the environment. So, what did we hear? WE heard hybrid cars, electric cars, carbon offsetting,
recycling, loft insulation, airmiles, a whole host of things.

We also had an inversion here. Not only are you reducing your electricity bills, but you are also
helping the environment. So, inversions are used for emphasis and are a fancier or more
formal way to express something. So, in an inversion the standard subject verb order is
reversed or inverted, so for instance in a standard sentence you would say I can play guitar and
the piano. Inverting the sentence you would say Not only can I play guitar but also the piano.
So we inverted the subject I and the modal verb can. So, if you´re preparing for a C1 or C2
exam then you really need to know this so make sure to check it out in your textbook or
grammar book. At a B2 level it´s not really expected but if you are able to use it in an exam you
will impress the examiners, for sure.

Trevor: Some people say it won´t be possible to reverse any environmental damage done so
far. What´s your view?

Emma(Ireland): I can see how that might be plausible. I don´t know whether it will be. I think
for the people possibily, well I think for myself I would be very environmentally-aware, eco-
conscious, I recycle properly, but I think the large majority of people in the world, y´know in
developing countries, in a lot of the Western nations aswell don´t have an awareness and
there is a consumerism-driven need to use up all our resources that….and people don´t
necessarily equate the resources they use with damaging the environment. They just do it
mindlessly so I wouldn´t be optimistic that we can reverse the changes.

Trevor: Charities raise a lot of money for the environment. How helpful do you think this
fundraising is?

Emma: It depends what they use it for, I think lobbying is an important tool on governments.
Using that money to do smaller-scale, localized work I think possibly doesn´t help that much. I
think most of what we need to do with changing the environment is governmental and
lobbying and speaking with our feet are the only things we can do.

Ok, that´s all the questions for today. Remember to do plenty of practice writing and speaking
about the environment because it’s a very common subject, so make sure you have 8 or 10 or
12 nice pieces of vocabulary you can use. And it´s also a good idea to keep up to date with
environmental issues by following them in the news. Also, practice using compound nouns and
compound adjectives and if you are at a C1 level or above make sure to study your inversions.

Okay then, that´s it for today. I would be really grateful if you could like and subscribe to the
podcast and make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for any updates and new use
of English exercises.

Ok, all the best, Trevor

Fancy Language
Inversions: Not only can I walk, I can also talk.

Key environment vocab: greenhouse gases, global warming, deforestation, climate change,
conservation, habitat, extinction of species, carbon footprint, airmiles

Phrasal Verbs: pick up, grow up

Use of English Answers:

1. A (d)

2. to

3. lightweight

4. only are you reducing