Recurso 20: What have we done?

1. Watch the video “Leonardo DiCaprio’s moving speech on climate change” and fill in
the gaps

a) Everyone knew it had to end but no one had the political will to stop it.

b) As a UN Messenger of Peace, I have travelled all over the world for the last two years
documenting how this crisis is changing the natural balance of our planet.

c) I have seen cities like Beijing choked by industrial pollution.

d) Ancient Boreal forests in Canada that have been clear cut and rainforests in Indonesia
that have been incinerated.

e) In India, I met farmers whose crops have been literally wash away by historic
flooding.

f) In America, I have witnessed unprecedented droughts in California and sea level rise
flooding the streets of Miami.

g) All that I have seen and learned on my journey has absolutely terrified me.

h) It has become a runaway freight train bringing with it an impending disaster for all
living things.

i) We had the means of stopping this devastation, but simply lacked the political will to
do so.

2. What are the verb tenses that have been used to complete the gaps?
a) present perfect and past simple
b) present simple and present perfect
c) present perfect and past continuous

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 3. Complete the following sentences using the present perfect.

a) The level of the sea has increased (increase) in the last few years.
b) We have talked (talk) about the environment in our English class this week.
c) That factory has polluted (pollute) the river.
d) I have recycled (recycle) all my bottles and cans this week.
e) The council has thought (think) of five ways to encourage people to recycle.
f) We have destroyed (destroy) our environment. We are not thinking about the future
at all.
g) The air has got (get) worse and worse in the last twenty years.
h) Some people have never taken (never take) anything to be recycled.
i) The government has decided (decide) on ways to encourage people to recycle

4. Complete the following text using Past Simple or Present Perfect:

Mankind was given a marvelous and beautiful planet, and look what we have done (1. do) to
it! With the exception of indigenous peoples who have treated (2. treat) nature with care
and respect, much of mankind has shown (show)nothing but disregard for nature but has
exploited (3. exploit) it for wealth with little concern for the consequences.
There have been five major extinctions in the earth’s past. The most recent occurred (4.
occur) 66 million years ago, when an asteroid impact extinguished (5. extinguish) 75 percent
of life on earth, including the dinosaurs. We are now experiencing a sixth extinction, almost
totally caused (6. cause) by human activities such as destruction and invasion of habitats,
worldwide deforestation, water and air pollution, and global warming.
text adapted from: https://www.postindependent.com/opinion/columns/what-have-we-done-to-our-planet/

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