The cleanest country in the world

1. Use some of the words and phrases below to say how you feel about
cleaning. Give reasons for your answers.
• calming • not my problem • rewarding
• a necessary evil • repetitive • a waste of time

2. Complete the gaps with the words in the box.

bin clean cleanliness clean-ups litter mess

a) People organize neighbourhood ………….. and volunteer to clean their areas.

b) If there is no ………….. in the street, everyone takes their rubbish home.
People don’t drop ………….. .
c) Tourists are surprised that public spaces are always kept ………….. and tidy.
d) People feel responsible for their own ………….. .
e) The very high standards of ………….. are part of the culture.

3. Look at the statements about Japan in ex. 2 and compare them with your
country.

4. Discuss whether you do or would do the things below or not. Explain why.
• accept an office job, part of which is regularly cleaning the workspace
• volunteer for a beach or forest clean-up
• send your children to a school where they need to clean up after themselves
• ask someone to pick up the litter they dropped
• invite friends over to your place when it is messy and you don’t have time to
clean
• hire cleaning staff so that you don’t have to clean something yourself

5. Discuss the questions.

• What should a person do if they live with someone with different standards of
cleanliness?
• Is it possible to keep a house clean and tidy when there are children in it?
Why/Why not?
• Can mess be a positive thing? Why/Why not?
• Are cleaning staff paid fairly in your country? Why/Why not?

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