SUMMARY

PIECE 1:
The World Food Prize, established in 1986, is an annual international award recognizing
the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development in the field of
agriculture. In 2013, three people, working on the field of biotechnology, won the prize
with their invention of strains of plants improved to minimize crop loss due to pests,
diseases and other problems. Such achievement would help to dramatically reduce the
world’s population suffering from chronic hunger, given the current fast pace of
population growth.
PIECE 2:
An award of $2.3 billion in tax credits for clean energy manufacturing across 43 states of
the United States has been announced by President Barack Obama, aiming to create
thousands of jobs and pave the way for the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean
energy technologies including solar, wind efficiency and energy management
technologies. The award is expected to give the United States the ability to lead globally
in the market of renewable energy and clean technology manufacturing.

EXTRA PRACTICE WEEK 8

TASK 1. Listen to the report THREE times and answer the following questions
1. What is the underlying cause for the success of worldwide malaria eradication?
- An accelerated campaign against malaria, in which the US is a prominent
participant.
2. What is today’s goal in the fight against malaria?
- Removing malaria as a major public health problem in Africa, thus helping to
promote economic growth and development throughout the (African) region.
3. What is the purpose of the President Malaria Initiative?
- Reducing deaths from malaria by half in 15 African countries.
4. How has a great deal of progress been achieved over the past decade?
- 1.1 million lives have been saved from premature death.
- 15 million people have been protected against malaria with insecticide-treated nets
and indoor residual spray.
- 43 million life-saving drug treatments have been distributed in the global fight
against malaria.
- Devastating burden of malaria on child mortality has been reduced remarkably
while capacity to fight the disease has been established in many countries.
5. What still needs to be done in the fight against malaria?
 - Developing a vaccine and finding new tools to hopefully one day eliminate the
disease as a threat to human life.

TASK 2. Listen to the recording THREE TIMES and fill in the blanks.
The reactor in Ohio is one of only two in Japan (1) that’s been operational since
July 2012. Reactor No 3 at the site was taken offline nearly (2) a fortnight ago, and now
the operators of Reactor No 4 have begun shutting it down too.
The plant's owners are amongst four companies who want to (3) restart their
reactors in the future, observing new safety guidelines. But the memories of the
accidents at Fukushima in 2011 have left most Japanese people (4) opposed to Nikola
power.
The country's Prime Minister, though, wants to (5) bring nuclear energy in from
the cold. Shinzo Abe says that Japan can't carry on paying the high costs of (6)
importing gas and oil in order to keep the country's lights on.
Some household electricity bills are now 30% higher than before the Fukushima
accident, and analysts think (7) the rise is set to continue. And the price of importing
more energy from abroad has helped to inflate (8) Japan’s trade deficit.
Yet even if every nuclear reactor was (9) brought back online, many of them are
reaching the end of their 40-year lives, which means a decision will have to be made
about (10) whether to replace them.