a severe drought	floods
water restrictions	noticeable
to criticize	weather patterns
wasteful
to pay attention to sth
to break (a drought)	to give sth the respect it deserves
lush

Listening 1

Listen to the text and consider the question below:(Audio)

Is this situation in Australia similar to your country at the moment?

Listening 2

Listen to the text one more time and decide whether the following sentences are true or false.(Audio)

1	Australia was drier than this 50 years ago.
2	Brisbane is not the only city to have limitations with water.
3	People think Australians waste too much water.
4	Australia has never been very green.
5	It seems like it was a long time ago when we had rain.
6	The speaker is concerned about the future because the weather never changes.

Discussion

How worried are you about things like global warming?

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Is enough being done in your area to preserve the environment?

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How can people be encouraged to be more considerate of the environment?

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Are politicians paying enough attention to the environment?

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What are some major causes of pollution?

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What are some serious effects of pollution?

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Homework (optional)

Write example sentences for the words in the vocabulary list.

a severe drought:

We haven’t experienced a severe drought for at least 10 years.

floods:

water restrictions:

noticeable:

criticize:

weather patterns:

wasteful:

to pay attention to sth:

to break a drought:

to give sth the respect it deserves:

lush: