Task 3: Mountain regions face a number of dangers.
Script
Mountain people around the world are in great danger of the (S1) negative effects of the worsening environment, according to a UN (S2) report. As global (S3) warming and deforestation accelerate and technology makes wilder places more accessible, environmental and social (S4) pressures on the world’s remotest regions increase.
The UN has found that many (S5) mountainous regions—inhabited by one out of five of the world’s people—are (S6) barely recognizable when they are compared to what they were like 60 years ago. This is mostly because forests were cut to (S7) make way for cattle grazing and agriculture.
The authors of the UN study (S8) expect 98 percent of the mountain areas to experience severe climate change by 2055.
Biological losses are expected to be heavy. The mountains of Europe, parts of California and the northwest Andes in South America are among the most threatened mountain areas in the world and should be given priority in conservation.
(S9)The UN is anxious to raise awareness of the problem facing mountain areas because they are inhabited by some of the most vulnerable people. These people could lose their culture and their livelihood with even the smallest shifts in climate.
At the same time, many mountain regions are losing people. (10) Thousands of villages in Europe are deserted most of the year. In other areas like Nepal, people are drifting to the cities in search of work.
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Viewing and speaking
Santa’s home town in danger 1. Script and key
Weather experts may have found a new problem caused by global warming, one which many people will pay attention to: There are (1) signs that Santa’s home in the North may be in trouble because of (2) warmer temperatures. The Finnish town of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle, which many Europeans say is the home of Santa Claus, has had its (3) warmest winter in 40 years. As a result, there has been much less snow than usual—meaning no snowmen, no snowballs and possibly not enough (4) snow for Santa to ride his sleigh on.
More important for local residents, it may mean fewer tourists, as well. Santa’s wintry home town normally (5) attracts thousands of visitors each year, and millions of dollars.
Anne Pelttari-Bergman, the town’s tourist director, worries that the town could be in (6) trouble if snow levels do not return to (7) normal. She explains: ―Snow is really important for us, of course for Santa Claus, for Christmas tourism, and also for our winter tourism because winter is our (8) best season. It is really important for us.‖ Weather experts and town residents are hoping this warm winter is a (9) one-time thing. Few people can imagine a holiday when even Santa does not have a (10) white Christmas.
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