Reading Focus Unit 5,7

Read the text. Choose from sentences A–F the one which fits each gap (1–5). There is one extra sentence.

MISSING SUN

Pollution in many of the world’s cities is becoming a major health problem. One of the worst affected is Beijing, the capital of China. Air quality was dangerously low on 58 days last year. Winter months are especially bad. (1)          There is also less wind to blow the smog away. At this time of year, pollution levels are sometimes 20 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers safe. This causes illnesses and on the worst days old people and children are advised to stay indoors. Visibility is sometimes so bad that motorways have to close because of the danger of accidents.

In early 2014, some newspapers and websites showed a frightening vision of the future. On a smoggy morning, residents of Beijing watched the sunrise. (2)          The smog was so thick that the real sunrise was completely invisible. While the smog and the masks the people were wearing were real, the films of the sunrise were nothing unusual. The screens show adverts all the time. (3)          The same advert is shown quite often, whatever the weather. Either the photographer was lucky or he knew exactly how the image would look and waited until he got the photo he wanted. Although the news reporting was inaccurate, it might have done something to raise awareness of how bad the problem has become. Politicians, too, have finally decided that something must be done to reduce pollution levels.

The first idea is to reduce the amount of coal that people use. Factories will also be moved to areas further away from cities. (4)          In their place, greener and cleaner forms of transport will be encouraged.

Will these changes help? The Chinese know from experience that it is possible to improve air quality very quickly if necessary. Before the 2008 Olympic Games, pollution in Beijing was reduced greatly. As well as reducing traffic levels and closing factories, other methods to reduce pollution were used. (5)          To help with this, scientists were even able to make clouds drop more rain. Since then, things have got worse rather than better but, at last, the government seems to be determined to do something about the problem. For the people of Beijing and other large cities, this will make a huge difference to their lives.

 1...……………………………..

Read the text. Choose from sentences A–F the one which fits each gap (1–5). There is one extra sentence.

MISSING  SUN

Pollution in many of the world’s cities is becoming a major health problem. One of the worst affected is Beijing, the capital of China. Air quality was dangerously low on 58 days last year. Winter months are especially bad. (1)            There is also less wind to blow the smog away. At this time of year, pollution levels are sometimes 20 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers safe. This causes illnesses and on the worst days old people and children are advised to stay indoors. Visibility is sometimes so bad that motorways have to close because of the danger of accidents.

In early 2014, some newspapers and websites showed a frightening vision of the future. On a smoggy morning, residents of Beijing watched the sunrise. (2)            The smog was so thick that the real sunrise was completely invisible. While the smog and the masks the people were wearing were real, the films of the sunrise were nothing unusual. The screens show adverts all the time. (3)            The same advert is shown quite often, whatever the weather. Either the photographer was lucky or he knew exactly how the image would look and waited until he got the photo he wanted. Although the news reporting was inaccurate, it might have done something to raise awareness of how bad the problem has become. Politicians, too, have finally decided that something must be done to reduce pollution levels.

The first idea is to reduce the amount of coal that people use. Factories will also be moved to areas further away from cities. (4)            In their place, greener and cleaner forms of transport will be encouraged.

Will these changes help? The Chinese know from experience that it is possible to improve air quality very quickly if necessary. Before the 2008 Olympic Games, pollution in Beijing was reduced greatly. As well as reducing traffic levels and closing factories, other methods to reduce pollution were used. (5)            To help with this, scientists were even able to make clouds drop more rain. Since then, things have got worse rather than better but, at last, the government seems to be determined to do something about the problem. For the people of Beijing and other large cities, this will make a huge difference to their lives.

 2...…………………….

Read the text. Choose from sentences A–F the one which fits each gap (1–5). There is one extra sentence.

MISSING  SUN

Pollution in many of the world’s cities is becoming a major health problem. One of the worst affected is Beijing, the capital of China. Air quality was dangerously low on 58 days last year. Winter months are especially bad. (1)            There is also less wind to blow the smog away. At this time of year, pollution levels are sometimes 20 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers safe. This causes illnesses and on the worst days old people and children are advised to stay indoors. Visibility is sometimes so bad that motorways have to close because of the danger of accidents.

In early 2014, some newspapers and websites showed a frightening vision of the future. On a smoggy morning, residents of Beijing watched the sunrise. (2)            The smog was so thick that the real sunrise was completely invisible. While the smog and the masks the people were wearing were real, the films of the sunrise were nothing unusual. The screens show adverts all the time. (3)            The same advert is shown quite often, whatever the weather. Either the photographer was lucky or he knew exactly how the image would look and waited until he got the photo he wanted. Although the news reporting was inaccurate, it might have done something to raise awareness of how bad the problem has become. Politicians, too, have finally decided that something must be done to reduce pollution levels.

The first idea is to reduce the amount of coal that people use. Factories will also be moved to areas further away from cities. (4)            In their place, greener and cleaner forms of transport will be encouraged.

Will these changes help? The Chinese know from experience that it is possible to improve air quality very quickly if necessary. Before the 2008 Olympic Games, pollution in Beijing was reduced greatly. As well as reducing traffic levels and closing factories, other methods to reduce pollution were used. (5)            To help with this, scientists were even able to make clouds drop more rain. Since then, things have got worse rather than better but, at last, the government seems to be determined to do something about the problem. For the people of Beijing and other large cities, this will make a huge difference to their lives.

3.................................................

Read the text. Choose from sentences A–F the one which fits each gap (1–5). There is one extra sentence.

MISSING  SUN

Pollution in many of the world’s cities is becoming a major health problem. One of the worst affected is Beijing, the capital of China. Air quality was dangerously low on 58 days last year. Winter months are especially bad. (1)            There is also less wind to blow the smog away. At this time of year, pollution levels are sometimes 20 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers safe. This causes illnesses and on the worst days old people and children are advised to stay indoors. Visibility is sometimes so bad that motorways have to close because of the danger of accidents.

In early 2014, some newspapers and websites showed a frightening vision of the future. On a smoggy morning, residents of Beijing watched the sunrise. (2)            The smog was so thick that the real sunrise was completely invisible. While the smog and the masks the people were wearing were real, the films of the sunrise were nothing unusual. The screens show adverts all the time. (3)            The same advert is shown quite often, whatever the weather. Either the photographer was lucky or he knew exactly how the image would look and waited until he got the photo he wanted. Although the news reporting was inaccurate, it might have done something to raise awareness of how bad the problem has become. Politicians, too, have finally decided that something must be done to reduce pollution levels.

The first idea is to reduce the amount of coal that people use. Factories will also be moved to areas further away from cities. (4)            In their place, greener and cleaner forms of transport will be encouraged.

Will these changes help? The Chinese know from experience that it is possible to improve air quality very quickly if necessary. Before the 2008 Olympic Games, pollution in Beijing was reduced greatly. As well as reducing traffic levels and closing factories, other methods to reduce pollution were used. (5)            To help with this, scientists were even able to make clouds drop more rain. Since then, things have got worse rather than better but, at last, the government seems to be determined to do something about the problem. For the people of Beijing and other large cities, this will make a huge difference to their lives.

 4...........................................................

Read the text. Choose from sentences A–F the one which fits each gap (1–5). There is one extra sentence.

MISSING  SUN

Pollution in many of the world’s cities is becoming a major health problem. One of the worst affected is Beijing, the capital of China. Air quality was dangerously low on 58 days last year. Winter months are especially bad. (1)            There is also less wind to blow the smog away. At this time of year, pollution levels are sometimes 20 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers safe. This causes illnesses and on the worst days old people and children are advised to stay indoors. Visibility is sometimes so bad that motorways have to close because of the danger of accidents.

In early 2014, some newspapers and websites showed a frightening vision of the future. On a smoggy morning, residents of Beijing watched the sunrise. (2)            The smog was so thick that the real sunrise was completely invisible. While the smog and the masks the people were wearing were real, the films of the sunrise were nothing unusual. The screens show adverts all the time. (3)            The same advert is shown quite often, whatever the weather. Either the photographer was lucky or he knew exactly how the image would look and waited until he got the photo he wanted. Although the news reporting was inaccurate, it might have done something to raise awareness of how bad the problem has become. Politicians, too, have finally decided that something must be done to reduce pollution levels.

The first idea is to reduce the amount of coal that people use. Factories will also be moved to areas further away from cities. (4)            In their place, greener and cleaner forms of transport will be encouraged.

Will these changes help? The Chinese know from experience that it is possible to improve air quality very quickly if necessary. Before the 2008 Olympic Games, pollution in Beijing was reduced greatly. As well as reducing traffic levels and closing factories, other methods to reduce pollution were used. (5)            To help with this, scientists were even able to make clouds drop more rain. Since then, things have got worse rather than better but, at last, the government seems to be determined to do something about the problem. For the people of Beijing and other large cities, this will make a huge difference to their lives.

 5................................................

Read what three people say about the future of television. For questions 1–5, choose from the people (A–C). You can choose each person more than once.

Which person …

THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION

A Gina Fallon  

When my parents were young, there were only two or three channels to choose from. I think people at that time were happy with that because there was nothing else. Then satellite and cable TV came along. These companies offered hundreds of channels for a monthly fee. But everyone agrees that a lot of these programmes were poorly made and people spent more time changing channels trying to find something interesting to watch than actually watching something. I think television will change a lot in the future. Firstly, more and more people are now buying smart TVs which are linked to the Internet. This has lots of possibilities. One idea is for the television to remember what you have watched and, when you next switch on, it will tell you about programmes that you might be interested in. We will also be able to link our televisions to our friends’ televisions and find out what they are watching so we can watch the same. That will be cool!

You can choose each person more than once. 2 answers must be here

This person …

B Leon Adams

A lot of people assume that television will continue to work in the future as it does now, with programmes appearing at a certain time each week. However, most companies now offer a catch-up service where you can watch programmes from the previous week that you have missed. There are also online television providers who allow you to watch what you like, when you like, so you can watch a whole series in one night. This is great for people like me who hate waiting to find out what is going to happen next. One big advantage of not having specific times for programmes is that no-one can complain that ‘there’s nothing worth watching this evening’. It also means that television companies can show programmes for everyone, from popular series to documentaries that only a handful of people will be interested in. So, there will always be something to watch, whoever you are.

You can choose each person more than once. 2 answers must be  here

This person ........

C Dana Jones

I think that in the past there were a lot of good programmes, although people always seemed to complain that there was nothing worth watching. I worry that in the future we won’t get the same quality of programmes. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of free video channels on the Internet. Why should people pay to watch television when they can spend their evenings watching almost anything for free? Television companies have to charge their viewers for their service, of course. But if the service is too expensive, no-one will sign up for it. On the other hand, if the service is too cheap, the company won’t be able to afford to buy or make enough programmes. This creates a huge dilemma for television companies. I think it’s a bigger problem for them than keeping up with the latest technological advances. It isn’t clear to me how they will manage to find a solution.

 This person ................