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LearnEnglish Magazine Earth Hour

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51 views5 pages

LearnEnglish Magazine Earth Hour

Uploaded by

Ali Alhosseini
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Magazine

Earth Hour
Every year, millions of people around the world switch off their lights for one hour to draw
attention to the environment. Read on to find out more.

Before reading
Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation task
Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).

Vocabulary Definition
1. …… biodiversity a. a famous place
2. …… to raise awareness b. when there is less of something
3. …… a landmark c. the variety of plants and animals in a place
4. …… an initiative d. a plan to do something together
5. …… climate change e. across the whole world
6. …… worldwide f. to make people think about something
7. …… to ban g. a change in temperatures and weather around the world
8. …… a reduction h. to say that people cannot do or use something

Earth Hour
What is Earth Hour?
Every year, in late March, people and institutions come together to switch off all non-essential
lights for sixty minutes at 8.30 p.m. local time. They do this to show their support for the fight
against the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity. Millions of people all around the world join
in, as do governments, businesses and institutions. By switching off their lights and measuring
the reduction in the amount of energy that is being used, people are showing that it is
possible to make a difference.
But Earth Hour is more than one hour without lights, once a year. It’s part of a movement of
people who are working together all year round to protect the environment.

How did it start?


The World Wide Fund for Nature in Australia introduced the idea in 2007. They wanted to find
a way to raise awareness about climate change. And they wanted to show that when millions
of individuals work together, they can make a difference.
The first Earth Hour was held on 31 March 2007 at 7.30 p.m. in Sydney. More than two million
residents and 2,000 businesses turned their lights out for one hour. The lights also went out
on the famous Sydney Opera House. The people of the city of San Francisco were so inspired

© 2020 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish


by the event in Sydney that they held their own ‘Lights Out’ event in October of the same year.
This was the beginning of the Earth Hour movement.

How many cities take part?


The event has grown over the years, with more and more people, businesses, organisations
and governments taking part every year.
In 2008, a year after the first Earth Hour event, 35 countries and more than 400 cities joined
in. Websites also took part, turning their homepages black in support of the initiative. By 2012,
152 countries and more than 7,000 cities and towns were taking part. In recent years, the
numbers have kept increasing, with more than 188 countries and territories worldwide taking
part each year. In 2019, more than two billion photos were shared on social media platforms.
Famous people and famous places
A number of celebrities have put their names to the cause, including singer Ellie Goulding,
tennis star Andy Murray, TV host Ellen de Generes, actor Leonardo di Caprio and ex-Beatle
Paul McCartney. Politicians and world leaders have also given their support, and thousands of
famous landmarks have turned off their lights, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Empire
State Building in New York and the Pyramids in Egypt.

What has the movement achieved?


The Earth Hour movement has achieved much more than getting people to turn off their
lights. Since 2007, among other actions, they have planted trees in various countries around
the world, including a 2,700 hectare forest in Uganda and 17 million trees in Kazakhstan. They
worked together to ban the use of plastics on the islands of the Galapagos, one of the most
important nature reserves on the planet. And they have sponsored solar power projects in
India and the Philippines.

What can I do?


Join the movement. Find out the date and time for this year. Visit the Earth Hour website and
find out what’s going on. Then get ready to turn off your lights and join the millions of other
people around the world who are fighting to save our planet!

Sources:
https://www.earthhour.org/faqs
https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/earth-hour
https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/10-years-earth-hour-worldwide

© 2020 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish


Tasks

Task 1
Are the sentences true or false?

1. Earth Hour takes place _____ every year.


a. in October
b. in the same month
c. on the same day
2. Earth Hour started in _____.
a. Paris
b. San Francisco
c. Sydney
3. It was celebrated around the world for the first time in _____.
a. 2007
b. 2008
c. 2012
4. In 2008, _____ countries took part in the event.
a. 35
b. 400
c. 7,000
5. The Earth Hour movement is _____ a one-hour event.
a. more than
b. only
c. part of
6. The _____ is the organisation that introduced the idea for Earth Hour.
a. United Nations
b. World Health Organization
c. World Wide Fund for Nature

© 2020 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish


Task 2
Match the answers to the questions.

Questions Answers
1. Where? a. To raise awareness of climate change
2. When? b. Switch off lights for one hour or more
3. Why? c. The end of March
4. Who? d. All over the world
5. What? e. Individuals, businesses and organisations

Discussion
Do you think Earth Hour is a good idea?

© 2020 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish


Answers

Preparation task
1. c
2. f
3. a
4. d
5. g
6. e
7. h
8. b

Task 1
1. b
2. c
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. c

Task 2
1. d
2. c
3. a
4. e
5. b

© 2020 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

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