t E a r t h

Plane
5 VWO
 Table of Contents

Lead in 3

Listening 4

Reading 1 What’s your diet’s carbon footprint? 5-7

Reading 2 Aral Sea 8-11

Language Proficiency A 12-14

Language Proficiency B 15-18
Language Proficiency C 19-22

Grammar 1 Articles 23
Grammar 2 Gerunds and infinitives 24-25
Grammar 3 Quantifiers 26

Literature There Will Come Soft Rains 27-31

Writing Rotten 32

Speaking Debate 33

Appendix 1 Word list 1 34-36

Word list 2 37
Word list 3 38-40

Appendix 2 Articles 41-42

Appendix 3 Gerunds and infinitives 43-45
Appendix 4 Quantifiers 46

2
Lead A Life with
Less Waste
in
The Dutch bureau for statistics reports that the
average citizen of the Netherlands produces
500 kilograms of municipal waste annually. With
a population of roughly 17 million people this
amounts to a staggering 8.500.000.000 kilograms
of waste per year. Needless to say, this causes
a heavy strain on the environment.
Worldwide, about 8 million tonnes of plastic
end up in the sea every year, which harms and
kills marine life. Via the food chain, parts of
these plastics return to the food that we
consume ourselves.

It is easy to blame other people or big

companies for all of this waste, but every
individual plays his or her part. Perhaps we
should look at our own spheres of influence
and our own lifestyles before anything else.
How much waste do you actually produce?
How much of this could easily be avoided?
Could you reuse and recycle more? Are there
any (small) changes that you can make in order
to reduce your waste?

Look at this video about a family that has

reduced their production of waste to the bare
minimum, almost zero.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ijPk5_8pM

Questions
a. Write down at least 8 things that this family
does to live a life with less waste.

b. What would be some of the reasons why not

all people implement these choices?

c. Which of these lifestyle changes would also

be feasible for you and your family?

d. Which of these changes would not work for

you and your family and why not?

e. How much impact would it have if every

Dutch citizen reduced their amount of waste by
half?
3
 How fast fashion adds to the
Listening world’s clothing waste problem

Shop till you drop! A favourite pastime for many of us. Buying new garments every week or every
month has become quite common these days. Fashion chains like H&M, Zara or Primark have new
collections in their stores every week. Their clothes are extremely affordable and always follow the
latest trends, hence the name: fast fashion.

When you are fed up with some garments, you just drop them in a charity bin and thus support
people in need who are unable to afford new clothes. So, buying and discarding clothes makes you
feel good about yourself twice!

However, there is a price to pay for this type of consumerism. Have you ever wondered how much
the content of your wardrobe contributes to your carbon footprint and how it adds excessively to the
global waste problem? Watch this Canadian documentary on fast fashion and judge for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elU32XNj8PM

Questions

a. Why do the 85% of clothes that go into landfill belong to the world’s top polluters?
Mention the two main reasons for this.
b. What are the main three problems with recycling clothes, according to Elizabeth Cline?
c. What are the two main reasons that Elizabeth Cline and Claudia Marsales are both so
skeptical about H&M’s initiative to recycle clothes?
d. Explain what the clothing deficit myth entails.
e. Selling and shipping off all our unwanted clothes to Africa harms that continent in two
ways. Explain.
f. What is the only solution for this huge textile waste problem, according to Claudia
Marsales?
g. Compared to the 1980s people have bought 400% more clothes. Can you explain this
huge increase. Mention at least two reasons for this.
h. Jeans are among the least sustainable garments. Can you think of three reasons why?

44
 The Climate Change Food Calculator:
Reading 1
What’s your diet’s carbon footprint?

By Nassos Stylianou, Clara Guibourg and Helen 4. How big is the difference? Would you be willing
Briggs - BBC News, Science & Environment to put more environmentally products on your
shopping list now you are aware of the impact
Avoiding meat and dairy products is of food choices on the climate change? Explain
one of the biggest ways to reduce your why or why not? Please answer in English.
environmental impact, according to recent
scientific studies. Food production is responsible for a quarter
of all greenhouse gas emissions, contributing
Switching to a plant-based diet can help fight to global warming, according to a University of
climate change, according to a major report by the Oxford study. However, the researchers found
UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the environmental impact of different foods
(IPCC), which says the West’s high consumption varies hugely. Their findings showed that meat
of meat and dairy is fuelling global warming. But and other animal products are responsible for
what is the difference between beef and chicken? more than half of food-related greenhouse gas
Does a bowl of rice produce more climate warming emissions, despite providing only a fifth of the
greenhouse gases than a plate of chips? Is wine calories we eat and drink. Of all the products
more environmentally friendly than beer? analysed in the study, beef and lamb were found
to have by far the most damaging effect on the
To find out more about the climate impact of environment.
what you eat and drink, choose from one of the
34 items in our calculator and pick how often you
have it.

1. Use the food calculator to figure out the impact

of your menu on the environment. Think of the
ingredients needed for your favourite dish and
fill them in. Open the link to the calculator here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-
environment-46459714

2. Write down the results for each of the

ingredients. Add them all up and write down the
overall total of your carbon footprint.

3. Replace one or two ingredients of your

favourite dish by more eco-friendly options and
calculate again the effect of these choices on
your carbon footprint.
5
The findings echo recommendations on how
individuals can lessen climate change by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC). When it comes to our diets, the IPCC
says we need to buy less meat, milk, cheese
and butter - but also eat more locally sourced
seasonal food, and throw less of it away. The
IPCC also recommends that we insulate homes,
take trains and buses instead of planes, and use
video conferencing instead of business travel.
Cutting meat and dairy products from your diet
could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint
from food by two-thirds, according to the Oxford
study, published in the journal Science.

“What we eat is one of the most powerful drivers

behind most of the world’s major environmental
issues, whether it’s climate change or biodiversity
loss,” study researcher Joseph Poore told flight from London to New York is just under half
BBC News. Changing your diet can make a a tonne of greenhouse gases. Switching from
big difference to your personal environmental a regular petrol vehicle to an electric car could
footprint, from saving water to reducing pollution save more than double that over a year.
and the loss of forests, he said. “It reduces the
amount of land required to produce your food by Knowing how and where your food is produced
about 75% - that’s a huge reduction, particularly is also important, as the same food can have
if you scale that up globally,” Poore explained. huge differences in environmental impact. For
example, beef cattle raised on deforested land is
If you fly regularly, replacing flying with other responsible for 12 times more greenhouse gas
forms of transport may have a bigger impact on emissions than cows reared on natural pastures.
your carbon footprint than changing your diet. The average beef from South America results in
A passenger’s carbon footprint from a one-way three times the amount of greenhouse gases as
beef produced in Europe - and uses 10 times as
much land.

Meat and dairy are not the only foods where the
choices you make can make a big difference.
Chocolate and coffee originating from deforested
rainforest produce relatively high greenhouse
gases. For climate-friendly tomatoes,
choose those grown outdoors or in high-tech
greenhouses, instead of in greenhouses heated
by gas or oil. Environmentally-minded beer-
drinkers may be interested to know that draught
beer is responsible for fewer emissions than
recyclable cans, or worse, glass bottles. Even the
most climate-friendly meat options still produce
more greenhouse gases than vegetarian protein
sources, like beans or nuts.
In conclusion, what you eat and drink can make
a huge difference on your carbon footprint.

(For questions see next page)

6
The Climate Change Food Calculator
Questions

a. Referring to our food, what can we do to reduce the impact on climate change,
according to the IPCC? Mention four things.

b. Why would going to the pub for a beer be more environmentally friendly than
buying your beer at the local supermarket?

c. Why is buying beef produced in the Netherlands by far a better option than
buying beef from Argentina? Mention five reasons.

d. Why do tofu, beans and nuts contribute significantly less to climate change
than meat?

e. Why are chicken and pork better menu options for the climate than beef and
lamb?

f. Why do farmed prawns and fish also rank high when it comes to negative
effects on the climate?

7
 Aral Sea: living sample of a
Reading 2 human-made catastrophe

The Aral Sea has shrunk to a fourth of its Route. During the Soviet rule, Uzbek towns near
size. Neha Mungekar travels to Uzbekistan the Aral Sea were forced to shift their livelihood
and recounts how it remains a living sample to cotton monoculture farming. Ill-conceived
of a monumental human-made ecological Soviet irrigation schemes reduced the water
catastrophe. flow from the rivers needed to replenish the Aral
Sea.
By Neha Mungekar
3 Today, the lake - which was called a sea
1 In modern times, the health of an economy due its sheer size and salinity - has reduced to
is deemed far more vital than that of the ecology. a mere 25 per cent of its original size because
Re-routing rivers, realigning waterbodies, of the re-routing of the rivers Amu Darya and
focusing on monoculture cultivation, creating Syr Darya to give impetus to cotton production.
cities next to transport corridors and then Although the Aral Sea disaster - a human-made
transporting water to places with scarce environmental catastrophe - was realised in the
groundwater has become the norm across late 1990s, its consequences are becoming
the world. Sudden prosperity may validate even more evident today.
this development pathway, but the irrevocable
damage to nature is catastrophic. Aral Sea is 4 In the 1960s, the depth of the lake was
one such story. 68 metres. Today, it is less than 10 metres. A
relatively shallow water level spread across a
2 In the 1960s, the Aral Sea region used to large surface area has led to faster evaporation.
support a thriving fishing industry. Even earlier, This has caused over 90 per cent loss in the
the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, which volume of water in the last six decades. Once the
used to feed this inland lake, provided water to world’s fourth-largest lake, it now hosts travellers
the oasis towns that gave birth to the historic Silk who visit to witness the apocalyptic landscape.

8
Layered problems 7 There has been an increase in the
abstraction of groundwater throughout the
5 The Aral Sea is a terminal lake with basins of the two rivers. The water is pumped
no outlets. As it lies in a rain-shadow region, out at the upstream of the Amu Darya River
the rate of evaporation far outweighs the that feeds the Silk Route towns—Bukhara,
rate of precipitation. Nukus, a town on the Samarkand and Tashkent in Uzbekistan. The
south of the Aral Sea, receives an average outflow from these towns does not balance the
annual rainfall of just about 100 mm – 873 inflow. Increase in evaporation, coupled with
mm in the Netherlands. The need to strike a reduced groundwater inflow and precipitation,
balance between the river feed, precipitation, has further led to salinisation and the foaming
evaporation and seepage has made it difficult of water in the central part of the lake that
to ensure its survival. Any change in any of comes under the jurisdiction of Uzbekistan.
these four factors affects the quantity and What was once a huge lake is now an endless
quality of water, rapidly. Therefore, the reason desert called Aral Qum.
of ongoing disaster lies beyond the northern
region of Kaza-khstan and the Ustyurt Plateau 8 Barsa Kelmes, one of the lakes, is now
region that includes the critical mass of the covered with a solid salt crust. The shore of the
Aral Sea. lake is covered with carcasses of dead insects,
revealing the damaging impacts of hyper-
6 The shrinking of the Aral Sea has salinity. Sudochie Lake is now a marshland.
already changed the climate in the region to Long grasses have taken over the shore, giving
the point of no return. With gradual desiccation rise to marshland fauna. The fishing community,
over the years, the lake bed has got exposed. which used to depend on Sudochie Lake, has
Dust plumes are often seen rising from the deserted Urga town, which now resembles a
sediments of the lake bed. These dust storms distant ruin.
have made regional winters colder and
summers hotter. They have not only worsened 9 Like the oceans, the Aral Sea basin has
air quality for the nearby residents, but have become a huge salt collector. Most of the salt
also affected crop yields due to heavy salt- is accumulated below the soil forming a sub-
laden particles falling on arable lands. soil layer. During irrigation, the water dissolves
9
some of the salt and seeps into the surface. paradigm is conveniently ignoring the long-
This secondary salinisation makes it impossible term repercussions and is choosing the option
for crops to survive. The entire town of Nukus is of altering the waterbodies to suit bigger and
now saline. profitable agendas. The current state of the Aral
Sea needs to be understood and its lessons be
10 In a way, the irrigated farming invited applied whenever we think of altering the course
its own death. And to make the matters worse, of any waterbody.
farmers try to reduce the salinity by waterlogging,
which, in turn, brings more salt to the surface. 15 In 1993, Central Asian countries
As salinity permeates downstream, it spreads - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
across the delta area, furthering desertification. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - established the
International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea to
Changing contours rehabilitate the affected region ecologically. The
mission was to save the people living in Aral
11 The south-west edge of the Aral Sea Sea basin by improving their living conditions.
has eroded, forming large canyons along the In 2005, the Kokaral Dam was built in a joint
Ustyurt Plateau. These canyons were formed collaboration between the Kazakh government
by a process of long-time erosion. The Ustyurt and the World Bank to restore the delta and the
Plateau, which overlooks the western edge of wetland region in Syr Darya River basin. The
the Aral Sea, is a clay and stony desert with an Uzbek government is also damming the small
average elevation of 150 metres. In geological waterbodies that remain.
terms, it is called “Sarmatian limestones” with
separated edges leading to steep slopes. 16 However, these sporadic efforts are not
enough to revive the basin spanning seven
12 The apocalyptic landscapes are now nations. A cross-country method needs to be
littered with the scattered remains of the ships put in place by owning collective responsibility.
that could not move due to the rapidly receding Because it may take many generations to revive
water levels. Muynak, the last destination town the lost lake back to its original glory.
near Nukus, houses the graveyard of ships.
There’s an interesting demographic shift in the
region with the young and the working population (For questions see next page)
moving to cities in search of better education
and employment, leaving children and their
grandparents behind. The town survives on the
salaries earned by the younger generations or
by tourists who come to observe the disaster.

13 Recently, Uzneftegazdobycha, a private

company, designed an easier and cheaper
method to explore hydrocarbons below the former
seabed. The Uzbek government and the people
in the region see this as an opportunity to earn
additional revenue. But intensive development
of oil and gas fields will further dry up the Aral
Sea. EU Today reports that the area earmarked
for prospecting and drilling are located in the
natural caverns that retain a part of the Aral Sea.
The water in these caverns needs to be drained
for this purpose, thus, furthering the disaster.

14 The Aral Sea catastrophe exemplifies the

Anthropogenic era. This human-made disaster
has been affecting the ecosystem for more than
five decades now. Yet, the current development

10
12
Questions

Answer these questions in Dutch!

1. Explain how cotton production is regarded as one of the main causes of the shrinking of the Aral
Sea, according to par.1 to 3?
2. The Aral sea is actually a lake, yet it is called the Aral Sea. Why?
3. The shrinking of the Aral Sea has had disastrous effects on the climate and quality of life in the
region, according to par. 6. Mention at least three negative effects.
4. Explain in your own words why irrigation in the region has only worsened the problem of
desertification (par. 9&10).
5. What are the main sources of income for the people still living in the area? (par. 12)
6. Read par.13 to 16. State whether the following statements are true or false and explain why!
a. The Uzbek government and inhabitants are positive about the developments of oil and gas
fields in the region.
b. Long-term water management is a top priority now the region is exploring new economic
options.
c. Kazakhstan is the only country that has applied some form of water management in the region
so far.
7. What is needed to revive the Aral Sea, according to the author? Mention two important
elements.
8. In the first paragraph the author states that “the health of an economy is deemed far more vital
than that of the ecology”. In which paragraph does he again express his concerns about this
priority?
9. Taking the complete text into account, explain whether the author is optimistic or pessimistic
about the future of the Aral Sea. Use a quote from the text to support your answer.
10. Any time left? Watch this video about a visit to the Aral Sea region to get a clear view of the
catastrophe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWPHP0YhrU4

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12
 Language
Proficiency Phrasal Verbs
A

1 Phrasal verbs with UP and DOWN. Complete a-e with phrasal verbs formed from the verbs given
and use up or down.

break set put bring turn

a. If you haven’t got enough room, we can _______ your relatives for the night.
b. His intention is to use the inheritance to _______ his own business.
c. Protestors are threatening to _______ the government if their demands aren’t met.
d. Police _______ the demonstration by firing tear gas into the crowd.
e. It was the thought of commuting every day that made me _______ the job offer.

2 Replace the verbs in bold in a-d with new phrasal verbs formed from; break – set – put – bring –
turn plus up or down.

Example: It’s best if you don’t mention the subject of Mark’s resignation, as it’s a rather
sensitive matter.
Answer: don’t bring up

a. The key witness lost control and started crying in court.

b. You shouldn’t have made him look stupid in front of his friends – no wonder he was
upset.
c. Could you increase the sound on the radio a bit – I can hardly hear what the
newsreader’s saying.
d. Students are expected to respect the college rules as written down in the official
handbook.

3 Correct the mistakes with the phrasal verbs in a-g.

a. On hearing the sad news, Sally broke up and wept.
b. It’s an international organization helping those in crisis, and was set off last century.
c. If you get more guests than you bargained for, we have plenty of space, so can easily
put some down.
d. Who finally put up the subject of money during the negotiations?
e. It’s extremely unprofessional to turn someone down in front of their colleagues.
f. The rules and regulations for the procedure are set up in this document.
g. Only after several shops had been robbed did the authorities break down the riot.

12
12
4 Write nouns for phrasal verbs a-d and match them with meanings 1-5.
Example: burst out outburst

a. cut back __________________ __________________

b. fall down __________________ __________________
c. bring up __________________ __________________
d. put in __________________ __________________

1. failure of something or someone

2. raising a child
3. reduction in the amount of something
4. effort given to a project, etc.
5. sudden emotional eruption

5 Find the correct preposition to complete the sentences. Then match the phrasal verbs with
meanings 1-6.

a. The armed robber told the cashier to hand in/on/over the money in the till.
b. What do you make of/up/to this letter from my ex-boyfriend? I’m not sure how to
interpret it.
c. Our elderly neighbour passed off/away/up last week so the family are selling his house.
d. The manager is unable to speak at the conference tomorrow so I’m going to stand in/
up/to for him and talk to the delegates.
e. I was prepared to lend my brother some money but he turned back/over/down my
offer.
f. Two people were knocked away/off/down by a car on a pedestrian crossing this
morning.

a. hand __________________ __________________

b. make __________________ __________________
c. pass __________________ __________________
d. stand __________________ __________________
e. turn __________________ __________________
f. knock __________________ __________________

1. take someone’s place

2. give (not voluntarily)
3. hit and cause to fall
4. die
5. reject
6. understand by

13
13
6 Match the phrasal verbs a-f with meanings 1-6.
a. hand out 1. understand
b. make out 2. distribute
c. knock out 3. lose consciousness
d. stand out 4. produce or make
e. turn out 5. be noticeable
f. pass out 6. eliminate in a competition

7 Use the correct form of these phrasal verbs to complete these sentences.
hand out make out knock out stand out turn out pass out

a. _______ leaflets in the High Street has to be one of the most boring jobs!
b. There’s no doubt that wearing designer clothes makes you _______ in a crowd.
c. How can Tim be a medical student when he _______ as soon as he sees blood?
d. Nobody can _______ what her motives were in telling so many lies.
e. Unfortunately the basketball team got _______ in the first round of the tournament.
f. This factory is our most productive one – it _______ an amazing 1,000 cars a week.

14
 Language
Proficiency Expressions
B

Expressions connected with age

1 Match the expressions in italics in a-h with the meanings 1-8.

a. My 90-year-old grandfather has only recently begun to feel his age.

b. The children shouldn’t have acted so irresponsibly. They are old enough to know better.
c. Some people say that the secret of staying young is to remain young at heart.
d. The youth of today seem so different from when I was a youngster.
e. My aunt may be 60 but she certainly doesn’t look her age.
f. When I was a lad, anyone over 40 seemed as old as the hills.
g. Tim’s only 14 but very mature. He has an old head on young shoulders.
h. We should take every opportunity because we’re not getting any younger.

1. be mature enough to act in a more sensible way

2. young people
3. be more mature than is expected for someone so young
4. growing older
5. look as old as you really are
6. still feeling and behaving as you did when you were younger
7. extremely old
8. be physically aware of your real age

2 Select the correct word in sentences a-g.

a. We should make the most of life because none of us are coming/going/getting any younger.
b. Some people stay young at head/soul/heart all their lives.
c. For many people, it isn’t until they hit retirement that they begin to be/seem/feel their age.
d. Sam has always had an old head on young neck/shoulders/body.
e. What outrageous behaviour! You’re old enough to know well/better/best.
f. It’s amazing how some elderly famous people don’t seem/look/show their age!
g. Teenagers consider anyone over 30 to be as old as the valleys/rivers/hills.

15
15
 Expressions connected with animals

3 Select the correct animals to complete the phrases in a-e.

a. The ageing president felt like a fish/whale out of water when he attended the music
awards.
b. I don’t mind doing all the goat/donkey work as long as I get paid for it.
c. We had a butterfly/whale of a time on the last night of the sales conference last year.
d. I once tried my hand at painting but the result was a real cat’s/dog’s dinner.
e. The controversial new traffic scheme was supposed to be kept under wraps, but
someone let the rat/cat out of the bag.

4 Complete sentences a-f with these words. Explain the meanings of the expressions with
animals.

water dinner work time grass bag

a. Although we didn’t think we’d enjoy ourselves, we ended up having a whale of a

________ .
b. I can’t believe I did my homework so badly – I made a real dog’s ________ of it!
c. Next week’s party was meant to be a surprise but Sonya’s just let the cat out of the
________ .
d. Tom had always lived in the country and felt like a fish out of ________ in the city.
e. My last boss was a real snake in the ________ – you couldn’t trust a word he said.
f. When we decorated our house, my husband helped me choose the paint but left me to
do the donkey ________ .

5 Complete the dialogues in a-e with suitable phrases based on these animals.

rabbit butterfly dog hen horse

a. A Are you going to go out to celebrate with your girlfriends before the wedding?
B Yes, my bridesmaid’s organizing a ________ for me.

b. A How did you feel about performing in front of such a large audience?
B I have to confess I ________ in my stomach just thinking about it!

c. A I can’t believe I forgot to go to that meeting this morning.

B You’ll be ________ for the rest of the week then!

d. A Do you fancy watching the new chat show on television tonight?

B No way. I can’t stand programs with so-called ‘celebrities’ ________ about
themselves!

e. A Do you think I’ve bought enough food to go round at the barbecue?

B However much you buy it will get eaten – everyone we know eats ________ .
16
6 Complete sentences a-e appropriately to illustrate the meaning of the expressions.

a. I wish you’d stop rabbiting on about football – you know I ________ .

b. I’ve got butterflies in my stomach because this time tomorrow, I ________ .
c. Brian usually eats like a horse but ________ .
d. Poor David’s going to be in the doghouse. He’s just ________ .
e. If Jane’s having a hen party, it must mean ________ .

Expressions connected with the future

7 Match a-e with 1-5 to make phrases about the future.

a. on the 1. in store
b. in the 2. cards
c. what is 3. run
d. just 4. pipeline
e. in the long 5. around the corner

8 Complete the sentences, using the expressions of exercise 7.

a. Following a spell of poor weather, forecasters say that high temperatures are ________ .
b. Although I’ve applied for a number of jobs, I have nothing definite ________ yet.
c. Initially, this may seem an expensive investment right now, but ________ it will prove
good value for money.
d. If we’d known what was ________ us that day, we would never have gone on the
excursion.
e. Everyone hopes it won’t happen, but it’s ________ that the factory will close.

9 Fill in the verbs to complete the expressions. Choose from:

lack (2x) – beat – make (3x) – give – come – put – have

a. ________ up with something original

b. ________ the talent to do something
c. ________ the determination to do something
d. ________ it to the top
e. ________ the competition
f. ________ your mark
g. ________ your heart and soul into it
h. ________ sacrifices
i. ________ the necessary ambition
j. ________ it everything you’ve got
17
17
10 Categorize the expressions of exercise 9 in:

a. Success ___________________________________
b. Failure ___________________________________
c. Making an effort ___________________________________

11 Correct any mistakes in the expressions in bold in a-h and write down the complete expression.

a. Despite putting it everything we’d got, we still lost yesterday’s match.

b. Only by analysing their strengths and weaknesses can we hope to knock the
competition.
c. It seems that nowadays you need very little talent to do your mark in life.
d. After years without success, John finally accepted that he wanted the talent to become a
star.
e. Few celebrities realise the pressures involved in getting it to the top.
f. You could see from the children’s faces that they were putting their hearts and souls into
the performance.
g. At the end of the day, I wasn’t prepared to create the sacrifices needed in my personal
life for the sake of my job.
h. To be a successful inventor, you’ve got to come up to something original at the right
time.

18
 Language
Proficiency Gapfilling
C

1 Complete the gaps 1-12 with the best option (A, B, C or D).

As old as you feel

It might after all be true that you are only as old as you feel. A British clinic is carrying out new high-tech
tests to calculate the ‘real’ biological age of patients 1 _____ on their rate of physical deterioration.
Information on every 2 _____ of a patient’s health, fitness, lifestyle and family medical history is
3 _____ into a computer to work out whether they are older or younger than their calendar age
suggests.
The availability and increasing accuracy of the tests has 4 _____ one leading British gerontologist
to call for biological age to be used to determine when workers should retire. He 5 _____ that if an
employee’s biological or ‘real’ age is shown, for example, to be 55 when he reaches his 65th birthday,
he should be 6 _____ to work for another decade. Apparently most employers only take into 7 _____
a person’s calendar years, and the two may differ considerably.
Some of those prepared to pay substantial sums of money for the examinations will be able to
smugly walk away with medical 8 _____ showing that they really are as young as they feel, giving
them the confidence to act and dress as if they were younger. Dr Lynette Yong, resident doctor at the
clinic where the tests are offered claims that the purpose of these tests will be to motivate people to
9 _____ their health. The concept of ‘real age’ is set to become big 10_____ in the USA, with books
and websites helping people work out 11 _____ their body is older or younger than their years.
Others firmly believe that looks will always be the best 12 _____ of age.

1 A based B decided C arranged D established

2 A position B prospect C attitude D aspect
3 A supplied B fed C provided D planned
4 A projected B prodded C provoked D prompted
5 A debates B argues C discusses D enquires
6 A encouraged B supported C incited D promoted
7 A interest B detail C account D importance
8 A grounds B signs C demonstration D evidence
9 A progress B improve C gain D increase
10 A trade B pursuit C business D concern
11 A whether B unless C in case D so that
12 A notice B indicator C figure D token

19
19
2 Complete the gaps 1-12 with the best option (A, B, C or D).

A future in the dark

For many of us, we are working, travelling and shopping in hours that used to be reserved for
relaxation and sleep. But, according to the results of tests being 1 _____ by scientists, we are
no longer getting enough darkness in our lives. In fact, 2 _____ shows that a growing number of
health and environmental problems are 3 _____ a loss of darkness.

Life has evolved with a day/night cycle. People who go 4 _____ this day/night rhythm will notice
an adverse impact on their immune systems, and that’s not a good sign. We are 5 _____ a conflict
between what our mind wants, and what our internal body clock prepares us for. Some experts
6 _____ that our biological clock is similar to the conductor of an orchestra, with the multiple
rhythms of the body 7 _____ the various orchestra sections.

The body clock is 8 _____ on the light/dark cycle and it governs us for every 9 _____ of activity
and rest in our lives. It ensures that all our various internal systems are working together – this
is its sole 10 _____ . By moving to 24-hour living, and not taking into 11 _____ the dark side, we
will effectively be throwing away the advantages of evolution, 12 _____ we care to admit it or not.

1 A carried out B carried through C worked up D worked off

2 A demonstration B display C research D confirmation
3 A prone to B open to C due to D next to
4 A down with B without C through D behind
5 A creating B contributing C giving D increasing
6 A explain B discuss C enquire D debate
7 A describing B corresponding C expressing D representing
8 A done B based C decided D established
9 A prospect B attitude C position D type
10 A reason B project C purpose D desire
11 A interest B importance C detail D account
12 A so that B whether C unless D in case

20
20
3 Read texts A-D and complete gaps 1-10 with these prepositions.

with for out into under through by of from at

A
This fearsome creature will be one 1 _____ the most ferocious predators of the next Ice Age. In
order to adapt to the blizzards that will bury Northern Europe 2 _____ several metres of ice, it will
have a thick coat and sturdy legs with large flat paws. It will travel 3 _____ miles in pursuit of its
prey – sheep-size rodents called ‘shag rats’.

B
This amazing creature will be like no other. Heavier than an elephant and almost as large, it will
push its way 4 _____ the dense forest on eight tree trunk-size legs. It will walk 5 _____ elongating
each of its legs in turn, and then compressing them again.

C
This will be the largest animal ever to walk the planet but will evolve 6 _____ something as small
as the humble tortoise. Grazing on more than half a ton of vegetation every day, it will be 7 _____
home in the huge swamps formed when the east coast of Africa collides 8 _____ the south coast
of Asia. These massive creatures won’t have many predators to fear.

D
These creatures, so called because they can fly and swim, will replace the birdlife which will
previously have been wiped 9 _____ . They will develop from cod-like creatures and grow
elongated fins that serve as wings, enabling them to make their escape from predators in the sea
10 _____ the safety of the birdless sky.

4 Read texts A-D, ignoring the gaps, and match them with these names

The Toraton The Ocean Flish Snowstalker The Megasquid

21
21
5 Read the text below to find out more about these creatures, and complete gaps 1-15 with ONE
word each.

Out of this world?

We humans pride ourselves on being the masters of the earth, but modern man 1 _____ only
been around for 200,000 years of the planet’s four-and-a-half billion year history. And 2 _____ to
many scientists, the long-term outlook for us isn’t rosy. 3 _____ our tendency to get rid of each
other doesn’t finish us 4 _____, then our propensity for destroying the environment could. So what
might replace the human race? Here, 5 _____ the aid of the latest computer graphics, are some
6 _____ the fantastic creatures that experts believe could emerge as our inheritors. Creatures 7
_____ as these might look like something 8 _____ of a science-fiction film, but experts claim that
there are 9 _____ than enough clues to predict what future inhabitants the earth might look
10 _____ . We know the continents are moving and that the Atlantic is widening 11 _____ about
the rate our fingernails grow. So with the right computer modelling, we can calculate 12 _____ the
continents will end up. Ecologists can then predict what habitats might exist, and 13 _____ types
of animals that might live in them. The good news is that this species upheaval 14 _____ about
three million years away, so there is 15 _____ need for us to lose sleep over it just yet!

6 Complete gaps 1-8 in these newspaper extracts with a suitable preposition.

It is a widely held theory that the dinosaurs were wiped 1 _____ by a giant meteor which collided
2 _____ the earth. It is possible, however, that there is another explanation for what finished
3 _____ the dinosaurs.

Some 4 _____ the most adaptable creatures on earth can survive in extremely inhospitable
places. For example, the camel is so 5 _____ home in the desert that it can journey 6 _____ miles
without water.

According 7 _____ experts, the pace at which global warming is developing might be more
serious than we thought. It seems that the world is warming up 8 _____ an alarming rate.

22
22
 Grammar Articles
1

1 Translate the following sentences and pay attention to the use of a/an/the.

a. De vader van Benjamin werkt als financieel specialist bij het Ministerie van
Buitenlandse Zaken.
b. Als dierenliefhebber eet ik geen vlees en ook geen vis.
c. Mij oma was streng katholiek en ging elke zondag naar de kerk.
d. Is de Ben Nevis de hoogste berg in Schotland?
e. De begrafenis vindt plaats in de Sint Janskathedraal in Den Bosch.
f. Zullen we afspreken in de grote hal van het Liverpool Street Station in Londen?
g. Hij werd ziek in de gevangenis en werd overgebracht naar het plaatselijke ziekenhuis.
h. Ik haalde nooit goede cijfers op de middelbare school.
i. De zomer van 2016 is de heetste zomer ooit.
j. In de winter kijk ik altijd uit naar de lente.
k. Iedereen moet een bijdrage leveren aan de maatschappij.
l. Ofschoon zij nog veel waarde hechtte (= to value) aan het leven, kwam de dood haar
toch halen.
m. Mijn vader speelt al 30 jaar gitaar in een band.
n. De meeste jongens praten niet zo makkelijk over hun gevoelens.
o. Het Gardameer is een populaire vakantiebestemming.
p. Ik heb vanochtend het ontbijt overgeslagen.
q. Als wij de natuur niet beschermen, zal het leven op de aarde verdwijnen.
r. Ga jij altijd met de auto naar de stad?
s. Christine Lagarde is de President van de Europese Centrale Bank (= ECB).

Ben Nevis
23
 Gerunds and
Grammar
Infinitives
2

1 Complete the sentences using either a gerund or an infinitive.

a. Laura was thinking about _____ (move) to Newcastle and _____ (find) a new job there.
b. The policeman asked _____ (see) my ID card and thus caught me _____ (travel) without one.
c. I’m thinking of _____ (go) shopping tomorrow. Would you like _____ (join) me?
d. I can definitely recommend _____ (buy) these shares. They are really worth _____ (invest)
your money in.
e. They managed _____ (track down) their youngest son, but didn’t succeed in _____
(persuade) him to come home.
f. We are all looking forward to _____ (meet) you soon.
g. _____ (spend) more time with your children is vital for a good relationship.
h. She refused _____ (give up) her seat in Parliament for a younger candidate.
i. Do you feel like _____ (walk) there or would you prefer _____ (go) by bike? Well, I usually
prefer _____ (walk) to _____ (cycle) but today I’d rather go by bike.
j. _____ (take) more exercise is one of my New Year’s resolutions.
k. We have considered _____ (sell) our house, but the market is not healthy for it at the
moment.
l. We can’t afford _____ (go) on holiday anymore.
m. After the chairman had opened the meeting, he went on _____ (explain) the procedure.
n. It’s my mum’s birthday. I must remember _____ (call) her tonight.
o. I remember _____ (go) to my grandparents every Saturday afternoon.
p. _____ (open) that lock with a screw driver won’t work.
q. Stop _____ (moan) and start _____ (do) those exercises!
r. We wasted a lot of time _____ (recover) the lost documents in her computer.
s. I don’t mind _____ (go) there on my own.
t. When he saw her in the corridor, he stopped _____ (tell) her the good news.

24
2 Translate the following sentences using a gerund or an infinitive.

a. Tennissen is niet goed voor je gewrichten.

b. Nadat zij de laatste les beëindigd had, ging ze verder met het voorbereiden van de
lessen van de volgende dag.
c. Ik ga stoppen met het geven van online lessen, want het voorbereiden daarvan kost erg
veel tijd.
d. Ze slaagden erin de kinderen naar de andere kant van de rivier te brengen.
e. Hij had er spijt van dat hij de bank beroofd had en keek er niet naar uit dat hij zeven jaar
in de gevangenis moest doorbrengen.
f. Probeer de vlek eens te verwijderen met koud water of probeer het T-shirt op dertig
graden te wassen.
g. Het dragen van korte rokjes is niet verboden op school.
h. Zeg nu niet weer dat lezen goed voor mij is.
i. Het openen van de koffer was een spannend moment.
j. Vermijd het ontmoeten van veel verschillende mensen te ontmoeten.
k. Het ontwikkelen van een vaccin tegen COVID-19 is een grote uitdaging.
l. Ontken maar niet dat je die telefoon gestolen hebt!
m. We zijn aan het overwegen om terug te verhuizen naar Birmingham.
n. Jij riskeert het om het respect van jouw studenten te verliezen.
o. Stel je eens voor dat je zoveel geld verdient dat je het niet erg vindt om twee maanden
geen salaris te krijgen.
p. De leraar weigerde de vragen te beantwoorden.

25
 Grammar Quantifiers
3

1 Translate the following sentences into English.

a. Er zijn niet veel kinderen die liever thuis blijven dan naar school gaan.
b. De meeste mensen weten niet dat zij veel geld hebben verloren tijdens de economische
recessie van 2008.
c. Wij hebben hen een paar weken gelden in Italië opgezocht.
d. Hoe minder je weet, des te beter.
e. Er zijn tegenwoordig minder jongeren die roken.
f. De regering heeft een aantal voorzorgsmaatregelen genomen.
g. De hoeveelheid regen die wij de afgelopen paar maanden hebben gehad is veel te weinig
voor de gewassen.
h. Wil je iets drinken? Ja, graag.
i. Sommige kinderen hebben weinig geduld.
j. Het aantal mensen dat naar het buitenland op vakantie gaat is snel gestegen.
k. Er zijn te weinig leraren voor te veel scholen.
l. Ik heb niet veel van mijn wiskundelessen geleerd. Te weinig talent, vrees ik.
m. Weinig mensen zijn zich ervan bewust dat veel van de medicijnen die wij tegenwoordig
gebruiken, worden gemaakt worden van planten die in het regenwoud groeien.
n. Er bestaat veel verwarring over de talloze nieuwe regels voor huiseigenaren.
o. Een beetje medeleven tonen zal je geen kwaad doen.
p. Neem maar zoveel snoepjes als je wilt.
q. Wat wil je graag voor je verjaardag hebben? Gewoon iets, het maakt me niet uit.
r. Het aantal nieuwe infecties neemt snel af en het aantal mensen dat het ziekenhuis
verlaat, neemt ook snel toe.
s. We zullen minder artsen en minder medische apparatuur nodig hebben.
Florence

26
26
 Literature There Will Come Soft Rains

Introduction

Mankind has always struggled to master threat to the well-being and even survival of our
nature; e.g. we have built dikes and dams to species. We cannot survive without nature. But,
protect ourselves against the force of water. can the earth survive without mankind?
We have set up alarm systems to limit the The themes of man and technology versus
impact of tsunamis, warning systems for nature, the destruction of humanity and the idea
volcano eruptions and so on. Yet, every that nature will always prevail are explored in
now and then we are suddenly overtaken the poem There Will Come Soft Rains written by
by natural disasters, showing us that Sara Teasdale and in the short story of the same
nature still has the final say, no matter how title by Ray Bradbury. The poem was written in
technologically advanced we are. July 1918, towards the end of The Great War
For centuries man has exploited the earth’s and the short story a few years after the end of
natural resources and only fairly recently have World War II. These backgrounds are relevant
people started to realize that our limitless to a good understanding of both the poem and
exploitation of nature may entail a serious the short story.

There Will Come Soft Rains (1918)

Sara Teasdale (1884 – 1933)

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
Questions
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild-plum trees in tremulous white; 1. Looking at content, the poem can
be divided into two parts. What is
Robins will wear their feathery fire, described in part I and what in part II?
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
2. To whom or what does not one in
And not one will know of the war, not one stanzas 4 and 5 refer to?
Will care at last when it is done.
3. What is nature’s attitude towards
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree, humans in this poem? Which words
If mankind perished utterly; or lines tell you so?

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn 4. The Great War is crucial to a good
Would scarcely know that we were gone. interpretation of this poem. Explain.

27
There Will Come Soft Rains (1950)
Ray Bradbury (1920 – 2012)

I In the living room the voice-clock sang, 5 Ten o’clock. The sun came out from
“Tick-tock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city
get up, seven o’clock!” as if it were afraid that of rubble and ashes. This was the one house
nobody would. The morning house lay empty. left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a
The clock ticked on, repeating and repeating radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.
its sounds into the emptiness. “Seven-nine,
breakfast time, seven-nine!” In the kitchen the 6 Ten-fifteen. The garden sprinklers whirled
breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air
from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly with scatterings of brightness. The water pelted
browned toast, eight eggs sunny side up, windowpanes, running down the charred west
sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees, and two side where the house had been burned evenly
cool glasses of milk. free of its white paint. The entire west face of
the house was black, save for five places. Here
2 “Today is August 4, 2026,” said a second the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn.
voice from the kitchen ceiling, “in the city of Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick
Allendale, California.” It repeated the date flowers. Still farther over, their images burned
three times for memory’s sake. “Today is Mr. on wood in one titanic instant, a small boy,
Featherstone’s birthday. Today is the anniversary hands flung into the air; higher up, the image
of Tilita’s marriage. Insurance is payable, as are of a thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hands
the water, gas, and light bills.” Somewhere in the raised to catch a ball which never came down.
walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided under The five spots of paint—the man, the woman,
electric eyes. the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a
thin charcoaled layer.
3 “Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o’clock, off
to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one!” But no 7 The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden
doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of with falling light. Until this day, how well the house
rubber heels. It was raining outside. The weather had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired,
box on the front door sang quietly: “Rain, rain, “Who goes there? What’s the password?” and,
go away; rubbers, raincoats for today…” And the getting no answer from lonely foxes and whining
rain tapped on the empty house, echoing. cats, it had shut up its windows and drawn
shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with
4 Outside, the garage chimed and lifted its self-protection which bordered on a mechanical
door to reveal the waiting car. After a long wait paranoia. It quivered at each sound, the house
the door swung down again. At eight-thirty the did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade
eggs were shriveled and the toast was like stone. snapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not
An aluminum wedge scraped them into the sink, even a bird must touch the house!
where hot water whirled them down a metal
throat which digested and flushed them away to 8 The house was an altar with ten thousand
the distant sea. The dirty dishes were dropped attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in
into a hot washer and emerged twinkling dry. choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the
“Nine-fifteen, sang the clock, time to clean.” Out ritual of the religion continued senselessly,
of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted. uselessly.
The rooms were acrawl with the small cleaning
animals, all rubber and metal. They thudded 9 Twelve noon. A dog whined, shivering, on
against chairs, whirling their mustached runners, the front porch. The front door recognized the
kneading the rug nap, sucking gently at hidden dog voice and opened. The dog, once huge and
dust. Then, like mysterious invaders, they fleshy, but now gone to bone and covered with
popped into their burrows. Their pink electric sores, moved in and through the house, tracking
eyes faded. The house was clean. mud. Behind it whirred angry mice, angry at
28
having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience. weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky. The
For not a leaf fragment blew under the door but animals drew away into thorn brakes and water
what the wall panels flipped open and the copper holes. It was the children’s hour.
scrap rats flashed swiftly out. The offending dust,
hair, or paper, seized in miniature steel jaws, was 13 Five o’clock. The bath filled with clear
raced back to the burrows. There, down tubes hot water. Six, seven, eight o’clock. The dinner
which fed into the cellar, it was dropped into the dishes manipulated like magic tricks, and in the
sighing vent of an incinerator which sat like evil study a click. In the metal stand opposite the
Baal in a dark corner. hearth where a fire now blazed up warmly, a cigar
popped out, half an inch of soft gray ash on it,
10 The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping smoking, waiting. Nine o’clock. The beds warmed
to each door, at last realizing, as the house their hidden circuits, for nights were cool here.
realized, that only silence was here. It sniffed Nine-five. A voice spoke from the study ceiling:
the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind “Mrs. McClellan, which poem would you like this
the door, the stove was making pancakes which evening?” The house was silent. The voice said
filled the house with a rich baked odor and the at last, “Since you express no preference, I shall
scent of maple syrup. The dog, frothed at the select a poem at random.” Quiet music rose to
mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned back the voice. “Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your
to fire. It ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail, favorite….
spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for
an hour. “Two o’clock,” sang a voice. Delicately “There will come soft rains and the smell of the
sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice ground,
hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an And swallows circling with their shimmering
electrical wind. Two-fifteen. The dog was gone. sound;
In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly
and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney. And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
11 Two thirty-five. Bridge tables sprouted
from patio walls. Playing cards fluttered onto Robins will wear their feathery fire,
pads in a shower of pips. Martinis manifested Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches.
Music played. But the tables were silent and And not one will know of the war, not one
the cards untouched. At four o’clock the tables Will care at last when it is done.
folded like great butterflies back through the
paneled walls. Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
if mankind perished utterly;
12 Four-thirty. The nursery walls glowed.
Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
pink antelopes, lilac panthers cavorting in Would scarcely know that we were gone.”
crystal substance. The walls were glass. They
looked out upon color and fantasy. Hidden 14 The fire burned on the stone hearth and
films docked through well-oiled sprockets, and the cigar fell away into a mound of quiet ash
the walls lived. The nursery floor was woven on its tray. The empty chairs faced each other
to resemble a crisp, cereal meadow. Over between the silent walls, and the music played.
this ran aluminum roaches and iron crickets,
and in the hot still air butterflies of delicate 15 At ten o’clock the house began to die. The
red tissue wavered among the sharp aroma wind blew. A failing tree bough crashed through
of animal spoors! There was the sound like a the kitchen window. Cleaning solvent, bottled,
great matted yellow hive of bees within a dark shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in
bellows, the lazy bumble of a purring lion. an instant! “Fire!” screamed a voice. The house
And there was the patter of okapi feet and the lights flashed, water pumps shot water from the
murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like other hoofs, ceilings. But the solvent spread on the linoleum,
falling upon the summer-starched grass. Now licking, eating, under the kitchen door, while the
the walls dissolved into distances of 3 parched voices took it up in chorus: “Fire, fire, fire!” The

29
house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly playing music, cutting the lawn by remote-
shut, but the windows were broken by the heat control mower, or setting an umbrella frantically
and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire. The out and in the slamming and opening front door,
house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry a thousand things happening, like a clock shop
sparks moved with flaming ease from room to when each clock strikes the hour insanely before
room and then up the stairs. While scurrying or after the other, a scene of maniac confusion,
water rats squeaked from the walls, pistoled their yet unity; singing, screaming, a few last cleaning
water, and ran for more. And the wall sprays let mice darting bravely out to carry the horrid ashes
down showers of mechanical rain. away! And one voice, with sublime disregard for
the situation, read poetry aloud in the fiery study,
16 But too late. Somewhere, sighing, a pump until all the film spools burned, until all the wires
shrugged to a stop. The quenching rain ceased. withered and the circuits cracked. The fire burst
The reserve water supply which had filled baths the house and let it slam flat down, puffing out
and washed dishes for many quiet days was skirts of spark and smoke.
gone. The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon
Picassos and Matisses in the upper halls, like 19 In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of
delicacies, baking off the oily flesh, tenderly fire and timber, the stove could be seen making
crisping the canvases into black shavings. Now breakfasts at a psychopathic rate, ten dozen
the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed eggs, six loaves of toast, twenty dozen bacon
the colors of drapes! And then, reinforcements. strips, which, eaten by fire, started the stove
From attic trapdoors, blind robot faces peered working again, hysterically hissing! The crash.
down with faucet mouths gushing green chemical. The attic smashing into kitchen and parlor. The
The fire backed off, as even an elephant must parlor into cellar, cellar into sub-cellar. Deep
at the sight of a dead snake. Now there were freeze, armchair, film tapes, circuits, beds, and
twenty snakes whipping over the floor, killing the all like skeletons thrown in a cluttered mound
fire with a clear cold venom of green froth. But deep under. Smoke and silence. A great quantity
the fire was clever. It had sent flames outside the of smoke.
house, up through the attic to the pumps there.
An explosion! The attic brain which directed 20 Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among
the pumps was shattered into bronze shrapnel the ruins, one wall stood alone. Within the wall,
on the beams. The fire rushed back into every a last voice said, over and over again and again,
closet and felt of the clothes hung there. even as the sun rose to shine upon the heaped
rubble and steam: “Today is August 5, 2026,
17 The house shuddered, oak bone on today is August 5, 2026, today is…”
bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat,
its wire, its nerves revealed as if a surgeon (Guided reading on next page)
had torn the skin off to let the red veins and
capillaries quiver in the scalded air. “Help, help!
Fire! Run, run!” Heat snapped mirrors like the
brittle winter ice. And the voices wailed ‘Fire, fire,
run, run,” like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen
voices, high, low, like children dying in a forest,
alone, alone. And the voices fading as the wires
popped their sheathings like hot chestnuts. One,
two, three, four, five voices died. In the nursery
the jungle burned. Blue lions roared, purple
giraffes bounded off. The panthers ran in circles,
changing color, and ten million animals, running
before the fire, vanished off toward a distant
steaming river....

18 Ten more voices died. In the last instant

under the fire avalanche, other choruses,
oblivious, could be heard announcing the time,

30
 Guided reading for There Will Come Soft Rains

1 Read the paragraphs 1-8 and collect information on:

a. Place and date.
b. Describe the neighbourhood in which the house is located.
c. What disaster may have taken place? Use a quote from the text to support your answer.
d. Who were the family that lived in the house and what happened to them? Use a quote from the
text to support your answer.
e. What about the technology that is used in the house? What does it tell you about the world the
family used to live in?
f. Remarkably enough, the technology in the house keeps functioning without its human occupants.
To what end? Use a quote from the text to support your answer.

2 Read paragraphs 9 and 10

a. The family’s dog appears. What condition is it in? Use quotes!
b. What is the dog looking for and what happens to the dog?
c. How do the mice get rid of its body?

3 Read paragraphs 11 to 14
a. What activities did usually take place in the house in the afternoon and evening?
b. What point does the author Ray Bradbury want to make by inserting Sara’s Teasdale’s poem here?

4 Read paragraphs 15 to 20
a. The house catches fire. What caused the fire to start?
b. “It fed upon Picassos and Matisses in the upper halls,” what do these paintings tell you about the
owners of the house?
c. The house is personified and puts up a fight for survival. Find two examples that illustrate its
human characteristics.
d. Dawn breaks. The house is destroyed, one wall left standing. A voice can be heard repeating
over and over again: “Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is …” Technology
seems to have survived the fire. Referring to the complete story, is there any significance in this?

5 Reflection

a. Ray Bradbury wrote There Will Come Soft Rains in 1950, five years after the atomic destruction
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What message does the author wish to convey in this short story?
b. Technology plays an important yet ambivalent role in this story. Explain how the state-of-the-art
technology has worked out for humankind in this story.
c. Compare the last stanza of the poem to the last paragraph of the short story. What parallels can
you detect?
d. What point does the author want to make by using the title of Sara Teasdale’s poem for his own
short story?
e. What can this story teach you about the conflict between man versus nature?

31
 Writing Rotten: Lawyers, Guns & Honey

Assignment: Writing a review

You are going to write a review about a documentary together with a classmate. You can choose
for the documentary that we have watched in class, Rotten: Lawyers, Guns & Honey (Netflix,
season 1, episode 1), or another Rotten documentary.

Learning targets

You will learn how to:

• identify the main points from side issues;
• describe and explain the main issues clearly and to-the-point
• express your personal opinion about the documentary and write a recommendation;
• use formal and appropriate vocabulary, grammar and linking words;
• apply the review format correctly.

Review format

• Introduction: you introduce the documentary, mention its full title/year of release/. Explain
why this documentary was made and what the main issues are.
• Body: one or two paragraphs in which you work out the main problems that are dealt with.
• Conclusion: includes the final conclusion of the documentary itself, your own opinion on
the documentary and recommendation for your readers.
• Use 220-260 words

32
32
 Speaking The Great Earth Debate

We will be completing our theme of Planet Earth by a class debate on some challenging climate
issues. Who will come up with the most original ideas? Who will emerge as the smoothest talker, the
sharpest thinker or best debater in class? Get your team ready, brush up your vocabulary, prepare your
arguments and spice them up with tantalizing statements.

Some debate topics

Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today.
Bottled water should be banned.
Plastic bags and packaging should be banned.
When buying clothes a kind of special waste tax on textiles should be levied.
Air ticket prices should be doubled to pay for the damage to our climate.
Nuclear energy is the green choice for our future.
Going vegetarian is the solution for a sustainable future.
Organic farming is the answer to climate change.
The damage done to our planet is already irreversible.
Climate change is fake news.

33
33
 Appendix
1
Word List 1 - Planet Earth
Study the following words and phrases from Dutch to English and
from English to Dutch.

1. Vocabulary referring to environmental problems

the environment het milieu / de omgeving

environmental issues milieuproblemen
the greenhouse effect het broeikas effect
global warming het opwarmen van de aarde
climate change klimaatverandering
a calamity / catastrophe / disaster een ramp
catastrophic / disastrous rampzalig
deforestation ontbossing
desertification verwoestijning
a floods een overstroming
a period of drought een periode van droogte
a landslide een aardverschuiving
to pollute / pollution vervuilen / vervuiling
to contaminate / contamination besmetten / besmetting (vervuilen)
nuclear waste kern / nucleaire / atoom afval
exhaust fumes uitlaatgassen
carbon dioxide emissions de uitstoot van CO2/koolstofdioxide
a carbon footprint een ecologische voetafdruk
acid rain zure regen
radiation straling
the amount of toxic waste de hoeveelheid giftig afval
uninhabited / uninhabitable onbewoond / onbewoonbaar
to become extinct uitsterven
an endangered species (altijd mv.) een met uitsterven bedreigde soort
to be in danger of extinction met uitsterven bedreigd
fertilizer kunstmest
an insect repellent een insectenwerend middel
pesticides verdelgingsmiddelen
to emit harmful gasses het uitstoten van schadelijke gassen
factory farming de bio industrie

34
 Word List 1 - Planet Earth
2. Energy resources

natural resources natuurlijke hulpbronnen

sustainable energy duurzame energie
renewable energy hernieuwbare energie
solar energy zone energie
wind power / energy windenergie
wind turbines windmolens
a wind farm een windmolenpark
a power plant / power station een electriciteitscentrale
hydro energy energie gegenereerd door waterkracht
geo thermal energy energie gegenereerd uit aardwarmte
fossil fuels fossiele brandstoffen
biomass energy energie gegenereerd uit verbranding van
biomassa

3. Vocabulary referring to environmentally friendly measures

organic farming de biologische landbouw

organic products biologische producten
sustainable duurzaam
sustainability duurzaamheid
biodegradable biologisch afbreekbaar
to recycle hergebruiken (na bewerking)
recyclable herbruikbaar
to reuse hergebruiken
to insulate houses het isoleren van huizen

4. Mankind

the population de bevolking

the inhabitants de inwoners (van een stad)
the residents de bewoners (van een buurt / huis)
the community de gemeenschap
society (zonder the) de maatschappij
mankind (zonder the) de mensheid
humanity (zonder the) de mensheid
a champion of / an advocate of een voorvechter / voorstander van
an opponent of een tegenstander van
an adversary een tegenstander
an environmentalist / a conservationist een natuur/milieubeschermer

35
 Word List 1 - Planet Earth
5. Mixed bag

feasible haalbaar
irreversible onherroepelijk / onomkeerbaar
to reduce / reduction verminderen / vermindering
to fuel aanwakkeren / van brandstof voorzien
at the expense of ten koste van
efforts inspanningen
to attempt / attempts proberen / pogingen
the food chain de voedselketen
retailers winkeliers / middenstanders
chain stores winkelketens
to bring about veroorzaken
to adapt to zich aanpassen aan
the conservation of nature milieubeheer
to protect/conserve nature het milieu / de natuur beschermen
to improve verbeteren
to implement changes veranderingen in / doorvoeren

36
 Word List 2 - Planet Earth (Lang. Prof. A)
Study the following words and phrases from Dutch to English and
from English to Dutch.

1. Phrasal verbs and nouns

to put someone up iemand onderdak bieden

to put someone down iemand vernederen
to set something up iets opzetten/opstarten
to bring something down iets omver werpen (figuurlijk)
to bring something up / to mention sth iets ter sprake brengen / noemen
to bring up a child / to raise a child een kind opvoeden
to break something up iets beëindigen
to break down instorten (als persoon)
to turn something out iets produceren
to turn up (e.g. the volume) harder zetten
to turn something/someone down iets/iemand afwijzen
to come up with something iets bedenken
to carry something out iets uitvoeren
to work something out iets achterhalen
to hand something over iets overhandigen
to hand something out iets uitdelen
to pass away overlijden
to stand in for someone invallen voor iemand
to be knocked down omver geslagen worden
to make out begrijpen
to make of begrijpen
to stand out opvallen
to pass out flauwvallen
to cut back on bezuinigen op
to sign up for zich inschrijven voor
the cutbacks de bezuinigingen
the outburst de uitbarsting
the downfall de ondergang
the upbringing de opvoeding
the breakdown de instorting
the turnover de omzet
the turnout de opkomst
the handout het stencil

37
 Word List 3 - Planet Earth (Lang. Prof. B)
Study the following words and phrases from Dutch to English and
from English to Dutch.

1. Animals
the manes de manen (van dieren)
the flipper vleugel/zwempoot (van zeehond,
pinguïn, schildpad)
the fin de vin
the wing de vleugel (van vogel)
the scale de schub
the claw de klauw
the shell het schild
the beak de snavel
the hoof / hooves de hoef / hoeven
the horn de hoorn
the hide de pels
the tusk de slagtand
the paw de poot (van o.a. hond)
a leopard een luipaard
a eagle een adelaar
a snail een slak
a swan een zwaan
a snake een slang
a rabbit een konijn
a stag een hertenbok
a deer / the deer een ree / de reeën
a hen een kip
a butterfly een vlinder
a donkey een ezel
a horse een paard
a whale een walvis

2. Expressions connected to animals

to have a whale of a time een geweldige tijd hebben

to let the cat out of the bag iets verklappen
to feel like a fish out of the water je als een vis op het droge voelen
to rabbit on about something ergens maar over door blijven praten
the hen party het vrijgezellenfeest (vrouwen)
the stag party het vrijgezellenfeest (voor mannen)
to be in the doghouse in de problemen zitten

38
 Word List 3 - Planet Earth (Lang. Prof. B)
to do the donkey work de zware of saaie klus doen
to make a dog’s dinner of it er een puinzooi van maken
to be a snake in the grass een onbetrouwbaar iemand zijn
to have butterflies in your stomach nerveus zijn over iets
to rabbit on about something blijven doorpraten over iets
to eat like a horse heel veel eten

3. Animal characteristics
agile behendig
sociable sociaal / prettig in de omgang
graceful elegant / gracieus
fearsome afschrikwekkend / beangstigend
ferocious / fierce woest
to stalk a prey jagen op een prooi
to groom oneself / someone zich optutten / iemand verzorgen

4. Predicting the future

to make a prediction een voorspelling doen
to turn out to be blijken te zijn
it’s unlikely that het is onwaarschijnlijk dat
there’s absolutely no way that het is compleet onmogelijk dat
there’s a good chance that er is een redelijk grote kans dat
the chances are that het zit erin dat
it seems inevitable that het lijkt onvermijdelijk dat
... is bound to ... ... zal vrijwel zeker ...
there’s no doubt that er is geen twijfel dat
to be just around the corner eraan zitten te komen
in the long run op de lange termijn
to have something in store for someone iets voor iemand in petto hebben
the distant future de verre toekomst
it’s on the cards het is waarschijnlijk
I wouldn’t be surprised if het zou me niet verbazen als
I would probably decide to ik zou waarschijnlijk besluiten om
I doubt if I would ik betwijfel of ik

39
 Word List 3 - Planet Earth (Lang. Prof. B)
5. Expressions connected to age
old enough to know better oud genoeg om beter te weten
the youth of today de jeugd van tegenwoordig
not to look your age er niet zo oud uitzien als je bent
to remain young at heart jong van geest blijven
to be as old as the hills heel oud zijn
to have an old head on young shoulders wijzer zijn dan men qua leeftijd kan
verwachten
to get older/younger ouder/jonger worden

6. Vocabulary connected to ambitions

to encourage someone iemand aanmoedigen
to fulfil your ambitions je ambities waar maken
to firmly believe in something ergens sterk in geloven
to have the determination to vastberaden zijn om
to be determined to vastberaden zijn om
to make it to the top de top bereiken
to beat the competition de concurrentie verslaan
to knock out the competition de concurrentie elimineren
to put your heart and soul into sth alles voor iets geven
to make a lot of sacrifices veel offers brengen
to lack the necessary ambition niet de nodige ambitie hebben
to lack the talent to het talent niet hebben om
to give it everything you have got alles geven
to make one’s mark iets doen waardoor je succesvol wordt

40
 Appendix
2
Grammar - Articles - lidwoorden
1. The use of a/an

In contrast to Dutch, English uses a/an for occupations and religious, political or ethical convictions.

My sister is an accountant.
My father is a devout Jew.
Our teacher is a socialist.
Justin is a vegetarian.

2. The use / absence of the

In contrast to Dutch, English does not use the in the following cases:

a. With the names of certain buildings.

When we were in London, we visited Buckingham Palace.
The wedding ceremony took place at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Eurostar trains leave from St Pancras Station.

b. With most names of streets, squares, parks, lakes and mountains.

Central Park in New York is well worth a visit.
You can find lots of designer stores on Fifth Avenue in New York.
We welcomed the new year on Leicester Square this year.
Mount Everest is the tallest and most famous mountain in the world.
We went for a boat trip on Lake Michigan.

c. With church, school, hospital, prison when used in a general sense.

Do you go to church every week?
My dad spent some time in hospital last year.
He was sent to prison for six years.
When I was at primary school, we emigrated to Norway.
I am not sure if I want to go on to university.
My little sister is looking forward to going to Canisius College.

However, when referring to the building itself the article is used.

They opened the new school two weeks ago.
The prison in Zutphen was hot news last Sunday.
They have decided to close the church in Paddington Lane.
I will be waiting for you in front of the main entrance of the hospital.

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 Articles

d. With names of meals and seasons.

On weekdays, breakfast is served between 7AM and 10 AM.
I hope you will be back in time for dinner.
Sheila skipped lunch yesterday.
Winter set in early this year.
Spring is my favourite season.

However, when referring to a particular season, the is used.

We will always remember the spring of 2020 when public life stopped because of the
coronavirus. The winter of 1963 was a particularly cold winter.

e. With abstract nouns used in a general sense.

Do you really feel that society is changing?
Love is all you need.
Life in the slums of India is very tough.
They went into town yesterday.
Till death do us part.
Humans have a devastating impact on nature.
Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

However, when the noun is used in a specific sense the is required.

We learn about the history of WW II at school.
The death of the dictator was celebrated throughout the country.
We won’t be able to continue with the life we have led until now.

f. With the translation of ‘de meeste’.

Most people say they care about the climate.
However, in most cases this is not true.
Most problems can be easily solved.

g. With means of transportation.

Most teachers go to school by bike.
We went to Italy by plane last year.

h. The is used in playing an instrument.

He has been playing the violin for eight years now.
I played the piano when I was a child.

42
 Appendix
3
Grammar - Gerunds and Infinitives
gerundium en infinitieven
1. Form and use of the gerund

Form: verb + ing

When do you use the gerund?

a. As a subject or direct object of the sentence

Drinking coffee keeps you awake.
I miss going to the swimming pool early in the morning.
I like listening to podcasts.

b. After certain verbs

Imagine winning a million pounds in the lottery.
Do you mind opening a window?
I recommend going to the Tate Gallery.

c. After prepositions
They kept on talking.
I look forward to seeing you again.
They gave up searching for the little girl.

d. After certain expressions

You had no business checking my diary.
I wasted a lot of time looking up information.
He couldn’t help crying when he heard the sad news.

2. Use of the infinitive with to

a. After certain verbs

I expect to see you soon.
They managed to stop the oil spill.
Let’s agree to disagree.

b. After certain verbs that are combined with a direct or indirect object
I ordered them to help her.
She reminded her daughter to pick up the parcel after school.
I would hate my daughter to find out from someone else.

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 Gerunds and Infinitives

3. Use of the infinitive without to

c. After let, make, would rather, had better.

Her mom made her clean up her bedroom.
The teacher let the children go home early.
You’d better leave early tomorrow.
I’d rather stay at home tonight.

4. Verbs followed by gerund and infinitive

Some verbs can be followed by a gerund and an infinitive. However, the meaning of the sentence
may change.

a. No change in meaning

1. It stopped to rain/raining when we left the house.

2. We hate/love/like to go/going to the cinema.
3. I prefer to drink/drinking tea.

b. Change in meaning

stop
He stopped to talk to his neighbour. (Hij stopte om met haar te gaan praten.)
He stopped talking to his neighbour. (Hij hield op met praten.)

remember
Please remember to pick up my books at the library.
(Denk er a.u.b. aan om mijn boeken op te halen.)
I still remember her sitting in front of the window.
(Terugblikkend: Je herinnert je nog hoe ze altijd voor het raam zat.)

forget
Don’t forget to ring Julia on her birthday. (Denk eraan dat je haar belt.)
I will never forget arriving at Istanbul Airport.
(Terugblikkend: Ik zal nooit vergeten hoe ik daar aankwam.)

try
I tried to say her name, but couldn’t. (proberen)
We tried drinking instant coffee instead of tea, but we didn’t like it. (uitproberen)

regret
We regret to inform you that you have not been selected for the job. (Het spijt ons dat …….)
I regret lending him so much money. (Terugblikkend op iets waar je spijt van hebt.)

mean
Oh, I meant to tell you something. But I’ve forgotten what it was. (van plan zijn)
Buying this car means paying a higher mortgage. (betekent dat ….)

(Continues on next page)

44
 Gerunds and Infinitives

like
I like reading books. / I like to read books. (vind je altijd leuk.)
I would like to read the new Stephen King. (specifiek dit boek)

prefer
I prefer reading books over watching television. (altijd)
I prefer to read books over watching television. (altijd)
I would prefer to go to Italy this year. (specifiek nu)

go on
She went on talking for hours. (blijft maar praten)
The teacher welcomed the students, then he went on to explain the class rules. (begint iets nieuws)

5. Overview

Verb + gerund /
Verb + gerund /
infinitive
Verb + gerund Verb + infinitive infinitive
Same meaning (or
Change in meaning
slight difference)

avoid afford begin forget

admit agree continue regret
can’t face dare hate remember
can’t help decide like stop
can’t stand expect love try
consider fail prefer mean
deny happen start
describe hope stop
detest learn
enjoy manage
fancy offer
feel like plan
finish prepare
imagine pretend
keep promise
mind refuse
miss seem
postpone want
practise
recommend
risk
spend time
suggest
all verbs +
preposition

45
 Appendix
4
Grammar - Quantifiers - numerieke bepaling

Quantifiers
Uncountable nouns Countable nouns
in Dutch

much money many survivors

veel
a lot of / lots of money a lot of / lots of toys

weinig little rain few people

minder less furniture fewer problems

a little happiness
een beetje / een
some luck -
hoeveelheid
an amount of rain
a few books
a number of students
een paar / een aantal /
- a couple of oranges
enig / talloze
some children
numerous documents

geen not any time not any options

Much / many are generally used in questions and negative sentences whereas lots of / a lot of are
used in positive statements.

Some is generally used in positive sentences whereas any is used in negative sentences and
questions.

Some, however, can also be used in questions like: ‘Would like some tea?’ You are offering
somebody something and you expect the answer to be ‘yes’.

Any can also be used in positive statements which have a negative meaning or when you do not limit
a choice:
‘He left the house without any money on him.’
‘You can ask me anything.’
‘I will buy you anything you like.’

46