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Coffee company to improve sustainability (4th September, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

The coffee company Nespresso has announced ambitious new plans to help make its operations more sustainable. The company is a brand name of the Nestlé group of companies. It makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the single-use containers of coffee needed for the device. Its new initiative on sustainability is called 'The Positive Cup'. This aims to source one of its ranges of coffee through totally sustainable methods, while helping some of the world's poorest coffee farmers. It will invest just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. A company spokesperson said it, "aims to protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the livelihoods of the farmers that grow them".

A main component of the campaign is to recycle all of the aluminium capsules used in the machines. The company will collect the capsules "wherever the company does business" and "increase recycling rates". The company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon neutral" by 2020 by planting trees to compensate for its carbon footprint. CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin said: "Our sustainability approach has always been designed to do more than simply minimise impacts." Hollywood actor George Clooney said: "The investment…in South Sudan's coffee sector, even while the conflict is ongoing, is providing much-needed income for hundreds of farmers and their families living in coffee communities."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/nespresso-invests-ps328-million-to-improve-sustainability-by-2020
http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/21434-nespresso-launches-2020-sustainability-ambition/2/

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. SUSTAINABILITY: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about sustainability. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

coffee company / ambitious / initiative / sustainability / farmers / highest quality / campaign / recycling / carbon neutral / compensation / carbon footprint / conflict

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. INITIATIVES: What initiatives for sustainability could we start with these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Initiative name	Initiative actions	Which would you do?
Technology
Hair
Music
Shopping bags
Gardens
Water

4. CARBON NEUTRAL: Students A strongly believe it's impossible for a company to be carbon neutral; Students B strongly believe every company could be carbon neutral if they tried. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. UNSUSTAINABLE: Rank these with your partner. Put the most unsustainable at the top at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• cars

• bottled water

• fishing

• middle-class lifestyles

• meat consumption

• population growth

• logging

• building of cities

6. COFFEE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "coffee". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A coffee company has announced modest plans for sustainability.	T / F
b.	Nespresso's machines are only for multiple-use coffee containers.	T / F
c.	All of Nespresso's ranges of coffee are part of the sustainability plans.	T / F
d.	Nespresso will invest around $5 million in each of 3 African countries.	T / F
e.	Nespresso's coffee containers are made from aluminium.	T / F
f.	The company says it will recycle 100% of the coffee containers.	T / F
g.	Nespresso hopes to be 100% carbon neutral within the next 10 years.	T / F
h.	There is no investment for countries in which there are conflicts.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	ambitious	a.	varieties
2.	operations	b.	make up for
3.	initiative	c.	bold
4.	ranges	d.	part
5.	livelihoods	e.	business
6.	component	f.	gather
7.	collect	g.	means of support
8.	compensate	h.	strategy
9.	approach	i.	in progress
10.	ongoing	j.	plan

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	ambitious	a.	needed for the device
2.	make its operations	b.	impacts
3.	containers of coffee	c.	of the farmers
4.	invest	d.	of the campaign
5.	secure the livelihoods	e.	more sustainable
6.	A main component	f.	footprint
7.	it would become 100 per cent carbon	g.	new plans
8.	compensate for its carbon	h.	needed income
9.	minimise	i.	neutral by 2020
10.	providing much-	j.	just over $16 million

GAP FILL

The coffee company Nespresso has announced (1) ___________ new plans to help make its operations more sustainable. The company is a (2) ___________ name of the Nestlé group of companies. It makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the (3) ___________ -use containers of coffee needed for the device. Its new initiative on sustainability is called 'The Positive Cup'. This aims to (4) ___________ one of its ranges of coffee through (5) ___________ sustainable methods, while helping some of the world's poorest coffee farmers. It will (6) ___________ just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. A company spokesperson said it, "(7) ___________ to protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the (8) ___________ of the farmers that grow them".

totally
brand
ambitious
aims
source
single
livelihoods
invest

A main (9) ___________ of the campaign is to recycle all of the aluminium capsules used in the machines. The company will collect the capsules "(10) ___________ the company does business" and "increase recycling (11) ___________". The company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon (12) ___________ " by 2020 by planting trees to compensate for its carbon (13) ___________. CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin said: "Our sustainability approach has always been designed to do more than simply minimise (14) ___________." Hollywood actor George Clooney said: "The investment…in South Sudan's coffee (15) ___________, even while the conflict is ongoing, is providing much-(16) ___________ income for hundreds of farmers and their families living in coffee communities."

footprint
component
impacts
wherever
needed
neutral
sector
rates

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	The coffee company Nespresso has announced ______
	a. ambitiously new plans b. ambitions new plans c. ambitious new plans d. ambition new plans
2)	It makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the _____
	a. single-used containers b. single-use containers c. singled-use containers d. singles-use containers
3)	This aims to source one of its ranges of coffee through ______
	a. totally sustainability methods b. totally unsustainable methods c. totally unsustainability methods d. totally sustainable methods
4)	It will invest just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya ______
	a. and southern Sudan b. and southerly Sudan c. and southernmost Sudan d. and South Sudan
5)	protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the ______
	a. livelihood of the farmers b. livelihoods of the farmers c. lively hoods of the farmers d. live lea hoods of the farmers
6)	A main component of the campaign is to recycle all of ______
	a. the aluminium cap shoes b. the aluminium capsules c. the aluminium caps shoes d. the aluminium cap shoos
7)	The company will collect the capsules "wherever the ______"
	a. company does businesses b. company does bees nest c. company does businesslike d. company does business
8)	The company also said it would become 100 per cent ______
	a. carbon neutral b. carbon natural c. carbon neural d. carbon neuter
9)	Our sustainability approach has always been designed to do more than ______
	a. simply minimise compacts b. simply minimise impacts c. simply minimise impasse d. simply minimise impasses
10)	…even while the conflict ______
	a. is ongoing b. is going on c. is oncoming d. is coming on

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The coffee company Nespresso has announced (1) ___________________ to help make its operations (2) ___________________. The company is a brand name of the Nestlé group of companies. It makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the (3) ___________________ of coffee needed for the device. Its new initiative on sustainability is called 'The Positive Cup'. This aims to source (4) ___________________ coffee through totally sustainable methods, while helping some of the world's poorest coffee farmers. It will invest just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. A company spokesperson said it, "(5) ___________________ future of the highest quality coffees and (6) ___________________ of the farmers that grow them".

A main component of the campaign (7) ___________________ of the aluminium capsules used in the machines. The company will collect the capsules "(8) ___________________ business" and "increase recycling rates". The company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon neutral" by 2020 by planting trees (9) ___________________ carbon footprint. CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin said: "Our sustainability approach has always been designed (10) ___________________ minimise impacts." Hollywood actor George Clooney said: "The investment…in South Sudan's coffee sector, even while (11) ___________________, is providing much-needed income for hundreds of farmers and (12) ___________________ coffee communities."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What kind of plans did the article say Nespresso had?
2.	What kind of coffee containers does Nespresso make?
3.	How many ranges of coffee will be part of the initiative?
4.	How much will Nespresso invest in three African countries?
5.	What does Nespresso want to secure?
6.	What does Nespresso want to recycle?
7.	What does Nespresso want to increase?
8.	By when does Nespresso want to become 100% carbon neutral?
9.	Who said the investment in the three countries is important?
10.	What does the investment provide for farmers?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What kind of plans did the article say Nespresso had?	6.	What does Nespresso want to recycle?
	a) unsustainable ones b) far-reaching ones c) ambitious ones d) big ones		a) ideas b) aluminium capsules c) water d) concrete jungles
2.	What kind of coffee containers does Nespresso make?	7.	What does Nespresso want to increase?
	a) single-use b) multi-use c) dual-use d) maxi-use		a) recycling rates b) the size of coffee beans c) productivity d) its carbon footprint
3.	How many ranges of coffee will be part of the initiative?	8.	By when does Nespresso want to become 100% carbon neutral?
	a) one b) two c) three d) four		a) 2016 b) 2018 c) 2020 d) 2022
4.	How much will Nespresso invest in three African countries?	9.	Who said the investment in South Sudan was important?
	a) $60 million b) $16 million c) $6.6 million d) $600 million		a) Kenya's president b) Ban Ki-moon c) Barack Obama d) George Clooney
5.	What does Nespresso want to secure?	10.	What does the investment provide for farmers?
	a) bigger coffee beans b) the likelihood of farming c) bigger profits d) the livelihoods of farmers		a) much-needed income b) sustainability c) a carbon-neutral lifestyle d) a coffee sector

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Bottled water

You think bottled water is the biggest problem for sustainability. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things about their problem that can be easily solved. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): middle-class lifestyles, meat consumption or logging.

Role B – Middle-class lifestyles

You think middle-class lifestyles are the biggest problem for sustainability. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things about their problem that can be easily solved. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): bottled water, meat consumption or logging.

Role C – Meat consumption

You think meat consumption is the biggest problem for sustainability. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things about their problem that can be easily solved. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): bottled water, middle-class lifestyles or logging.

Role D – Logging

You think logging is the biggest problem for sustainability. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things about their problem that can be easily solved. Also, tell the others which is the least harmful of these (and why): bottled water, meat consumption or middle-class lifestyles.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'coffee' and 'company'.

coffee

company

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

announced
brand
single
source
just
grow

main
wherever
2020
footprint
CEO
hundreds

SUSTAINABILITY SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about sustainability in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

SUSTAINABILITY DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'sustainability'?
c)	Why is sustainability important?
d)	What companies seem to be most serious about sustainability?
e)	How sustainable or otherwise are our lifestyles?
f)	What do you think of Nespresso's initiative?
g)	What do you think of the Nestlé group of companies?
h)	Do you think 'The Positive Cup' initiative will do good?
i)	The company will invest $16 million in three countries, about the same as the average CEO salary. Is this good?
j)	Will Nespresso, "secure the livelihoods of the farmers"?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	How good for the environment is using an aluminium capsule to make just one cup of coffee?
c)	Would it be better to not use the aluminium capsules at all?
d)	How do you think Nespresso will recycle 100% of the capsules?
e)	How good is it for a company's image to be 100% carbon neutral?
f)	How much do companies really care about the environment?
g)	What can other companies learn from Nespresso?
h)	Should more companies be helping those in conflict zones?
i)	What advice do you have for the CEO of Nespresso?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Nespresso's CEO?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

The coffee company Nespresso has announced (1) ____ new plans to help make its operations more sustainable. The company is a (2) ____ name of the Nestlé group of companies. It makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the single-use containers of coffee (3) ____ for the device. Its new initiative on sustainability is called 'The Positive Cup'. This aims to (4) ____ one of its ranges of coffee through totally sustainable methods, (5) ____ helping some of the world's poorest coffee farmers. It will invest just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. A company spokesperson said it, "aims to protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the (6) ____ of the farmers that grow them".

A main (7) ____ of the campaign is to recycle all of the aluminium capsules used in the machines. The company will collect the capsules "wherever the company does business" and "increase recycling (8) ____". The company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon neutral" by 2020 by planting trees to compensate (9) ____ its carbon footprint. CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin said: "Our sustainability approach has always been designed to do more than (10) ____ minimise impacts." Hollywood actor George Clooney said: "The investment…in South Sudan's coffee sector, even while the conflict is (11) ____, is providing (12) ____-needed income for hundreds of farmers and their families living in coffee communities."

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	ambitions	(b)	ambitiously	(c)	ambitious	(d)	ambition
2.	(a)	blend	(b)	brand	(c)	bland	(d)	braid
3.	(a)	needed	(b)	needs	(c)	needy	(d)	needful
4.	(a)	source	(b)	sauce	(c)	sows	(d)	saucer
5.	(a)	what	(b)	while	(c)	whichever	(d)	whatsoever
6.	(a)	living	(b)	likability	(c)	likelihood	(d)	livelihoods
7.	(a)	compartment	(b)	complement	(c)	component	(d)	compliment
8.	(a)	patios	(b)	pro rata	(c)	ratios	(d)	rates
9.	(a)	for	(b)	of	(c)	by	(d)	at
10.	(a)	ease	(b)	simply	(c)	easy	(d)	simpleton
11.	(a)	outgoing	(b)	ongoing	(c)	goings on	(d)	going on
12.	(a)	many	(b)	more	(c)	much	(d)	most

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	iimatusob new plans
2.	single-use nciantsore of coffee
3.	Its new ivianiteit on sustainability
4.	ecuosr one of its ranges of coffee
5.	the highest iyalqut coffees
6.	secure the lhovoseiidl of the farmers
Paragraph 2
7.	A main tcoonnmpe of the campaign
8.	recycle all of the aluminium ueaspcsl
9.	increase eyinrlgcc rates
10.	nsaeocmetp for its carbon footprint
11.	South Sudan's coffee etsroc
12.	families living in coffee misemcutoni

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	designed to do more than simply minimise impacts." Hollywood actor George Clooney said: "The investment…in South Sudan's
( )	of coffee through totally sustainable methods, while helping some of the world's poorest coffee farmers. It will invest
( )	sells espresso coffee machines and the single-use containers of coffee needed for the device. Its new initiative on
( )	sustainability is called 'The Positive Cup'. This aims to source one of its ranges
( )	just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. A company spokesperson said it, "aims
( )	to protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the livelihoods of the farmers that grow them".
( )	machines. The company will collect the capsules "wherever the company does business" and "increase recycling
( )	for its carbon footprint. CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin said: "Our sustainability approach has always been
( )	A main component of the campaign is to recycle all of the aluminium capsules used in the
( )	rates". The company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon neutral" by 2020 by planting trees to compensate
( )	coffee sector, even while the conflict is ongoing, is providing much-needed
( )	income for hundreds of farmers and their families living in coffee communities."
( 1 )	The coffee company Nespresso has announced ambitious new plans to help make its operations more
( )	sustainable. The company is a brand name of the Nestlé group of companies. It makes and

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	operations to its sustainable plans make more New help .
2.	group name Nestlé companies brand the of A of .
3.	use containers of coffee needed for the device Single - .
4.	coffee of farmers the world's Helping poorest some .
5.	coffees of the Protect highest the quality future .
6.	to A of is component campaign recycle main the .
7.	carbon 2020 become cent by would per neutral It 100 .
8.	compensate for Planting its trees carbon to footprint .
9.	more simply impacts Do than minimise .
10.	of needed farmers income Providing for much hundreds - .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

The coffee company Nespresso has announced ambitious / ambitiously new plans to help make its operations more sustainable. The company is a bland / brand name of the Nestlé group of companies. It makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the single-use container / containers of coffee needed for the device / crevice. Its new initiative / initiation on sustainability is called 'The Positive Cup'. This aims to source / sauce one of its ranges of coffee through totally sustainable methods, while helping some of the world's poverty / poorest coffee farmers. It will invest / ingest just over $16 million in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. A company spokesperson said it, "aims to protect / protract the future of the highest quality coffees and secure / security the livelihoods of the farmers that grow them".

A main compartment / component of the campaign is to recycle all of the aluminium capsules used in the machines. The company will collate / collect the capsules "wherever the company does / doing business" and "increase recycling rates". The company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon natural / neutral" by 2020 by planting trees to compensate / compensation for its carbon footprint. CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin said: "Our sustainability approach / reproach has always been designed to do more than simply minimise implants / impacts." Hollywood actor George Clooney said: "The investment…in South Sudan's coffee sector / vector, even while the conflict is ongoing / oncoming, is providing much-needed income for hundreds of farmers and their families living / loving in coffee communities."

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

Th_ c_ff__ c_mp_ny N_spr_ss_ h_s _nn__nc_d _mb_t___s n_w pl_ns t_ h_lp m_k_ _ts _p_r_t__ns m_r_ s_st__n_bl_. Th_ c_mp_ny _s _ br_nd n_m_ _f th_ N_stlé gr__p _f c_mp_n__s. _t m_k_s _nd s_lls _spr_ss_ c_ff__ m_ch_n_s _nd th_ s_ngl_-_s_ c_nt__n_rs _f c_ff__ n__d_d f_r th_ d_v_c_. _ts n_w _n_t__t_v_ _n s_st__n_b_l_ty _s c_ll_d 'Th_ P_s_t_v_ C_p'. Th_s __ms t_ s__rc_ _n_ _f _ts r_ng_s _f c_ff__ thr__gh t_t_lly s_st__n_bl_ m_th_ds, wh_l_ h_lp_ng s_m_ _f th_ w_rld's p__r_st c_ff__ f_rm_rs. _t w_ll _nv_st j_st _v_r $16 m_ll__n _n _th__p__, K_ny_ _nd S__th S_d_n. _ c_mp_ny sp_k_sp_rs_n s__d _t, "__ms t_ pr_t_ct th_ f_t_r_ _f th_ h_gh_st q__l_ty c_ff__s _nd s_c_r_ th_ l_v_l_h__ds _f th_ f_rm_rs th_t gr_w th_m".

_ m__n c_mp_n_nt _f th_ c_mp__gn _s t_ r_cycl_ _ll _f th_ _l_m_n__m c_ps_l_s _s_d _n th_ m_ch_n_s. Th_ c_mp_ny w_ll c_ll_ct th_ c_ps_l_s "wh_r_v_r th_ c_mp_ny d__s b_s_n_ss" _nd "_ncr__s_ r_cycl_ng r_t_s". Th_ c_mp_ny _ls_ s__d _t w__ld b_c_m_ "100 p_r c_nt c_rb_n n__tr_l" by 2020 by pl_nt_ng tr__s t_ c_mp_ns_t_ f_r _ts c_rb_n f__tpr_nt. C__ J__n-M_rc D_v__s_n s__d: "__r s_st__n_b_l_ty _ppr__ch h_s _lw_ys b__n d_s_gn_d t_ d_ m_r_ th_n s_mply m_n_m_s_ _mp_cts." H_llyw__d _ct_r G__rg_ Cl__n_y s__d: "Th_ _nv_stm_nt…_n S__th S_d_n's c_ff__ s_ct_r, _v_n wh_l_ th_ c_nfl_ct _s _ng__ng, _s pr_v_d_ng m_ch-n__d_d _nc_m_ f_r h_ndr_ds _f f_rm_rs _nd th__r f_m_l__s l_v_ng _n c_ff__ c_mm_n_t__s."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

the coffee company nespresso has announced ambitious new plans to help make its operations more sustainable the company is a brand name of the nestlé group of companies it makes and sells espresso coffee machines and the single-use containers of coffee needed for the device its new initiative on sustainability is called 'the positive cup' this aims to source one of its ranges of coffee through totally sustainable methods while helping some of the world's poorest coffee farmers it will invest just over $16 million in ethiopia kenya and south sudan a company spokesperson said it "aims to protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the livelihoods of the farmers that grow them"

a main component of the campaign is to recycle all of the aluminium capsules used in the machines the company will collect the capsules "wherever the company does business" and "increase recycling rates" the company also said it would become "100 per cent carbon neutral" by 2020 by planting trees to compensate for its carbon footprint ceo jean-marc duvoisin said "our sustainability approach has always been designed to do more than simply minimise impacts" hollywood actor george clooney said "the investment…in south sudan's coffee sector even while the conflict is ongoing is providing much-needed income for hundreds of farmers and their families living in coffee communities"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

ThecoffeecompanyNespressohasannouncedambitiousnewplanst
ohelpmakeitsoperationsmoresustainable.Thecompanyisabrand
nameoftheNestlégroupofcompanies.Itmakesandsellsespressoco
ffeemachinesandthesingle-usecontainersofcoffeeneededforthed
evice.Itsnewinitiativeonsustainabilityiscalled'ThePositiveCup'.T
hisaimstosourceoneofitsrangesofcoffeethroughtotallysustainabl
emethods,whilehelpingsomeoftheworld'spoorestcoffeefarmers.I
twillinvestjustover$16millioninEthiopia,KenyaandSouthSudan.A
companyspokespersonsaidit,"aimstoprotectthefutureofthehighe
stqualitycoffeesandsecurethelivelihoodsofthefarmersthatgrowt
hem".Amaincomponentofthecampaignistorecycleallofthealumin
iumcapsulesusedinthemachines.Thecompanywillcollectthecaps
ules"whereverthecompanydoesbusiness"and"increaserecyclingr
ates".Thecompanyalsosaiditwouldbecome"100percentcarbonne
utral"by2020byplantingtreestocompensateforitscarbonfootprint
.CEOJean-MarcDuvoisinsaid:"Oursustainabilityapproachhasalw
aysbeendesignedtodomorethansimplyminimiseimpacts."Hollyw
oodactorGeorgeClooneysaid:"Theinvestment…inSouthSudan'sc
offeesector,evenwhiletheconflictisongoing,isprovidingmuch-ne
ededincomeforhundredsoffarmersandtheirfamilieslivingincoffee
communities."

FREE WRITING

Write about sustainability for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Companies care more about profit than the environment. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about Nespresso and its sustainability initiative. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SUSTAINABILITY: Make a poster about sustainability. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. COFFEE FARMERS: Write a magazine article about coffee farmers. Include imaginary interviews with people who think big companies look after them and with people who think the opposite.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to a sustainability expert. Ask him/her three questions about sustainability. Give him/her three ideas on how companies can reduce their carbon footprint. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

F

c

F

d

T

e

T

f

T

g

T

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	ambitious	a.	bold
2.	operations	b.	business
3.	initiative	c.	plan
4.	ranges	d.	varieties
5.	livelihoods	e.	means of support
6.	component	f.	part
7.	collect	g.	gather
8.	compensate	h.	make up for
9.	approach	i.	strategy
10.	ongoing	j.	in progress

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Ambitious
2.	Single-use containers
3.	One
4.	$16 million
5.	The livelihoods of farmers
6.	Aluminium capsules
7.	Recycling rates
8.	2020
9.	The actor George Clooney
10.	Much-needed income

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

a

4.

b

5.

d

6.

b

7.

a

8.

c

9.

d

10.

a

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Coffee company to improve sustainability (4th September, 2014)

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