The Reading / Listening - Allergies - Level 6

Not everyone in the world looks forward to the joys of spring. While many people take delight in observing the glory of newly-formed buds revealing their delicate blossoms, others dread this annual phenomenon. That's because blooming plants bring seasonal allergies like hay fever. The National Phenology Network (NPN) in the USA has warned hay fever sufferers that spring has arrived up to four weeks earlier than usual. The pollen that causes so many symptoms is already causing misery. To make matters worse, the warmer weather will prolong hay fever season. The NPN said: "It's a little unsettling. It perhaps isn't surprising, given the trajectory our planet is on."

Phenologists, climatologists and meteorologists are blaming climate change for the unseasonably warmer weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the U.S. winter's average temperature was 2.7 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. Lauren Casey, a meteorologist with Climate Central, told the CNN news agency that climate change is resulting in earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a greater prevalence of pollen. She said pollen was "the enemy" of people who suffer from allergies. She said pollen can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate mold allergies. Another scientist said: "Acting on climate change really does matter for people's health."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Allergies - Level 4  or  Allergies - Level 5

Sources
  • https://news.yahoo.com/allergy-season-starts-earlier-now-thanks-to-climate-change-171913889.html
  • https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/15/allergy-season-starting-earlier-global-heating-climate-change
  • https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/03/15/AccuWeather-spring-allergy-forecast/5691678903505/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. HAY FEVER: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about hay fever. 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?
       everyone / joys / spring / delight / blossoms / allergies / hay fever / season / planet /
       meteorologists / climate change / winter / temperature / pollen / enemy / mold
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. CLIMATE CHANGE: Students A strongly believe climate change cannot be reversed; Students B strongly believe it can. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. JOYS: What are the joys of these things? How often do you enjoy them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Joys

How I Enjoy Them

Spring

 

 

Summer

 

 

Autumn

 

 

Winter

 

 

Flowers

 

 

English

 

 
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. FEVER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "fever". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. ALLERGIES: Rank these with your partner. Put the worst allergies at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Pollen
  • Chocolate
  • Eggs
  • English
  • Milk
  • Peanuts
  • Wheat
  • Soya beans

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1. glory a. A state or feeling of great physical or mental distress or discomfort.
2. phenomenon b. Extend the duration of.
3. symptom c. Magnificence or great beauty.
4. misery d. The path followed by a planet or object flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.
5. prolong e. A fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen.
6. unsettling f. A physical or mental feature which is regarded as indicating a condition of disease.
7. trajectory g. Causing anxiety or uneasiness; disturbing.

    Paragraph 2

8. phenologist h. A furry (green or black) fungus occurring in moist warm conditions, especially on food or other organic matter.
9. unseasonably i. Someone who studies cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.
10. meteorologist j. In a way that is unusual for the time of year.
11. prevalence k. An event that is the cause of a particular action, process, or situation.
12. trigger l. The fact or condition of being widespread in a particular area or at a particular time.
13. asthma m. An expert in the science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather.
14. mold n. A condition marked by attacks on the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. Everyone looks forward to the joys of spring.     T / F
  2. Many people dread spring when flowers start blooming.     T / F
  3. Spring arrived four weeks early in parts of the USA.     T / F
  4. A phenologist said she was surprised that fever season started early.     T / F
  5. Phenologists say the warmer weather is responsible for climate change.   T / F
  6. There will be less pollen around this year.     T / F
  7. Pollen can cause asthma sufferers to have an asthma attack.     T / F
  8. A meteorologist said mold can be used to help with hay fever.     T / F

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

  1. joys
  2. glory
  3. delicate
  4. misery
  5. trajectory
  6. blaming
  7. seasons
  8. prevalence
  9. trigger
  10. aggravate
  1. set off
  2. course
  3. unhappiness
  4. worsen
  5. magnificence
  6. presence
  7. delights
  8. attributing
  9. periods
  10. fragile

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

  1. everyone in the world looks forward
  2. newly-formed
  3. seasonal allergies
  4. warmer weather will prolong
  5. the trajectory our
  6. the unseasonably
  7. warmer than the
  8. a greater prevalence
  9. pollen can trigger
  10. aggravate mold
  1. warmer weather
  2. hay fever season
  3. allergies
  4. planet is on
  5. 20th century average
  6. like hay fever
  7. asthma attacks
  8. to the joys of spring
  9. of pollen
  10. buds

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
hay
joys
prolong
delicate
trajectory
delight
misery
seasonal

Not everyone in the world looks forward to the (1) _____________________ of spring. While many people take (2) _____________________ in observing the glory of newly-formed buds revealing their (3) _____________________ blossoms, others dread this annual phenomenon. That's because blooming plants bring (4) _____________________ allergies like hay fever. The National Phenology Network (NPN) in the USA has warned (5) _____________________ fever sufferers that spring has arrived up to four weeks earlier than usual. The pollen that causes so many symptoms is already causing (6) _____________________. To make matters worse, the warmer weather will (7) _____________________ hay fever season. The NPN said: "It's a little unsettling. It perhaps isn't surprising, given the (8) _____________________ our planet is on."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
resulting
aggravate
unseasonably
prevalence
matter
blaming
temperature
suffer

Phenologists, climatologists and meteorologists are (9) ___________________ climate change for the (10) __________________ warmer weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the U.S. winter's average (11) _____________________ was 2.7 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. Lauren Casey, a meteorologist with Climate Central, told the CNN news agency that climate change is (12) _____________________ in earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a greater (13) _____________________ of pollen. She said pollen was "the enemy" of people who (14) _____________________ from allergies. She said pollen can trigger asthma attacks and (15) _____________________ mold allergies. Another scientist said: "Acting on climate change really does (16) _____________________ for people's health."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  Not everyone in the world looks forward to the ______
     a.  joyous of spring
     b.  jewels of spring
     c.  joys of spring
     d.  jays of spring
2)  take delight in observing the glory of newly-formed buds revealing ______
     a.  their delicacy blossoms
     b.  their delicate blossoms
     c.  their deli cart blossoms
     d.  their deli cat blossoms
3)  The pollen that causes so many symptoms is ______
     a.  already causing misery
     b.  already cause in misery
     c.  already cause sin misery
     d.  already coursing misery
4)  To make matters worse, the warmer weather will ______
     a.  prolong hi fever
     b.  prolong here fever
     c.  prolong hay fever
     d.  prolong fey fever
5)  It perhaps isn't surprising, given the trajectory our ______
     a.  plan it is on
     b.  planets is on
     c.  plant is on
     d.  planet is on

6)  meteorologists are blaming climate change for the ______
     a.  unreasonably warmer weather
     b.  unseasonably warmer weather
     c.  unfeasibly warmer weather
     d.  unfashionably warmer weather
7)  the U.S. winter's average temperature was 2.7 degrees warmer than the ______
     a.  20th century averaged
     b.  20th century coverage
     c.  20th century avarice
     d.  20th century average
8)  resulting in earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a greater ______
     a.  prevalent of pollen
     b.  presence of pollen
     c.  equivalence of pollen
     d.  prevalence of pollen
9)  She said pollen can trigger asthma attacks and ______
     a.  aggravate bold allergies
     b.  aggravate hold allergies
     c.  aggravate cold allergies
     d.  aggravate mold allergies
10)  Another scientist said acting on climate change ______
     a.  really has matter
     b.  really does matter
     c.  really is matter
     d.  really gives matter

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Not everyone in the world looks forward to the (1) ____________________. While many people take delight in observing the glory of newly-formed buds revealing their delicate blossoms, others (2) ____________________ phenomenon. That's because blooming plants (3) ____________________ like hay fever. The National Phenology Network (NPN) in the USA has warned hay fever sufferers that spring has arrived up to four weeks earlier than usual. The pollen that causes (4) ____________________ is (5) ____________________. To make matters worse, the warmer weather will prolong hay fever season. The NPN said: "It's a little unsettling. It perhaps isn't surprising, (6) ____________________ our planet is on."

Phenologists, climatologists and meteorologists (7) ____________________ change for the unseasonably warmer weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the U.S. winter's average temperature was 2.7 degrees warmer than the (8) ____________________. Lauren Casey, a meteorologist with Climate Central, told the CNN news agency that climate change (9) ____________________ earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a (10) ____________________ pollen. She said pollen was "the enemy" of people who suffer from allergies. She said pollen can trigger asthma (11) ____________________ mold allergies. Another scientist said: "Acting on climate change (12) ____________________ for people's health."

Comprehension questions

  1. What doesn't everyone in the world look forward to?
  2. What do blooming plants bring?
  3. What does the acronym NPN stand for?
  4. What are the symptoms of hay fever causing?
  5. What will the warmer weather prolong?
  6. What did meteorologists blame for the warmer weather?
  7. How much higher was the U.S. winter than the 20th century average?
  8. Who does the meteorologist Lauren Casey work for?
  9. What can pollen trigger?
  10. What can pollen aggravate?

Multiple choice quiz

1)  What doesn't everyone in the world look forward to?
a) hay
b) the joys of spring
c) climate change
d) dread
2)  What do blooming plants bring?
a) colourful birds
b) falling petals
c) honeybees
d) seasonal allergies
3) What does the acronym NPN stand for?
a) National Phenology Network
b) National of Pine Network
c) Nature Pollen Network
d) National Pollen Network
4) What are the symptoms of hay fever causing?
a) pollination
b) matters
c) misery
d) trajectories
5) What will the warmer weather prolong?
a) the blooming of flowers
b) hay fever season
c) the scent of flowers
d) the time bees spend pollinating

6) What did meteorologists blame for the warmer weather?
a) climate change
b) pollen
c) bees
d) people
7) How much higher was the U.S. winter than the 20th century average?
a) 2.5 degrees
b) 2.6 degrees
c) 2.7 degrees
d) 2.8 degrees
8) Who does the meteorologist Lauren Casey work for?
a) Climate Central
b) CNN
c) CNN Central
d) Climate CNN
9) What can pollen trigger?
a) asthma attacks
b) bad memories
c) guns
d) anxiety attacks
10) What can pollen aggravate?
a) itchiness
b) rashes
c) health
d) mold allergies

Role play

Role  A – Pollen
You think an allergy to pollen is the worst allergy to have. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their allergies aren't as bad. Also, tell the others which is the least annoying of these (and why): eggs, English or milk.

Role  B – Eggs
You think an allergy to eggs is the worst allergy to have. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their allergies aren't as bad. Also, tell the others which is the least annoying of these (and why): pollen, English or milk.

Role  C – English
You think an allergy to English is the worst allergy to have. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their allergies aren't as bad. Also, tell the others which is the least annoying of these (and why): eggs, pollen or milk.

Role  D – Milk
You think an allergy to milk is the worst allergy to have. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their allergies aren't as bad. Also, tell the others which is the least annoying of these (and why): eggs, English or pollen.

After reading / listening

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

'climate'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'allergy'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • everyone
    • delicate
    • bring
    • four
    • worse
    • planet
    • blaming
    • 2.7
    • longer
    • enemy
    • trigger
    • matter

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Allergies

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'climate'?
    3. What are the joys of spring?
    4. How do you feel when you see flowers blossoming in spring?
    5. What do you know about hay fever?
    6. What allergies do you have?
    7. What are the worst allergies to have?
    8. How is climate change affecting you?
    9. How bad are the symptoms of hay fever?
    10. What trajectory is our planet on?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'allergy'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What does a phenologist study?
    5. How have the temperatures where you live been?
    6. What would it be like to be allergic to English?
    7. What's your favourite season?
    8. What do you know about asthma?
    9. How does climate change affect our health?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the meteorologist?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Not everyone in the world looks forward to the (1) ____ of spring. While many people take delight in observing the (2) ____ of newly-formed buds revealing their delicate blossoms, others (3) ____ this annual phenomenon. That's because blooming plants bring seasonal (4) ____ like hay fever. The National Phenology Network (NPN) in the USA has warned hay fever sufferers that spring has arrived up to four weeks earlier than usual. The pollen that causes so many symptoms is already causing (5) ____. To make matters worse, the warmer weather will prolong hay fever season. The NPN said: "It's a little unsettling. It perhaps isn't surprising, given the trajectory our planet is (6) ____."

    Phenologists, climatologists and meteorologists are blaming climate change (7) ____ the unseasonably warmer weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported (8) ____ the U.S. winter's average temperature was 2.7 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. Lauren Casey, a meteorologist with Climate Central, told the CNN news agency that climate change is resulting (9) ____ earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a greater (10) ____ of pollen. She said pollen was "the enemy" of people who suffer from allergies. She said pollen can (11) ____ asthma attacks and aggravate mold allergies. Another scientist said: "Acting on climate change really (12) ____ matter for people's health."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     joyous     (b)     overjoyed     (c)     joyful     (d)     joys    
    2. (a)     glaring     (b)     gore     (c)     gory     (d)     glory    
    3. (a)     dead     (b)     dread     (c)     death     (d)     deathly    
    4. (a)     allergens     (b)     allergic     (c)     allergies     (d)     allegories    
    5. (a)     misery     (b)     miserly     (c)     messy     (d)     measly    
    6. (a)     on     (b)     up     (c)     under     (d)     at    
    7. (a)     to     (b)     at     (c)     of     (d)     on    
    8. (a)     that     (b)     which     (c)     what     (d)     wither    
    9. (a)     in     (b)     at     (c)     on     (d)     of    
    10. (a)     truculence     (b)     equivalence     (c)     prevalence     (d)     insolence    
    11. (a)     barrel     (b)     holster     (c)     stock     (d)     trigger    
    12. (a)     takes     (b)     does     (c)     has     (d)     is

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. people take delight in sovinbreg the glory
    2. buds revealing their aiecltde blossoms
    3. blooming plants bring aensolas allergies
    4. hay fever rsfureesf
    5. pollen that causes so many topssmmy
    6. given the trjrcatoey our planet is on

    Paragraph 2

    1. oesotrolgmiset are blaming climate change
    2. nsayelaosbun warmer weather
    3. the U.S. winter's average emuarpteret
    4. causing a greater rcaenelevp of pollen
    5. pollen can trigger htasma attacks
    6. gaaergvat mold allergies

    Put the text back together

    (  1  ) Not everyone in the world looks forward to the joys of spring. While many people take delight in
    (...)  like hay fever. The National Phenology Network (NPN) in the USA has warned hay fever
    (...)  observing the glory of newly-formed buds revealing their delicate blossoms, others
    (...)  aggravate mold allergies. Another scientist said: "Acting on climate change really does matter for people's health."
    (...)  enemy" of people who suffer from allergies. She said pollen can trigger asthma attacks and
    (...)  in earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a greater prevalence of pollen. She said pollen was "the
    (...)  Phenologists, climatologists and meteorologists are blaming climate change for the unseasonably
    (...)  warmer weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the U.S.
    (...)  prolong hay fever season. The NPN said: "It's a little unsettling. It perhaps isn't surprising, given the trajectory our planet is on."
    (...)  winter's average temperature was 2.7 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. Lauren Casey, a
    (...)  dread this annual phenomenon. That's because blooming plants bring seasonal allergies
    (...)  sufferers that spring has arrived up to four weeks earlier than usual. The pollen that causes so many
    (...)  symptoms is already causing misery. To make matters worse, the warmer weather will
    (...)  meteorologist with Climate Central, told the CNN news agency that climate change is resulting

    Put the words in the right order

    1. We   of   spring   .   the   joys   forward   to   look
    2. seasonal   plants   hay   Blooming   bring   like   fever   .   allergies
    3. that   The   pollen   many   so   symptoms   .   causes
    4. season   .   hay   The   will   prolong   fever   weather   warmer
    5. on   .   the   is   planet   trajectory   our   Given
    6. the   unseasonably   for   weather  .  Blaming   climate  warmer  change
    7. causing   for   greater   Longer   plants   seasons   a   prevalence   .
    8. said   people   .   was   pollen   the   enemy   of   She
    9. asthma   attacks   .   She   pollen   said   trigger   can
    10. health   .   change   matter   for   people's   really   does   Climate

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Not everyone in / on the world looks forward to the joys of spring. While many people take delight in observing the gory / glory of newly-formed buds revealing their delicate / delicacy blossoms, others dread this annual phenomenon. That's because blooming / bloomed plants bring seasonal allergies like hay fever. The National Phenology Network (NPN) in the USA has warned hay fever surfers / sufferers that spring has arrived up / down to four weeks earlier than usual / usually. The pollen that causes so many symptoms is already causing misery / misers. To make matter / matters worse, the warmer weather will prolong hay fever season. The NPN said: "It's a little unsettling. It perhaps isn't surprising, taken / given the trajectory our planet is on."

    Phenologists, climatologists and meteorologists are blamed / blaming climate change for the unreasonably / unseasonably warmer weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration retorted / reported that the U.S. winter's average temperature was 2.7 degrees warmth / warmer than the 20th century average. Lauren Casey, a meteorologist with Climate Central, told the CNN news agency that climate change is resulting on / in earlier and longer seasons for plants, causing a greater prevalent / prevalence of pollen. She said pollen was "the enemy" of / at people who suffer from allergies. She said pollen can holster / trigger asthma attacks and aggravate / aggro mold allergies. Another scientist said: "Acting in / on climate change really does matter for people's health."

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

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    N_t _v_ry_n_ _n th_ w_rld l__ks f_rw_rd t_ th_ j_ys _f spr_ng. Wh_l_ m_ny p__pl_ t_k_ d_l_ght _n _bs_rv_ng th_ gl_ry _f n_wly-f_rm_d b_ds r_v__l_ng th__r d_l_c_t_ bl_ss_ms, _th_rs dr__d th_s _nn__l ph_n_m_n_n. Th_t's b_c__s_ bl__m_ng pl_nts br_ng s__s_n_l _ll_rg__s l_k_ h_y f_v_r. Th_ N_t__n_l Ph_n_l_gy N_tw_rk (NPN) _n th_ _S_ h_s w_rn_d h_y f_v_r s_ff_r_rs th_t spr_ng h_s _rr_v_d _p t_ f__r w__ks __rl__r th_n _s__l. Th_ p_ll_n th_t c__s_s s_ m_ny sympt_ms _s _lr__dy c__s_ng m_s_ry. T_ m_k_ m_tt_rs w_rs_, th_ w_rm_r w__th_r w_ll pr_l_ng h_y f_v_r s__s_n. Th_ NPN s__d: "_t's _ l_ttl_ _ns_ttl_ng. _t p_rh_ps _sn't s_rpr_s_ng, g_v_n th_ tr_j_ct_ry __r pl_n_t _s _n."

    Ph_n_l_g_sts, cl_m_t_l_g_sts _nd m_t__r_l_g_sts _r_ bl_m_ng cl_m_t_ ch_ng_ f_r th_ _ns__s_n_bly w_rm_r w__th_r. Th_ N_t__n_l _c__n_c _nd _tm_sph_r_c _dm_n_str_t__n r_p_rt_d th_t th_ _.S. w_nt_r's _v_r_g_ t_mp_r_t_r_ w_s 2.7 d_gr__s w_rm_r th_n th_ 20th C_nt_ry _v_r_g_. L__r_n C_s_y, _ m_t__r_l_g_st w_th Cl_m_t_ C_ntr_l, t_ld th_ CNN n_ws _g_ncy th_t cl_m_t_ ch_ng_ _s r_s_lt_ng _n __rl__r _nd l_ng_r s__s_ns f_r pl_nts, c__s_ng _ gr__t_r pr_v_l_nc_ _f p_ll_n. Sh_ s__d p_ll_n w_s "th_ _n_my" _f p__pl_ wh_ s_ff_r fr_m _ll_rg__s. Sh_ s__d p_ll_n c_n tr_gg_r _sthm_ _tt_cks _nd _ggr_v_t_ m_ld _ll_rg__s. _n_th_r sc__nt_st s__d: "_ct_ng _n cl_m_t_ ch_ng_ r__lly d__s m_tt_r f_r p__pl_'s h__lth."

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    not everyone in the world looks forward to the joys of spring while many people take delight in observing the glory of newlyformed buds revealing their delicate blossoms others dread this annual phenomenon thats because blooming plants bring seasonal allergies like hay fever the national phenology network npn in the usa has warned hay fever sufferers that spring has arrived up to four weeks earlier than usual the pollen that causes so many symptoms is already causing misery to make matters worse the warmer weather will prolong hay fever season the npn said its a little unsettling it perhaps isnt surprising given the trajectory our planet is on

    phenologists climatologists and meteorologists are blaming climate change for the unseasonably warmer weather the national oceanic and atmospheric administration reported that the us winters average temperature was 27 degrees warmer than the 20th century average lauren casey a meteorologist with climate central told the cnn news agency that climate change is resulting in earlier and longer seasons for plants causing a greater prevalence of pollen she said pollen was the enemy of people who suffer from allergies she said pollen can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate mold allergies another scientist said acting on climate change really does matter for peoples health

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Noteveryoneintheworldlooksforwardtothejoysofspring.Whilemanyp
    eopletakedelightinobservingthegloryofnewly-formedbudsrevealin
    gtheirdelicateblossoms,othersdreadthisannualphenomenon.That's
    becausebloomingplantsbringseasonalallergieslikehayfever.TheNati
    onalPhenologyNetwork(NPN)intheUSAhaswarnedhayfeversufferers
    thatspringhasarriveduptofourweeksearlierthanusual.Thepollenthat
    causessomanysymptomsisalreadycausingmisery.Tomakemattersw
    orse,thewarmerweatherwillprolonghayfeverseason.TheNPNsaid:"It
    'salittleunsettling.Itperhapsisn'tsurprising,giventhetrajectoryourpl
    anetison."Phenologists,climatologistsandmeteorologistsareblamin
    gclimatechangefortheunseasonablywarmerweather.TheNationalOc
    eanicandAtmosphericAdministrationreportedthattheU.S.winter'sav
    eragetemperaturewas2.7degreeswarmerthanthe20thcenturyavera
    ge.LaurenCasey,ameteorologistwithClimateCentral,toldtheCNNne
    wsagencythatclimatechangeisresultinginearlierandlongerseasonsfo
    rplants,causingagreaterprevalenceofpollen.Shesaidpollenwas"thee
    nemy"ofpeoplewhosufferfromallergies.Shesaidpollencantriggerast
    hmaattacksandaggravatemoldallergies.Anotherscientistsaid:"Actin
    gonclimatechangereallydoesmatterforpeople'shealth."

    Free writing

    Write about allergies for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    It is too late to reverse the damage from climate change. Discuss.

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    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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. ALLERGIES: Make a poster about allergies. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. CLIMATE CHANGE: Write a magazine article about all governments spending most of their budgets on turning around climate cghange. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    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 an expert on allergies. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to alleviate the effects of allergies. 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

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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