Unit 5 - Global issues

1 The local council wanted to ________ poverty in the area.
2 Economic ________ has been affected by the pandemic.
3 What can the United Nations do to tackle ________ worldwide?
4 Dealing with the effects of ________ change is a global issue.
5 The meeting broke ________ after the participants had discussed all the points.
6 There are some ________ statistics in the new report.

1 The town was situated ________, so it was near the coast.
2 All of the community groups ________ at the forum.
3 When was the last time you took the ________ to get to work?
4 The organisation was ________ about the success of the project.
5 If the project is successful it will ________ the area.
6 Governments are trying to establish an ________ energy network.

1 People ________ (travel) on the train without a ticket.
2 What will happen if you ________ (finish) the project tomorrow?
3 I still ________ (understand) why we ignore the evidence about climate change.
4 I ________ (come) to the march yesterday because I was feeling ill.
5 Did you ________ (buy) the train tickets?
6 It's obvious that Blake ________ (make) the poster. He's such a good artist.

Write X if no article is required.
1 Julian hopes to study environmental science at ________ university next year.
2 ________ class has been working on human rights this month.
3 There is ________ extra place available for one student at the conference.
4 It is ________ well-known fact that ________ good education is essential for young people.
5 To find out more about ________ poverty, you could contact one of the experts.
6 They say that Mandarin Chinese is ________ most difficult language to learn.

Take Action – Walk to School
A walking school bus is a group of students walking to school supervised by adults. It works like a school bus with a starting and finishing point and scheduled stops in-between. The only difference is that children walk. Families can take turns walking children to school or a retired person can get involved. The children travel safely as they often wear a cap or a fluorescent waistcoat. They can socialise and get some vital exercise and fresh air on their way to and from school, while also gaining a sense of independence. It also helps reduce traffic in urban areas. Various organisations are often involved in the project such as the local council, police and school board.
Children will have a more active lifestyle, while also learning about traffic signs and signals. This could be integrated into the PE curriculum or other areas of the classroom. Walking is a great opportunity for mindfulness and self-reflection. It gets your blood flowing and gets kids outside in nature, which can help stress management. Walking to and from school is a perfect opportunity to ask children about their day. They can tell you how they are feeling about school and other aspects of life.

According to the article, talking school buses can help children to:

When you first walk ________ Wandsworth Hospital and Home Tuition Service it looks like any other school, but as you go through the controlled entrance you realise this is ________ unique setting. Some students are here because of accidents but others ________ be here due to mental health issues. Relationships in the family may have broken ________. The emphasis is on empowering young people through education, building their confidence, and self-acceptance. It is important for these children who have health issues, are young parents, or live in crushing ________ to make progress in their education. To be able to do this, it's important to develop nurturing relationships. One teacher said that getting involved with UNICEF UK has ________ these children to feel they are part of a wider community and that the connection to a global ________ has been therapeutic for students in their recovery. Students benefit from a personalised learning programme. One teacher and coordinator said that they often work with isolated and vulnerable disadvantaged children, and that winning a recent award has made them think more globally.

(Adapted from unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools)

Women in work
At first, the impact of the pandemic on employment was greater for women than for men. Unlike in previous crises, sectors in which women are ________ (represent) were hit more by job losses than those with more male workers. This has slowed progress towards achieving the G20 Brisbane goal of reducing the gender gap in labour force participation by 25% by 2025. Some progress has been made, but employment recovery is far from ________ (complete). Policies should pay special attention to certain groups. These include women with young children, those working in sectors ________ (bad) affected by the crisis, and women suffering physical and psychological violence. There are still substantial gender gaps in earnings. Women tend to be ________ (represent) in jobs like ________ (manage) positions and are more likely to work fewer hours or do ________ work (pay). The crisis has also highlighted the need to improve working conditions in essential service jobs, such as lower-skilled ________ (occupy) in the health and care sectors Here, women make up the majority of workers in most G20 economies.

(Adapted from oecd.org)

Which speaker talks about

A: How to help women with special needs.

B: Problems women face while doing their jobs.

C: How they use their skills to highlight problems some women face.

D: Something which prevents girls from progressing.

1 It must have been difficult to improve ________ in some parts of the world.
2 If we ________ provide everyone with a healthy diet then we can ________.
3 We are all living beyond ________.
4 Have you ________ finding a good job?
5 We ________ reduce inequalities until we share resources better.
6 Too many people are still living in crushing ________.

1 The United Nations have a global ________ on the problem of child labour.
2 Do young people nowadays get involved in finding ________ solutions?
3 All our ________ company's departments are ________.
4 Climate change is perhaps the most pressing ________.
5 It is depressing to think that many children are ________.
6 Protestors broke ________ the conference hall and started shouting at the speakers.