Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. grab (someone’s) attention
    • ex. The speaker grabbed the audience’s attention by asking a question.
  2. follow (someone’s) lead
    • ex. The students performed a song by following their teacher’s lead.
  3. a nomination
    • ex. I received a nomination for the best employee award.
  4. typically
    • ex. Many employees typically work for eight to 10 hours a day.
  5. urge
    • ex. The manager urged her team to meet the sales target.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Environmental activist Greta Thunberg will no longer be able to skip classes as a way to grab people’s attention toward climate change because she is graduating from high school. Thunberg started Friday protests outside the Swedish parliament building during school hours in 2018. Teenagers from around the world followed her lead, leading to an international student movement called Fridays For Future. Although she can’t go on strike during school hours anymore, she promised to continue her protests. She said, “The fight has only just begun.”

As a teenager, Thunberg was invited to speak to political and business leaders at U.N. conferences and the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. She also was named Time magazine’s youngest Person of the Year in 2019 and received several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.

For her final school strike outside parliament, Thunberg posed with a Swedish-language sign while wearing the cap that high school graduates typically wear in Sweden. In addition, Thunberg urged the media to focus on other young activists.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Young Activists

  • Greta Thunberg started Friday protests during school hours to grab people’s attention toward climate change. What do you think of young activists like her? Discuss.
  • Teenagers around the world followed Thunberg’s lead. Why do you think they did so (ex. they agree with her, they want to be popular like her)? Discuss. 
  • Do you think it’s good that young activists are expressing their opinion about important issues? Why or why not? Discuss.

Climate Protests

  • What do you think of climate protests (ex. important, unnecessary)? Discuss.
  • Imagine you are an activist protesting for the climate. What will you do to grab the government’s attention? Discuss.
  • Thunberg promised that she will continue her protests. What do you think of her decision? Discuss.