Company Develops Space Junk Sweeper British English Student

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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

COMPANY
DEVELOPS SPACE
JUNK SWEEPER

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1 Warm up

Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

1. Is your hometown mostly clean or dirty?


2. Are you a tidy person in general? Do you know anybody who is very untidy?
3. Have you ever helped to clean a beach or other public area? If not, would you be interested in
doing so?
4. Do you recycle? If not, why not?
5. What kinds of problems do you think rubbish in space could cause?

2 Pre-listening task: vocabulary focus

Part A: Match the images below to the correct words.

grappling arm harpoon net street sweeper

1. 2. 3. 4.

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COMPANY DEVELOPS SPACE JUNK SWEEPER

Part B: Match words with the correct definitions.

1. junk (n) a. make something clean and neat

2. settle (v) b. made to be thrown away after use

3. clear up (phr. v) c. come to rest on something or stay for some time on something

4. offload (v) d. an electronic device that is sent into space and moves around the
earth or another planet, used for communicating by radio,
television, etc.
5. disposable (adj.) e. things that are considered to have no use or value

6. near miss (n) f. the mixture of gases that surrounds the earth or other planets

7. atmosphere (n) g. a situation in which a serious accident or a disaster very nearly


happens
8. satellite (n) h. take a load of goods off a ship, train, truck, etc.

Part C: Complete the sentences with the missing words or phrases from Part A. You may need to
change the form of the word or phrase

1. Earth’s is important for all animals.

2. We had a when driving home last night. It was scary!

3. I try to avoid using cups, in order to protect the environment.

4. have made it possible for people to connect to the internet through their phones.

5. While we were the televisions, one fell out of its box and broke on the ground.

6. My younger sister hates her room.

7. Birds like to on our garden wall during the summer.

8. I own a lot of things that my wife considers to be .

Part D: Look at the following sentence. In pairs, discuss the meaning of the underlined phrase. Do you
agree or disagree with the statement? Can you think of any animals that you believe pose a threat to
humans?

In most cases, snakes don’t pose a threat to humans.

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PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

COMPANY DEVELOPS SPACE JUNK SWEEPER

3 Listening for specific information

Listen to the report. Match the items mentioned with the things they relate to.

Adelaide Paladin Space The stomach

1. Where the business making the space "street sweeper" is based

2. The name of the company that is developing the space "street sweeper"
machine
3. The part of the "street sweeper" machine that is considered to be the most
important breakthrough

Glossary

plant (n): a factory or place where power is produced, or an industrial process takes place
tackle (v): make a determined effort to deal with a difficult problem or solution
debris (n): rubbish or pieces of material that are left somewhere and are not wanted, or are left over
after an object has been destroyed

4 Listening for comprehension

Listen to the report again. Answer the questions true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. Satellites explode every year because they are hit by space debris.

2. The machine being developed will collect pieces of space junk and dispose of them either in Earth’s
atmosphere or by delivering the fragments to space recycling plants.

3. The space "street sweeper" will only be able to swallow one piece of debris in each mission.

4. The space "street sweeper" will use a combination of grappling arms, harpoons and nets to collect
space debris.

5. The company hopes to use some of the metal gathered by the machine to power it, by turning it
into fuel.

6. The aim of the project is to save human lives and prevent accidents in space.

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COMPANY DEVELOPS SPACE JUNK SWEEPER

5 Reading: general vocabulary

Part A: Match the words and phrases in bold with the correct definitions.

1. My neighbour always leaves his rubbish outside my door. (n)

2. Our school needs more modern equipment such as computers. (n)

3. I use my telescope to watch the stars every weekend. (n)

4. When my friend upsets me it makes me feel like I don’t want to see him anymore. (v)

5. Governments should help poor people. We shouldn’t have to depend on charities and other
organisations. (n)

6. My teacher had a positive impact on me. I think I became a scientist because of her! (n)

7. It could be very difficult for humans to survive on other planets. (v)

8. I prefer clothes that use natural materials, instead of man-made ones. (adj.)

a. an organisation for helping people in need

b. things that you throw away because you no longer want or need them

c. a powerful effect that something has on somebody/something

d. created by people; not natural

e. a piece of equipment that you look like to make objects that are far away appear larger and nearer

f. the things that are needed for a particular purpose or activity

g. make somebody/yourself feel unhappy, anxious or annoyed

h. continue to live or exist

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Part B: Complete the dialogue below with the words from the above exercise. You may need to
change the tense of the word. After completing the dialogue, read it out with a partner, focusing on
pronouncing the key vocabulary correctly. In which context might this conversation take place?

Theresa: I’m having a party on Saturday. It’s a bit different from my usual parties. We’re all going
1
to bring and look at the sky together!
Jason: That sounds interesting! I’d like to come, but I don’t own a telescope.
2
Theresa: You can get a cheap one in the shop next to the school. The best part
is that you’re helping other people if you buy it there!
3
Jason: I thought that they only sold in that place!

Theresa: Well, some of the things they sell aren’t very useful, but I found some old sports
4
there that I use with my students at school.
Jason: Okay, I’ll have a look. Are we going to be looking for anything in particular at the party?
5
Theresa: I think it would be interesting to try to find signs of human on space.
6 7
There are so many objects that have been left there, and it
me knowing that we are making the same mistakes we have made here on Earth!
Jason: I know what you mean. I think we need to change the way we live if we want to
8
!

Part C: Discuss these questions in pairs.

1. Do you own a telescope? If not, do you know anyone who does have one?
2. Do you think that humans will survive for another 1000 years? Why/why not?

6 Pre-reading task: reading for general understanding

You are going to read a text about people’s opinions on space debris. Scan the text quickly and
match the profession with the correct speaker. One profession cannot be matched to any of the
four speakers in the text and should be marked ‘Not given’.

Kevin Neil Not given Tania

1. Shop assistant -

2. Business owner -

3. University researcher -

4. Volunteer -

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COMPANY DEVELOPS SPACE JUNK SWEEPER

Not enough space?


Three people share their opinions on space junk

A. Tania, 41

The problem with space debris is that we keep adding to it. This happens by accident when one piece of space
equipment hits another object. This second object could be a piece of rubbish or something important like a
satellite. The result is more debris, and so the problem gets worse and worse. I have been studying the human
impact on space for several years now. The university I work at has provided me with some expensive telescopes
to use, and my team and I have identified thousands of unwanted items beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. These
man-made objects could be dangerous to astronauts, and I hope that we can find a way to remove them before
space exploration becomes impossible.

B. Neil, 61

I actually watched the Moon landing live on television. I was seven years old and didn’t really understand the
excitement. When I got a bit older, my father would tell me that the whole thing was a waste of money. I disagreed
with him at the time, but looking at the rubbish we’ve left in space, I feel like he might be right. I am a volunteer
with a charity that helps to clean beaches, and it upsets me to see what we’re doing to our own planet. I don’t
understand why some people refuse to use bins or to recycle their waste. Until we learn to look after our world,
what right do we have to go into space and fill it up with junk? I think we all need to grow up a little before we
are ready to explore new planets!

C. Kevin, 32

I don’t think we need to worry about it, really. Most of us will never go into space. I would even argue that we
shouldn’t leave our own planet unless absolutely necessary. I think that, if you ask a regular person, they’re not
worrying about waste or things like that. We all just want to make enough money to survive, and maybe buy a
few nice things from time to time. Personally, I don’t even recycle. What’s the point? I work nine hours a day, six
days a week and one day I won’t be here anymore. I just want to enjoy my life while I can, which is hard enough
with energy costs increasing. I can’t even afford any of the products in the technology shop I work in. The last
thing I want to do is worry about how I might be responsible for problems in the future. It’s hard enough in the
present!

Sources: BBC, Cosmos Magazine, The Guardian

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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
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COMPANY DEVELOPS SPACE JUNK SWEEPER

7 Reading comprehension
Read the article again. Match statements with the correct speakers. Some statements can be matched
to more than one speaker. One of the statements cannot be matched to any of the speakers and
should be marked ‘Not given’.

Tania / Neil / Kevin / Not Given

1. They don’t think people should explore space at the moment.


2. They have created a machine to remove space debris.
3. They explain how space debris is created.
4. They don’t seem very worried about space debris.

8 Talking Point
In pairs or small groups, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you think it would be a good or bad idea to send our rubbish into space on purpose?
2. Why do you think that people create so much rubbish?
3. Are there more important things to worry about than space debris?
4. Was it a mistake for humans to go into space in the first place? Why/why not?
5. Do you think that humans are bad, in general, at planning for the future? If so, why?
6. Should we spend more or less money on space exploration?
7. Can you think of any other ways of dealing with space rubbish?

9 Extended activity/writing homework


Write an opinion essay on the topic below. Your essay should agree with or disagree with the statement
and should be between 220 – 250 words.

Space exploration is a good idea, but we shouldn’t focus on it at the moment. Our own planet
needs help first.

Alternative extended activity:

In pairs or small groups, create your own space rubbish company. Think of a way of collecting space
debris. What kind of machines would you use? Would you need a lot of money to start the company?
What would you do with the rubbish afterwards? Present your company and ideas to the rest of the
class.

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