Exercises Modulo 9.2.2

Exercise 1

Read aloud the follow text, then answer the questions

Consumer Societies. (Notice the words in bold.)

A consumer is a person who buys things, and a consumer society is a society that encourages people to buy and use goods.

Some people think that a consumer society provides people with better lives. People in consumer societies tend to live more comfortably. They eat a wider variety of food. They go to restaurants more often. They also buy a lot of products, maybe more than they need. Products such as TVs, cell phones, and computers used to be luxuries.

Today people can buy these things more easily than ever before. The market for these goods is growing faster all the time. Consumer societies encourage people to buy bigger and better products. For example, “smarter” phones come out every year. In a consumer society, people are often buying newer and more advanced products. This creates a lot of waste. Nowadays, many people are thinking more seriously about the effects of consumer societies on the environment, and they are trying to become more responsible consumers.

1 goods: items that can be bought or sold

2 luxury: something that is expensive but not necessary   

 

Answer the questions with True or False

Everyone agrees that consumer products improve their lives.

These days, consumer goods are hard to find.

Many people want luxury products these days.

Consumer societies help the environment.

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Exercise 2

Read the following text about Penny's life out loud, record yourself and answer the questions.

My name is Penny and now I live in England, but I’ve lived and worked in several countries. I think my favourites were probably Japan and Mexico, mainly because of the food and because of the weather. As you know, the weather in England is often very cold, very grey and quite wet. In Mexico it’s much hotter, the skies were much bluer and there was less rain there, so it was lovely. And that was most of the year even in winter. Japan was lovely, also. It got more humid than Mexico in the summer and colder than Mexico in the winter, but it was still very, very sunny there – sunnier than in England. The food … well, I know some people eat to live, but I don’t; I live to eat. I love my food, so Japan and Mexico were both wonderful countries for me. I know the food in Britain is maybe more varied than in other countries, because we’ve got so many different types of cooking here, with all of our Indian restaurants, Chinese, Thai, Italian… the list is endless. But Mexican food was definitely the spiciest food I’ve had, so that even on fruit we often had chilli. Japanese food – this was probably the healthiest food and the most delicious, and I became a bit of an addict to sushi by the end of my time there. Language in the countries … for me Spanish was easier – that’s the language of Mexico – because I’d studied it at university before, and it’s more similar to English. Japanese was extremely difficult – the most difficult language I’ve ever come across. And the more I learned, the more difficult it seemed to get. So, overall, choosing between Mexico, England and Japan, I think Mexico is my favourite. It’s the most relaxed country, and the weather is beautiful. It’s the sunniest and hottest country, and it has beautiful beaches. So if I chose, I’d live there.

Penny has worked in two countries

She likes the weather in Japan and Mexico

Food is very important to Penny

She doesn't think that there are many types of food in Britain

She ate lots of sushi in Japan

She didn't learn any Japanese

Mexico is her favorite country because of the food