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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

THE PERFECT
FARM

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1 Warm up

In pairs, answer the following questions.

Look at the pictures and discuss the questions:

1. In your country, what do farms produce?

2. What food or drink do you regularly consume which is produced on farms? How is it being
produced?
3. How long have humans been farming for do you think?
4. What percentage of the world do you think is covered by farmland?

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THE PERFECT FARM

2 Understanding - Part 1

Part A: Number the following sentences from Part 1 of the video from 1 - 9. The first one has been
done for you.

About 10,000 years ago, humans began to farm. 1

In short, agriculture enabled the existence of civilisation.

in the future, how can we feed every member of a growing population a healthy diet?

Meeting this goal will requirenothing short of a second agricultural revolution.

Spread all over the world, these agricultural lands are the pieces to a global puzzle we are all facing:

That’s not an option the next time around.

The first agricultural revolution was characterised by expansion and exploitation, feeding people at
the expense of forests, wildlife and water and destabilising the climate in the process.

This agricultural revolution was a turning point in our history that enabled people to settle, build and
create.

Today, approximately 40 per cent of our planet is farmland.

Now watch the first part of the video (00:00 - 01:00) and check your answers.

Part B: Look at the words and phrases in bold and match them to the following meanings.

1. with a cost to

2. weakening and threatening

3. to live in a place for a long period of time

4. the process of something getting larger

5. the unfair treatment of someone or something in order to make a profit

6. no less than

7. allowed the possibility of

8. a time of important change

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THE PERFECT FARM

3 Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Match the words to the definitions.

1. fleet (n) a. a group of vehicles

2. haphazard (adj.) b. a large area of land, particularly where a lot of plants and trees
have been cut down
3. livestock (n) c. animals traditionally found on a farm

4. swathe (n) d. a specific amount of medicine

5. eradicate (v) e. a substance used to help plants grow

6. fertiliser (n) f. a very small difference in something

7. dose (n) g. to completely remove or get rid of something

8. nuance (n) h. without any kind of order

Part B: Write the words from Part A in the correct gap in the following sentences. You may need to
change the form of some of the words.

1. I used to work on my grandfather’s dairy farm where I looked after the .

2. This truck is part of a which transports goods all over the country.
3. If they build that motorway here, they’re going to all of this beautiful forest.
4. My headache isn’t getting any better. I think I’m going to need another of paracetamol.
5. My husband’s way of organising our books is really and I can never find what I’m
looking for.
6. We’re losing large of rainforest on a daily basis due to greed.
7. English learners can sometimes have difficulty learning the of the language: the
difference between what is said and what it means.
8. As we drove into the countryside, I could smell the on the nearby crops.

Now answer the following questions.

1. Have swathes of land in your country been cleared to make room for something else? What has
it been cleared for?
2. Are you good at organising your work? Or is your schedule quite haphazard? Why?
3. Do you regularly take a dose of any particular medicine? What is it for?
4. If you could, what bad habits of yours would you like to eradicate?

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THE PERFECT FARM

4 Comprehension - Part 2

Now watch Part 2 of the video (01:00 - 03:11) and decide if the following statements are True or
False.

We need to keep increasing the size of our farmland to have enough food for the world’s population.

1.

Farms of the future will have to produce more food while, at the same time, preserving environmental
resources.

2.

New farming methods could mix areas for plants with areas for farm animals and natural areas.

3.

This new approach to farming could help the land to heal from the damage caused by traditional farming.

4.

The use of sensors in the future could help the farmers to spread fertilizer evenly across the whole farm.

5.

New methods of production are designed to get the most possible food out of the environment.

6.

One issue with the new methods of farming is that they are expensive.

7.

5 Noun phrases

Skim through the text and write the following noun phrases in the correct gaps 1 - 8.

(A) plant-based diets (B) local farmers (C) forest cover (D) labour-intensive
ways

(E) smaller-scale (F) post-harvest food (G) native species (H) agricultural lands
farmers

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THE PERFECT FARM

Can we create the perfect farm?

Part 3

1.
In Costa Rica, farmers have intertwined farmland with tropical habitat so successfully that they have significantly
1
contributed to doubling the country’s . This provides food and habitat for wildlife as well as natural
pollination and pest control from the birds and insects these farms attract, producing food while restoring the
planet.
2
2.
In the United States, ranchers are raising cattle on grasslands composed of , generating a valuable protein
source using production methods that store carbon and protect biodiversity.
3.
In Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal, new approaches to rice production may dramatically decrease greenhouse
gas emissions in the future. Rice is a staple food for three billion people and the main source of livelihood for
millions of households. More than 90 per cent of rice is grown in flooded paddies, which use a lot of water
and release 11 per cent of annual methane emissions, which accounts for one to two per cent of total annual
greenhouse gas emissions globally. By experimenting with new strains of rice, irrigating less and adopting less
3
of planting seeds, farmers in these countries have already increased their incomes and crop yields while
cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.
4.
In Zambia, numerous organisations are investing in locally specific methods to improve crop production, reduce
4
forest loss and improve livelihoods for . These efforts are projected to increase crop yield by almost a
quarter over the next few decades. If combined with methods to combat deforestation in the region, they could
move the country toward a resilient, climate-focused agricultural sector.
5
5.
And in India, where up to 40 per cent of is lost or wasted due to poor infrastructure, farmers have
already started to implement solar-powered cold storage capsules that help thousands of rural farmers preserve
their produce and become a viable part of the supply chain.
6.
It will take all of these methods, from the most high-tech to the lowest-cost, to revolutionise farming. High-tech
interventions stand to amplify climate- and conservation-oriented approaches to farming, and large producers
will need to invest in implementing these technologies. Meanwhile, we’ll have to expand access to the lower-cost
6 7
methods for . This vision of future farming will also require a global shift toward more and huge
reductions in food loss and waste, both of which will reduce pressure on the land and allow farmers to do more
with what they have available.
7.
If we optimise food production, both on land and sea, we can feed humanity within the environmental limits of the
earth, but there’s a very small margin of error, and it will take unprecedented global cooperation and coordination
8
of the we have today

Now listen to Part 3 of the video (03:21 - 06:30) and check your answers.

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THE PERFECT FARM

6 Synonyms - optional task

Find vocabulary in Part 3 which has a similar meaning to the following.

1. mixed (paragraph 1)

2. main (paragraph 3)

3. income (paragraph 3)

4. watering (paragraph 3)

5. tough (paragraph 4)

6. use (paragraph 5)

7. increase (paragraph 6)

8. unique (paragraph 7)

7 Reading comprehension
Answer the following questions with no more than three words from the script.

1. What do the new methods of farming that Costa Rican farmers use protect their farms from?
2. What is protected by American ranchers’ methods of raising cattle?
3. What can new methods of growing rice in Asia reduce?
4. What percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions are created by traditional methods of rice
farming?
5. What will increase by around 25% in Zambia over the next 30 years or so?
6. What will solar-powered cold storage help Indian farmers to do?
7. In addition to improved farming methods, what will we need to see a massive decrease of in the
future?
8. What will be required to face the global challenges we have with future food production?

8 Talking point
In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What are the staple foods in your country? Where do they come from?
2. Is a lot of food imported into your country? Or does farmland provide the majority of the food
consumed there?
3. What do you think will have to change about food production in your country over the next few
decades?
4. What was your reaction to the video? Do you think it will be possible for humankind to find
answers to the problems of future food production? Or do you think we will not be able to do
what is required? Explain your answer.

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