Talk about the news and documentaries

C1

Talk about the news

and documentaries
Read and discuss news articles and
practise using ellipsis and substitution.

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Let’s talk about the news

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Read and summarize

Is the future electric?

In September 2020, the UK government announced that it will end all sales of petrol and diesel
cars by 2030. Can this be true?

It remains to be seen what the extent of this announcement will mean as we await a full
transport announcement from the government later in the autumn. Currently though, nothing
that surrounds this proposal makes any sense.

Electric cars certainly help reduce pollution but don’t eliminate it entirely — tyres grating on the
surface of the road throw lots of polluting particles into the air. Also, tyre wear is the biggest
source of microplastics found in rivers and the sea. And, we still have no means of recycling tyres
properly. We also need to remember the huge amount of carbon emissions involved in
producing a car. And the fact that demand for electric cars has resulted in a rush on lithium and
copper minerals, causing a huge blot on the landscape.

If we were to think about switching to bicycles and e-bikes then we still have an urban design
problem to tackle — cars have made everything further away. I believe that the answer lies in
urban redesign. If we can make it so that all of the shops and services we need are in easy reach
of our homes, it will not only boost our sense of community, health and job prospects, but will
also greatly reduce pollution.

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Ask and answer

● Do you think the article is biased? Why/why not?

● Do you agree with the writer’s opinion?

● What phrases does the writer use to express their

opinion? Is it implicit in the text or explicit?

● Is pollution a big problem in your hometown?

● What other steps do you think need to be taken to

safeguard our future planet?

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Complete the text

Is the future electric?

In September 2020, the UK government announced that it will end all _________ of petrol and
_________ cars by 2030. Can this be true?

It remains to be seen what the _________ of this announcement will mean as we _________ a full
transport announcement from the government later in the autumn. Currently though, nothing
that surrounds this proposal makes any sense.

Electric cars certainly help reduce pollution but don’t _________ it entirely — tyres grating on the
surface of the road throw lots of polluting _________ into the air. Also, tyre wear is the biggest
source of _________ found in rivers and the sea. And, we still have no means of _________ tyres
properly. We also need to remember the huge amount of carbon emissions involved in
producing a car. And the fact that demand for electric cars has resulted in a _________ on lithium
and copper minerals, causing a huge _________ on the landscape.

If we were to think about switching to bicycles and e-bikes then we still have an urban design
problem to _________ — cars have made everything further away. I believe that the answer lies in
urban _________ — if we can make it so that all of the shops and services we need are in easy
reach of our homes, this will not only _________ our sense of community, health and local job
prospects but also greatly reduce pollution.

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Ellipsis and substitution

There are two main ways in English to avoid repeating a word or phrase: ellipsis (leaving something
out completely) and substitution (replacing one word or phrase with another).

Ellipsis
“Will you go away in October?” “We hope to.” (= we hope to go away in October.)

Substituting lexis
We use synonyms instead of repeating the same word.
“I thought the Prime Minister looked quite tense during question time.”
“Yes, he did seem pretty stressed.”

Substituting nouns
We use pronouns to refer back to nouns.
It was a simple message but an effective one.

Substituting verbs and verb phrases.

We use the auxiliary of a verb phrase to avoid repeating verbs/verb phrases.
“I didn’t catch the latest news today but I will tomorrow.”

Substituting clauses
We can substitute an entire clause with that, so or not.
“The rules about visas have changed with Brexit.” “I didn’t know that.”
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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Rewrite using ellipsis and substitution

Delete the unnecessary words in the sentences

and make substitutions where appropriate.

1. The Transport Minister talked about improving the road surfaces but didn’t include road
surfaces in the final report.

2. If the government says it will reduce carbon emissions, it will reduce carbon emissions.

3. “I thought the article was quite comprehensive.” “Yes, it was quite comprehensive.”

4. I didn’t have time to look at the headlines today but I will look at the headlines tomorrow.

5. “Have you seen Adam Curtis’s latest documentary?” “No I haven’t seen Adam Curtis’s latest
documentary.”

6. I would agree that it’s not the best solution but it is the cheapest solution.

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

Your turn!

● With your partner, decide on a news topic that

you’re both interested in.

● Find two articles from different English-language

news sources related to that topic.

● Analyze the articles in terms of information

provided, any bias, language used, examples of
ellipsis and substitution.

● Swap articles and check each other’s work.

● Present your findings on the topic to the group.

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

In this class, I was able to...

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 Talk about the news and documentaries

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