Listening
comprehension exercise
Minnesota Public Radio
Garbage
glaciers
by Mark Steil May 12, 2003
Listen to the report: http://news.mpr.org/play/audio.php?media=/features/2003/05/12_steilm_riverdumps
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Vocabulary:
| to canoe Maple River mixture the sacred the sullied sandy bluffs to block shafts of sunlight to paint the scene heavenly glow to flush side channels sandbars the mind to file under image rusting hulk onshore to erode outside bend coupe Bob Zoet Mankato hunk of metal sculpture partner Brand Frentz long stretches of calm short bursts of rapids pull right to map to average dumpsite per mile washing machines to guide treasures hillside junk to dump decades |
license
plate to date (to) pile to take in the view wire mattress springs woven wire barbed wire broken and whole car body parts farther up appliances wringer washing machines driers fascinating stuff out here steep bank to dig the side of your foot into soft clay to stay on your feet foothold to unleash mini-landslide angle gravity downhill to allow snow melt to contribute to undercut whole chunks of to give way to tumble downstream debris to make a journey refrigerator stove to slide into an eyesore chemicals rusted-out farm chemical containers |
paint
cans gasoline tanks to be cleaned up Paul Nordell Natural Resources state money volunteer groups in conjunction with local government to address (a problem) to adopt river segment to go after sophisticated equipment winches cables 4-wheel drive vehicles steep club Good Thunder (place name) gravel bar a good half-mile mother lode sandbar to knock s.t. loose leather shoe 'he's lost their sole or something' jokes aside vision clubs, scouts, church groups to pick out close to where you live make a difference the amount of to slacken to step on final reminder symbol throwaway society to root s.t. out |
Listening
comprehension questions:
1. Explain what is meant by 'a mixture of the sacred and the sullied'.
2. How old is some of the junk along the Maple River?
3. What is the opposite of 'short bursts of rapids'?
4. How large is what
is called the 'worst' garbage pile?
5. What does 'to take in the view' mean?
6. Name some of the 'treasures' Bob Zoet refers to.
7. What is a wringer washing machine?
8. What does this mean: 'Sometimes a foothold unleashes a mini-landslide.'?
9. What is one reason that people chose this site to dump garbage?
10. Why are these piles of garbage called garbage 'glaciers'?
11. How dangerous are the sites?
12. What is the main method for dealing with these dump sites at present? What
limitations are there to this method?
13. What joke is Bob Zoet referring to when he says 'Jokes aside'?
14. What is Bob Zoet's 'vision'?
15. What is meant by a 'throwaway society'? How does Taiwan compare to what
you heard in this report?