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The team in Morro Verde want to clean up their neighbourhood.

Don't throw that away!

Don't throw that away!

In this issue, the team think about what they can do to clean up the environment on a global and a local level. 

Lucas and the team are playing football in front of the youth centre. There is a bin in the foreground that is overflowing with rubbish.  The coach calls everyone to the youth centre - she says that there is something really important she wants to talk about.  The kids look worried and walk towards the youth centre building.

 

The coach asks the kids to sit down and then tells them that there is a new programme from the government. Every youth centre needs to submit a plan to show how they can create less waste and be more environmentally friendly.  Julia is upset - she argues; we don’t do anything wrong. There are factories and cars and busses that make pollution. Why is it our responsibility?  The coach listens to the kids and asks them to think about it.  Everyone leaves to go home - saying goodbye.

 

Understanding

At the beginning of the story, the team think that environmental problems are caused by factories, car drivers and big businesses. They don't realise that they can be more environmentally friendly, too. In this first activity, think about different actions you can do in your everyday life and decide if they are helpful to the environment or harmful to the environment.

Activity 1: The team need have been asked to think about what they can do to help the environment. To help the environment we need to know what actions are harmful to the environment and what actions aren't. In this activity, put the actions into 2 groups: things that are harmful to our environment and things that are friendly. Which ones do you do?
Can you put the actions into the correct group?

Clara and Julia get on the bus to go home. She buys a bottle of water; Clara buys a snack (in packaging). Julia talks about getting some new sandals. Clara asks if there is anything wrong with her old sandals. Julia says they are not fashionable. They both get off the bus and throw their rubbish away.

 

Lucas goes to see the coach. He is drinking a bottle of water. The coach’s office is full of reusable and reused items.  Pen holder Plant pots A box of bags to be reused  He asks coach about a match against a local rival. Coach says that the match will be tough. The other team is very good.  Coach is eating her lunch out of an old ice cream box (the plastic container has a label - Ice cream). Lucas asks are you eating ice-cream for lunch? The coach says it’s not ice cream, it’s just her normal lunch in the box.  Lucas throws his water bottle away but there are three bins (yellow - blue and green) The coach says ‘that’s the wrong bin... plastics go in the yellow bin’. Lucas looks confused but moves his bottle anyway.

 

Filipe meets Bruno and Lucas and they start walking through the village. Iwani asks them what they think about the environment plan. Bruno thinks it’s a good idea. He points to a pile of rubbish and says ‘All this rubbish is horrible.’  Lucas asks, but what can we do?   Bruno says ‘we can recycle rubbish. There are factories that take it, clean it and make it into something else - like paper and glass and plastic.’  Filipe says ‘Aha! That’s why coach has three bins.’  Lucas ‘What?’.  Filipe tells the others about coach’s bins.

 

Grammar - Modal Verbs 

We can use modal verbs to talk about possibility. We use 'could', 'might' and 'may' to talk about something that is possible in the future but not 100% certain. Look at these examples:

"I'm not sure, maybe we could do something."  

"We might score, but there are only 10 minutes left."

We can use 'must' to talk about something that is 100% certain or that we are sure about. Look at these examples:

"You must be joking!"

"It's 10-0! The goalkeeper must be really, really bad!"

We can use 'should' and 'ought to' to give advice or make suggestions. Look at these examples from the comic:

"We ought to recycle our rubbish."

"We shouldn't throw things away."

Now, have a look at the activity below to check your understanding. If you want to know more, check out the Grammar Pages on our Learn English website.

Activity 2: In this activity, take a look at some sentences and decide which modal verb you should use: must, might, can't, could or should?
Can you put the modal verb in the right sentence?

It’s raining and the kids are inside at the youth centre. The television is on in the background. Bruno sees a report on the environment and turns up the volume. The kids watch the report. The report is on pollution on beaches. We see an image of sandals, plastic bottles and food wrappers washing up on a beach.  The kids look sad, but don’t say anything.

 

The coach arrives and says hello. Bruno says that he thinks that they should work on the government plan. The kids all agree.  The coach asks what they think they can do.  Clara says we can try not to make as much rubbish. We throw too much away. We shouldn’t buy things we don’t need and just throw them away.

 

Page 8: A cleaner neighbourhood.

 

Vocabulary

There were quite a few difficult words and phrases in this issue of the comic. For example:

"They want us to show how we can be more environmentally friendly."

"It's the factories and cars that make all the pollution."

Have a go at the activity below and see if any of the words or expressions are new for you.

Activity 3: There were some difficult phrases and words in this issue of 'The Beautiful Game'. How much did you understand?
Can you match the words to their definitions?

Quiz

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What do you think?

Why did the team decide to start being more environmentally friendly?
Do you reuse, reduce and recycle things you don't need? Why should you do this?
What are the biggest environmental problems in your country?
What solutions can be achieved locally and what needs to be done globally?
 
Tell us your answers in the comments section below.

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Comments

mucasame041009
15/09/2023
BR
21
points

Really good


mucasame041009
15/09/2023 19:04
Brazil
Manchester City
21

Really good

KareemZain
02/08/2023
EG
383
points

1. Because they saw the consequences of the pollution so they agreed on following their coach's advice.
2. Yes, I do. My main reason is to save money but also to help the environment.
3. The pollution made by cars, factories and rubbish.
4. We need to recycle and reuse more. We also need to plant more trees.


KareemZain
02/08/2023 16:22
Egypt
Manchester City
383

1. Because they saw the consequences of the pollution so they agreed on following their coach's advice.
2. Yes, I do. My main reason is to save money but also to help the environment.
3. The pollution made by cars, factories and rubbish.
4. We need to recycle and reuse more. We also need to plant more trees.

hsn's picture
hsn
07/06/2022
TR
5557
points

What do you think
• The biggest environmental problems are irregular urbanization, pollution in the rivers,seas , lakes and air.Social awarness about environment could be first step to solve these issuses.
Phrases
• Keeping most clean sheets might be result of more defensive game tactic.


hsn's picture
hsn
07/06/2022 17:11
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5557

What do you think
• The biggest environmental problems are irregular urbanization, pollution in the rivers,seas , lakes and air.Social awarness about environment could be first step to solve these issuses.
Phrases
• Keeping most clean sheets might be result of more defensive game tactic.

Michaelsun
26/03/2022
CN
738
points

They saw the beach is very dirty and don’t want to play football in the beach.
I don’t do recycling, reusing and reducing enough. We should do this to protect the environment.
Air pollution is the biggest environmental problem in China.
To reduce the air pollution produced by factories in recent years China. And to reduce the consumption of the coal to help the environment of the world.


Michaelsun
26/03/2022 14:15
China
Manchester United
738

They saw the beach is very dirty and don’t want to play football in the beach.
I don’t do recycling, reusing and reducing enough. We should do this to protect the environment.
Air pollution is the biggest environmental problem in China.
To reduce the air pollution produced by factories in recent years China. And to reduce the consumption of the coal to help the environment of the world.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
04/03/2021
BR
1512
points

Because they noticed that with that amount of rubbish at the streets or beach it would be difficult to keep the environment healthy and it should be prejudicial to their lives as well.
I do! At my condominiium we have a garbage selective collection program.
In my country the biggest problem generated by the robbish and trash people throw away at the streets that becomes a real issue when its raining season and the rivers are not abble to drain the whole amount of trash, generating floods and a lot of problems.
I think globally we must review the air pollution politics by the governments and enterprises.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
04/03/2021 19:25
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

Because they noticed that with that amount of rubbish at the streets or beach it would be difficult to keep the environment healthy and it should be prejudicial to their lives as well.
I do! At my condominiium we have a garbage selective collection program.
In my country the biggest problem generated by the robbish and trash people throw away at the streets that becomes a real issue when its raining season and the rivers are not abble to drain the whole amount of trash, generating floods and a lot of problems.
I think globally we must review the air pollution politics by the governments and enterprises.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
05/07/2020
TR
6536
points

Because the neighbourhood was so dirty.
I don’t do it usually because I don’t use a lot of stuff.
Throwing beer bottles in the sea.
Recycling , reducing and reusing.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
05/07/2020 09:49
Turkey
Manchester United
6536

Because the neighbourhood was so dirty.
I don’t do it usually because I don’t use a lot of stuff.
Throwing beer bottles in the sea.
Recycling , reducing and reusing.

rickymanoel
06/03/2020
BR
57
points

- Because Luiza, the coach, taught them not to throw trash away;
- No, I don't, because I wasn't taught to do this;
- it is the trash on the streets and deforestation;
- Locally: the three "R's"; Globally: create new cars that only use electricity;


rickymanoel
06/03/2020 19:28
Brazil
Liverpool
57

- Because Luiza, the coach, taught them not to throw trash away;
- No, I don't, because I wasn't taught to do this;
- it is the trash on the streets and deforestation;
- Locally: the three "R's"; Globally: create new cars that only use electricity;

josegsalass's picture
josegsalass
02/12/2019
VE
581
points

I think question 8 has a missing information. Bruno talks about recycling, and felipe says he's going to read information on his mobile phone. But the answer says it's Bruno who said it.
They decided to help with the cleaning because the coach suggested them to.
We have many environmental problems, mostly because people don´t show good behavior, they throw paper, plastic, glass, food everywhere, and set fire to every rubbish in order to delete it.


josegsalass's picture
josegsalass
02/12/2019 13:23
Venezuela
Liverpool
581

I think question 8 has a missing information. Bruno talks about recycling, and felipe says he's going to read information on his mobile phone. But the answer says it's Bruno who said it.
They decided to help with the cleaning because the coach suggested them to.
We have many environmental problems, mostly because people don´t show good behavior, they throw paper, plastic, glass, food everywhere, and set fire to every rubbish in order to delete it.

Guime boy
13/05/2019
BR
51
points

1)They decided so in order to prevent pollution and make the city cleaner, for them and tourists.
2)I sometimes do. We should do it for our and living beings health.
3)our biggest environmental problems are ocean pollution and deforestation.
4)globally we need to decrease CO2 emissions and locally, improve people's education.


Guime boy
13/05/2019 23:39
Brazil
Arsenal
51

1)They decided so in order to prevent pollution and make the city cleaner, for them and tourists.
2)I sometimes do. We should do it for our and living beings health.
3)our biggest environmental problems are ocean pollution and deforestation.
4)globally we need to decrease CO2 emissions and locally, improve people's education.

joto
15/06/2016
AT
271
points

Yes,I do those,because we shouldn't destroy nature.


joto
15/06/2016 08:56
Austria
Stoke City
271

Yes,I do those,because we shouldn't destroy nature.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
31/03/2016
PS
3705
points

To play in a clean environment.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
31/03/2016 20:14
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

To play in a clean environment.

Hassan_raja447
20/03/2016
PK
837
points

Environmental problems are all over the world, specially developing countries are in worse condition. There people need to be more realistic and environmental friendly.


Hassan_raja447
20/03/2016 12:48
Pakistan
Liverpool
837

Environmental problems are all over the world, specially developing countries are in worse condition. There people need to be more realistic and environmental friendly.

ZoeyRedbird's picture
ZoeyRedbird
19/03/2016
RU
369
points

We all have to treat the environment with respect and do not pollute because the Earth is our home and we have to keep our planet clean.


ZoeyRedbird's picture
ZoeyRedbird
19/03/2016 19:56
Russia
Manchester United
369

We all have to treat the environment with respect and do not pollute because the Earth is our home and we have to keep our planet clean.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
18/03/2016
ME
3557
points

There are many options that can be achieved locally but it's more about raising awareness than changing something big. More important is changing our life habits globally. For example, t recycle old stuffs,to stop using all fossil fuels and start using the benefits of solar energy, orientation towards green areas, reducing the transmission of coal to minimum. But we must start now so we can feel the benefits in couple of decades. Otherwise, we could bring the survival of the whole humanity at risk of extinction. We depend on plants and it is our greatest treasure!


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
18/03/2016 11:31
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

There are many options that can be achieved locally but it's more about raising awareness than changing something big. More important is changing our life habits globally. For example, t recycle old stuffs,to stop using all fossil fuels and start using the benefits of solar energy, orientation towards green areas, reducing the transmission of coal to minimum. But we must start now so we can feel the benefits in couple of decades. Otherwise, we could bring the survival of the whole humanity at risk of extinction. We depend on plants and it is our greatest treasure!

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
18/03/2016
ME
3557
points

I'm trying to use my old things as much as possible since we don't have the recycling center. But I reuse and reduce all the time. The biggest environmental problem in my country is non selective waste disposal, and of course thermal power plant on the north!


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
18/03/2016 11:19
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

I'm trying to use my old things as much as possible since we don't have the recycling center. But I reuse and reduce all the time. The biggest environmental problem in my country is non selective waste disposal, and of course thermal power plant on the north!

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
18/03/2016
ME
3557
points

The team started to think seriously about their environment when they realized that things can go wrong, that the rubbish and pollution could effect the tourism in their neighborhood..So, they gathered as a team and have dicussed about the possible solutions.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
18/03/2016 11:13
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

The team started to think seriously about their environment when they realized that things can go wrong, that the rubbish and pollution could effect the tourism in their neighborhood..So, they gathered as a team and have dicussed about the possible solutions.

HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
17/03/2016
TR
1761
points

We must raise environment awareness and struggle to save nature much more.


HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
17/03/2016 16:42
Turkey
Leicester City
1761

We must raise environment awareness and struggle to save nature much more.

HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
17/03/2016
TR
1761
points

In my country,some people don't care nature,creatures,etc. in order to earn much more money and they destroy everything.


HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
17/03/2016 16:41
Turkey
Leicester City
1761

In my country,some people don't care nature,creatures,etc. in order to earn much more money and they destroy everything.

HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
17/03/2016
TR
1761
points

Yes,I do those,because we shouldn't destroy nature.


HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
17/03/2016 16:39
Turkey
Leicester City
1761

Yes,I do those,because we shouldn't destroy nature.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
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1Alex_from_Ukraine6573
2mobeckham6536
3hsn5557
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
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1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33836
3Spain29414
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23401
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20437
8Turkey20095
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146586
2Liverpool111204
3Chelsea90125
4Arsenal86324
5Manchester City58726
6Tottenham Hotspur19418
7Newcastle United10560
8West Ham United7667
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Everton4533

Level

4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

Goals

Practise your reading skills.

Learn more about how to use modal verbs to talk about possibility and certainty.

Learn some new vocabulary.