Universidad

Nacional de Moreno

Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I (2214 Y 2261)
Licenciatura en gestión ambiental y Licenciatura en Biotecnología.

Assignment 5
Composting
1.Warm up
Listening. Watch, listen and fill in the blanks with a word from the box. There are clues for each
numbered space.
ENERGY- GLOBAL WARMING- LANDFILL- LIQUID- DECOMPOSE- COMPOST- CARBON MONOXIDE

In many areas food waste goes straight to a……………………………………1 in trucks that give out
………………………………..2 . Once it’s there, it starts to ………………………………………3 emanating methane
Experts agree that methane is a major contributor to ……………………………………………4 but food isn’t the
only thing at landfills. Metals can mix with your food waste, creating a toxic ……………………………………….5
Of course, you can always ……………………………………. 6 but that’s not practical for everybody.
So are there other options? What if you put it in the disposer instead? After a trip to the sewer system,
it ends up at the treatment plant.
At properly equipped plants, the methane can be captured and used to generate renewable
…………………………………….7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZZfsSs3E98
1. a place where waste is buried in the ground.
2. a poisonous gas that is produced by burning some types of fuel, especially petrol (= fuel for cars).
3. decay, be destroyed.
4. when the air around the world becomes warmer because of pollution.
5. a substance, for example water, that is not solid and that can be poured easily..
6. a mixture of decayed leaves and plants that is added to the soil to improve its quality.
7. the power that comes from electricity, gas, wind, etc.

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno

Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I (2214 Y 2261)
Licenciatura en gestión ambiental y Licenciatura en Biotecnología.


2. Pre reading activities: Look at the picture below, read the title and the caption.

How Cities Compost Mountains of Food Waste

o Large-scale composting plants, like this one at a research center in

Pennsylvania, may soon be a part of New York City's waste management system. P H O T O G R A P H B Y J I M
RICHARDSON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

What do you think the text is going to be about? Write your hypothesis in Spanish in around 20 words
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3. Now read the following article:

This week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to increase composting of food scraps
generated by the city's eight million inhabitants. In a few years, separation of food waste from other refuse could
be required of residents, the mayor said.
A number of other cities around the country already require food scrap recycling, including San Francisco and
Seattle, but the idea has been slower to catch on in New York, where critics worried that the urban density may
make it more difficult—and possibly smellier.
But city officials told reporters that a composting pilot program fared better than expected.
In his State of the City address in February, Bloomberg had called food waste "New York City's final recycling
frontier." The mayor said, "We bury 1.2 million tons of food waste in landfills every year at a cost of nearly $80 per
ton. That waste can be used as fertilizer or converted to energy at a much lower price. That's good for the
environment and for taxpayers."
The city says it also intends to hire a company to build a plant that will turn food waste into biogas—methane that
can be burned to generate electricity just like natural gas. The food waste program is expected to ramp up over
the next few years, starting with volunteers, until it reaches full deployment around 2015 or 2016.
New York will also likely be able to tap into an existing network of composters. The Lower East Side Ecology
Center, for example, has operated a popular composting program for city residents since 1990. Some people also
report saving up their kitchen scraps and bringing them to drop-off locations at farmers markets and other
locations.
Christine Datz-Romero, the co-founder and executive director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center, said
interest in composting has been building over the years. "People are concerned about climate change and are

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno

Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I (2214 Y 2261)
Licenciatura en gestión ambiental y Licenciatura en Biotecnología.

looking for small changes in their lifestyle that will be part of the solution," said Datz-Romero. She notes that when
placed in landfills, food waste releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Datz-Romero added that the success of the program will depend on the details. "What I'm concerned about is our
capacity to handle the material locally, because that's a big part of making composting really sustainable;
otherwise you are spending a lot of fuel transporting it, and that doesn't make sense," she said.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130618-food-waste-composting-nyc-san-francisco/

4. Reading comprehension
• Are these sentences true or false? Justify your answer.
a- Composting plants first appeared in New York and then in Pennsylvania
b- It is easier for big cities such as NY to separate food waste.
c- Mr Bloomberg thinks that burying food waste in landfills is an excellent idea.

d- Food waste can be turned into biogas.
e- The Lower East Side Ecology Center started a composting program in 1990 which still continues
today.
f- Methane is released by food waste when it is placed in landfills.

• Reference. What do these words and phrases refer to in the text?
a- his (line 8)
b- it (line 12)
c- a potent greenhouse gas (line 22)
d- it (line 25)

5. Language activities
• Find in the text an example of:
a- Present perfect simple tense
b- A modal verb that shows possibility
c- Future tense
d- A comparative adjective
e- Relative clauses (paragraph 4)

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno

Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I (2214 Y 2261)
Licenciatura en gestión ambiental y Licenciatura en Biotecnología.

• Match each conditional sentence to their type.
Conditional sentence type Example
O and I. Facts of nature. 100% a- If everybody classified waste, it would be
possible easier to recycle.
II. Hypothetical, imaginary or unlikely b- If you bury food waste in a landfill, it releases
methane.


• Is this sentence active or passive? Why?
“Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to increase composting”

6. Translate into Spanish:

The impact of food waste is not just financial. Environmentally, food waste leads to wasteful use of
chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides; more fuel used for transportation; and more rotting
food, creating more methane – one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that contributes to
climate change. Methane is 23 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. The vast amount
of food going to landfills makes a significant contribution to global warming.
Source: www.unep.org

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Lic. Victoria Camila Reyes.