III. Discuss the following points

I. Answer these questions.

Follow-up

1. How did one Swiss hotel help to protect the environment?

2. Find in the article at least ten ways of being a good ‘ecotourist’.

3. Would you like to spend your holidays in this hotel? Reason it out.

II. Find a word in the text that has the same or similar meaning to the following:

wonderful impossible to correct

polluting free time

sustain, protect healthy and very green

green tourists reduce the environmental damage

animals or plants at risk reward, benefit

delicate encourage people to do smth positive for

not be severe with keep alive

walking paths rubbish

1. The Alps are Europe’s largest ecosystem, shared by 12 million people. What laws do we have to protect them? What harm are we doing to them? What laws or guidelines can we introduce to treat them better? (Use the arguments in the box to help you.)

BLACK ALPS

GREEN ALPS

100 million people visit the Alps each year.   They spend $52 billion in the region but none of the money is used to protect the Alps. The 41,000 ski lifts harm the environment. Forests and rivers are damaged by salt and sewage (human waste). The environment is polluted by gases from private cars     The destruction of the forests leads to avalanches and landslides (falling land and rocks). A German survey found that 58% of tourists noticed damage to the Alps (such as dead trees and erosion).

All EC countries have signed an agreement to protect the Alps.   The Swiss want the law which ‘makes the polluter pay’.   Swiss tourist offices now give visitors a booklet on how to be good ‘ecotourists’.   Clarins, the French cosmetic firm, has created a butterfly sanctuary in the Alps. (There is already one for alpine birds.) Suchard chocolates are paying for alpine tree re-plantation.   ‘Green ‘ charities are training local people in traditional alpine jobs, from carpentry to building mountain chalets.

2. Who should pay to protect the Alps? The EC? National governments? Local people? Visitors? The polluters? Why?

3. Have you ever been on the educational or activities holiday? What were the good or bad points?

4. Have you ever had a ‘green ‘ holiday? Would you like to? Do you think it would be more or less interesting than your typical holidays?

The following phrases might be useful: it is popularly believed that…; people often claim that…; it is often alleged that…; some people argue that…; many argue that…; most people feel that…; some people point out that…; contrary to popular belief…; even though; regardless of the fact that…; in spite of the fact that…; despite the fact that…; in other words…; that is to say…; to put it another way…

VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR

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