Christmas_intermediate.pdf

Christmas is coming - all the way from China

Level 2 l Intermediate

1 Key words

Fill the gaps using the key words from the text.

cargo goods cracker capital maiden

decorations exploitation wrapping paper implications

1 A

is a decorated paper tube that makes a noise when you pull it apart. It contains a small

toy, a paper hat and a joke inside. It’s used traditionally at Christmas in the UK.

2 In countries which celebrate Christmas, people often put

up in their house.

is special paper used for wrapping presents.

are objects produced for sale.

is money or property that you use to start a business or invest.

is unfair treatment of someone in order to get beneit for yourself.

are possible effects or results

are things that are sent by ship, airplane or truck.

9 A

voyage or light is one that is done for the irst time.

2 Find the information

Look in the text and ind this information as quickly as possible.

1 What is the Emma Maersk 3 ?

2 Where is it from?

3 Where is it going?

4 What is on the Emma Maersk 3 ?

5 Are people happy about this?

Christmas is coming - all the way from China

by John Vidal

Christmas is coming this year on board the biggest ship aloat, on its maiden voyage from China. To the

relief of children, parents and shopkeepers everywhere - but to the despair of European manufacturers

- mountains of crackers, toys and games as well as decorations, wrapping paper, food and every imaginable

gift are on the way to Felixstowe, Suffolk, aboard the Emma Maersk 3 .

If anything should happen to this 400m-long, 61 metre-high boat, that is as wide as a motorway and is

containers of goods that it will drop off in Britain on its way to mainland Europe contain the largest amount

of Christmas goods ever delivered - a loating world of British desires and necessities. Crackers, poker

tables, bingo sets, drum kits, electronic toys and pre-school building blocks will be delivered in astonishing

quantities: 1,886,000 Christmas decorations are loaded in one container, 40,000 rechargeable batteries and

22,280kg of Vietnam tea in another. In another are 12,800 MP3 players.

NEWS LESSONS / Christmas is coming / Intermediate

Christmas is coming - all the way from China

Level 2 l Intermediate

There are potato mashers and spoons to cook with, leather sofas to recline on, new spectacles to watch

new televisions by, and pyjamas to go to bed in. Pets will be especially happy; 138,000 tins of catfood are on

their way, as are mountains of dogfood. But the ship and its cargo was the subject of an intense row over the

increasing number of imports from China. Caroline Lucas, Green Member of European Parliament (MEP) for

southeast England, said it was a “microcosm of globalisation gone mad”. “All these goods could have been

made in Europe,” said Ms Lucas “Whole sectors of global trade are now being dominated by China. The real

cost of the goods that the Emma Maersk is bringing in should include the environment, the markets destroyed

in developing countries and the millions of jobs lost.” Britain exported more than GBP 2.8bn of goods to China

last year but imported nearly GBP 16bn, a 30-fold increase on 1980. The UK is Europe’s third-biggest trading

partner with China but in global terms represents less than 2% of China’s trade.

The Emma Maersk is carrying about 11,000 containers and is by far the largest container ship ever built.

Yentian port, from which it set off last month, now exports nearly three times that many containers every day.

Last year Ms Lucas led an EU study into trade with China and found its implications terrifying. “These are

the goods that Europe used to make. We are faced with a country that has an almost absolute advantage

in an increasing number of sectors. This a triumph for multinational capital, not for Chinese workers who, as

well as suffering from some of the worst labour exploitation on record, are also losing jobs at a phenomenal

rate,” she said.

The Emma Maersk , the irst of a leet of seven equally large container ships, will soon be on its way back

to China taking back the waste of Christmas. One of Britain’s biggest exports to China is now waste plastic

- which is turned back into soft toys and decorations.

GBP: Great Britain Pounds

bn: billion

3 Comprehension check

Choose the correct answer.

1 The Emma Maersk contains 3,000 containers for

a) China

b) Britain

c) Europe

2 The UK represents of China’s trade with the world.

a) the majority

b) a small part

c) the third-largest part

3 According to Christine Lucas, the Emma Maersk

a) harms the environment

b) creates jobs

c) creates markets in developing countries

NEWS LESSONS / Christmas is coming / Intermediate

Christmas is coming - all the way from China

Level 2 l Intermediate

4 Yentian port exports

containers every day.

a) around 11,000

b) around 33,000

c) 2.8 bn

5 The goods on board the Emma Maersk 3

a) used to be made in Europe

b) are made in Europe

c) are made in Britain

6 When the Emma Maersk 3 returns to China it will contain

a) decorations

b) soft toys

c) waste plastic from Britain

4 Vocabulary Lexical sets

Put the words and phrases in the box into one of the different categories:

on board

ship

trade

maiden voyage

manufacturers

capital

labour

decorations

wrapping paper

abroad

globalisation

boat

loating

goods

cargo

port

imports

sectors

markets leet

trading partners

crackers exports

toys

aloat

SEA TRAVEL vocabulary: on board ,

TRADE vocabulary: trade ,

CHRISTMAS vocabulary: toys ,

5 Vocabulary Word information

Complete the table.

Verb

Adjective

loat

recharge

develop

terrify

imagine

NEWS LESSONS / Christmas is coming / Intermediate

Christmas is coming - all the way from China

Level 2 l Intermediate

6 Vocabulary Collocations

Make collocations with the words in A and the words in B. Check your answers in the text.

1 intense

2 building

3 trading

4 phenomenal

5 rechargeable

6 developing

7 global

trade

countries

rate

row

batteries

blocks

partner

7 Discussion

Do you think people consume too much at Christmas?

Is it wrong to import so many goods from China?

NEWS LESSONS / Christmas is coming / Intermediate

Christmas is coming - all the way from China

Level 2 l Intermediate

KEY

1 Key words

1 cracker

2 decorations

3 Wwrapping paper

4 Goods

5 Capital

6 Exploitation

7 Implications

8 cargo

9 maiden

TRADE vocabulary:

manufacturers

goods

globalisation

imports

sectors

markets

trading partners

trade

exports

capital

labour

2 Find the information

1 A boat

2 China

3 Britain and Europe

4 Christmas gifts, decorations and other goods

5 Not everyone – some think it’s bad for the

environment and the economy

CHRISTMAS vocabulary:

crackers

toys

games

decorations

wrapping paper

3 Comprehension check

1 b

2 c

3 a

4 b

5 a

6 c

5 Vocabulary: Word formation

VERB ADJECTIVE

loat loating

recharge

rechargeable

develop

developing

terrify

terrifying

imagine

imaginable

4 Vocabulary: Lexical sets

SEA TRAVEL vocabulary:

on board

ship

maiden voyage

aboard

boat

loating

cargo

port

leet

aloat

6 Vocabulary: Collocations

1 intense row

2 building blocks

3 trading partner

4 phenomenal rate

5 rechargeable batteries

6 developing countries

7 global trade

NEWS LESSONS / Christmas is coming / Intermediate

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