1st YEAR "C" - READING - ECOTOURISM

Hi everyone.

Do the following activity in pairs, on a sheet of paper and handwritten. You must write all the information.
Please, make your classmates who don't have a connection to the internet to receive this activity.
Hand the paper in our next class.

ECOTOURISM

1 Reading

Before reading, answer these questions:

1)     What is ecotourism?

2)     Why is ecotourism important?

Now read the text and check your ideas.

Ecotourism

(1)                                                                                                                  

Tourism will always have an impact on the places visited. Sometimes the impact is good, but often it’s negative. For example, if lots of people visit one place, then this can damage the environment. The question is – how can we minimize the problems without preventing people from traveling and visiting places?

(2)                                                                                                                  

The main aim of ecotourism is to reduce the negative impact that tourism has on the environment and local people. The idea is to encourage tourists to think about what they do when they visit a place.

(3)                                                                                                                  

It’s great to talk about protecting the environment, but how do you actually do this? There are a number of key points. Tourists shouldn’t drop litter, they should stay on the paths, they shouldn’t interfere with wildlife and they should respect local customs and traditions.

(4)                                                                                                                  

Some people see ecotourism as a contradiction. They say that any tourism needs infrastructure – roads, airports and hotels. The more tourists that visit a place, the more of these are needed and, by building more of these, you can’t avoid damaging the environment.

(5)                                                                                                                  

But, of course, things aren’t so black and white. Living in a place of natural beauty doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t benefit from things like better roads. As long as the improvements benefit the local people and not just the tourists, and the local communities are consulted on plans and changes, then is there really a problem?

(6)                                                                                                                  

In 2002 the United Nations celebrated the ‘International Year of Ecotourism’. Over the past twenty years, more and more people have started taking eco-holidays. In countries such as Ecuador, Nepal, Costa Rica and Kenya, ecotourism represents a significant proportion of the tourist industry.

2 Comprehension

Put the headings (a) – (f) in the correct place (1) – (6) in the text. Write the heading, not the letter.

(a)    Is more infrastructure always bad?

(b)    What is ecotourism?

(c)     Is tourism always good?

(d)    How popular is ecotourism?

(e)    What exactly does ecotourism mean?

(f)      Is ecotourism really possible?

Read the sentences and write T (True) or F (False).

1)       The writer thinks that tourism should be stopped.                           

2)       Ecotourism is about making more money from tourists.                 

3)       Tourists should think about their behavior.                                      

4)       It doesn’t matter where people walk.                                               

5)       More roads and buildings are built because of tourism.                  

6)       It’s good when local people are asked for their opinions.               

7)       Ecotourism is becoming less popular.                                             

8)       For some countries, ecotourism is very important.                         

3 Vocabulary

Find these bolded words in the text and choose the correct meaning, a or b, for each one.

1)     impact

           a)     to have an effect or influence

           b)     to make something less good

2)     damage

           a)     to improve

           b)     to have a negative effect

3)     minimize

           a)     to ignore something bad

           b)     to make as small as possible

4)     prevent

           a)     to stop

           b)     to exist at a particular time

5)     reduce

           a)     to do something again

           b)     b to make something smaller

6)     interfere

           a)     to handle or change something although you have no right to do this

           b)     to worry about something

7)     contradiction

           a)     two ideas that can’t both be true

           b)     something that helps people

8)     benefit

           a)     be paid for

           b)     have the advantage

4 Analysis

Look at the two eco-holiday adverts and answer the questions.

1)     Which of the two eco-holidays do you think is more eco-friendly?

2)     Which eco-holiday would you choose to go on? Why?

3)     Are there any eco-holidays in your country?