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a. Anna: That's right. It's so shocking that people would do that for farming.

b. Huong: Yes, it's terrible. I heard they are often started on purpose to clear land.

c. Anna: Have you seen the news about the fires in the rainforest?

a. Aisha: I don't know, but if we keep cutting them down so fast, maybe.

b. Maria: Do you think we'll ever run out of trees?

c. Maria: I hope not. The planet needs them to produce oxygen.

a. Sofia: My dad was talking about a new road being built near our town.

b. Sofia: Yeah, they have to cut down a lot of trees for it. I feel bad for the animals that live there.

c. Linh: Oh? Is it going through a wooded area?

a. Clara: It's crazy to think that something like rain can be so damaging.

b. Yumi: I know. It's a bit scary. I wish everyone would care more about the environment.

c. Clara: Me too. We all need to do our part to protect the world we live in.

a. Fatima: I'm trying to use less plastic now. It feels like a small thing, but it helps.

b. Fatima: It's crazy how much plastic we use every day.

c. Elena: I know. And most of it ends up in the ocean, hurting the fish and other sea animals.

a. Isabel: Yes, in many parts of the world, people don't have enough clean water.

b. Trang: We should be careful not to waste water when we brush our teeth or take a shower.

c. Trang: I learned that using too much water is a problem. It's called water scarcity.

a. Naomi: I saw a program about coral bleaching. It looks so sad.

b. Naomi: That's terrible for all the fish and other animals that live there.

c. Leila: It happens when the water gets too warm. The coral loses its colour and can die.

a. Hannah: We should only buy what we need so that less food goes in the trash.

b. David: Yeah, we throw away a lot of food that we could eat.

c. Hannah: My dad told me that we have a problem with food waste.

a. Omar: That's called the urban heat island effect. Cities with lots of buildings and cars get very hot.

b. Tuan: It's so hot today, but not because of the sun. It's because of the buildings.

c. Tuan: I guess having more parks and trees in cities would help.

a. Arjun: I think they're things farmers use to kill bugs on their plants.

b. Arjun: And they can get into the water and make it dirty for us to drink.

c. Luca: So they're not good for the environment or for people.

d. Luca: Do you know what pesticides are?

e. Luca: That's right. My mum said they can also hurt the soil.

a. Daniel: Exactly. If we keep taking too many, there won't be any fish left.

b. Minh: My dad told me that some kinds of fish are disappearing.

c. Minh: So the fish don't have time to have babies and grow.

d. Minh: We need to be more careful about how many we catch.

e. Daniel: Oh, that's because of overfishing. We catch too many.

a. Ahmed: That's because the ice in the Arctic is melting.

b. Kenji: That's terrible for the polar bears and other animals that live there.

c. Kenji: Why is the ice melting?

d. Ahmed: Because of global warming. The Earth is getting warmer, so the ice is turning to water.

e. Kenji: I saw a picture of a polar bear on a small piece of ice.

a. Miguel: I saw a TV show about all the rubbish in the ocean. It was so sad.

b. Nam: Yes, they can eat the plastic and get sick.

c. Nam: I know. The plastic we throw away ends up in the sea.

d. Miguel: It makes me want to use less plastic from now on.

e. Miguel: It's bad for the fish, isn't it?

a. Ethan: We should all try to be more mindful of our actions.

b. Ethan: And that's what makes the planet hotter and hotter over time.

c. Ethan: Do you know what the greenhouse effect is and what it does?

d. Ravi: It's when gases in the air trap heat around the Earth.

e. Ravi: We can reduce our carbon footprint to help slow it down.

a. Tom: It's when we lose different kinds of plants and animals forever.

b. Carlos: My teacher told us about biodiversity loss today. It sounds scary.

c. Tom: Yes, often because we destroy their homes or hunt too many of them.

d. Carlos: Like when an animal becomes extinct?

e. Carlos: We need to protect all the different kinds of life on our planet.

a. Taylor: Yes, the rising temperatures of the ocean are making it happen.

b. Alex: It's terrible for all the fish and animals that live there.

c. Alex: Is that because of climate change?

d. Alex: I saw a program about coral bleaching. It looked so sad.

e. Taylor: It happens when the water gets too warm. The coral loses its beautiful colour and can die.

a. Sam: My mum bought a new bag that is made from recycled plastic.

b. Sam: It makes me want to recycle more things at home.

c. Jordan: It's a small change but it can have a big effect.

d. Jordan: That's great! Recycling helps a lot. It means we don't have to make so much new plastic.

e. Sam: And it keeps the old plastic out of the ocean where it hurts animals.

a. Jamie: I agree. We should turn off lights and the TV when we leave a room.

b. Chris: My dad says we should also unplug things we're not using.

c. Chris: We should be more careful about how we use power.

d. Jamie: Every little bit of energy we save helps the planet.

e. Chris: I think we use too much electricity and energy in our house.

Fill in the blanks to complete the conversation.

A. It seems like a difficult cycle to break, with so much at stake.

B. It can make the soil less healthy and lose its natural nutrients.

C. And my teacher talked about a problem called monoculture farming.

D. Maybe we need to find new and more sustainable ways to grow our food.

E. They use those to kill all the bugs on the plants.

___

Nhung: I was just reading a magazine article about how farming can impact our environment. It's a bit complicated.

Huong: Yeah, I know. My dad says farmers have to use fertilizers to help their plants grow big and strong.

Nhung: I learned that too much fertilizer can run off into our rivers and make them polluted.

Huong: And what about pesticides?

Nhung: Yes, but those chemicals can also harm other animals and even make people sick.

Huong: It's a really difficult choice for farmers, isn't it, to balance the good with the bad?

Nhung: Have you heard of it?

Huong: I think it's when a farmer only grows one type of plant over a very large area.

Nhung: That's right.

Huong: And it can also make it easier for one disease to spread and kill all the crops.

Nhung: So they have to use even more chemicals to protect their plants from diseases.

Huong:

Nhung:

Huong: I hope so. It's important for the health of our planet and our food supply.

Nhung: I agree completely. We need to work toward a better and cleaner future.

Fill in the blanks to complete the conversation.

A. It's so good that people are working hard to save animals like that.

B. My dad says that protecting animals is a really important thing for the planet.

C. And they are also working hard to clean up the rivers where the birds find all their food.

D. A clean river means there will be more fish for them to eat and they can live.

E. I want to read more about it and see how I can get involved too.

F. If people learn more, they might care more and help out.

___

Erik: I saw on the news that they're trying to help a type of bird from disappearing. It's a great conservation effort.

Ryan: That's great!

Erik: Yes, it is. They are building a special, safe place, almost like a big park, just for those birds.

Ryan: That's a good idea. They'll be safe there from things that might hurt them, like cars.

Erik:

Ryan: So it's about helping their habitat too, not just the birds, which makes a lot of sense.

Erik: Exactly.

Ryan:

Erik: They're also teaching people about why these particular birds are so special.

Ryan: That's a smart thing to do.

Erik: It is a lot of hard work, but it can really make a huge difference in the long run.

Ryan: I hope they can save them all. It's a very positive thing to see happening.

Erik: I agree. We need to help the animals that can't help themselves.

Ryan:

Erik: We can look online for more information and find out what we can do. Let's do it!