French
The environment
This Revision Bite will give you practice in listening to and understanding French conversation on the topic of the environment.
Useful vocabulary
The environment can be quite a difficult topic because you might meet vocabulary that isn't used in other areas.
l'eau polluée - polluted water
l'eau salée - salt water
l'eau potable - drinking water
consommer - to consume
nos réserves - our reserves
le recyclage - recycling
s'épuiser - to become exhausted
peu à peu - little by little
l'effet de serre - the greenhouse effect
la disparition de certaines espèces animales - the extinction of some animal species
économiser - to save
devenir - to become
la pollution - pollution
l'atmosphère - the atmosphere
les écosystèmes - ecosystems
la terre - earth
utiliser - to use
réutiliser - to reuse
inutilisable - unusable
Listening question: The environment
Read the questions then listen to the audio.
- Question
Task A
Ton ami fais un presentation sur l'environment.
Quels sont les sujets dont elle parle?
Coche les 5 bonnes cases.
Task B
Vrai ou Faux?
Answer grids
You may want to copy or print the answer grids.
Task A - coche les 5 bonnes cases
| Sujets | |
|---|---|
| la diminution de la quantité d'eau potable sur terre | |
| faire la vaisselle | |
| les pluies acides | |
| une marée noire | |
| la quantité d'eau potable sur terre | |
| les conséquences du gaspillage de nos réserves d'eau potable | |
| la pollution de la mer | |
| la valeur de l'eau |
Task B - vrai ou faux?
| Vrai | Faux | |
|---|---|---|
| Aujourd'hui, c'est la journée mondiale du vélo. | ||
| Il n'y a que trois litres d'eau potable sur terre. | ||
| On consomme cent cinquante litres d'eau pour prendre un bain. | ||
| Nos réservoirs s'emplissent peu à peu. | ||
| On appelle l'eau "l'or bleu". |
Worked answer with examiner's comments
- Answer
Ton amie fait une présentation sur l'environnement.
Your friend gives a presentation about the environment.
Task A
Quels sont les sujets dont elle parle? Which of these topics are mentioned?
Coche les 5 bonnes cases. Tick five boxes.
Sujets Listen out for: Examiner's Comments la diminution de la quantité d'eau potable sur terre
the reduction in the quantity of drinking water on earth
Reading through these questions before you hear the tape will help to give you an idea of the sorts of things you need to be listening out for. Use the five minutes reading time at the start of the exam to read through all the questions, and make short notes if necessary. faire la vaisselle
doing the washing up
les pluies acides
acid rain
une marée noire
an oil slick
la quantité d'eau potable sur terre
the amount of drinking water on earth
Although you may write at any time while the tape is playing, it is a good idea to listen to the whole section the first time it is played, especially for passages like this where you need to have a good understanding of the content of the whole extract. les conséquences du gaspillage de nos réserves d'eau potable
the consequences of wasting our reserves of drinking water
la pollution de la mer
sea pollution
la valeur de l'eau
the value of water
Task B
Vrai Faux Listen out for: Examiner's comments Aujourd'hui, c'est la Journée Mondiale du Vélo
Today is World Bicycle Day
Be careful - 'vélo' and 'l'eau' sound very similar, but the fact that the subject of the whole recording is water should help you decide. Il n'y a que trois litres d'eau potable sur terre
There are only three litres of drinking water on earth.
Although you may write at any time while the tape is playing, it is a good idea to listen to the whole section the first time it is played. On consomme cent cinquante litres d'eau pour prendre un bain
It takes a hundred and fifty litres of water to have a bath.
Nos réservoirs s'emplissent peu à peu
Our reservoirs are filling up little by little.
Be careful - 's'emplissent' and 's'épuisent' sound very similar, but the fact that the recording is talking about the exhaustion of water reserves should prevent you making a mistake. On appelle l'eau 'l'or bleu'.
Water is called 'blue gold.'
Transcript and translation
Aujourd'hui, c'est la Journée Mondiale de l'Eau, et à l'école, on nous a demandé de faire une recherche sur Internet concernant la valeur de l'eau en tant que ressource naturelle. C'est incroyable! Sais-tu qu'il n'y a que trois litres d'eau potable pour mille litres d'eau sur terre? Une grande partie est inutilisable parce qu'elle est salée ou polluée, et on en consomme dix litres pour faire la vaisselle et cent cinquante litres pour prendre un bain! Nos réserves s'épuisent peu à peu, et si on ne fait pas tous quelque chose, on va vers un désastre. Je comprends maintenant pourquoi on appelle l'eau "l'or bleu".
Today, it's World Water Day, and at school, we were asked to do some research on the internet in order to appreciate the value of water as a natural resource. It's unbelievable! Do you know that there are only three litres of drinkable water for every thousand litres of water on the earth? Most of it is unusable because it is salty or polluted, and ten litres of it are consumed to do the washing up and one hundred and fifty litres to take a bath! Our reserves are running out little by little, and if we don't all do something, we are heading for a disaster. I understand now why water is called 'blue gold.'
Exam tips
When asked to choose a number of items, make sure you don't tick more than that number, or you might lose marks.
In True/False questions you should never leave a gap, even if you are not sure of the answer - you have a 50 percent chance of being right!
Even in a topic like the environment, where there is some very specialised vocabulary, you should recognise or be able to guess most of the words from your knowledge of other French vocabulary or similar English words.
Now try a Test Bite