Slave work was very difficult. Most women cooked, cleaned the house and raised the children of their white masters. Men were trained to be carpenters or masons. Most of them, however, were farm labourers. They planted and harvested crops.

Not all Blacks in America were slaves. “Free Blacks” lived and worked in big American cities, but they had very few rights. Expressing political views, carrying guns and meeting with white people was forbidden.

Americans in the northern states thought that slavery shouldn’t be allowed in a free country. As time went on, more and more people joined in the fight to end slavery. These abolitionists helped slaves escape to the North through secret routes. This system was called the Underground Railway.

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. He was strongly against slavery. Many southern states withdrew from the union and formed their own country – the Confederate States of America. It was the beginning of the Civil War, which lasted until 1865.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the Emancipation Proclamation. The northern states won the Civil War and American slaves were free.

In the past, African Americans have been known by many names. They were called Negroes, Blacks, and Coloureds. In the last 30 years, the term African Americans has officially been used.

About half of them live in the southern states of the USA, the rest in large cities of the East, Midwest and West.

African Americans – % of total population (2010)
Source; U.S. Census Bureau
Image: Ghislain Montvernay ; Licence : CC BY-SA 3.0
via Wikimedia Commons

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Africa is the second largest continent, covering about a fifth of the world’s landmass. It stretches equally to the north and south of the equator and is made up of many different kinds of landscapes and ecosystems.

Africa consists of over 50 states, many of which became independent in the 20th century. The whole continent was ruled by European powers until the world wars. Today, many nations still suffer from the lack of democratic elements. Dictators and military leaders rule politically unstable countries, in which there are no free elections.

The continent has great deposits of the world’s most valuable minerals and raw materials, including diamonds, coal, copper and gold. However, Africa is the least developed of all continents. Food is often scarce and droughts hit many regions on a regular basis. Diseases spread throughout Africa, life expectancy is low and poverty is widespread.

Image : Martin23230, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Landscapes of Africa

Atlas Mountains

Sahara Desert

Atlas mountains in Marocco
Image: Kobersky (talk · contribs), CC BY-SA 2.5,
via Wikimedia Commons

Sahara desert in Algeria
Image: Fiontain, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Nile River

In the eastern part of the Sahara desert the Nile River winds its way to the Mediterranean Sea. The longest river system in the world begins near the equator in the highlands of Eastern Africa and flows through many different landscapes.

East African Highlands

East Africa is dominated by highlands and plateaus, as well as lakes and deep mountain valleys. They stretch from Ethiopia in the north to Mozambique in the south. Most of the highlands reach heights of over 1,500 metres. The highest mountains are old volcanoes that are not active any more. Mount Kilimanjaro, situated near the equator, is almost 6,000 metres high.

The Great Rift Valley is a series of cracks in the Earth’s surface that extends from The Red Sea to Mozambique. It was created when the African continent broke apart millions of years ago. The area once was dominated by active volcanoes and earthquakes. Today, the Great Rift Valley is made up of deep and narrow lakes. Lake Tanganyika, which is over 400 miles long and 1500 metres deep, is the longest freshwater lake in the world. The largest African lake, Lake Victoria, lies is a shallow basin between two deep valleys.

Great Rift Valley
Image: Sémhur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Congo River Basin

The Congo River with its gigantic basin takes up much of central Africa. It stretches from the Atlantic to the highlands of East Africa and makes up about 20% of the world’s rainforests. Except for the Amazon, it carries more water than any other river in the world. The rainforest is habitat of half of the Africa’s plants and wildlife.

Deserts in Southern Africa

Southern Africa is covered by large deserts. The Namib Desert is the oldest in the world. It stretches along the Southern Atlantic coast of the continent and reaches up to 200 km inland. Its sand dunes near the coast reach a height of 300 metres and are up to 30 km long.

The Kalahari Desert is a dry sand basin that covers much of Botswana and western Namibia. It is not a real desert because the area gets at least some rainfall which makes it possible for animals to graze during the wet season.

South Africa

Most of South Africa is a series of old plateaus called velds. They reach a height of about 2,500 metres. To the south a ridge called the Great Escarpment drops down to the small coastal strip. Within this escarpment, the Drakensberg rises to an altitude of almost 3,500 metres.

Namib Desert and the Atlantic coast
Image: Robur.q, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Great Escarpment
Image: NJR ZA, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Islands

Africa is a continent with straight coastlines and therefore very few islands. The largest island, Madagascar, lies almost 400 km east of the mainland. Millions of years ago it was a part of India. It split from the Asian subcontinent and developed its own plant and animal life. Other important island groups are the Canaries in the Atlantic Ocean and the Seychelles and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Climate and Vegetation

Most parts of Africa are warm or hot, but rainfall varies from region to region. It decreases the farther you move away from the equator. Most of Africa lies in the tropical or subtropical region. The highest temperatures of the continent are measured in the desert regions of the Sahara, where daytime temperatures reach up to 50°C. Nights can be cool and frosty, even during the summer. The coldest regions of Africa lie in the eastern highlands and southern Africa.

Most of Africa is divided into wet and dry seasons. Near the equator there are two very wet seasons, as the sun passes overhead in spring and fall. During this time heavy rain falls every day in the afternoon. Precipitation up to 4000 mm a year is no exception. Humidity is always high, making life in this region very unpleasant.

Other parts of Africa usually have one wet season which gets shorter the farther away you get from the equator. North of the equator most rain falls from April to September, south of the equator the rainy season is from October to March. The Mediterranean coast as well as the southern part of Africa get rainfall during the winter months.

Rainfall in Africa
Image: Delphi234, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Plant life is influenced by the amount of rainfall. Tropical rainforests extend to the north and south of the equator. They are home to thousands of plants and animal species. The rainforests consist of various layers of vegetation, from shrubs and ferns on the ground to trees that grow up to a height of 50 metres.

In the savannahs and grasslands longer grass is replaced by shorter grass as you move away from the equator, with trees scattered in-between. In some areas, like the Sahel zone, there are large differences in rainfall every year. In the last decades droughts have caused hunger and starvation in many part of the Sahel and Ethiopia.

Rainfall influences Africa’s agriculture. Nutrients in the top layers of the soil are washed away after torrential rain, on the other hand nothing can grow if it rains too little.

In the desert regions of the Sahara, Namib and Kalahari rainfall often drops to under a hundred cm a year. Differences in temperature between day and night are often larger than between summer and winter.

Climate regions in Africa are changing constantly, maybe due to global warming. Droughts are becoming more widespread across the Sahel and eastern Africa. The Sahara is moving southward and more and more areas are threatened by deforestation.

Rainy season in the Sahel zone
Image: NOAA, US Gov, Unidentified, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Population

Africa is often referred to as the cradle of mankind. Scientists agree that the first humans probably appeared in Africa 4 million years ago and from there spread to other continents.

About 1.2 billion people live in Africa today. By 2050 the population of the continent is expected to double. Africa is the continent with the highest birth-rates and strongest population growth. This is because medical aid is getting better, there are more hospitals and doctors who take care of the population. Compared with other continents the average life expectancy in Africa is still low. In some countries of central Africa people barely reach 60.

Life expectancy in Africa
Image (modified) :Lady3mlnm, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Africa’s population is unevenly distributed over the continent. Many parts of the Sahara desert and the tropical rainforest are sparsely inhabited. On the other hand the Nile Delta, the Mediterranean coast, Nigeria, the highlands of eastern Africa are densely populated. On average about 65 people live on 1 square mile.

Many people in Africa suffer from a shortage of food, droughts, poor sanitation and a series of tropical diseases. In addition, AIDS is widespread and the biggest single killer of the continent.

Tribal groups

The people in Africa belong to various cultures and have different social backgrounds. Arabs live in the Mediterranean countries of northern Africa. They came to the region at around 600 A.D. and blended in with the Berbers, the people who had already been living there.

Black Africans are in the majority south of the Sahara desert. These people are made up of thousands of different tribes, who speak over a thousand languages and have different traditions and cultures. Among the largest groups are the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Zulu of South Africa.

In the 17th and 18th centuries Europeans started to settle in the southern part of Africa. Especially the Dutch and the British found their way to the coast of the southern Cape and spread inwards. There they met native tribes and fought wars against them. During the colonial period of the 19th century millions of Europeans made their way to Africa, many of them stayed there. Asians, above all Indians, settled on the eastern coast and Madagascar.

Nomads in northeastern Africa
Image: Nikswieweg, CC BY-SA 2.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons

Yoruba drummers in Nigeria
Image: Melvin “Buddy” Baker from St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Religions

There are hundreds of local religions spread across the African continent. Many native tribes pray to gods and other spirits, mostly to get a good harvest and stay in good health. Some religious ceremonies prepare young people for adulthood and marriage.

About 500 million Muslims live in Africa, especially in the Arab countries of the north. But also Nigeria, Somalia and Tanzania have strong Islamic groups. Christianity spread to Africa through the work of missionaries from Europe and North America. Today Christianity is dominant in the non-Arab countries south of the Sahara desert. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa also has the largest number of Christians (about 80 million) on the continent. Copts are the native Christians in Egypt. They represent about 10% of the population there.

Religions in Africa
Image: derivative work: T L Miles (talk) / uploader of original revision of Religion_distribution.png was Moshin,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Life in Traditional African Societies

Today’s Society

Although most Africans still live in rural areas, cities are growing fast, mostly because many people do not have jobs in the countryside and move to the urban areas to find more opportunities and a better life. Today about 50% of the population lives in cities. Lagos, Nigeria, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cairo, Egypt are among the fastest growing cities in the world.

Africa’s Economy

Although Africa is a continent that is rich in resources and raw materials, a large part of its population lives in poverty. In the last few decades, the standard of living has improved but income is still very low. In addition, Africa relies heavily on farming products and minerals as a source of income.

Farming

Farming is the most important economic activity and way of earning money for the people of Africa. Almost 70% of its population work in agriculture.

Most of the continent’s population depends on staple crops, food that people need themselves and base their diet on. These include corn, sorghum, rice and wheat as well as potatoes, fruits and vegetables. Cash crops are grown on large plantations and exported to other countries. They include cocoa, bananas and coffee.

In many African countries, food production cannot keep up with the increasing population. This leads to chronic food shortages. Some African countries have turned from food exporters in the last century to food importers today. However, most of them do not have the money and capital to import food from abroad. In addition, climate change and widespread droughts lead to hunger and starvation in many parts of Africa.

Livestock is raised in all parts of Africa. Sheep, goats, camels, pigs and other animals are kept for food, skin and as working and transportation animals.

Farmers in Burkina Faso
Image: Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=289842

Cocoa harvest in Cameroon
Image: CHRISTONALDO, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mining

Africa is rich with minerals and raw materials. The continent has large deposits of copper, gold, phosphates, platinum and minerals. The mining industry focuses on the countries south of the equator. Diamonds, gold and coal are produced in South Africa, which has the most advanced mining industry. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil-producing country. Bauxite and phosphates are mined in Morocco.

While Africa does have many resources, they do not control the world markets. Most countries do not process raw materials but export them to developed countries. The fight over raw materials has also led to conflicts and wars in Africa. Selling diamonds illegally, for example, helped to finance a civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

Minerals in Africa

Manufacturing

Industry is a young sector of the African economy. Most industries were set up after the countries got their independence from Europe. During the colonial period they got their finished products from Europe, often at a high price. Many nations still have developing industrial sectors. While foreigners own many companies, the number of young African businessmen opening up firms has increased steadily.

Tourism and Transportation

Tourism is a leading source of income in at least some African countries. Millions of people from around the globe visit the historic sites of ancient Egypt. Others travel to the mountains of eastern Africa or go on a safari in one of the game reserves in Kenya or Tanzania. Conflicts, wars and uprisings during the Arab Spring kept tourists away from Egypt and northern Africa.

Transportation is poorly developed in many African countries. Only the middle and upper classes own cars. Many Africans go on foot or use buses and bikes as a method of transportation. Air transport is well developed in places that attract tourists, like Egypt and Kenya

Game reserve in South Africa
Image:flowcomm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

History of Africa

Africa is often called the cradle of civilization. The first human beings roamed the continent about 2 million years ago. Old civilizations grew along the banks of the Nile River. Thousands of years ago ancient Egypt became a powerful empire, to the south Nubia emerged in today’s Sudan.

In the early centuries after the birth of Christ Christianity started to spread to northern Africa. In the Middle Ages Islam became the major religion. It spread across northern Africa very quickly and later on expanded to regions south of the Sahara desert. Christianity experienced a comeback in the 19th century when missionaries from Europe began to spread it to western and central Africa.

After 1000 A.D., great empires emerged in Ghana and other areas in western African. City-states, including Mogadishu and Zanzibar, grew into powerful trading centres in East Africa.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages the first Europeans came to Africa. From the early 1500s on, they made money by bringing slaves to North America. The British, Dutch and Portuguese set up trading posts along the western African coast where they searched for gold and ivory. In the 17th century, the Dutch set up a trading post at the Cape of Good Hope. It grew into a Dutch colony until the 19th century, when the British took over.

At the end of the 19th century, Europeans ruled most of Africa. They saw the continent as a major source of raw materials that they could bring back to Europe for their emerging industries. As a result, the Industrial Revolution did not take place in Africa. Throughout the colonial period, European countries fought for influence and control in Africa. In the “Scramble for Africa”, they divided the continent into spheres of interest. Native Africans often resisted colonial governments and in many areas, they were killed in uprisings.

The main colonial powers were:

• Great Britain (Egypt, Sudan, Eastern Africa, Rhodesia and South Africa)
• France (Algeria, French West Africa, Equatorial Africa)
• Belgium (Congo)
• Portugal(Angola, Mozambique)
• Germany (Southwest Africa – Namibia)
• Spain (Spanish Sahara)
• Italy (Ethiopia, Libya, Somaliland)

In the early 1900s, nationalism grew in many areas of Africa. People wanted colonialism to end and be free. After World War II most European countries ended their involvement in Africa, either out of their own free will or because they were forced out.

African colonies
Image: Eric Gaba – Wikimedia Commons user: Sting, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the 1950s, Algerians started to revolt against France. In a bloody colonial war that cost a million lives the Algerians became independent in 1962. In Angola and Mozambique, the Portuguese fought wars before they gave up their territories.

One of the last countries to gain independence was Rhodesia, today’s Zimbabwe, where blacks fought for over a decade against the British. In South Africa, white Europeans gave up control of the country after Apartheid ended in the 1990s.

Many African countries did not know how to cope with their newly gained independence, largely because they had no experience in administrating and governing a nation. As a result, civil wars, tribal conflicts and power struggles broke out. They resulted in dozens of wars in Africa since the 1960s. In the most gruesome conflict of the 1990s, a civil war in Ruanda led to the massacre of hundreds of thousands of people. However, Africa has had to cope with other problems as well. Virus outbreaks, for example Ebola, and other tropical diseases have killed thousands in the past years.

Videos

Overview of Africa
The Sahara Desert
Africa’s Population Boom

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
Words and Definitions 1
Words and Definitions 2
Match the Sentence Parts
Africa – Missing Word Cloze
Drought Hits Africa – Multiple Choice Cloze
Names and Places 1
Names and Places 2
Cities of Africa
Landscapes of Africa
Countries of Africa
African History – Order the Events
Crossword

Jigsaw Puzzle

Put the pieces of the puzzle into the correct position to create a map of Africa.

Wordsearch

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Image: Openclipart , Public Domain

Discovery

In 1895, a German scientist, Wilhelm Roentgen, discovered X-rays by accident. He called them X-rays because he hadn’t seen such a form of energy before. In mathematics X means something unknown. Roentgen took his first X-ray pictures of the bones of his hand. In 1901 he received the first Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery.

X-rays in medicine

X-rays are valuable in medicine because they can see through certain parts of the body. Doctors can take pictures of bones, teeth and tissue. They use these pictures to see which bones are broken or to find out which teeth have holes in them.

To produce X-ray pictures you need two things: a special plate that can capture X-rays is placed behind a part of a person’s body. A machine that produces X-rays is put in front of the person.

The X-rays are strong enough to pass through the skin and muscles but they cannot pass through hard objects like bones. In the picture you see hard objects, like bones, as white areas. Objects that X-rays go through are dark.

X-ray of a hand
Image: Creazilla , Public Domain

There are some situations in which X-rays cannot give you a clear picture. Some organs, for example, may block X-rays from showing a broken bone. For this reason computed tomography (CT) was invented. A person is put inside a scanner, which is a large tube-shaped machine. Then he is X-rayed from all sides. A computer puts together all of these images and can show doctors more than a normal X-ray can. CTs are used for brain diseases and head injuries.

X-rays, however, can also do harm to your body. Patients must wear special protection for the parts of their body that are not X-rayed. Doctors and helpers who work with X-ray machines must wear lead aprons and stand behind screens.

X-rays are sometimes used to in the fight against cancer. Doctors often beam X-rays at cancer cells in order to destroy them.

CT scanner
Image: Tomáš Vendiš, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

X-rays in science

Scientists often use X-rays to study the structure of other organisms or minerals that are in rock. By bombarding material with X-rays you can tell how old an object is.

Since the 1970s X-rays have been used to study stars and galaxies that are very far away. X-ray telescopes are put on board satellites that orbit far above the earth’s surface. They can see things that telescopes on earth cannot detect, because X-rays are absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere.

Chandra x-ray telescope, launched by NASA in 1999
Image: NASA/CXC/NGST, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Other uses

Factories use X-rays to find cracks in machines or in metal objects. At airports X-ray machines scan millions of handbags and suitcases for weapons like bombs, guns or knives.

Luggage screening at an airport
Image:User:Mattesderivative work: Cherubino,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
Words and Definitions
Match the sentence parts
Missing Word Cloze
True or False ?
Crossword

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Greece and its colonies around 500 B.C.
Image:Thrasis, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

History of Ancient Greece

Aegean Civilizations

As Greek city-states became weaker Macedonia, a kingdom to the north of Greece, grew stronger and stronger. After King Philipp II had conquered all of Greece his son, Alexander, came to power in 336 BC. He set out to conquer Persia and got as far east as India . Alexander the Great spread Greek ideas and the Greek way of life throughout western Asia and the Middle East.

City States

After 1000 B.C. Dorians and Ionians, who settled in the eastern part of Greece started to build large cities. These cities had their own governments , their own armies and were independent .

The two most powerful city states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta was the strongest and most powerful city state with many soldiers and a huge army. It was only interested in fighting wars. Sparta united surrounding villages and sent armies to conquer its neighbours and bring back slaves .

Athens, on the other side, concentrated on trade , science and other fields. It was the first city to form a democratic government.

Sparta and Athens – the two most powerful city states

Persian Wars

At about 500 B.C. the Persian empire under Darius I invaded many Greek cities on the Asian coast. By 490 BC the Persians attacked the Greek mainland . Greek armies under Spartan leadership fought back and defeated the Persians.

Peloponnesian War

Under the rule of Pericles Athens had become the most powerful city-state and controlled most of the eastern part of Greece. Pericles wanted to make Athens a beautiful city with many temples. Art , philosophy and general knowledge became important. Sparta thought that Athens would become too powerful. In 431 BC it began a war against Athens.

In 430 BC a plague broke out in Athens and killed a third of its population. After becoming weaker and weaker it finally surrendered to the Spartan army.

Macedonian Rule

As Greek city-states became weaker Macedonia, a kingdom to the north of Greece, grew stronger and stronger. After King Philipp II had conquered all of Greece his son, Alexander, came to power in 336 BC. He set out to conquer Persia and got as far east as India . Alexander the Great spread Greek ideas and the Greek way of life throughout western Asia and the Middle East.

Alexander did not name a successor to his empire . After his death many generals fought for power and his empire broke up into many kingdoms .

Empire of Alexander the Great
Image : Generic Mapping Tools, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Roman Rule

In 140 BC Rome took over Greece and the city states. They stayed under Roman rule until 395 AD and then became part of the Byzantine empire .

Daily Life in Ancient Greece

Men were the heads of most Greek families. Richer families had slaves who were commanded by the wives. They had to look after the children and do the household work.

Most Greek families arranged weddings for their children. Women usually married at an early age, men much later.

In ancient Greece society was made up of citizens and non-citizens. Citizens were free men and noblemen. They owned land and took part in government . Non-citizens were women, slaves and serfs .

Only citizens received education. Teachers in Athens taught general subjects like music, writing, mathematics and reading. They also concentrated on physical exercise like running, jumping and wrestling . Education in Sparta was different. Boys were sent to military schools so that they could become good soldiers .

Greek people ate food made of grains , mostly wheat or barley . Bread was the main type of food. They ate fish and eggs for protein and consumed vegetables and fruit .

Greek men and women wore garments made of linen or wool that hung down to their knees. They also wore a belt around their waist . A woman’s garment usually covered her whole legs down to her ankles .

Houses were small in ancient Greece. Because of the mild climate many things were kept outside the house. Poor families lived in houses made of dried bricks and floors made of dried and hard mud . Wealthy families had stone floors and separate rooms for cooking, eating and sleeping.

Food preparation in ancient Greece
Image: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Woman’s clothes
Image: Creazilla – Open Source

Philosophy, Science and Arts

Ancient Greece became famous for its great thinkers and philosophers. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were great men who looked for logical explanations of everyday things. Many people in Greece, however, did not believe in what philosophers had to say. In 399 B.C. Socrates was sentenced to death because of his teachings and because he did not believe in Greek gods.

Famous playwrights and poets wrote works that are still performed in theatres today. Architects designed beautiful buildings.

Scientists explored medicine, physics , biology and mathematics. They observed nature and also carried out experiments.

Bust of Socrates
Image: Photograph by Greg O’Beirne. Cropped by User:Tomisti, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Religion

People in ancient Greece believed in many gods. On one hand gods and goddesses were like normal people who showed feelings but on the other hand they possessed abilities that humans didn’t. They could foretell the future and live forever.

Normal people thought that gods and goddesses watched them and observed what they did in everyday life. They spoke to the people through oracles, holy places where priests had contact with gods. The most important oracle was at Delphi.

Zeus was the most important god. He and his wife Hera lived on Mount Olympus. Other gods and goddesses included

• Aphrodite, the goddess of love
• Eros, god of love
• Apollo, the god of light
• Ares, the god of war
• Athena, the goddess of wisdom

Democracy and Politics

The idea of democracy, which means government by the people, came from ancient Greece. Athens was the first city to set up a democratic government.

All free men were members who passed laws and were also allowed to serve on a jury .

Of the 30,000 citizens in Athens 500 were chosen each year to help run the city. They received a small amount of money because they could not continue their normal work.

Videos

Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece – Facts

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
Words and Definitions
TRUE or FALSE ?
Match the Sentence Parts
Order the Events
Ancient Greece – Missing Word Cloze
Crossword

Word Search

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

The dead pope’s body is embalmed and shown to the people in St. Peter’s Basilica. Four to six days after death, the funeral takes place. The pope is buried next to others in a crypt under the main altar of the cathedral.

A camerlengo pronounces the death of a pope
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave#/media/File:Cardinal_Camerlengo_certifying_a_papal_death.JPG,
Public Domain

Only 120 out of 194 cardinals are allowed to vote. Cardinals older than 80 are not allowed to take part in the conclave. In order to elect a new pope a two-thirds majority of the cardinals is needed. Four ballots are held every day—two in the morning and two in the afternoon. If three days pass without a result the cardinals rest for one day. If , after a few days, no pope is elected by a two-thirds majority, the cardinals agree to continue the vote with a simple majority.

College of Cardinals at the funeral of Pope John Paul II
Image: blues_brother, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons/

The ballots are burned after every second vote. If no pope is elected black smoke comes out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. This tells the people waiting outside that the cardinals have not agreed on choosing a pope. When a pope is elected, white smoke signals are released. When one candidate receives enough votes by the cardinals he is asked if he accepts the election. He must also choose a name by which he wants to be called.

After an election the oldest cardinal of the conclave steps to the balcony above St. Peter’s Square and announces “Habemus Papam” which means “We have a new pope”. The new pope then steps out on the balcony and waves to the thousands of Catholics waiting at St. Peter’s Square. He then gives his first blessing to Rome and to the world .

Pope Francis appears to the crowd in St.Peter’s Square
Image: Tenan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The newly elected pope remains the head of the church for his whole life. He can retire before he dies but very few popes have done this before.In 2013, Benedict XVI announced that he was not healthy enough to continue his papacy and stepped down as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Shortly afterwards, Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina became Pope Francis .

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
Words and Definitions
TRUE or FALSE ?
Jumbled Lines
Benedict XVI Resigns – Missing Word Cloze
Crossword

Word Search

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Camping is a very popular form of living outdoors. It gives people the opportunity of spending their free time in nature or in the wilderness. Camping may start by spending the night in a tent in your own back yard and end up by going on a trip that may last for several weeks.

Some campers stay in one place for days, a week or even longer. From there they visit tourist attractions, go fishing or hunting, play games and do active sports like mountain biking or just simply relax. Others prefer to tour areas and spend every night in a different place. They travel by car or motor homes.

Each year millions of people go camping. They can explore new surroundings and be close to nature at the same time.

Image: Creazilla , Open Source

Types of Camping

Most people drive to a campsite and set up a tent there. This is easy because you can take everything you need for your camping holiday in your car with you. In most cases you will choose a campsite that is near the road.

Travelling in recreational vehicles (RV) is more comfortable but also much more expensive. These RVs range from small trailers to large mobile homes. They have all the luxuries that you would also have at home, like refrigerators, showers, sinks or toilets.

Recreational vehicle
Image: KounG on Pixabay

Boat campers travel with a canoe, kayak or even a small houseboat. They spend days on lakes or rivers and usually camp on the water’s edge nearly every night. In Western Europe, especially Holland, Belgium or Ireland you can rent a boat and travel on one of the hundreds of canals and smaller rivers that crisscross these countries.

Houseboat in Amsterdam
Image: Heribert Bechen, 5 million visits – many thanks!, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Backpackers are hikers who carry their belongings on their backs. They usually go to places that you cannot reach by car. Special equipment is usually extremely light and can be carried on longer trips.

Campers who travel by bike usually can stay at normal campsites. On one side cyclists can get to places that you can’t get to by car and on the other side they travel longer distances than hikers do. They pack their things in waterproof saddlebags which they strap to the frame of the bike.

Bike set up for a camping holiday
Image: Htcltd, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Organized camping holidays usually take place during the summer and are attended by girls and boys. They combine outdoor activities with other kinds of training or with learning. Boy and girl scouts are groups of children who go on special camping trips.

Camping Equipment

If you go camping and want to spend the night in a tent you will need certain items.

Today’s tents are normally made of nylon, canvas or other light material. They are not so expensive and easy to fold together and carry around with you, especially if you are backpacking. The material has to be waterproof and is easy to put up

If you want to sleep in a tent you will need a sleeping bag. It protects you from the outside cold and is warmer than a blanket. Sleeping bags come in different sizes, colours and shapes.

Sleeping on the ground however is not always very comfortable. Some campers have foam pads or air mattresses which they lie on.

Clothing is an important aspect when you go on a camping holiday. Be sure to take clothes with you that will protect you from the sun, rain and insects. Take along some lightweight trousers, comfortable shoes and warm shirts or a jacket for cold evenings. Always carry a raincoat or poncho with you. Hiking boots are good if you walk a lot.

You will also need other everyday items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap. Take along sunglasses, maps, and a compass or maybe even a GPS device.

Campers should also have waterproof matches, extra batteries, a knife and a lantern or torch with them.

Lightweight tent
Image: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Sleeping bag
Image:Smack, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

Campsite

Choosing the right place to set up a tent is not always an easy task. First choose a dry place. The open side of the tent should face away from windy and stormy directions. Remove stones and sticks from the ground. Sometimes it is necessary to dig a ditch around the tent so that water from rainfall can flow away.

If you camp in your RV make sure you have the necessary facilities you need. Many campgrounds supply you with energy and water connections. Sometimes, however, campsites require you to reserve a place in advance.

Organized campgrounds are areas that are mostly enclosed by a fence. They often provide picnic tables, grills and parking space for cars and offer extra activities for their guests.

Campsite in Japan
Image:663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Camping Safety

There are some safety precautions you must take when camping outdoors.

A campfire is one of the many enjoyable parts of a camping experience, but you should do it right. Never leave your fire unattended . Always have water nearby so that you can put out the fire if it gets out of control.

Safe drinking water is also something important. Public campgrounds usually provide good water but if you camp in the wilderness make sure you have fresh and clean water supplies with you. You can also buy tablets that purify water.

If you go hiking on your camping trip be aware of other dangers. Don’t touch poisonous plants like poison oak or poison ivy. If you get caught in a thunderstorm look for shelter. If you can’t find a house or another building sit under trees in a forest. Avoid tall trees that stand alone in open areas. Get out of the water if you are swimming.

Before you leave home tell someone where you are going and when you will probably be back. If you have never been to a place before don’t go there alone. Stay calm and remain in one place in case you get lost and wait until help arrives. Carry matches with you to light a fire and keep warm. Do not rely on cell phones to call someone. Chances are that you won’t have a good reception if you are in a remote area.

Clean up your campsite when you leave. Fill all the holes that you have dug. Save your waste until you can put it in waste bins.

Rules at a campsite
Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Exercises

Match the sentence parts
Words and Definitions
Too many words
Crossword

Jigsaw Puzzle

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Tropical rainforests are woodlands around the equator with a lot of vegetation that is evergreen. It is very warm and rain falls throughout the year.

Although only 7 % of the land surface are covered with rainforests, more than half of the world’s plants and animal species live there.

Rainforests are very important for human beings. Plants produce food and medicine, and we get industrial products out of some of them. Trees produce timber, help control the earth’s climate and supply us with fresh air.

Despite these advantages, people cut down thousands of square kilometres of rainforest every year.

Half of the world’s rainforests can be found in the Amazon River basin in South America. Smaller rainforests lie in Central America and southern Mexico. The western part of Africa has about 2 million square kilometres of rainforest in and around the Congo River basin. Rainforests in Asia are found in southern India, Malaysia and on many Indonesian islands.

The world’s tropical rainforests

Climate

Temperatures stay the same the whole year round—about 20 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Around the equator there are two rainy seasons with heavy rainfall — up to 10 metres. When you move away from the equator, it gets a bit drier in some months , but there are still more than 2 metres of rain a year.

The weather hardly changes from one day to the next. In the morning it is clear . The sun starts heating up the ground and warm, humid air starts to rise. In the afternoon, clouds get darker and there are thunderstorms for an hour or two before it starts to clear up again .

Most of the rain stays in the rainforest . It evaporates , creates clouds and comes down again.

Rainforest soils are not very fertile because the rain washes out most of the nutrients.

Structure of the Rainforest

Rainforests have four layers.

• The top layer is the canopy. It consists of the tallest trees of the rainforest. They may get over 50 metres tall. But only very few reach this height. This is the part that gets most of the sunlight.
• The subcanopy is a layer of trees that is below the canopy. More than 70 % of rainforest animals and plant species live in the canopy and subcanopy. Lianas often climb around trees.
• The understory is the shadowy lower area. It has young trees and plants like ferns or palms that do not need much light. Only 1 or 2 per cent of the sunlight reaches the understory.
• The floor has a thin layer of leaves, seeds or fruits and branches that fall from the trees. It decomposes fast, and new material takes its place.

When large , tall trees die and fall to the ground, they leave a gap in the rainforest. Very quickly, smaller trees take this place and their crowns grow larger. That’s why the layers of the rain forest always change.

Rainforest canopy on the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean
Image :  © Vyacheslav Argenberg / http://www.vascoplanet.com/, CC BY 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Plants of the Rainforest

About half of the world’s plant species can be found in the rainforest. Because it is warm and rains the whole year, forests stay green. Trees lose their leaves and immediately grow new ones. The rain forest is the home of many plants : lianas, ferns, orchids and many kinds of tropical trees.

Palm tree

Palm trees grow in the hot and wet climate of the tropics. They give us food, drink and sometimes building material. Most palm trees are found in Southeast Asia, South America and on islands in the Pacific.

There are over 2,000 kinds of palms. They grow straight and tall and most of them carry fruits, like the coconut.

Rubber tree

Rubber is one of our most important raw materials. Natural rubber comes from the juice of the rubber tree. It grows best in hot climates. The tree can be about 20 metres tall. It has smooth, shiny leaves. A white, milky fluid comes out of the bark if you cut into it. This is called latex.

Today, most rubber comes from plantations in Southeast Asia.

Orchid

Wild orchids grow in places with a lot of rainfall. Most species grow on trunks or branches of trees. In cooler regions, orchids are grown in greenhouses. Most of them grow in a mixture of fascinating colours.

Ferns at Melbourne Botanical Gardens
Image : fir0002 flagstaffotos [at] gmail.com Canon 20D + Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, GFDL 1.2,
via Wikimedia Commons

White orchid
Image : Niall Kearney, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Latex collected from a rubber tree
Image:  Irvin calicut, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

Animals of the Rainforest

Fish, reptiles, birds and insects also live in the rainforest and its rivers. Plants and animals need each other to survive. Insects pollinate the flowers of the rainforest. Animals get food from the flowers’ nectar. Seeds from trees are often taken away by other animals and birds and dropped in faraway areas.

Piranha

The piranha is a fish with sharp teeth that lives in the lakes and rivers of the Amazon . It attacks and eats other fish and water animals. In some cases, it even attacks humans. Piranhas have flat bodies and can grow up to 30 cm long.

Red piranha
Image: Cliff, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Toucan

Toucans are typical birds of the tropical rainforests. They have big and long bills that are brightly coloured , so that they can attract other birds. The largest toucans can get up to 65 cm long. Most of them live in hollow trees.

Toucan
Image : Basa Roland, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Gorilla

Gorillas are the largest members of the ape family. They have huge shoulders, long arms and short legs. They may weigh up to 200 kg.

Gorillas live in Africa near the equator. Although most of them live in the lowlands, there are some highland types.

People have hunted gorillas for a long time . As a result, they have become very rare and only about 1,000 gorillas live in the wild today.

Gorilla at Detroit Zoo
Image : RedGazelle15, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Value of the Rainforest

People benefit from the rainforest in many ways :

• Economic value – Wood is the most important product of the rainforest. About 80 % of it is used for energy and 20 % is sold to make furniture. The forests produce other valuable goods like fruits, nuts, different kinds of oils and rubber.
• Scientific value – Scientists study the rainforest as an ecosystem. They learn a lot about how plants and animals live together. Tropical plants are used to cure diseases like malaria.
• Environmental value – Rainforests help to regulate our environment. Trees control the water that reaches the ground. They also take up a lot of rain. Much of this water evaporates and gets into the atmosphere again as vapour. Then it turns into rain and comes down to earth. Without rainforests, floods and droughts would be very extreme. Rainforests also help our atmosphere from becoming too warm.

Fog produces water vapour, which returns into the atmosphere
Image: Vyacheslav Argenberg (http://www.vascoplanet.com/), CC BY 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

People of the Rainforest

Most of the world’s rainforests are populated by indigenous people. These are people who have been living there for thousands of years . They depend on the rainforests for survival. Some people live in places that you can get to only by boat.

Many people collect fruits, nuts and firewood. They hunt and fish for food to stay alive. They burn down small areas of rainforest and grow crops there. When the soil gets too bad , they go to other places and plant new crops. This method of farming is called shifting cultivation.

Today, the living areas of these indigenous tribes are in danger, because other people have come here to chop down trees, raise cattle or mine gold and silver.

Woman collecting firewood in the rainforest
Image: Micleone88, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Deforestation

People are destroying the world’s rainforests at a very fast rate. One of the reasons is deforestation. More and more trees are cut down every year because

• the world’s population needs more and more wood
• people in the tropical rainforest need energy. They can’t buy oil or gas because it’s too expensive.
• governments find valuable raw materials in these areas — like iron ore, gold or silver.
• dams are built along tropical rivers.
• big companies get land to grow meat and produce food.

Deforestation in the tropical rainforest
Image : Dikshajhingan / CC BY-SA 4.0

Videos

The Amazon Rainforest
Deforestation

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
Match the Sentence Parts
Words and Definitions 1
Words and Definitions 2
Endangered Gorillas in Congo’s Rainforest – Missing Word Cloze
Crossword

Word Search

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Writing Tasks

Email : Destruction of the Rainforest

Diary : Life in the Rainforest

As a junior citizen, you are very worried about the destruction of the world’s rainforests. Write an email to your local representative and tell him your view of this problem.

In your email you should

• ask if your government is doing anything to cope with the problem
• make suggestions on how rainforests can be saved
• suggest ways of helping people who live in the rainforests

Write about 200 words.

Deforestation in Borneo
IndoMet in the Heart of Borneo, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

You are a member of an expedition team travelling through the Amazon rainforest. You have decided to keep a diary and write down what you have seen in the two weeks you have travelled. Write at least 2 diary entries.

In your entries, you should write about

• the plants and animals you have seen
• the weather you have experienced
• the native people you have met and how they live

World Population From the Beginnings to the Present

Human beings have been living on Earth for over a million years, but for a long time there were not very many of them. The world’s population was never higher than 10 million. People died quickly because they didn’t have enough food to eat. Early inhabitants were mostly hunters and fishers. Some of them gathered berries from wild plants. After people started growing crops and raising animals they had more food and lived longer.

When Jesus Christ was born about 2,000 years ago about 300 million people inhabited the Earth. During the next 1500 years the population of the world grew very slowly. Many people died of illnesses and plagues . The Black Death , which sailors brought to Europe from Asia, killed about a third of the European population in the Middle Ages.

The Industrial Revolution , which began in the middle of the 18th century, started a period of rapid population growth , especially in Europe. Farmers were able to grow more and more food because they had machines to work with. New kinds of medicine helped to fight off many diseases that had killed millions of people in the centuries before. Humans also lived longer because they had cleaner drinking water.

Birth rates started to go up because families had many children. More babies than ever before survived the first few years of childhood . The one billion mark was reached in the early 1800s. In the next one hundred years the population doubled to 2 billion, and in 1960 there were 3 billion people living on Earth.

The second half of the 20th century brought along some change :

• In Europe , North America, Japan and Australia the birth rate dropped because families wanted to have fewer children. Population growth in these areas slowed down .
• In the developing countries of Asia and Africa birth rates stayed high and better medical help in these regions lowered the death rates. That is why these countries are growing very rapidly .

In the last 30 years the world’s population has doubled. The fastest growing regions are Africa with a growth rate of 2.5 %, and Latin America with a growth rate of 0.7% per year. In Europe the population is decreasing by about 0.3 %. On average, the world’s population is growing at a rate of 1.1 % per year.



World population growth in percent
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Population_growth_rate_world.png ,
CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED

The 10 Most Populous Countries (2024)

Rank	Country	Population in millions
1	India	1 428
2	China	1 425
3	USA	339
4	Indonesia	277
5	Pakistan	240
6	Nigeria	223
7	Brazil	216
8	Bangladesh	172
9	Russia	144
10	Mexico	128



Continents’ share of world population – own work

Population Density

Population density tells us how many people live on one square kilometre of land. The world’s population is not spread evenly over the continents. Asia and Europe are the most densely populated continents. Many other areas of the world , like deserts, polar regions or high mountains are very sparsely ,or not at all populated .

About 90% of the Earth’s people live on only 10% of the land. Most of them live north of the equator because two thirds of the Earth’s landmasses are there.

Many people also live near coastal regions . In China, for example, 80% of the country’s inhabitants live in the eastern part of the country near the coast. In South America, most people live in the big cities, which all lie in coastal areas.

There are many reasons why people live in certain places. Areas with moderate temperatures and enough rainfall are densely populated, because people find good farming conditions there. Raw materials also attract groups of people. North-western Germany and parts of England are densely populated because coal is mined there. Economic reasons also play an important role in choosing where to live. People go to places where they can find jobs and where the economy is strong.



World Population Density
Image: English English is Correct, CC0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Population Pyramids

Population pyramids tell us how many people there are in a certain age group as well as the number of men and women in these groups.

There are three different types of pyramids:

• Countries with a fast growing population
  These pyramids show a strong base and a very narrow top. Birth rates are high and there many children and young people. People also die earlier than in Europe or North America.
• Countries with zero growth
  The number of births reached its peak during the baby boom of the 1950s and 60s. Since then the birth rate has been constant.
• Counties with declining population
  Many European countries have such a population structure. Families are having fewer children and the death rate is sometimes higher than the birth rate. The baby boomers of the past century are getting older and older, which leads to many pensioners. These countries can only grow if they have enough immigrants who come to live and work there.




Such pyramids also can tell governments which problems they will be facing in the future. Countries , in which more than half of the population is under 18, will need more and more schools and later on enough jobs to give all citizens work.

Countries with a declining population have a high number of older people. They don’t have enough young workers to pay the pension for these people when they retire. Such countries need more hospitals and old people’s homes to care for their elderly citizens.

Almost all pyramids show that, although more boys are born than girls, there are more older women than men. This is, partly, because women live longer than men—3 to 5 years on average.



Angola – Fast growing population



Jordan – Zero growth



Italy – Declining population

Source : PopulationPyramid.net Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO

City Population

Up to the Industrial Revolution people all over the world lived mainly in the countryside. In 1800, only 3 % of the world’s population lived in cities. In 1900 only 12 cities had more than 1 million people.

Today, about half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. There are over 500 cities with more than a million people. In developed countries, up to 70 % or more live in larger cities, whereas in poorer countries this rate is below 40 %.

During the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century cities grew fast, especially in Europe and North America, because new industries were created there and people found many jobs . Later on cities grew more slowly because they became overcrowded and diseases could spread faster. Today death rates in cites are low because they have better doctors and more hospitals.

In industrialized countries the growth of cities has stopped. New York and London grew very quickly during the 1800s and early 1900s, but since then their growth has slowed down.

African and Asian cities like Lagos, Bombay or Calcutta are growing rapidly and this will probably continue during the next years. About 40 cities around the world have a population of over 5 million . They are called megacities . 80% of them are in poorer countries.

People go to the cities for many reasons. The table shows you what pulls them to the cities and what pushes them away from the countryside.

Pull Factors

• more and better jobs
• better hospitals and health care
• better living standards
• cities are social and financial centres
• better education—schools and universities

Push Factors

• too many people in the countryside
• low income
• not enough raw materials (water, wood etc..)
• the quality of farming land is getting worse



The largest cities in the world (2023) – own work

China’s One Child Policy

In 1979 the Chinese government started its “one child” policy because the population of the country was growing too fast. A married couple was only allowed to have one child. If families followed this government plan they would get free education, health care and money for their only child. However, families that had two or more children were punished. They had to pay for everything themselves and got no help from the government. They even had to pay more tax.

To help control population growth, China allowed women to have free abortions and gave them birth control pills for free.

The government’s plan also caused many problems for China. Parents often wanted to have a boy instead of a girl in order to carry on the family name. As a result female babies were often left on the streets by their mothers and some were even killed. 90% of unborn babies that are aborted are female.

In the last 40 years China’s population growth has slowed down. Without the one-child policy there would probably be about 300 million more people living in China today. The law worked mostly in cities, where the government had more control over the people. In the countryside where a lot of poor farmers and minorities lived , the laws were not so strict. People were not punished for having two or more children

China ended its one-child policy in 2016. The government started allowing families to have two children. In 2021 they allowed familes three children.



Migration

Migration means leaving your home country and living or working somewhere else. Some countries, like the USA, have a population that is made up mainly of immigrants or their descendants who have arrived there in the past 200 years.

Today, about 150 million people live outside their native countries. The biggest movements of people are from

• Central and South America to North America
• Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union to Western Europe
• Africa and Asia to Europe
• the Middle East to Europe




People leave their home countries for many reasons. Sometimes they think they can get better jobs and more money in richer countries. Sometimes they leave their own country for political reasons or because of their religion.

During the course of history people have left their homes because of unemployment, wars in their country or because of a famine. Thousands of Irish men and women left the island in the middle of the 19th century because there was a potato crisis and many of them didn’t have enough to eat.

The Balkan wars in the 1990s left millions of people homeless. They became refugees and went to neighboring countries to the north and west. Conflicts in the Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan brought over 1.5 million people to Western Europe in 2015 alone.

Some countries depend on immigrants to keep their economy running or because they have low birth rates and need foreigners to work. Today, governments in many countries face illegal immigration. Especially the USA and countries in Western Europe are sending back more and more people to their home countries.



Refugees at the Slovenian – Austrian border in 2015
Image:Borut Podgoršek, MORS, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Status of Women

The situation of women in our world today is very important. There are many differences between richer and poorer countries.

In industrialized countries birth rates have fallen since the 1960s. One reason is that more and more women have jobs and go to work. They do not want to stay at home any longer and have fewer babies.

In developing countries the situation of women is different. Many of them are at home, do the household chores and care for their children.

Helping women in the Third World is very important and can slow down the population explosion. One of the key factors is education. Women who go to school and maybe later on study at a university have higher chances of getting a job. They don’t marry so early and start having children at a later age.

Such women also know more about birth control and can plan the number of children they want to have.

Educated women also know more about health care. Young girls who have sex at an early age risk getting AIDS and passing it on to their babies when they are pregnant. More than half of the 40 million people living with AIDS today are women. In Africa, more than 75 % of all AIDS victims are young women between 15 and 24.



Number of births per 1,000 people
Image: Korakys, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Old Age

Developed countries all over the world have the same problem. Their birth rates are falling and people are getting older. Medical and health care is getting better all the time. We call this an ageing society.

In industrialized countries life expectancy is getting higher and higher. In most European countries women reach an average of over 80 years and men live up to about 78.

We need more and more people who care for the elderly. This means building more old people’s homes and other care units.

The government must spend more money on pensions. This won’t work if we don’t have enough young people who have jobs and pay taxes. More and more people have to work up to 65 and longer. They take away jobs that young adults need.

An older labor force means that we are not as flexible and productive as countries that have young workers.

Dangers of Overpopulation

The world’s population is growing by almost 80 million people every year. We will be facing many problems in the future:

Environmental Problems

• More and more people need room to live. They are taking away the living areas of animals and plants.
• Cities have problems making enough drinking water for thousands of people who want to start a new life there every year.
• Population in rural areas is growing too. People need more food and have to grow more crops on the same land. This means that the quality of the soil is getting worse and worse.
• More and more trees are being destroyed, especially in tropical regions. More carbon dioxide, which is usually taken up by trees, is now set free into the atmosphere. This leads to global warming.

Poverty

Population growth is highest in developing countries. Young people have to care for their parents and grandparents, so they have less money to buy the things that they need. They stay poor.

Africa is the fastest-growing continent on earth. But its people are getting poorer and poorer. Every third person in Africa doesn’t have enough to eat. The average African family has about 5 children.



Houses in a slum in Nairobi, Kenya
Image:Colin Crowley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Food and Water

The “ Green Revolution” of the 1960s and 70s has given farmers better methods and tools to grow crops and food. But ,still, they cannot produce enough to feed the growing population. Food will get expensive for these countries because some of them have to buy it from industrial countries. Many people die of starvation and millions more will die in the future. In addition , about 400 million people all over the world live in places where there is not enough drinking water.

Unemployment

Many Third World countries have a high number of children or young people. Unemployment will be going up over the next decades, because the governments cannot create enough jobs to give work to its younger generation. Young people who can’t find any work sometimes try to get money by stealing, dealing with drugs or doing other illegal things. This might lead to social unrest in such countries.



Demonstration against unemployment in southern India
Image:No machine-readable author provided. Soman assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Exercises

Multiple Choice Cloze
TRUE or FALSE
Words and Definitions
Match the Sentence Parts
World Population in Numbers
Baby Boomers – Missing Sentence Parts
Dangers of Overpopulation – Missing Word Cloze
Megacities – Match the Numbers with the Cities
Status of Women – Too Many Words
Crossword

Word Search

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key
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