REVISION B
Student’s Book pages 85-86
1 Listen to two news reports about a new way of extracting oil that has been discovered.
1 What kind of process is it? Where is it happening?
2 Place these paraphrases into the correct speaker’s column in the table below.
a The advantage of fracking is that we will be able to have access to fairly abundant local fuel and therefore become energy-independent.
b Fracking is now a good choice because it is not done in the ocean, and it is cheaper than traditional oil refining.
c Fracking has not been a recognised process for long enough, so we don’t know how bad the damage will be in the future.
d This process is used to get access to the oil and gas that is found in rocks.
e Chemicals and water are pushed down into cracks in the rock until the cracks are made wider.
f Chemicals used in fracking are responsible for environmental damage.
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Speaker 1 |
Speaker 2 |
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Audioscript
Speaker 1: Most non-renewable fuel is buried beneath the earth and can be reached by drilling. Fracking is the process that gives us access to oil found in rocks. With the rising price of oil, fracking has become a suitable, inexpensive option since it can be carried out on land instead of out to sea. Fracking actually means ‘breaking with water’. During fracking, fractures are created in rocks by injecting a water-based chemical fluid into cracks until they break open. Oil and gas from the rocks flow down into the well, where they are extracted. The United Kingdom and some other countries like Australia are hoping that fracking will replace the rising cost of traditionally extracted oil and gas.
Speaker 2: The biggest objection to fracking is the destruction of the environment. Fracking fluid leaks into the groundwater and the landscape, and it causes pollution. Transporting the fracking chemicals has led to spills and other chemical damage. It’s true that there is a huge advantage in being energy independent. The truth is that we have no idea what happens with the fracking fluids once they have performed their role in extraction. If we are going to use the oil and gas derived from the fracking process, more information needs to be made available, and more research needs to be done.