IELTS Environment Vocabulary

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COLOCATION

polluted adj.

adv. badly,heavily, highly, seriously, severely

prep. with

Example: The air is heavily polluted with traffic fumes.

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Pollution noun

adj. air, atmospheric, environmental, marine, river, water / chemical, industrial, nuclear / lead, nitrate, noise, oil, ozone, sewage, vehicle, etc /airbone

verb + pollution cause / avoid, prevent / combat, control, fight, tackle

Example: a convention on combating atmospheric pollution

/ cut, limit, minimize, reduce / monitor

pollution + noun level / abatement, control, prevention, reduction / limits / standards /

monitoring / inspectorate / watchdog / incident, problem / law, legislation, regulations / offence / sources

phrases the cost of pollution

a risk of pollution

a source of pollution

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Are there any environmental problems in your country?

(…) have a serious issue with pollution levels in some of our big cities … exhaust fumes from cars and lorries are definitely one reason for the problem but we also have a lot of heavy industry in some areas and this also results in poor air quality …

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Do you take an interest in nature?

I’m a city person through and through and don’t get back to nature very often I’m afraid … but like everyone else I’m fascinated by the natural world and I like watching documentaries showing wild animals in their natural habitat …

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Do you or your family take steps to help the environment?

My parents have always tried to make us aware of our impact on the environment … they’re really into energy conservation … and always try to buy environmentally friendly products if they have the chance …

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Part 2-style task

Describe an environmental problem that has been in the news

when this was

where the event happened

what actually took place

how you felt about this problem

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What do you think is the main danger the world faces in terms of the environment?

Well … climate change is a real issue … in my country we have flash floods and heat waves on a yearly basis … so yes … I think global warming is the biggest issue.

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What examples are there of how we damage the natural world?

There are so many examples … there are factories that empty toxic waste into rivers and oceans … oil spills that damage the coastline … the way we destroy vast areas of land and rain forests in search of fossil fuels or to increase agricultural production …

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In which ways do we respond well to environmental problems?

Well … on the one hand there are various worldwide agencies that are always the first on the scene with humanitarian aid after natural and man-made disasters … and on the other hand we have environmental pressure groups that are constantly raising awareness of issues and trying to stop disasters happening …

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air quality climate change global warming man-made disaster

natural disaster

earthquake

flood

hurricane

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widespread damage

loss of life

loss of habitat

exhaust fumes