Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a menace
    • ex. The wild dog was a menace to the town because it often scared the children playing in the park.
  2. migrate
    • ex. Every winter, many birds migrate to warmer places because it is too cold for them to stay.
  3. hinder
    • ex. Heavy rain hindered the workers from finishing the road repair on time.
  4. a route
    • ex. Hikers often use maps to find the best routes to the top of the mountain.
  5. repel
    • ex. Some plants have special oils that repel insects, protecting their leaves from being eaten.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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In the Taita Hills in Southern Kenya, elephants are a menace to farmers. They eat crops and sometimes hurt people. One farmer, Richard Shika, once tried to go after an elephant from his field. His farm is near Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks. In the past, elephants migrated freely between these parks. However, new roads and buildings now hinder the elephants’ old routes. Because of this, they often pass through farms, where they look for food.

Elephants eat about 150 kilograms of plants every day. To keep elephants away safely, some farmers use bees. Shika said that elephants don’t like getting hurt by bees. With help from Save the Elephants, a charity group that protects elephants in Africa, Shika and 49 other farmers put bee nests on fences around their farms. When an elephant touches the fence, the bees come out and repel the elephant.

Other farmers solve their problems with elephants by changing their crops. Elephants like corn and watermelon, but they dislike sesame. Farmer Gertrude Jackim now grows sesame instead of corn. This helps protect her farm and gives her a crop she can sell.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Kenya Elephants and Wildlife

  • In Kenya, elephants are seen as a menace for eating crops in places where they used to travel freely in the past. Is it fair to consider the animals a menace? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • In Kenya, new roads and buildings hinder the elephants’ old routes. In your opinion, is it okay to build roads and houses in places where animals live and travel? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Save the Elephants is a charity group that protects elephants in Africa. If you could start a charity group for a wild animal in your country, what animal would it be? Why? Discuss.

Farmers and Crops

  • What problems do farmers in your country experience (ex. harmful insects, very hot weather)? Discuss.
  • Farmers in Kenya are using bees and planting other types of crops to repel wild elephants from their farms. Do you think what they’re doing is a good or a bad idea? Why? Discuss.
  • What would you do if you were a farmer and elephants and other wild animals came to your farm? Discuss.