Objective Proficiency p 24. Declining Interest Makes Climate Change A Hard Sell. Extra Listening






Despite any number of ads and awareness campaigns launched by the government, advocacy groups and corporations that have turned "green" into a superlative, the number of Americans who believe climate change is a serious problem has been declining, according to a recent study by Pew Research. Host Scott Simon talks to Ed Maibach, director of George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication, about the challenges of launching public awareness marketing campaigns about climate change.





According to the interviewer, a recent study has shown that Americans’’ conviction that climate change is a problem is in (1) ……………… .



Mr Maibach believes that the issue is becoming less important to people because the economy has been such a (2) ……………… for some time now and this has placed their concern on other issues.



Mr Maibach adds that there is, at present, an important matter being debated  in Congress and the two competing sides are (3) ……………….. for people’s hearts and minds.



Mr Maibach seems to doubt that some corporations’ advertising is as green as they claim and he cites the example of claims that (4) ……………….. - ………………….. / …………………… emissions are decreasing.



The interviewer states that there is possibly a (5) ………………… between consumer demands for greener products and a growing opinion that (6) ………………. / ……………….. is not as big a concern as it used to be.



Maibach replies  that even those environmentally conscious citizens who care deeply about these issues do not stand up to (7) ……………. / …………………  with their politicians.



When discussing the email controversy at the University of East Anglia, the interviewer says that the loss or possible destruction of important data has become (8) ………………. for those who are skeptical about global warming.



Maibach comments that as far as he knows,  the events in this controversy have not revealed any (9) ……………….. but that the rhetoric  that has come out of it has been (10) …………………….. 

KEY


Declining Interest Makes Climate Change A Hard Sell

Despite any number of ads and awareness campaigns launched by the government, advocacy groups and corporations that have turned "green" into a superlative, the number of Americans who believe climate change is a serious problem has been declining, according to a recent study by Pew Research. Host Scott Simon talks to Ed Maibach, director of George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication, about the challenges of launching public awareness marketing campaigns about climate change.





According to the interviewer, a recent study has shown that Americans’’ conviction that climate change is a problem is in (1) ………DECLINE……… .



Mr Maibach believes that the issue is becoming less important to people because the economy has been such a (2) ………SHAMBLES……… for some time now and this has placed their concern on other issues.
Shambles: /ˈʃæmblz/  a situation in which there is a lot of confusion. Mess. E.g. the press conference was a complete shambles. What a shambles! The government is in a shambles over Europe. He's made an absolute shambles of his career.


Mr Maibach adds that there is, at present, an important matter being debated  in Congress and the two competing sides are (3) ………VYING……….. for people’s hearts and minds.
Vie: /vaɪ/ to compete strongly with somebody in order to obtain or achieve something. Compete. E.g. She was surrounded by men all vying for her attention. A row of restaurants vying with each other for business. Screaming fans vied to get closer to their idol.



Mr Maibach seems to doubt that some corporations’ advertising is as green as they claim and he cites the example of claims that (4) ……HEAT………….. - ………TRAPPING………….. / ………POLLUTION…………… emissions are decreasing.



The interviewer states that there is possibly a (5) ………DISCONNECT………… between consumer demands for greener products 



and a growing opinion that (6) ………GLOBAL………. / ………WARMING……….. is not as big a concern as it used to be.



Maibach replies  that even those environmentally conscious citizens who care deeply about these issues do not stand up to (7) ……BE………. / ……COUNTED……………  with their politicians.



When discussing the email controversy at the University of East Anglia, the interviewer says that the loss or possible destruction of important data has become (8) ……FODDER…………. for those who are skeptical about global warming.
Fodder: is cheap food, usually given to livestock animals like cows. However, Fodder is not just used to describe cattle feed. We use the word to talk about other kinds of feeding that don't involve actual food. E.g. A new celebrity marriage is fodder for gossip magazines. In war, the soldiers most likely to be killed, are called cannon fodder, from the times when armies used canons instead of drone aircraft dropping missiles.



Maibach comments that as far as he knows,  the events in this controversy have not revealed any (9) ………MISDEEDS………..
Misdeed: a bad or evil act wrongdoing. E.g. He will have to answer for his misdeeds in a court of law.



but that the rhetoric  that has come out of it has been (10) ………INFLAMMATORY……………..
inflammatory:
/ɪnˈflæmətr/  intended to cause very strong feelings of anger. E.g. inflammatory remarks.

Transcript


Declining Interest Makes Climate Change A Hard Sell

Despite any number of ads and awareness campaigns launched by the government, advocacy groups and corporations that have turned "green" into a superlative, the number of Americans who believe climate change is a serious problem has been declining, according to a recent study by Pew Research. Host Scott Simon talks to Ed Maibach, director of George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication, about the challenges of launching public awareness marketing campaigns about climate change.

SCOTT SIMON, host:



Climate change can be a hard sell. World leaders have tried for years to come up with an agreement on the issue. They'll try again when they meet in Copenhagen next week. It's hard to sell climate change to the general public too, despite any number of ads and awareness campaigns launched by the government, advocacy groups and corporations that have turned green into a superlative. The number of Americans who believe climate change is a serious problem has been in decline, according to a recent study by Pew Research.



Ed Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communications at George Mason University joins us in our studios. Thanks so much for being with us.



Mr. ED MAIBACH (Mason University): My pleasure, Scott. Thank you.



SIMON: Why do you think the issue's becoming apparently less important to people over the past few years?



Mr. MAIBACH: I think there's two big things going on. Number one is the economy. It's been in shambles for quite some time now and psychologists tell us that there's such a thing as a limited pool of worry, finite pool of worry -we can only worry about so many things at any one time. And most people that I know are fairly worried about the economy, so it tends to have the effect of forcing their concern about other issues further from top of mind.



The second thing that's absolutely going on right now is this is a highly contested issue. There's a battle raging in Congress right now about passing climate legislation, and lots of people, lots of organizations are vying for the hearts and minds of the public to influence them in one direction or the other.



SIMON: At the same time, if you were to follow advertisements, you certainly get the impression that major corporations have decided that - I believe we said green is a superlative - if you want to sell something, you have to tell people it's green.



Mr. MAIBACH: They absolutely are. Sometimes legitimately - in other words, they're trying to develop greener, cleaner products and services. Sometimes not so legitimately - in other words, trying to reassure us that everything's okay; they're on the job, their heat-trapping pollution emissions are something that are well within their control and decreasing all the time.



SIMON: Help explain then why there might be at least statistically a disconnect between a general public that seems to want greener consumer products and the general public that says I'm not as worried about global warming as I used to be or at least it's not as big a concern as it used to be in my priority of worries.



Mr. MAIBACH: People do make decisions as consumers and they make decisions as citizens. And with regard to their decisions as consumers, we do see an increasing proportion of Americans trying to change the way they shop to be a more environmentally conscious citizen. Conversely, with regard to how people act as citizens, even those Americans who care most about global warming, they tend not to actually stand up and be counted with their elected officials.



SIMON: You've heard about this recent email controversy.



Mr. MAIBACH: I have.



SIMON: Now, we'll explain. Someone hacked into the, or more than someone, hacked into the computers of the venerable Hadley Research Center, University of East Anglia climate research unit in England, and revealed quite a few emails that seem to show that its leading climatologists seem to have ignored, dismissed, concealed, sometimes even destroyed some raw data that didn't seem to support their conclusions. This has been fodder for skeptics of global warming. What do you make of it?



Mr. MAIBACH: Well, it certainly wasn't helpful. The timing is particularly bad in the sense that the leaders of the world are gathering next week in Copenhagen. To the best of my knowledge, it doesn't actually show any misdeeds but it certainly does show a whole lot of rhetoric, inflammatory rhetoric often flying back and forth between colleagues. So I think, at very least, it was unhelpful.



SIMON: Ed Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, thanks very much.



Mr. MAIBACH: My pleasure, Scott. Thank you.

Vocabulary
hard sell: a method of selling that puts a lot of pressure on the customer to buy. E.g. Their salesmen are trained to go for the hard sell. They invited 1,000 participants and gave them the hard sell.

superlative: an exaggerated or hyperbolical expression of praise. E.g. the critics ran out of superlatives to describe him.


Shambles: /ˈʃæmblz/  a situation in which there is a lot of confusion. Mess. E.g. the press conference was a complete shambles. What a shambles! The government is in a shambles over Europe. He's made an absolute shambles of his career.

Top of mind: foremost in one's thoughts; of greatest concern or priority.  E.g. Fighting fat, a top-of-mind concern among consumers today, is the subject of a new book.

contest something: to take part in a competition, election, etc. and try to win it. E.g. Three candidates contested the leadership. The party has decided not to contest this election. A hotly/fiercely/keenly contested game (= one in which the players try very hard to win and the scores are close)


rage (on) (of a storm, a battle, an argument, etc.) to continue in a violent way. E.g. The riots raged for three days. The blizzard was still raging outside.


Vie: /vaɪ/ to compete strongly with somebody in order to obtain or achieve something. Compete. E.g. She was surrounded by men all vying for her attention. A row of restaurants vying with each other for business. Screaming fans vied to get closer to their idol.

reassure: /ˌriːəˈʃʊə(r)/ /ˌriːəˈʃɔː(r)/ to say or do something that makes somebody less frightened or worried. E.g. They tried to reassure her, but she still felt anxious. The doctor reassured him that there was nothing seriously wrong.

on the job: while working; at work. E.g.  learning on the job should be part of studying. My first day on the job

Conversely: /ˈkɒnvɜːsli/ in a way that is the opposite or reverse of something. E.g. You can add the fluid to the powder, or, conversely, the powder to the fluid. Women suffering from anorexia are still convinced that their thin, frail bodies are fat and unsightly. Conversely, some people who are a great deal heavier than they should be can persuade themselves that they are ‘just right’.

venerable: /ˈvenərəbl/ venerable people or things deserve respect because they are old, important, wise, etc. E.g. a venerable old man. A venerable institution.

dismiss: to decide that somebody/something is not important and not worth thinking or talking about. E.g.  The minister dismissed claims that he had accepted bribes.  We should not dismiss these ideas just because they are unfamiliar.

conceal: /kənˈsiːl/ to hide somebody/something. E.g. The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. Tim could barely conceal his disappointment. She sat down to conceal the fact that she was trembling. 

raw: not yet organized into a form in which it can be easily used or understood. E.g. This information is only raw data and will need further analysis. 

Fodder: is cheap food, usually given to livestock animals like cows. However, Fodder is not just used to describe cattle feed. We use the word to talk about other kinds of feeding that don't involve actual food. E.g. A new celebrity marriage is fodder for gossip magazines. In war, the soldiers most likely to be killed, are called cannon fodder, from the times when armies used canons instead of drone aircraft dropping missiles.


Misdeed: a bad or evil act wrongdoing. E.g. He will have to answer for his misdeeds in a court of law.

inflammatory: /ɪnˈflæmətr/  intended to cause very strong feelings of anger. E.g. inflammatory remarks.



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