Saving the earth（The First Period）

s：i think our government must have its own  opinion.maybe they think the    factories are more important than the environment.because the government can get lots of money from factories.if they shut the factories down ,it will not be able to get so much money.and this is not good for the development of the city or town.
t：yes.different people have different opinions.they may not agree with one  another.so sometimes it’s very hard to make a decision and to make a change.for example，we know that coal is a valuable resource that can be used to produce  energy，but it also causes serious pollution.what should we do with it?  (ss may have various answers.) you see，you don’t agree with each other.now，we need to have a meeting to discuss this problem.please work in groups of  five.you should play different roles：a businessman.a scientist. a local citizen，an environmentalist and a local leader.different people have different opinions.
(every person has his/her own opinion.) please discuss the issue first and
then the local leader should  summarise and make a decision.you can have a look at the table and the useful expressions in speaking part before you begin your  discussion.they’re very helpful.
(give the students enough time to have a discussion and then ask the students who play the role of the local leader to read out their decisions.compare them and choose the best decision.)
sample dialogue：
a：today we are here to decide whether we should burn the coal.please tell us
whatever you think.
b：i think we should burn the coal.1f we don’t burn it now，maybe it will be
useless in the future，new energy wi1l be used instead of coal，such as.solar    energy.
c：but burning coal causes too much pollution to our environment.1t pollutes the air badly. if nothing is done to stop its pollution to our earth，then we will
have no fresh air to breathe.
d：yes，i quite agree.i think we shouldn’t burn the coal now. it would be better
if we spend more money on science to  find a better way of using the coal.once
we know how to burn it with out polluting the environment ,we can make full use of it.
e：that sounds quite reasonable，but it’s clear that if we want to develop our area as soon as possible，we need money.how can we get money?  we can only burn the  coal to make the factories work to make money.if we stop using the coal now ,how shall we continue our production and development?…