MEXICO CITY SUFFERS INTENSE AIR POLLUTION

[ENVIRONMENT ★★]

MEXICO CITY SUFFERS INTENSE AIR POLLUTION

(P1) Authorities have banned more than 1 million cars from the roads and offered free SUBWAY and bus rides to COAX people from their VEHICLES during Mexico City’s first AIR POLLUTION ALERT in 11 years.

(P2) Officials advised people to limit outdoor activity owing to the high OZONE level that were nearly double the acceptable limit in the SPRAWLING capital, which lies in a high VALLEY ringed by SMOG-trapping mountains.

(P3) Amid a MUDDY brown HAZE, some residents covered their mouths with SCARVES or paper masks. The environment secretary, Alejandro Pacchiano, said ADDITIONAL measures would be considered if conditions did not improve, such as SUSPENDING industrial activity at factories.

(P4) The mayor, Miguel Ángel Mancera, told Televisa news that about 1.1 million cars in the Valley of Mexico, including nearly 450,000 in the capital, were ordered off the streets under the TEMPORARY RESTRICTIONS.

(P5) About 4.7 million vehicles were REGISTERED in the capital in 2014.

(P6) Mexico City used to regularly reach high smog levels, but its air quality has improved significantly since the 1990s.

WORDS: 173

SOURCE: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/16/choked-mexico-city-bans-1m-cars-in-air-pollution-alert

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.

1. Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
2. Is there ever bad air pollution in your city?
3. Are you very sensitive to air pollution, or not too bothered by it?
4. 7 million vehicles is a lot, and means that traffic in Mexico City is very bad. What is traffic like in your area?
5. Is your city high in the mountains, near the ocean, or IN-BETWEEN?

EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:

What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.

• Air pollution
• In-between