The Environment
Senior 2 · English
The Environment
Lesson 3 of 4
25 min
Rwanda is called the land of a thousand hills, and most of those hills are farmed. When heavy rain falls on a bare slope, it can carry away in one afternoon soil that took hundreds of years to form. Soil erosion is therefore one of the most serious environmental problems in the country.
In this lesson you will read about erosion and its solutions, learn the first conditional for talking about real future results, and write a problem–solution essay, a task that appears often in examinations.
The first three paragraphs are adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article Soil erosion. The last paragraph was written by Ganzaa.
Soil erosion is the removal of the top layer of soil by water or wind. It is a serious problem for farmers, because the topsoil is the richest part of the ground. If the topsoil is washed away, crops will not grow well, and the family will harvest less food.
Deforestation is one of the main causes of soil erosion. On a natural forest floor, fallen leaves cover the ground and protect it from heavy rain, and tree roots hold the soil in place. When the trees are cut down, nothing stops the rain from carrying the soil downhill.
Farmers can protect their soil in several ways. They can plant a windbreak: a thick line of trees or bushes next to a field. It slows the wind, and its roots catch soil that water is carrying away. On steep hillsides, people build terraces, which are flat steps cut into the slope. Where there are no terraces, crops should be planted in rows that run across the slope, along the contour lines, not straight up and down it. Each row then acts like a small wall that slows the water.
In Rwanda, where many farms lie on steep hills, you can see all of these methods: wide terraces, lines of grass and bushes along the contours, and trees planted among the crops. Growing trees and crops together on the same farm is called agroforestry.
Why is losing the topsoil so serious?
It is the richest part of the ground, so without it crops grow badly and families harvest less food.
Look at the photo. Which two soil-protection methods from the text can you see?
Terraces (flat steps cut into the slope) and agroforestry (trees growing along the edges of the fields). The grass strips on the terrace edges also hold the soil.
A farmer plants beans in rows running straight down the hill. What will probably happen in a storm, and why?
The water will run fast down the rows and carry the soil with it, because nothing across the slope slows it down.
Look at this sentence from the reading: If the topsoil is washed away, crops will not grow well. It describes a real possibility in the future and its likely result. This is the first conditional.
| if-clause (condition) | main clause (result) |
|---|---|
| if + present simple | will / won't + base verb |
| If we cut the trees on this hill, | the rain will wash the soil away. |
| If farmers build terraces, | they will harvest more beans. |
Join the two ideas into one first-conditional sentence: We plant grass along the river bank. / The bank does not collapse.
Answer: If we plant grass along the river bank, the bank won't collapse.
The most common mistake: putting will in the if-clause. If it will rain, ... is wrong. Write If it rains, ...
A problem–solution essay has a clear shape. Plan it before you write:
Useful linking words: because of, as a result, therefore, one solution is, in addition, finally, in conclusion.
Model effects-and-solutions paragraph (topic: rubbish in a local stream)
If people keep throwing bottles and food waste into the stream, the water will become too dirty for cattle to drink, and mosquitoes will breed in the blocked pools. As a result, families downstream may fall ill. There are, however, simple solutions. First, every household should keep a rubbish pit or a sack for waste. In addition, the cell leaders could organise a monthly clean-up during umuganda. Finally, schools must teach children that a clean stream is everybody's responsibility.
In groups of four, choose one problem near your school, such as erosion, litter or a dirty water source. Fill in this plan and present it to your class.
| Problem | Action | Who? | When? | How will we know it worked? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example: gullies forming behind the classrooms | plant a line of grass and 20 seedlings across the slope | S2 environment club | first two weeks of the rainy season | no new gullies after the first heavy rain |
Tip
Present after if, future in the result. Say it as a rhythm: "If it rains, it will flood." Never put will in both halves.
In an essay, the first conditional is your best tool for the effects paragraph: it shows the examiner real consequences.
Put the verbs in the correct form: If farmers ___ (plant) trees among their crops, the soil ___ (stay) in place.
Solution: If farmers plant trees among their crops, the soil will stay in place. Present simple after if; will + base verb in the result.
Correct the mistake: If it will rain heavily, the path will turn to mud.
Solution: If it rains heavily, the path will turn to mud. Do not use will in the if-clause.
Rewrite with unless: If we don't build terraces, we will lose the topsoil.
Solution: Unless we build terraces, we will lose the topsoil. Unless already means if ... not, so the verb after it is positive.
Which method from the reading slows the wind? Write one first-conditional sentence about it.
Solution: A windbreak. Example: If we plant a windbreak beside the field, the wind won't blow the dry soil away.
Put these essay parts in order: solutions, introduction, effects, conclusion, causes.
Solution: introduction, causes, effects, solutions, conclusion. You must explain a problem before you can solve it, and the conclusion always comes last.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
