IELTS Preparation Series 2, Episode 19: Old Trees
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Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.
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Today we're going to look at a story about trees in Melbourne. Trees have certain functions.
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They provide shade and shelter, they give scale to the tall buildings and they demonstrate
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the changing seasons.
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English is no different! It has a range of functions, or purposes. When you reach a certain
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stage in your language development, you'll need to focus more on the meaning and functions
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of English at the sentence level, and also how to connect sentences. With practice, your
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fluency and competence in both spoken and written English will develop.
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John Hawker, who is a horticulturalist with Heritage Victoria, is concerned that the old
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trees planted in Melbourne in the 1850s are nearing the end of their lives. Listen to
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John discussing the problem of managing trees in urban areas.
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Trees are very much a part of our urban fabric. People enjoy them for their size, variety
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and colour and form, so we'd just be left with nothing, which would be disastrous.
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There's a need to assess the health and the condition of these trees and embark upon a
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removal and a replacement program.
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We'll be helping the City of Melbourne doing that assessment and we'll be identifying where,
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what trees should be replanted.
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John is discussing the problems of old trees in Melbourne.
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He begins with a statement of fact:
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People enjoy trees for their size, variety, colour and form.
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He follows this statement with an opinion:
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To allow these old trees to die and not replace them would be disastrous.
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Can you see the purpose or function of these two sentences? John is building a persuasive
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argument about trees. He begins with a fact, and then adds an opinion.
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Now he goes on to list some of the problems faced by these trees. The function of this
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sentence will be to support his argument with reasons.
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Listen to the causes of the problem.
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Well, there are quite a few problems with some of the trees.
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Firstly, the trees, some are very old and nearing the end of their life. That's been
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hastened to some extent by recent very dry conditions in Melbourne and other environmental
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factors.
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John begins by identifying the reasons for the problem.
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The trees are old and nearing the end of their life. This natural ageing process has been
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made worse by recent dry conditions in Melbourne, and other environmental factors.
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His argument is more convincing because he explains the reasons for the problem. This
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is one of the important functions of English you'll need to learn - to order your thoughts
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in a logical pattern, and support them with reasons and examples.
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So to make a good, persuasive argument, John has given the facts of the problem and given
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us opinions, reasons and examples. Then John explains a solution to the problem.
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There's a need to assess the health and the condition of these trees and embark upon a
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removal and a replacement program.
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We'll be helping the City of Melbourne doing that assessment and we'll be identifying where,
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what trees should be replanted.
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John's solution is to assess the trees, and then remove older trees and replace them with
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younger trees.
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The argument is further developed by another tree expert, Ian Shears, who works for the
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City of Melbourne.
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