Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 34 - the added bonus of educating your staff

Robert: I was looking at a British study. It basically concluded that 12 billion pounds’ worth of food are disposed of every year. All of it ending up in garbage dumps and landfills.

Anna: Oh. You know, in all the European reports I’ve read - there’s one thing they have in common; they talk about carbon dioxide emissions.

To my mind it’s as plain as day; we could cut down on carbon emissions if less imported food was supplied in the first place.

Robert: Absolutely. If reports are actually going to be useful to people, they need to be more comprehensive.

Ana: The only worthwhile article is about a new device with sensors that check the ripeness inside the fruit in supermarkets. That could speed up the process of ripeness checking and saves lots of time and effort.

Robert: The good news comes from Lean Path. They have developed an innovative technique for food waste prevention in all foodservice settings. The in-kitchen food waste trackers allow you to immediately see the financial and environmental impact of that waste not to mention the added bonus of educating your staff on the spot.

Ana: Impressive.

Vocabulary;

dispose of: to throw away; to get rid of.

garbage dump: piece of land where waste materials are discarded.

to my mind: in my opinion.

as plain as day: very obvious or noticeable.

cut down on: to reduce the amount of something or of doing something; to use or buy less of.

comprehensive: (adjective) complete and including everything that is necessary.

worthwhile: (adjective) useful, important; valuable.

ripeness: (of fruit or crops) the quality of being ready to be collected or eaten

speed up: to increase in speed; to move or function at a faster or higher rate.

innovative: (adjective) using new methods or ideas.

setting: the position of a house or other building.

added bonus: a pleasant extra thing.

on the spot: 1. at the place 2. immediately.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. He never uses that bike any more, but he's very reluctant to .......... of it.

2. The room has pink walls and a green carpet, which to my .......... looks all wrong.

3. The police were called and they were on the .......... within three minutes.

4. This is a tale of life and death in the idyllic rural .......... of a 15th-century manor house.

5. Big companies are always looking for .......... products that can't be easily copied.

6. The fruit should reach its maximum .......... after a few days.

7. Good weather is an added .......... but the real appeal of the area is the fantastic variety of landscape.

8. The automated process began .......... up once I shut down all the other ancillary systems.

9. The two governments have agreed to engage in a .......... dialogue to resolve the problem.

10. I'd like to think we were doing something .......... instead of wasting our time on pointless errands.

11. You will have to cut .......... on the time it takes you to get ready in the morning.

12. Jane: I don't understand why Professor Potter has been so friendly this week. Alan: It's .......... as the daylight. He wants to be nominated for Professor of the Year.

13. The mayor's office provided the findings of the monitoring of the garbage .......... of the capital city.

1. dispose 2. mind 3. spot 4. setting 5. innovative 6. ripeness 7. bonus 8. speeding 9. comprehensive 10. worthwhile 11. down 12. plain 13. dump