Côte D'Ivoire - École Numérique: Before You Read

TERMINALE
CÔTE D’IVOIRE – ÉCOLE NUMÉRIQUE

ANGLAIS
UNIT 4-WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
SKILL: Reading for Comprehension
Text: Africa’s fastest-growing cities
Source: REUTERS, 04 May 2016
LESSON CONTENT:
Language function Expressions and structures Vocabulary
Expressing a completed By the year 2060, the population urbanize, slum, growth, pull factor, push
action in the future in megacities will have doubled. factor, speed, outcome, brain drain, issue,
countryside, employment, powerhouse,
sustained, upheaval, shortage, implement,
tipping point, turbocharged
Learning context
The students of Terminale A5 of Lycée Moderne Bongouanou are reading an article
about climate change from the American Newsweek to prepare their participation in a
debate on the future of humanity during the next meeting of the English club.
Before you read

Brainstorming
1. List three potential dangers the modern world can face in the next 10 or 20 years.
2. What can be the causes of each of these potential dangers?
Vocabulary
- Outcome: result
- Countryside ≠ urban area
- Pull factor: attracting reason,
- Push factor ≠ pull factor
- Turbocharged = fast
Language function: Expressing a completed action in the future

Example:
- By May 15, most of the teachers would have finished their programs.
- We are in 2020; I think we would have completed all our university degrees by 2028.
1
WHILE-READING ACTIVITIES
Read the text below and do all the activities related to it.
Africa’s fastest-growing cities
The world is moving to the city. No part of the planet is urbanizing faster than
sub-Saharan Africa. The continent’s population of roughly 1.1 billion is
expected to double by 2050. More than 80% of that growth will occur in cities,
especially slums. Take the case of Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso,
5 which is experiencing a population growth of 7.2% while Mbouda in
Cameroon is the continent’s fastest growing city at 7.8% annually. Keep in
mind that the average global urban population growth rate worldwide is
currently 1.84% a year. These figures show the preoccupying character of the
population issue in Africa.
10 The continent’s turbocharged urbanization is driven by several factors. First,
there is what is called organic population growth; that is, the natural expansion
of population due to the surplus of births over deaths, a phenomenon driven, in
Africa’s case, by persistently high fertility rates. Second, there is in-migration
from rural areas within countries and immigration or migration across borders
15 from foreign countries.
This rural-to-urban migration in Africa is driven by both pull and push factors.
Pull factors draw rural populations into the city and include economic
opportunities, employment, better connectivity, access to essential services and
education. Push factors drive people out of rural environments, and they
20 include rural conflicts, environmental degradation, climate change, and
resource shortages. These factors can work together to create a vicious cycle,
where poor rural conditions are exacerbated by a brain drain as people leave
the countryside looking for a better life in town.
Some optimists are convinced that Africa’s sustained population growth will be
25 driving to innovation, employment and economic growth, with the black
continent supplanting China as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse.
Pessimists are concerned that the continent’s cities could become overstressed
through rapid, unplanned urbanization, generating political, economic, and
environmental upheaval.
30 Anyway, one thing is for sure: the outcome of this unprecedented urban
transition depends on what Africa’s political, business and civic leaders do
next. For instance, one can reasonably think that if strict family-planning
policies are not implemented, the population of sub-Saharan Africa is going to
remain high. Some experts predict that by mid-2030, it will have reached 2
35 billion. By that period, poverty will have increased everywhere on the
2
continent and criminality will have intensified. Many African cities are
therefore at a tipping point.
Adapted from Akintunde Akinleye,
REUTERS, 04 May 2016
Activity one: Read the text quickly and choose the right options
The main issue in this text is:

a. poverty in Africa b. malnutrition in Africa
c. overpopulation in Africa d. pollution in Africa
Activity two: Match each word or expression from the text in column A with its
synonym or definition in column B. One item in column B is not concerned. Write
your answers like in the example.
Example: 1. f
Column A Column B
1. growth (L.3) a. attract

2. slums (L.4) b. non-return stage
3. worldwide (L.7) c. executed, applied
4. issue (L.9) d. absences
5. employment (L.18) e. very poor living places of a city
6. shortages (L.21) f. increase, augmentation
7. brain drain (L.22) g. job opportunity
8. powerhouse (L.26) h. problem
9. upheaval (L.29) i. everywhere in the world
10. implemented (L.33) j. disruption, disorder
11. tipping point (L.37) k. emigration of qualified and talented workforce
l. leader
Activity three: Read the text and decide if each of the following statements is true or
false. Write T for true and F for false. Then justify your answers by quoting the lines.
Write your answers like in the example.
Example: 1. F (L. 1)
1. Sub-Saharan Africa is less affected by urbanization than other areas of the
continent.
2. The African population has doubled recently.
3. Two African capitals are mentioned in the text.
4. The city with the fastest growth rate is in Burkina Faso.
5. The global world population growth is lower than the African population
growth.
6. In-migration takes place from one country to another country.
7. Rural-to-urban migration in Africa is motivated by three factors.
3
8. Fast population growth is unanimously condemned by all the Africans.
9. The solutions to the population problems in Africa should mainly come from
African leaders.
10. According to some experts, the African population will reach 2 billion before
2030.
11. Criminality will decrease over the same period.
COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY
Next week, BBC Africa is going to organize a debate on the following topic:
“Is the fast population growth in Africa a strength or a weakness?”
As a future participant in this debate,
- State your opinion about the issue raised.
- Support your position with arguments and examples.
- Record your answer and send it to your English teacher for editing before
submitting it to the BBC the day of the debate.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY
Watch the video and list the causes of overpopulation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348

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TERMINALE

CÔTE D’IVOIRE – ÉCOLE NUMÉRIQUE

UNIT 4-WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

SKILL: Reading for Comprehension

Text: Africa’s fastest-growing cities

Source: REUTERS, 04 May 2016

Before you read

Language function: Expressing a completed action in the future

Africa’s fastest-growing cities

The main issue in this text is:

1. growth (L.3) a. attract

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