The document outlines news-based English language activities using articles from the Guardian Weekly, intended for advanced and lower-intermediate learners. It highlights a specific article discussing the ecological issues related to Thilafushi, a man-made island in the Maldives that serves as a landfill, receiving over 330 tonnes of waste daily. The activities include comprehension questions and vocabulary exercises based on the article, which emphasizes the environmental challenges posed by mass tourism and waste management in the Maldives.

1. News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 
February 2009
Level ≥ Advanced
Style ≥ Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardianweekly.co.uk/learningenglish/. You can also
find more advice for teachers and learners on the site
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould
Paradise lost on Maldives rubbish island
Cast away . . . 330 tonnes of refuse arrive on Thilafushi every day Elin Hoyland
b Who do you think produces most of the 330 tonnes
Before reading of refuse?
1 The article is about the Maldives. Work with a What is the double meaning of the word ‘cast away’?
partner and discuss the questions below.
a Where are the Maldive islands? Which countries are 3 Vocabulary from the article
they near? Look at the list of vocabulary from the article. Check
b What type of islands are they? What do they look like? unknown words in a dictionary. Find two words
c What are the islands popular for today? Why? from the list for each category below.
bury incinerate
2 Look at the headline, photo and caption of the crushed can junk
article. campaigner toxic
a What is the island of Thilafushi used as? environmentalist used battery
hazardous waste ≥2

2. News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 
February 2009
a nouns with a similar meaning to rubbish 5 “We are seeing used batteries, asbestos, lead
and other potentially hazardous waste being put
into the water. These wastes are a source of toxic
b verbs that describe what you can do with rubbish heavy metals and it is an increasingly serious
ecological and health problem in the Maldives,”
said Ali Rilwan, an environmentalist in Malé.
c adjectives to describe dangerous rubbish
6 Despite the growing crisis, Thilafushi remains
largely hidden from view. Nobody goes there
d specific items of rubbish apart from workers.
7 Meanwhile, tourism has made the Maldives the
e people concerned about the problem of rubbish richest country in South Asia in terms of GDP
per head – which is about $4,500 – though that
wealth is thinly spread.
8 However, almost everything has to be imported.
Article Most tourists can only be catered for by bringing
in thousands of tonnes of meat, vegetables and
Paradise lost on Maldives diesel oil every year.
rubbish island
9 All this produces what many say is an unsustain-
1 It may be known as a tropical paradise, an archi- able amount of waste. Every tourist produces
pelago of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. 3.5kg of rubbish and requires 500 litres of water
But the traditional image of the Maldives hides a a day.
dirty secret: the world’s biggest rubbish island.
10 The lack of space means the Maldives is now “ex-
2 A short boat ride from the Maldivian capital, porting junk” to India. “Before, the ships that
Malé, Thilafushi began life as a reclamation brought our vegetables from south India used
project in 1992. The artificial island was built to return empty, but now we are sending them
to solve Malé’s refuse problem. But today, with crushed cans, metals, cardboard. They then sort
more than 10,000 tourists a week in the Mal- them out and get cash for them,” said Rilwan.
dives adding their waste, the rubbish island now Randeep Ramesh
covers 50 hectares.
3 So much is being deposited that the island is
growing at one square metre a day. It has be- Glossary
come home to 150 Bangladeshi migrants who sift
archipelago (noun) a group of islands
through the mounds of refuse.
to sift through (phrasal verb) to look through a number
of things and separate them into groups
4 Environmentalists say that more than 330 landfill site (noun) an area of land where large amounts
tonnes of rubbish is brought to Thilafushi a day. of waste are buried
The rubbish is sifted by hand. Some of the waste alarming (adjective) very worrying
is incinerated but most is buried in landfill sites. a source of (noun) a thing or person that causes some-
There is, say environmental campaigners, also thing, especially a problem
an alarming rise in batteries and electronic waste
being dumped in Thilafushi’s lagoon.
≥3

3. News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 
February 2009
d How much rubbish does a tourist produce every
While reading day?
1 Read the first seven paragraphs of the article. Put
yes (Y) or no (N) next to the statements. Underline
where you find the information in the text.
The island of Thilafushi . . .
a is near the capital of the Maldives.
b is a natural coral island.
c was built to help India’s rubbish crisis.
d is getting one square metre bigger every day.
e has no population.
f has dangerous chemicals in its lagoon. e What did the ships from India do in the past? What
g is easy to see and visit. do they do now?
2 Read the rest of the article from paragraph 8
onwards. Answer these questions.
a How does the Maldives compare to other countries
ins South Asia?
After reading
1 Active or passive
Complete the summary with the correct form of the
active or passive of the verb in brackets.
The Maldive islands (a)
b How is the wealth distributed in the country? What
(know) as a paradise holiday destination but news sto-
does this mean?
ries in recent weeks (b)
(show) the negative side of mass tourism. Over 10,000
tourists (c) (visit) this popu-
lar country every week and each person (d)
(produce) more than 3.5kg of
rubbish.
In 1992 the artificial island of Thilafushi (e)
(build) to help solve the
country’s rubbish problem. Every day a large amount
c What does the Maldives now import and export? of refuse (f) (take) there by
boat and now the island (g)
(grow) rapidly.
The waste (h) (sift through)
by Bangladeshi migrants who
(i) (live) on the island. Some
items of rubbish (j) (send
back) to India where they (k)
(sell) for cash.
≥4

4. News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 
February 2009
2 Collocations 2
Look at this adverb/adjective collocation from the
article:
. . . it is an increasingly serious ecological and health
problem (paragraph 6)
Find two more adverb/adjective collocations in the 3
text to match these meanings:
possibly dangerous
mostly out of sight
Put the following adverb/adjective collocations into
the sentences below. 4
completely untrue, dangerously ill, economically
disastrous, perilously close, privately furious,
relatively small, remarkably stable
a The island is now to envi-
ronmental disaster because of the toxic waste.
b The hotels are quiet at this time of year with a
number of visitors. Activity — Discussion
c The president was about
the bad publicity in all the newspapers. Tourism and the environment
d Despite global problems, tourists still visit the Mal- 1 Decide if you agree (A) or disagree (D) with the
dives and the economy is . statements below.
e The workers became after a Tourists want to visit beautiful destinations but
handling toxic waste. they often ruin these places.
f A sudden fall in the number of tourists could be b Mass tourism is one of the biggest threats to the
for this small country. future of the environment.
g Some local people didn’t believe the stories and c Tourism is a source of income for poorer coun-
thought they were . tries and it should be encouraged.
d Governments should help people to enjoy the
Choose four of the collocations and write your own sights of their own country.
sentences. e Tourism is important because it promotes under-
1 standing between different cultures.
2 Discuss your ideas in small groups.
3 Devise a holiday with a low environmental im-
pact for your small group. Present and explain your
holiday to the rest of the class.
g completely untrue
vately furious d remarkably stable e dangerously ill f economically disastrous campaigner, environmentalist.
2 potentially hazardous; largely hidden a perilously close b relatively small c pri- 3 a junk, waste b bury, incinerate c hazardous, toxic d crushed can, used battery e
is sifted through i live j are sent back k are sold desert island. To cast something away means to throw it away.
1 a are known b have shown c visit d produces e was built f is taken g is growing h 2 a A huge rubbish dump. b Tourists. c A cast away is a person left alone on a
After reading c Tourism. Because of the warm climate, idyllic beaches etc.
b Low-lying islands surrounded by white sands and clear blue sea.
3.5kg. e They brought vegetables and returned empty. They take back rubbish. 1 a In the Indian Ocean. Near India and Sri Lanka.
of people. c They import meat, vegetables and diesel oil. They export rubbish. d Before reading
2 a It’s the richest country. b It’s thinly spread. It’s concentrated in a small group
1aYbNcNdYeNfYgN Answers
While reading