Pre-reading questions:
I will read each question. Then, please answer them.
- What kinds of crops do you know about?
- How do farmers grow crops in your country?
Vocabulary:
I will read the words, meanings, and sample sentences. Then, repeat after me.
- harmful /HAHRM-fuhl/
- agriculture /AG-ri-kuhl-cher/
- rural /ROOR-uhl /
- distribute /dih-STRIB-yoot/
- facility /fuh-SIL-i-tee/
[adjective] – causing harm
This chemical is known to be harmful to people.
[noun] – the business, science, or activity of farming
The land is used for agriculture.
[adjective] – in, of, or like the countryside
Crops are often in rural areas.
[verb] – to give something out to several people, or to spread or supply something
Could you distribute copies well in advance of the meeting?
[noun] – a place, especially including buildings, where a particular activity happens
A nuclear research facility will be built here.
Article reading:
Please read the whole article. Then, I will check your pronunciation and intonation.
Millions of crops can be grown each year in tall units without soil at Bedford’s Infarm, a vertical farm of 10,000 square meters (2.5 acres) in size. According to the company, the farm used 95% less water than traditional agricultural methods and did not use any harmful pesticides. Indoor farms will probably play an important role in the future of agriculture, according to Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. The UK’s sustainability and food security depend heavily on indoor farms that grow food using the hydroponic technique.
They also have this cutting-edge technology in addition to the conventional. If they can create better and more diverse ways to distribute food to both the consumer and the producer, there is room for everyone to produce at their maximum capacity. The Bedford location is Infarm’s first large-scale growing facility in the UK and can house up to 40 cloud-connected farming units, each standing 10 meters high. Each unit can grow more than 500,000 plants or enough plants for a football field’s worth of food each year. This farming method should increase the options available to young people, notably in the areas of robotics, artificial intelligence, and plant breeding.
They also have this cutting-edge technology in addition to the conventional. If they can create better and more diverse ways to distribute food to both the consumer and the producer, there is room for everyone to produce at their maximum capacity. The Bedford location is Infarm’s first large-scale growing facility in the UK and can house up to 40 cloud-connected farming units, each standing 10 meters high. Each unit can grow more than 500,000 plants or enough plants for a football field’s worth of food each year. This farming method should increase the options available to young people, notably in the areas of robotics, artificial intelligence, and plant breeding.
Comprehension questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them based on the article.
- What percentage of water is used in Infarm?
- What is the size of the infarm?
- Who is Jo Churchill?
- Where is the vertical farm located?
- How many plants can grow in each unit?
Discussion questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them.
- Does your country have an indoor farm? Could you tell me about it?
- Do you experience soaring food prices? Could you give an example?
- Would you like to have a vertical farm in your country? Why or why not?
- Do you support having traditional and high-tech ways of farming?
- Should modern farming be applied to tropical countries? Why or why not?