International Students NZ

Today’s picture: Nuclear-free Hobbiton

Part 1: Today's word

If a project or business is viable, it means that it has everything necessary to survive. Changes in the external environment can threaten the viability of businesses or even whole industries, as has been the case with the American automotive industry over the last year.

Click here for interactive exercises on academic vocabulary and writing.

Part 2: Test

Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out?

The government is actively seeking viable transport options to improve access to the city.

Based on a careful evaluation of the pilot project, it was decided that full-scale production was not commercially viable.

The team needs to raise its viability if it is to convince the university to provide increased funding.

Falling enrolments are threatening the viability of less popular courses.

Part 3: Practice Questions:

Do you believe that solar and wind power are viable alternatives to fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas)?

Do you think that completing a university degree in New Zealand will continue to be a viable option for international students?

Part 4: The idiomatic five

have a lot to answer for
are responsible (for a problem)
I think the parents of these young criminals have a lot to answer for.

asking for it
deserve (something bad to happen)
I’m not sorry I broke his nose. He was asking for it.

be in a bad way
in poor health or condition
I’m afraid your aunt is in a bad way and may not survive the operation.

fight a losing battle
struggling
Workers are fighting a losing battle to keep their mine open.

get (or leap or jump) on the bandwagon
follow a trend with enthusiasm
We were the first to include DVDs with our language courses but the other publishers were quick to leap on the bandwagon.

Part 5: Kiwi Quiz Question

How much of New Zealand’s electricity is produced from nuclear energy?

Part 6: Today's online listening:

This is an interview about nuclear power from Radio New Zealand with Professor Ralph Sims from Massey University

Vocabulary for the article:

a prototype
fission
fusion
isotype
ore
stockpile
worst-case scenario

Questions for the article:

1) In what way is France unique in nuclear power generation?

It is the country which is most heavily dependent on nuclear power
It has the largest number of power stations
It exports the highest proportion of nuclear power
It was responsible for the world’s first nuclear power station

2) The basic fuel for nuclear power stations is ...

relatively cheap
mined near Alice Springs, Australia
found in the form of radioactive rods
dug up as ‘yellow cake’ ore

3) In what form is the energy produced by a nuclear reaction?

heat
steam
coal
electricity

4) Ralph Sims believes that nuclear power ...

results in up to 5000 fatalities per year in China
is essentially risk-free in modern plants
is relatively safe when compared to other energy sources
has to make significant improvements in safety systems

5) Stockpiles of nuclear waste ...

are being maintained in Finland, France and Nevada, USA
will accumulate until storage facilities are completed
total up to 50 000 tonnes worldwide
have been used as a source for ‘dirty bombs’

6) Nuclear fusion

is produced from readily-available supplies of helium
is only currently producing power in the South of France
produces a mix of uranium and plutonium
is not yet a practical form of energy generation

7) Ralph Sims believes that nuclear power plants ...

are not a viable alternative in small countries
require unacceptably high levels of initial investment
are more cost-effective than coal or gas power stations
are likely to account for up to 15% of world energy production

Today’s musical suggestion: from the USA
Atomic by Blondie

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