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VISUAL MATERIALS FOR THE SPEAKING TEST Part 1 Reading Task 1 UN Discusses Loss and Damage in Climate Talks The United Nations climate change meeting known as COP27 began Sunday in the vacation town of.
VISUAL MATERIALS FOR THE SPEAKING TEST Part 1: Reading: Task 1: UN Discusses Loss and Damage in Climate Talks The United Nations climate change meeting known as COP27 began Sunday in the vacation town of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt The meeting is the 27th held since the first U.N climate agreement (hiệp định) in 1992 This year, delegates (các đại biểu) from nearly 200 countries started the meeting by discussing aid for poor nations suffering damage from weather events linked to changing climates For more than 10 years, wealthy nations have rejected official discussions of what is called loss and damage The U.N uses the term to describe damage from weather events blamed on warming temperatures caused by human activity The term also is used in the insurance (bảo hiểm) industry to describe things that are or are not covered by insurance policies United Nations officials said they are looking for “something meaningful in loss and damage.” They added they were hopeful that the issue would be discussed in the meetings Financial aid Money for loss and damage would be in addition to two other financial aid systems already proposed (đề xuất) to help poor nations Those systems aim to reduce (giảm) the amount of heat-trapping (giữ nhiệt) gasses poor nations produce Since 2009, the rich nations of the world have promised to spend about $100 billion in climate aid for poor nations Most of that money is meant to limit the expansion (sự mở rộng) of the coal, oil, and natural gas industries and replace them with what are called “green” energy systems Officials now want as much as half of the promised aid to go to dealing with future weather disasters (thảm họa) blamed on changes in the many climates that exist (tồn tại) around the world 11/13/2022 Neither form of financial support has been carried out yet But both are separate from the idea of paying for current and past weather disasters (thảm họa), such as high temperatures in India, floods in Pakistan, and droughts (hạn hán) in Africa Also, U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, some European leaders, and U.S President Joe Biden have called for a tax on oil companies The leaders want the energy companies to pay a windfall profits tax (thuế lợi nhuận) on gains earned while oil prices are high Leaders in many countries say they want some of that money in addition to aid from rich nations They say the leading industrial nations created much of the heat-trapping (giữ nhiệt) gases that are blamed for changing climates around the world Losses and damages Adelle Thomas of the Bahamas is a scientist with Climate Analytics, a non-profit group based in Berlin Thomas said, “Our current levels of global warming at 1.1 degrees Celsius have already caused dangerous and widespread (phổ biến) losses and damages to nature and to billions of people.” She added, “Losses and damages are unavoidable (không thể tránh khỏi) and unequally (không đồng đều) distributed” among poor nations, the old, poor and weak U.S and European officials say they are willing to have loss and damage discussions after not wanting to for years But the top U.S climate diplomat (nhà ngoại giao), John Kerry, said the U.S will not agree to anything that sounds like liability (trách nhiệm pháp lý) Reparations (Bồi thường) Justin Mankin of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire said, “Loss and damage is a way of both recognizing (nhận ra) past harm and compensating (bù đắp) for that past harm.” He added that, “These harms are scientifically (một cách khoa học) identifiable (có thể xác định)…” He said it is now up to “the politics” to either defend (bảo vệ) that harm or pay for it “In many ways we’re talking about reparations (bồi thường),” said University of Maryland environmental health and justice (công lý) professor Sacoby Wilson He said it is the right term to use because the rich northern countries gained from the use of 11/13/2022 fuels Poor southern nations got the damage in floods, droughts (hạn hán), refugees (những người tị nạn) and hunger (nạn đói) The government of the island of Barbados has suggested changes in how development banks loan (viện trợ) money to poor nations It wants banks to consider the risk of damage from climate change and disasters Pakistan and other nations have called for debt (nợ) to be cancelled Climate diplomat (nhà ngoại giao) Avinash Persaud of Barbados suggests an unusual long-term tax on oil, coal, and natural gas sales At current high energy prices, he proposes (đề xuất) that there should be no tax He said this would prevent inflation (lạm phát) But once fuel prices fall by 10 percent, one percent of the price drop (rơi) would go to countries facing loss and damage from disasters blamed on climate change Climate change talks U.N Climate Secretary Simon Stiell told reporters Sunday that discussing loss and damage at the meetings shows progress He said, “This is a difficult subject area It’s been floating (nổi) for thirty plus years.” He added what will be most telling is how discussions progress (tiến triển) over the next two weeks The U.N climate conference (hội nghị) on Egypt’s Red Sea coast will last until November 18 Task 2: Facebook Parent Company Meta Cuts 11,000 Jobs Meta, the company that owns the social media service Facebook, announced Wednesday that it will cut 11,000 jobs Company chief Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 In a letter to employees, he took responsibility for misjudging (đánh giá sai) how the economy would change after COVID-19 restrictions ended “This did not play out the way I expected,” Zuckerberg wrote 11/13/2022 He pointed to (chỉ ra) a loss of advertising (quảng cáo) and said people used their computers and mobile phones less often after the pandemic (đại dịch) ended He said he made the choice to hire (thuê) more people because he expected the company’s profits to grow “I got this wrong,” he wrote The price of Meta stock shares has gone down by over 70 percent in 2022 At the same time, Zuckerberg directed the company to invest $10 billion each year to create “the metaverse.” Zuckerberg believes a digital universe will soon replace smart phones as the main way people use technology In the summer, Zuckerberg’s company reported its first-ever revenue (doanh thu) drop It reported another drop in the autumn A worldwide economic slowdown (suy thoái) and a bad expectation for advertising hurt Meta and other social media companies For example, Twitter cut 7,500 jobs last week as businessman (doanh nhân) Elon Musk took over the social media service In addition, some social media companies are having trouble getting the same amount of information from their users Last year, Apple made changes to the way its iPhones report user activity The changes make it harder for social media companies such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to send targeted (nhắm mục tiêu) advertisements to phone owners In addition to the job cuts, Meta said it will not hire new employees at least until the spring of 2023 Zuckerberg said the company made changes to cut costs, but it was not enough He called the choice to cut jobs a “hard decision.” Meta employees will soon find out if they have a job by email If their job is cut, they will be able to use their company email to say goodbye to co-workers They will receive at least 16 weeks of pay if they lose their jobs The company’s stock market price rose about six percent after the news was released 11/13/2022 TRANSLATION Công ty mẹ Facebook Meta cắt giảm 11.000 việc làm Meta, công ty sở hữu dịch vụ truyền thông xã hội Facebook, thông báo hôm thứ Tư họ cắt giảm 11.000 việc làm Giám đốc công ty Mark Zuckerberg thành lập Facebook vào năm 2004 Trong thư gửi cho nhân viên, nhận trách nhiệm việc đánh giá sai kinh tế thay đổi sau hạn chế COVID-19 kết thúc “Điều không diễn theo cách mong đợi,” Zuckerberg viết Ông thất bại quảng cáo cho biết người sử dụng máy tính điện thoại di động sau đại dịch kết thúc Anh cho biết anh lựa chọn thuê thêm người anh mong đợi lợi nhuận công ty tăng lên "Tôi sai điều này," anh viết Giá cổ phiếu Meta giảm 70% vào năm 2022 Đồng thời, Zuckerberg đạo công ty đầu tư 10 tỷ USD năm để tạo “siêu thị” Zuckerberg tin vũ trụ kỹ thuật số sớm thay điện thoại thông minh cách người sử dụng cơng nghệ Vào mùa hè, cơng ty Zuckerberg báo cáo sụt giảm doanh thu lần Nó báo cáo sụt giảm khác vào mùa thu Sự suy thối kinh tế tồn giới kỳ vọng không tốt quảng cáo làm tổn hại đến Meta công ty truyền thơng xã hội khác Ví dụ, Twitter cắt giảm 7.500 việc làm vào tuần trước doanh nhân Elon Musk tiếp quản dịch vụ truyền thông xã hội Ngồi ra, số cơng ty truyền thơng xã hội gặp khó khăn lấy lượng thơng tin từ người dùng họ Năm ngoái, Apple thực thay đổi cách iPhone họ báo cáo hoạt động người dùng Những thay đổi khiến công ty truyền thông xã hội Facebook, Instagram Snapchat khó gửi quảng cáo nhắm mục tiêu đến chủ sở hữu điện thoại Ngoài việc cắt giảm việc làm, Meta cho biết họ khơng th nhân viên mùa xuân năm 2023 11/13/2022 Zuckerberg cho biết công ty thực thay đổi để cắt giảm chi phí, chưa đủ Ơng gọi lựa chọn cắt giảm việc làm “quyết định khó khăn” Các nhân viên Meta sớm biết họ có việc làm qua email hay không Nếu công việc họ bị cắt giảm, họ sử dụng email cơng ty để nói lời tạm biệt với đồng nghiệp Họ nhận 16 tuần lương bị việc làm Thị giá cổ phiếu công ty tăng khoảng sáu phần trăm sau tin tức công bố Part 2: Interview 'Neighbors' topic How well you know your next-door neighbours? I know my neighbours quite well They're really nice people, and I always stop to talk whenever I see them I think it's important to get on well with (hòa thuận với) the people who live next door How often you see them? I see my neighbours at least a few times a week We usually see each other when we're leaving for work in the morning or coming home in the evening What problems people sometimes have with their neighbours? I think the most common problem is probably noise It's difficult to live next to people who have a dog that barks (sủa) at night, or who play loud music or have too many parties ‘Houses and apartments’ Topics Do you live in a house or an apartment? I live in a semi-detached (nhà liền kề) house with three bedrooms in a suburb (ngoại ô) of Manchester I've lived there for just over a year Which is your favourite room in your home? Why? 11/13/2022 I don't really have a favourite room But if I had to choose, I'd say the living room because that's where I go to sit and relax Would you change anything about your home? Why / why not? Yes, I've been meaning to (có ý định) redecorate it since I moved in last year It needs a new kitchen, so that's what I'd change first Would you like to move to a different home in the future? Yes, I'd definitely move again at some point if I could afford to I'd like to live in the countryside, or maybe in a different city or country Part 3: Solo speech: Describing things and objects Describe something you bought recently Describe a gift you gave or received Describe something you own which is important to you Choose something easy, like a mobile phone: Ideas: I'm going to describe my mobile phone I bought it online / in a mobile phone shop / it was a present from I use the phone to keep in touch with friends and family, for communication by voice, text and email It has various features (tính năng) like video, MP3 player, wireless (khơng dây) Internet, digital camera and games It's easy to share photos and music I use it for almost everything, it even has a calendar that reminds me about appointments 11/13/2022 My phone is an essential part of my life It holds my contacts, my photos, my music collection I've got instant access to my favourite websites It's like having my whole life in my pocket I couldn't live without it Describing a person Describe a person you admire You should say: who the person is what he or she is like and why you admire him or her Ideas: I'm going to talk about my father because he has been a major influence (ảnh hưởng lớn) in my life My father was always a good role model (một hình mẫu tốt) for me as I was growing up He's hard-working, patient and understanding; he's also got a good sense of (ý nghĩa của) humour (hài hước) and seems to get on well with everybody Hopefully I've inherited some of these traits (đặc điểm) I admire my father because I think he brought me and my brothers/sisters up well (tốt lên); he was quite strict (nghiêm khắc) but always fair, and he has always been someone I can turn to for advice I think my father set a good example by working hard and having a positive outlook (quan điểm) on life I remember that he used to leave for work early and come home quite late, but he always made time for (dành thời gian cho) me and my brothers/sisters Part 4: Discussion Talking about the internet How you think the Internet will affect our lives in the future? Personal perspective: I think the Internet will have a huge impact on (tác động vào) our lives More and more people are using social websites to keep in touch with friends I think the Internet will probably replace TV because most channels are already available online 11/13/2022 Economic perspective: Also, I think we'll more online shopping Web-based (dựa web) companies like Amazon are already really successful In the future, there will probably be more companies that only sell via (thông qua) the Internet, and I expect we'll spend more money online than in traditional shops Educational perspective: Schools and universities might also use the Internet to provide courses, so online learning will probably become a normal part of life 11/13/2022