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TOEFL 3
Energy Conservation
O Listening Activity
Read the following transcript to the students. Remind them to take careful notes as they will need them to compose their written response.
“Spring forward, fall back” is engrained in our mind like that simple spelling rule that we learned in elementary school: i before e, except after c. Daylight Savings time is defined as a change in the standard time of each time zone. In 1883, railroads began standardizing their schedules which in turn led to the establishment of set regional time zones. Daylight time was first enacted in Germany in 1915. Later, Britain, much of Europe and Canada quickly followed suit. It was a simple concept which capitalized on the idea that the sun shone for part of the time when people were asleep; so, why not set the clocks ahead in the spring in order for people to take advantage of that sunlight? When the days started to get shorter in the fall, clocks could be set back in order to get more light in the morning.
Although first adopted in 1915, the notion of daylight savings time had been debated for more than a century. Benjamin Franklin first proposed the idea in the 1770s while he was Minister to France. The initial reaction was less than enthusiastic as most thought Benjamin’s proposal was ludicrous to say the least. During the First World War, parts of Europe, Canada and the United States adopted daylight savings but because the law proved to be so unpopular, it ended with the armistice. With the Second World War, the law was reinstated as a means to save much needed energy for the war effort. From 1945 to the early part of 1966, there was no official United States policy regarding Daylight Savings Time and thus states were free to observe it or not. As you can imagine, the result was chaotic especially for the broadcasting industry and those responsible for transportation scheduling. In 1966, the American Congress passed The Uniform Time Act which established daylight time throughout most of the United States. With the exception of a few jurisdictions, most U.S. states and Canadian provinces move their clocks ahead by one hour on the first Sunday of April and move them back on the last Sunday of October. It is interesting to note that China, Japan, India and much of Africa do not observe daylight savings time. In Australia, daylight savings time follows a slightly different pattern because their seasons are opposite to those of the Northern Hemisphere. Subsequently, when daylight savings time commences in Canada, it terminates in Australia.
With the soaring cost of fuel as a result of increased usage, political instability and environmental disasters, there has been a renewed interest in extending daylight savings time. As I stated previously, daylight savings time promotes national energy conservation. On average, a quarter of all the electricity we use is spent on lighting and running small appliances such as TVs, computers and home stereos. It goes without saying that extending the daylight hours into the evening helps cut this energy consumption because families spend more time outdoors and turn on the lights a little later in the evening. Studies done in 1970 by the US Department of Transportation reported that electricity usage is reduced by one percent each day during daylight savings time.
On August 8, 2005, The U.S. Congress passed The Energy Policy Act which will extend daylight savings time by four weeks. Beginning in March 2007, clocks will be set ahead 3 weeks earlier and daylight savings time will be extended by one week until the first Sunday in November. Although on the surface this may look like a no-brainer in terms of energy savings, the policy is not without its detractors. The airline industry is up in arms over the potential scheduling conflicts with international connections. Moreover, some religious observances and calendars are based on sunrise and sunset times. Several Jewish groups in the United States expressed that extending daylight savings time would impede observant Jews’ ability to pray at sunrise and still make it to work by 9 a.m. Many parent groups point to potential safety issues due to the increased danger of children travelling to school in the dark.
$ Reading Activity
1. b 2. c 3.c 4. a 5. synonym: escalating, rising antonym: falling, dropping 6. Answers will vary. 7. Answers will vary.