B2 – Upper Intermediate
In the peaceful scenery of Japan, every year, the blossoming of cherry trees marks the start of spring, enchanting many with their short-lived beauty. Yet, there is a serious danger lurking beneath their fragile petals: the possibility that these famous trees may vanish by the end of the century. With climate change on the rise, causing changes in ecosystems and upsetting delicate harmony, the future of Japanese cherry blossoms, also called “sakura,” is uncertain.
Watch the video to learn more and be able to answer the questions that follow.
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does the word “boon“, mean? “While it may be a boon for snap-happy tourists, the early spring foreshadows a darker reality.” Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ‘boon’ in your own sentence.
- What does the word “snap-happy” mean? “While it may be a boon for snap-happy tourists, the early spring foreshadows a darker reality.” Use this word in your own sentence.
- What does the word “foreshadow” mean? “While it may be a boon for snap-happy tourists, the early spring foreshadows a darker reality.” Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ‘foreshadow’ in your own sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- How do you feel about the potential disappearance of Japanese cherry blossoms by 2100? What impact do you think it would have on Japanese culture and identity?
- What do you believe are the main factors contributing to the decline of Japanese cherry blossoms, and how do you think this issue should be addressed?
- In your opinion, what role should governments, communities, and individuals play in preserving iconic natural landmarks like Japanese cherry blossoms?
- How might the loss of cherry blossoms impact tourism and the economy in Japan and other regions where they are cherished?
4 replies on “Japanese Cherry Blossoms May Disappear”
I would love to have a four-day workweek, I think two days (weekend) are not enough to rest and invest time in our personal life so three days off would be the perfect number of working days a week.
With a four-day workweek the employee would have more energy to do their job and would be more focused on their activities, therefore the productivity could increase. Also, with an extra day off the employees will have more time to take care of their health, doing more exercises , visiting doctors, so the absenteeism could drop. On the other hand if it doesn’t happen the employers could increase the number of hours to work in a day – 9 hours instead of 8 for example – or the four-day workweek might not be adopted.
I think t’s possible to be adopted in the country where I live. There’re some companies who are already testing the four-day workweek and there’re some positive preliminary results.
Good work sharing your thoughts on the four-day workweek.
See how this sentence can be revised with correct contractions:
* it’s
* “There are” cannot be contracted.
Keep being consistent with your practice.
1. It’s very sad to think the cherry blossoms could disappear. Besides their beauty, they’re very important to the Japanese culture so their disappearance could be a huge loss for their traditions. It also could have impact in the Japanese economy since the tourism could decrease. On the other hand, if the government and communities start to take actions to reverse climate change and plant different types of cherry blossoms that are more resistant to hot climates, the Japanese culture might maintain one of their main symbols.
2. I believe the climate change is one of the main factors to the decline of cherry blossoms as they are blooming ahead of schedule and if the winter temperature keep rising the cherry blossoms could not wake up. We all know the climate change is already impacting many places around the globe and few actions are been implemented. I think every single person should take actions, however even the simple things like recycling are not being done.
3. The governments should create laws to restrict activities that causes imbalance of ecosystems, as well as monitoring whether the laws are being complied with. They should also propose more ambitious goals to reverse climate change and fulfil these goals. Communities should also get more involved, both by better informing citizens about the causes and impacts of global warming and by explaining how each individual can contribute in their daily lives: such as the circular economy, the use of green energy, etc. Also, I think that large companies have a fundamental role to play in reversing climate change, since they are major polluters and consumers of non-renewable energy.
4. There’re many tourists who visit Japan during spring to see the cherry blossoms, if they start to disappear Japan could loose these tourists and less money would entry the country due to the decrease of the this type of tourism.
Welcome to the PE blog. Enjoy your writing practice while improving your skills!
Here is a sentence you can revise using better words:
To more entries from you, cheers!