B2 – Upper Intermediate
Spain has been suffering from wildfires, ones that are more intense and more destructive by the year. In 2025 alone, more than 400,000 hectares have burned from the beginning of the year up to August.
Pablo Schapira along with his organization Rewilding Spain, a group fighting against wildfires in central Spain, have reintroduced herds of special species of cows called tauros into the forests in Central Spain with hopes it could help in preventing wildfires.
Listen to the audio and read the transcript on how tauros can help prevent wildfires.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2025/ep-250501
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “unchecked” mean? “One of the reasons for this is that the forests have been left to grow unchecked as there simply aren’t enough animals to feed on all the trees, bushes and grass.” Use the word in a sentence and give a synonym or similar expression.
- What does “to have a picture in one’s head” mean? “Well, now I have a picture in my head of a cow wearing a fireman’s helmet, but I guess that’s not what you mean, Neil.” Use the idiom in a sentence and give a synonym or similar expression.
- What does “to spread out of control” mean? “Wildfires are unplanned fires, in areas like forests or grasslands, which spread out of control.” Use the phrase in a sentence and give a synonym or similar expression.
Discussion Questions:
- Explain how the tauros can help with solving the problem with wildfires in Spain.
- What do you think about this way of preventing wildfires?
- Share your insight on this, “According to the Natural History Museum of Utah, four out of every five wildfires are man-made.”
- Share your thoughts on this, “Thanks to increasing temperatures caused by climate change, the wildfires happening today are more intense and more destructive than ever before.”
- What do you think about your government or country’s capability in managing the problem with wildfires?