12 Advanced Rise to the Challenge Reading 2: My Roof is Alive

​Reading 2: My Roof is Alive

Reading & Writing

Page:​ 50-55

• to review vocabulary

• to practice reading for detail​

​Objectives:

​

Match

Do you recall?

• dwellers

• prompt

• thriving

• emissions

• optimal

inhabitants

encourage

successful

things sent out into the air

the best

• inhabitants

• encourage

• successful

• things sent out into the air

• the best

​My Roof is Alive

​A. Dense concrete jungles, crowned by tar and asphalt rooftops, cause a number of complex problems. They raise temperatures in urban areas and cause stormwater run-off that can overflow sewage systems and rivers. Living roofs offer simple solutions to these problems. A living, or green, roof refers to a rooftop covered by water-absorbing plants like grasses and succulents, which greatly reduce the temperature above and around the building and lead to lower energy costs and significantly less stormwater run-off.

Multiple Choice

Dense, concrete jungles refer to ...

• cities

• rainforests

• countryside

​My Roof is Alive

​BB. The tradition of growing plants on rooftops can be traced back to prehistoric Scandinavia where sod, or dirt, roofs provided greater insulation and reinforced the structural integrity of humble dwellings. Homes in Norway can still be found where grass, plants, and even full-size evergreens spring from the roofs, though the term “sod roof” is a misnomer. The roofs are covered with a layer of birch wood that provides the waterproofing for the home below.

Multiple Choice

Sod roofs are roofs covered with ....

• grass and plants

• concrete

• sea shells

• leaves

​My Roof is Alive

​C. InIn the 1970s, Germany developed the technology to create lightweight, low-maintenance living rooftops over urban dwellings. The city of Chicago, which covered 20,000 square feet above its City Hall with vegetation in 2001, led the new movement in North America. Officials saw immediate benefits to their action when a 50 degree difference was recorded between the green roof and a nearby black tar roof. In the ensuing years, the city estimates that it has saved around $3,600 in annual cooling and heating costs. Officials believe that if all Chicago rooftops went green, the reduction in energy demand would be equivalent to reducing demand by 750,000 consumers and the load on the city’s sewer system would be slashed by almost 70 percent.

Open Ended

What were the benefits of installing green roofs?

​My Roof is Alive

​

D. The trend to install living roofs has spread across American cities. The new Washington D.C. baseball stadium has one. The Target Center Arena in Minneapolis has one. The new Visitors’ Center at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden calls theirs “a rooftop meadow.” Many private and public initiatives help families install their own living roofs, not just for the reduced energy costs and conservation of stormwater but also for the creation of new natural wildlife habitats and increased agricultural space. In addition, living roofs filter pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air and pollutants and heavy metals out of rainwater.

Reorder

Reorder the following:

• Living roofs

• filter pollutants

• and carbon dioxide

• out of the air and heavy metals

• out of rainwater.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

​My Roof is Alive

​

E The drawbacks of green roofs have to do with the expense of installing the technology on existing structures. Though lightweight, they consist of many layers above the original roof, including insulation, drainage, a root barrier, as well as a water seal, a growing system, and then the plant life itself. The added weight may require additional structural support. But if you can afford to install a living roof, the advantages seem to far outweigh the drawbacks.

Open Ended

Would you like to have a living roof installed on your house? Why? Why not?

Match

Match the words to create collocations:

• concrete

• complex

• sewage

• simple

• energy

jungle

problem

system

solutions

costs

• jungle

• problem

• system

• solutions

• costs

Match

Match the words to create collocations:

• humble

• wildlife

• immediate

• filter

dwellings

habitats

benefits

pollutants

• dwellings

• habitats

• benefits

• pollutants

Open Ended

Every day after work Paul took his muddy boots off on the steps of the front porch.  Alice would have a fit if the boots made it so far as the welcome mat.  He then took off his dusty overalls and threw them into a plastic garbage bag; Alice left a new garbage bag tied to the porch railing for him every morning.  On his way in the house, he dropped the garbage bag off at the washing machine and went straight up the stairs to the shower as he was instructed.  He would eat dinner with her after he was “presentable,” as Alice had often said. 

Question:

1. 1. What type of job does Paul do?

2. Evidence from the text:

2.  Describe Alice.
Evidence from the text:

3.What relationship do Paul and Alice have?
Evidence from the text: