Unit 1: Current Affairs and Issues

Current affairs are the things happening in the world now that people are talking and worrying about — new technology, climate change, health, politics. This unit gives you two pieces of real, recent writing about two such issues. The first is a magazine feature about driverless cars. The second is an open letter in which a children's charity asks the Secretary-General of the United Nations to let young people have a say about climate change. Along the way you learn to report what other people say (reported speech: statements), to write a newspaper article and to write a formal letter to a local official.

1.1 How Driverless Cars Will Change Our World

About the text

"How Driverless Cars Will Change Our World" is a feature article by the journalist Jenny Cusack. It was published by the BBC Future website on 30 November 2021 as part of its Change Agents series, which looks at inventions that could make the planet "a better, healthier place to live". The textbook uses an adapted extract. The article is expository writing: it explains a subject, quotes experts, and gives facts and dates rather than telling a story.

What the text says

The article opens with a scene on a late night in Phoenix, Arizona. A car glides up to the kerb with nobody in the driver's seat. An arrival message pings on the waiting passenger's phone. The passenger gets in and a recorded voice says that the car is theirs, "with no one upfront". This is a Waymo One robotaxi, called with a phone app ten minutes earlier. The writer uses this scene to show that driverless technology is no longer science fiction.

Next she lists the promises of the technology. It could change commuting and long journeys, take people out of dangerous jobs, make industry more efficient and help build cleaner cities with less carbon dioxide. Above all it could make roads safer: the World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.3 million people die every year in road crashes. Camilla Fowler, head of automated transport at the UK's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), says that automation could eventually give "safer roads and less fatalities".

But there are big hurdles. David Hynd, TRL's chief scientist for safety, points out that a driverless car should be "calm and serene", while human drivers around it may speed or break the rules, so the car must cope with them. There are also questions of law and regulation, the highway code, public trust, road design and, above all, liability — who pays when a driverless car has an accident? Richard Jinks of the software company Oxbotica says that insurers are working out how to deal with the change "from a person being responsible… to the vehicle doing that".

The article then looks ahead. The biggest task for the next two years is to make cars work safely in complicated, unpredictable human surroundings. At the Mcity Test Facility of the University of Michigan — the first purpose-built testing ground for self-driving vehicles, a small "town" with 16 acres of roads, signals, underpasses and building fronts — engineers test situations that would challenge even skilled drivers, such as children playing in the road or two cars merging at once. Researchers there also ask how cars can talk to each other while keeping data safe from hackers. Companies such as Waymo (USA) and AutoX (China, backed by Alibaba) are already running or planning robotaxi services; most existing driverless machines work in controlled places such as mines, warehouses and ports. Rio Tinto's mine in Western Australia runs the world's largest autonomous truck fleet, controlled from Perth. In the next five years, the writer says, most of this technology will stay "behind the scenes" — for example lorries travelling in close platoons on motorways to save fuel and reduce congestion.

Key facts at a glance

Question	Answer from the text
Where does the opening scene happen?	Phoenix, Arizona, USA
What is a Waymo One?	A driverless robotaxi booked through a phone app
How many people die yearly in road crashes (WHO)?	More than 1.3 million
Who speaks for safety benefits?	Camilla Fowler, TRL
Who warns about human drivers?	David Hynd, TRL
Who raises the insurance question?	Richard Jinks, Oxbotica
What is Mcity?	A test town at the University of Michigan, 16 acres
Where are driverless technologies already common?	Mines, warehouses, ports

Vocabulary

The textbook asks you to pick the meaning each word has in this text, because each has a second meaning elsewhere.

Word	Meaning in the text	Other meaning	Example
glare	an intense, blinding light	an angry stare	The glare of the street lamps lit the road.
curb (kerb)	the stone edge of a pavement	to control or limit (verb)	The car stopped at the curb.
hail	to call someone to attract attention (a taxi)	frozen rain	She hailed a taxi at the corner.
commute	to travel regularly between home and work	to reduce a punishment	He commutes to Kathmandu by bus.
serene	calm and peaceful	—	The lake was serene at dawn.
liability	legal responsibility for something	a disadvantage	Who has the liability for the damage?
deploy	to use something effectively; to put into action	to move soldiers into position	The company will deploy 500 robotaxis.
autonomous	able to drive or act by itself	self-governing (a region)	Autonomous cars use sensors and software.
perception	understanding of the true nature of something	public opinion or impression	Public perception of robots is changing.

Useful extra words from the text: platoon (a group of vehicles driving closely together), fatalities (deaths), infrastructure (roads, bridges and services a place needs), regulation (official rules), iterative (done in repeated steps, improving each time).

Themes and ideas

• Technology is advancing fast but not finished. The article balances promise (safety, clean cities) with problems (rule-breaking humans, law, trust).
• Responsibility. A car cannot be punished; somebody must be liable. This is a moral and legal question as much as an engineering one.
• Safety first, step by step. Companies roll out slowly because "safety takes time" (the Waymo executive's words). Experts prefer starting in controlled places and then scaling up.
• Teamwork across subjects. Mcity brings in psychologists and human–machine-interaction experts as well as engineers.

Questions and model answers

Objective questions (1 mark each)

1. Driverless technology is being used most widely at present in [1]athe UKbthe USActhe UAEdNepal
2. One effect of driverless cars on the environment is that they [1]areduce carbon emissionsbcreate more noisecuse more fueldneed more roads
3. According to David Hynd, a driverless car must be able to cope with [1]aheavy rainbhuman drivers who break rulesclong journeysdlow fuel
4. "Liability" in the text means [1]aspeedblegal responsibilitycsafetydcost
5. Mcity is a [1]arobotaxi companybtest town for autonomous vehiclescmine in Australiadinsurance firm
6. The article says the technology developed so far is [1]afully trustworthybuselesscpartly trustworthydbanned everywhere

Answers

1. (b) — the text says it is "slowly expanding across the US".

2. (a) — the article lists "lowering carbon emissions".

3. (b) — Hynd: it "has got to be able to cope with human drivers speeding… or breaking the rules".

4. (b) — responsibility for accidents.

5. (b) — the University of Michigan's testing ground.

6. (c) — much still has to be done before it becomes mainstream.

Short-answer questions (2 marks each)

1. Mention any three features of the driverless car described in the text. [2]
2. What, according to Camilla Fowler, is the special advantage of automated vehicles? [2]
3. What problem does David Hynd see with driverless vehicles? [2]
4. What are scientists doing to make driverless technology safer? [2]

Model answers

1. The driverless car has active sensors that hum quietly and "see" the road; it needs no driver; and it has a voice system that greets the passenger. (It also helps lower carbon emissions.)

2. According to Camilla Fowler, automation could give us safer roads and fewer deaths, because most crashes are caused by human error.

3. David Hynd says a driverless car should be calm and serene, but other drivers may speed or break the rules. The car must learn to cope with such unpredictable human drivers.

4. Scientists test the vehicles in a purpose-built "town" called Mcity at the University of Michigan. There they try difficult situations, such as children playing in the street, and study how cars can share data safely.

Long-answer questions (4 marks each)

1. Describe the benefits of driverless technology. [4]
2. Do you think driverless technology is safer than human-controlled driving? Give reasons. [4]

Model answers

1. Driverless technology promises several benefits. First, it could make travel safer: more than 1.3 million people die on the world's roads each year, and a machine does not get tired, drunk or distracted. Second, it could change commuting and long journeys, because passengers could rest or work while the car drives. Third, it can take people out of risky work, for example in mines, nuclear plants or military settings. Fourth, it can lower carbon emissions and help build cleaner, more sustainable cities where we depend less on private cars. Finally, it makes industry more efficient: lorries in platoons save fuel and reduce traffic jams.

2. I think driverless cars could become safer than human drivers, but they are not safer yet. Machines react quickly, never sleep and never drive angrily, so they could prevent many human-error crashes. However, the technology is only "partly trustworthy" today. A car must cope with human drivers who speed or break rules, with bad weather and with situations nobody has planned for. There are also open questions about who is liable after an accident and how to protect cars from hackers. So I believe driverless cars will become safe only after long testing, as experts like Camilla Fowler suggest.

Think and discuss. Name three other areas where artificial intelligence (AI) is used and one benefit in each. Sample: healthcare (AI helps doctors spot disease early in scans); banking (AI detects card fraud in seconds); education (AI tutors give each student practice at their own level).

1.2 Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

About the text

This is an open letter — a letter addressed to one person but published so that the public can read it. It was written on 7 August 2020 by the children's charity Save the Children (with other child-rights groups) to António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The subject line tells you the issue: "Inclusion of children in the Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change". The letter is a model of formal, persuasive writing, so it is also a template for your own letters in the exam.

What the text says

Paragraph 1 congratulates the Secretary-General. He had just named seven young climate leaders, aged 18 to 28, to a Youth Advisory Group that would advise him regularly on speeding up action against the climate crisis. The writers welcome the idea of bringing young people into decision-making and of getting "frank and fearless advice".

Paragraph 2 states the disappointment: the group does not include children "in all their diversity". The writers remind him that millions of children joined school strikes for climate action in 2019 and early 2020, showing "outrage and constructive solutions in equal measure". Children have acted as agents of change using schools, social media and street protest to spread global activism. Young people from the global North and South have spoken to political and business leaders, most recently at the UN Human Rights Council, claiming their right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Paragraph 3 gives evidence from children's own voices. The letter quotes the young activist Greta Thunberg (2019): "We proved that it does not matter what you do and that no one is too small to make a difference." In 2020, children say the same. Fabrizio, a 16-year-old from Peru, told the writers in an online conversation, "The future of children is at stake now, tomorrow will be too late." Children like him fear that the rush for economic recovery after the pandemic will push climate promises, such as "net-zero" emissions, aside, and they demand a green recovery.

The final paragraph repeats the request: please make the group inclusive of children and adolescents under 18, respecting their right to be heard and to contribute their expertise directly.

How the letter is built

Part	Purpose	Example in the letter
Heading (recipient, address, date, subject)	Tells the reader who, where, when, why	"Subject: Inclusion of children in the Youth Advisory Group"
Salutation	Formal greeting	"Your Excellency,"
Opening	Polite, positive start	Congratulations on the new group
Body	The problem, with evidence	School strikes, Greta Thunberg, Fabrizio
Request	The action wanted	Include children under 18
Close	Polite end	"Once again, Secretary-General, we congratulate you…"

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning	Sentence
tackle	to deal with a problem	Governments must tackle air pollution.
corporate	relating to a large company	The corporate office is in Dubai.
outrage	strong anger and shock	The decision caused public outrage.
catalyse	to cause or speed up change	Protests can catalyse action.
at stake	at risk of being lost	Our future is at stake.
net-zero	balancing greenhouse gases emitted with those removed	The country aims for net-zero by 2050.
expertise	special skill or knowledge	Her expertise in business helped the company.
scupper	to ruin or spoil (informal)	Heavy rain scuppered our picnic.

Themes

• Children as citizens. Young people are not only future adults; they have rights and ideas now.
• Climate justice. The letter speaks for children "from the global North to the global South".
• Participation. Being heard changes decisions; the writers ask for a seat at the table, not sympathy.
• Formal persuasion. Polite praise first, then a clear complaint, evidence and a precise request.

Questions and model answers

Objective questions (1 mark each)

1. The Youth Advisory Group was announced by [1]aGreta ThunbergbSave the ChildrencAntónio GuterresdFabrizio
2. The young climate leaders in the group were aged [1]a8 to 18b18 to 28c28 to 38d12 to 16
3. Fabrizio is from [1]aItalybPerucNepaldSweden
4. "At stake" means [1]aat riskbat schoolcat peacedat rest
5. True / False / Not Given: The letter was written in 2020. [1]
6. True / False / Not Given: The children demand free school meals. [1]

Answers

1. (c).

2. (b).

3. (b).

4. (a).

5. True — the date is 7 August 2020.

6. Not Given — nothing about school meals appears.

Short-answer questions (2 marks each)

1. Where is the office of the UN Secretary-General? [2]
2. Why was the Youth Advisory Group announced? [2]
3. What role have children played during the climate crisis? [2]
4. What is the final demand of the children? [2]

Model answers

1. The office is at the United Nations Secretariat, 42nd Street, New York, USA (NY 10017).

2. The group was announced so that young climate leaders could regularly advise the Secretary-General on speeding up global action and tackling the worsening climate crisis.

3. Children have become agents of change. Through school strikes, social media and street protests they have spread global activism and pressed political and business leaders to act.

4. Their final demand is that the Youth Advisory Group should include children and adolescents under 18, so that they can be heard and give their expertise directly.

Long-answer questions (4 marks each)

1. What is the purpose of the letter, and how do the writers try to persuade the Secretary-General? [4]
2. As a student, what can you do to control climate change and its effects? [4]

Model answers

1. The purpose is to ask the UN Secretary-General to include children under 18 in his Youth Advisory Group on climate change. The writers persuade him politely and carefully. First they congratulate him, so he reads on in a friendly mood. Then they state their disappointment clearly. They give evidence: millions of children joined school strikes, and children have spoken at the UN Human Rights Council. They quote Greta Thunberg and sixteen-year-old Fabrizio from Peru, whose words show how serious children feel the issue is. Finally they repeat their request in one clear sentence.

2. As a student I can do much even though I cannot sign treaties. At school I can plant trees and join clean-up campaigns. At home I can save electricity and water, avoid plastic bags and walk or cycle for short journeys. I can explain climate change to friends and family, since awareness leads to action. I can also write to local leaders, as the children's letter does, asking them to protect forests and rivers. If every student does a little, the total effect will be large.

1.3 Grammar and writing tasks of the unit

Grammar: Reported speech — statements

Direct speech gives the speaker's exact words in quotation marks. Reported (indirect) speech tells what was said, without the quotation marks, from the reporter's point of view.

Direct: Khushi said, "I go to school every day by bus." Reported: Khushi said that she went to school every day by bus.

Step by step

1. Remove the quotation marks and put that (it may be left out) after the reporting verb.
2. Change the pronouns to fit the reporter's view (I → she/he, we → they, you → me/him/them).
3. If the reporting verb is in the past (said, told), shift the tense one step back.
4. Change time and place words if the time or place of reporting is different.
5. Use said to + person → told + person.

Backshift of tenses

Direct speech	Reported speech
Simple present: "I go."	Simple past: he went
Present continuous: "I am going."	Past continuous: he was going
Present perfect: "I have gone."	Past perfect: he had gone
Simple past: "I went."	Past perfect (or stays simple past): he had gone
Will: "I will go."	Would: he would go
Can: "I can go."	Could: he could go
May: "I may go."	Might: he might go
Must / should / would / could / might	Usually do not change

Changes in time and place words

Direct	Reported
now	then / at that time
today	that day
tonight	that night
yesterday	the day before / the previous day
tomorrow	the next day / the following day
last week	the week before
next week	the following week
ago	before
this / these	that / those
here	there

When the tense does not change

• The reporting verb is in the present or future (says, will say): Susan says, "I will leave next week." → Susan says that she will leave the following week.
• The statement is a universal truth or habit that is still true: The teacher said, "The earth revolves round the sun." → The teacher said that the earth revolves round the sun.
• The verb is already would, could, should, might, must, ought to.
• The statement is about something that is still true when reported: My father said that the sun is very hot.

Reporting verbs

Said is only one choice. A good reporting verb shows the function of the sentence and often removes the need for that.

Function	Verb	Example
giving information	informed, told, announced	The agent informed us that the bus left at six.
saying sorry	apologised (for)	Karma apologised for coming late.
promising	promised (to)	Prakriti promised to return my money by Saturday.
admitting	admitted	He admitted that he had broken the mirror.
advising	advised (+ person + to)	Pemba advised me to see a doctor.
warning	warned (+ person + not to)	The librarian warned me not to make a noise again.
offering	offered (to)	Raman offered to help me plant rice.
thanking	thanked (+ person + for)	Sonam thanked me for my help.
agreeing	agreed (to)	Anupam agreed to work hard.

Exercise A — Change into reported speech

1. Khushi said, "I go to school every day by bus."
2. Karma said to me, "I am sorry for coming late."
3. "The bus leaves at six," said the agent.
4. "I have already finished my project work," said she.
5. Smarika said, "I will meet you tomorrow, friends."
6. "I can't come to school tomorrow," Chandani said.
7. The teacher said, "Now you can solve the remaining problems yourselves."
8. Resham said, "I have never seen such a strange animal anywhere else."
9. "I love my children more than wealth," the father said.
10. The police said, "The incident probably took place yesterday."
11. They said to us, "We would like to join you too."
12. I said to him, "I live in Changunarayan these days."

Exercise B — Fill in with the best reporting verb

(advised, admitted, warned, offered, thanked, informed, apologised, promised, agreed)

1. "I broke the mirror." — He ____ that he had broken the mirror.
2. "I'd go and see a doctor if I were you," Pemba said to me. — Pemba ____ me to see a doctor.
3. "I will send you out if you make a noise again," said the librarian. — The librarian ____ me not to make a noise again.
4. "I can come and help you plant rice," said Raman. — Raman ____ to help me plant rice.
5. "The classes start from next week," said the assistant. — The assistant ____ us that the classes started from the following week.
6. Sonam said to me, "Thank you so much for your help." — Sonam ____ me for my help.
7. "OK, I will return your money by Saturday," said Prakriti. — Prakriti ____ to return my money by Saturday.
8. "I will really work hard and score good grades," said Anupam. — Anupam ____ to work hard and score good grades.
9. "I am sorry for coming late," said the speaker. — The speaker ____ for coming late.

Exercise C — Choose the correct alternative

1. Abhilasha said that she (witnessed / witnesses) the accident.
2. The teacher explained that the earth (revolves / revolved) round the sun.
3. Smarika says that she (can't / couldn't) stay here any more.
4. My brother reported that he (has completed / had completed) his homework.
5. Jenifer said that she (wanted / wants) to be a nurse.

Writing I: A newspaper article

A newspaper article gives information about an event or issue in a clear, factual style. It has a headline, a by-line (writer's name), an introduction that answers who/what/when/where/why, a body in short paragraphs and a conclusion. Use the present or past tense carefully, avoid I and use formal vocabulary.

Task. The use of AI is making life easier but also bringing new challenges. Write a newspaper article about the challenges brought by the advance of AI.

Writing II: A letter to the Mayor

Task. Write a letter to the Mayor of your municipality requesting him/her to involve representatives of children in decisions about children's issues.

Layout of a formal letter: sender's address and date at the top right; the receiver's title and address at the left; salutation (Dear Sir/Madam or Respected Sir/Madam); a subject line; the body in three or four paragraphs (reason for writing, details, request); a polite close (Yours faithfully / sincerely); signature and name.

Chapter summary

• How Driverless Cars Will Change Our World (Jenny Cusack, BBC Future, 2021) explains that driverless cars could make roads safer and cities cleaner, but must still learn to cope with human drivers and settle legal liability.
• Key names: Camilla Fowler and David Hynd (TRL), Richard Jinks (Oxbotica), Mcity (University of Michigan), Waymo One (Phoenix, USA).
• The Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (7 August 2020, Save the Children) asks that children under 18 be included in the UN Youth Advisory Group on climate change.
• The letter praises first, then complains, gives evidence (Greta Thunberg, Fabrizio of Peru) and ends with a clear request.
• Reported speech: remove quotation marks, change pronouns, step the tense back after a past reporting verb, change time and place words.
• Do not backshift when the reporting verb is in the present, or for universal truths.
• Function verbs (apologised, promised, advised, warned, offered, thanked, admitted, informed) make reports shorter and better.
• A newspaper article needs a headline, an introduction, short paragraphs and a conclusion; a formal letter needs a correct layout and a subject line.

Practice questions

Reading and vocabulary (1 mark each)

1. The WHO estimates that road crashes kill more than ____ people each year. [1]a13 thousandb130 thousandc1.3 milliond13 million
2. A Waymo One is a [1]adriverless taxibtest towncmine truckdinsurance plan
3. "Net-zero" in the letter refers to [1]azero marksbbalanced greenhouse gas emissionsczero populationdno rainfall
4. Who said, "No one is too small to make a difference"? [1]aFabriziobGreta ThunbergcAntonio GuterresdDavid Hynd

Answers

1. (c).

2. (a).

3. (b).

4. (b).

Short answer questions (2 marks each)

1. Why does David Hynd say driverless cars face a challenge from human drivers? [2]
2. What did Fabrizio say about children's future? [2]
3. Change into reported speech: "I will leave for Pokhara next week," said Sanjay. [2]
4. Change into reported speech: The teacher said to the class, "Water boils at 100 °C." [2]

Answers

1. Because humans may speed or break traffic rules, and a driverless car, which is built to be calm and rule-following, must still cope safely with them.

2. Fabrizio, a 16-year-old from Peru, said that the future of children is at stake now and that tomorrow would be too late.

3. Sanjay said that he would leave for Pokhara the following week.

4. The teacher told the class that water boils at 100 °C. (No backshift: a scientific fact.)

Long answer questions (4 marks each)

1. Write a newspaper article of about 120 words on "Road Safety in Nepal". [4]
2. Write a letter to the editor suggesting that students should learn about climate change in school. [4]

Answers

1. Model outline: headline (Road Safety: Everyone's Duty); introduction — accidents on Nepal's roads have risen; body — causes (speeding, poor roads, careless overtaking), results (deaths, injuries, cost), solutions (strict law enforcement, driver training, helmets and seat belts); conclusion — safety is a shared duty. Write in short paragraphs, factual tone.

2. Model outline: sender's address and date; the Editor, newspaper name; subject: "Teaching climate change in schools"; paragraph 1 — reason for writing; paragraph 2 — arguments (melting glaciers, floods and landslides in Nepal; students can change habits); paragraph 3 — request (a short climate lesson in every grade); polite close, signature.