Japan Goes Whaling – level 3

11-07-2019 07:00

The International Whaling Commission, or IWC, stopped commercial whaling back in 1986 after the practice drove many whale species to the brink of extinction.

Whales could still be killed but only if the killing served a scientific purpose, although critics said that the program was a cover for illegal poaching.

Last year, Japan said that it was pulling out of the IWC, and it officially resumed commercial whaling last Monday when five small whaling ships set sail. They are hunting for three whale species, two of which are listed as endangered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Japan says that whaling is part of its culture dating back to the 12th century, and the Japanese Fisheries Agency set a number of 227 whales per year to prevent overfishing.

Difficult words: species (an animal kind), brink of extinction (the point when almost all of the species is dead), poach (illegally catch an animal).

You can watch the video news lower on this page.

What do you think about this news?

LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS

News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
below.

How to improve your English with News in Levels: 

Test

  1. Do the test at Test Languages.
  2. Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.

Reading

  1. Read two news articles every day.
  2. Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.

Listening

  1. Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
  2. Listen to the news from today without reading the text.

Writing

  1. Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.

Speaking

  1. Choose one person from the Skype section.
  2. Talk with this person. You can answer questions from Speak in Levels.

 

Stock images by Depositphotos