29. Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets and perform the role play given below. Toxic Ships to Be Sent Home

The government yesterday (1) _______________ (to accept) legal evidence that a fleet of dilapidated and polluted US navy ships on their way to Hartlepool should (2) _______________ (to send) back to America.

In an apparent change of direction, the environment secretary, Margaret Beckett, yesterday said that the ships, which are part of the US navy’s “ghost fleet” of ancient reserve vessels, could not legally (3) _______________ (to dismantle) in Hartlepool as (4) _______________ (to plan), and that international and EU law “required” them (5) _______________ (to return).

“The Environment Agency (6) _______________ (to make) it clear that the shipments are inconsistent with international regulations,” she said. “The government agrees that the law requires the ships (7) _______________ (to return) to the United States.”

By last night two 50-year-old ships (8) _______________ (to reach) the Bay of Biscay and (9) _________________ (to be) only 24 hours from British waters. But it is unclear where the government wants them to go. A source last night said several options (10) _______________ (to consider).

The government hopes that a British port (11) _______________ (to find) but it is known (12) _______________ (to consider) (13) _______________ (to ask) its EU partners for assistance.

However, the boats (14) _______________ (to cause) a storm of protest across Europe and few countries, it (15) _______________ (to think), will want to take even short-term responsibility for them, especially since the US government (16) _______________ (to declare) them environmentally unsound and in need of immediate scrapping.

The government is believed (17) _______________ (to come) under extreme pressure from the US authorities to allow them (18) _______________ (to continue) their passage to Europe. Washington is politically embarrassed by the ships and wants them (19) _______________ (to scrap) as soon as possible.

The long-term future of the ships is now in serious doubt since Hartlepool council voted unanimously earlier this week against the ships (20) _______________ (to come) to the port.

Friends of the Earth last night called on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (21) _______________ (to make) an independent assessment of the environmental risks of (22) _______________ (to return or to store) the first two ships.

The group’s campaign director, Mike Childs, said the ships should (23) _______________ (to store) at the nearest available port. “These ships should never (24) _______________ (to cross) the Atlantic in the first place,” he said. “But now that two ships (25) _____________ (to approach) UK waters, the UK authorities must ensure that the safest solution (26) _______________ (to find) for temporarily (27) _______________ (to store) those ghost ships if it is unsafe for them (28) _______________ (to return) during winter.”

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

Role play. A public rally is being held in Hartlepool in protest against polluted US navy ships arriving in Britain.

Role 1. You are Margaret Breckett, environment minister. Inform the public about the government decision concerning the polluted US navy ships on their way to Hartlepool and explain why that particular decision has been taken.

Role 2. You are Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s campaign director. Inform the public about the environmental risks the ships present. Remember that now you are discussing the problem of the two ships that are in the Bay of Biscay, but there are four more dilapidated ships on their way to Britain.

Role 3. You are Richard Barnet, an environmentalist. Say what you think of US policies in the field of environment protection.

Role 4. You are Rebecca Brown, an anti-globalist. Describe the storm of protest the boats have caused across Europe.