A Speech to Save Environment — Back Exercise Answers | Class 6 Roots and Wings
Chapter: A Speech to Save Environment (Chapter 7)
Book: Roots and Wings
Class: 6th Standard
Type: Back Exercise (Textbook Questions and Answers)
This video covers all the back exercise questions from Chapter 7, "A Speech to Save Environment," from the Class 6 English Literature textbook Roots and Wings. The chapter is based on the famous speech given by Severn Suzuki at the 1992 Earth Summit. This video focuses entirely on the exercise answers: Tick the Right Answer, True or False, Question Answers, and Language Skills (Full Forms).
About the Chapter
"A Speech to Save Environment" is based on a real speech delivered by Severn Cullis-Suzuki, a Canadian environmental activist. She gave this speech at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, when she was only 12 years old. She represented ECO (Environmental Children's Organization), a group she and her friends had formed to raise awareness about environmental destruction.
In her speech, Severn talked about the damage being done to the planet: forests being cut down, animals becoming extinct, children dying of hunger, and the ozone layer being destroyed. She challenged world leaders to act, saying that if adults do not know how to fix what they have broken, they should stop breaking it. The speech became famous for its emotional honesty and courage.
Section A: Tick the Right Answer
Question 1: Severn Suzuki was speaking for which organization?
Answer: ECO (Environmental Children's Organization)
Severn Suzuki was speaking on behalf of ECO, the Environmental Children's Organization. This is the group she co-founded with friends to speak up for the environment. The other option, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), is a United Nations body and is not what Severn represented.
Question 2: Severn is fighting for:
Answer: Her future
Severn is not fighting for herself personally in a selfish way. She is fighting for the future of all children. The correct answer here is "her future," meaning the future of her generation and generations to come.
Question 3: Plants and animals will be:
Answer: Becoming extinct and endangered
Plants and animals around the world are disappearing. They are becoming extinct (completely gone) or endangered (at serious risk of disappearing). This is one of the central environmental concerns Severn raises in her speech.
Section C: Question Answers
Question 1: Name three environmental problems we are facing today.
Answer:
1. Children are dying of hunger — Millions of children around the world do not have enough food. While resources exist, they are not being distributed fairly.
2. Animals are becoming extinct and endangered — Species of plants and animals are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate due to habitat destruction, pollution, and human activity.
3. The ozone layer is being damaged — The ozone layer, which protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, has developed holes due to the release of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
Question 2: How can we utilize waste material?
Answer:
We can utilize waste material through recycling. Instead of throwing things away, we can process waste materials and turn them back into usable products. Recycling reduces the amount of waste that goes into landfills and helps conserve natural resources.
Question 3: How can money that is spent be better utilized?
Answer:
A large amount of money is currently spent on wars, weapons, and military activities. This money could instead be used for environmental conservation — to protect forests, clean up pollution, fund research into clean energy, and support communities affected by climate change. Severn argues that if countries redirected war spending toward saving the planet, real change would be possible.
Section D: Language Skills — Full Forms
This section asks students to write the full forms of common abbreviations related to the chapter.
| Abbreviation | Full Form |
|--------------|-----------|
| ECO | Environmental Children's Organization |
| UN | United Nations |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| BBC | British Broadcasting Corporation |
| UNICEF | United Nations Children's Fund |
| TERI | The Energy and Resources Institute |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
Memory tip for students: Most of these start with "United Nations" (UN, UNICEF, UNESCO). WHO stands alone as a global health body. BBC is a British media organization. TERI is an Indian research institute focused on energy and environment.
Key Themes in the Chapter
The Responsibility of Adults Toward Children
Severn Suzuki speaks directly to world leaders as a child. Her core argument is that the decisions adults make today will determine the world children grow up in. Adults teach children not to fight, not to waste, and to share. But they do not follow these rules themselves when it comes to the planet.
Environmental Destruction
The chapter highlights several forms of environmental damage: deforestation, extinction of species, pollution of air and water, and the destruction of the ozone layer. These are not distant problems but threats that affect real children and animals right now.
The Power of One Voice
Severn was 12 years old when she silenced an entire room of world leaders. The chapter teaches students that age is not a barrier to speaking up. Anyone who cares about the future has the right to raise their voice.
Use of Resources
Both the recycling question and the war spending question point to the same idea: resources already exist to fix environmental problems. What is missing is the will to use them correctly.