If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page, after the Vocabulary. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.
If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the text.
1. Listening for main ideas
First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?
2. Now listen again and answer the following questions:
- When does daylight saving time start?
- What does the saying ‘spring forward, fall back’ mean?
- Which clocks usually need to be changed manually?
- Which group of workers loses an hour’s work?
- Why do we have daylight saving in New Zealand?
- What activities do people have more time for?
- Why do many dairy farmers not like daylight saving?
- When does daylight saving end?
- What proportion of countries practises daylight saving?
- What do Fire and Emergency NZ recommend that people do when daylight saving changes?
Text
This coming weekend New Zealand will go onto daylight saving time. That means that the clocks will go forward one hour at 2am on Sunday 28 September. Some people find it hard to remember which way the clocks go at the beginning and end of daylight saving. An easy way to remember is the saying “Spring forward, Fall back”. Fall is the American word for autumn. So in spring we turn the clocks forward.
Computers and smartphones usually change the time automatically, but clocks on ovens and microwaves usually need to be changed manually. Most people do this before they go to bed on Saturday night, so that the time is correct when they wake up on Sunday.
Putting the clocks forward means that most people will lose an hour’s sleep. People who work nightshifts are not affected by this, but they do lose an hour’s work. There are rules about pay in these cases. If someone works during the night when the clocks go forward, they must be paid for their normal hours. For example, if someone works from 10pm to 6am, they will actually work for seven hours but must be paid for eight.
The reason why we have daylight saving is to give us an extra hour of light on summer evenings, rather than very early in the morning when most people are not awake to enjoy it. It means that many people have time after the end of their workday to spend time outside, playing sport, gardening, or socialising.
New Zealand has had daylight saving since 1975. A survey in 1985 showed that 76.2% of the population supported daylight saving, but many dairy farmers didn’t like it because it meant it was dark when they got up to milk their cows. Nevertheless, it has continued, and in 2007 the period of daylight saving was extended due to public demand. Since then, it has started at 2am on the last Sunday in September and ended at 2am (standard time) on the first Sunday in April. A survey in 2008 found that 82% of New Zealanders approved of the longer period of daylight saving.
According to Pew Research, only about a third of the world’s countries practise daylight saving, most of them in Europe. Parts of Australia, Canada, and the United States also have daylight saving. Other countries, such as Samoa, Fiji, and Russia, used to change the clocks for summer but have stopped doing it. Some countries, particularly those near the equator, have never introduced daylight saving because there is not much difference in the length of their days during the year.
When daylight saving changes, Fire and Emergency NZ also recommends checking the batteries on your smoke alarms. It’s important to check them every six months, so daylight saving is a good reminder to do this. You should push the ‘test’ button on the smoke alarm and replace the batteries if needed. You should also check the alarm’s expiry date (as most last a maximum of 10 years) and use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from the cover.
Vocabulary
manually – by hand, using your hands
nightshift – a period of time at night when people regularly work
socialising – spending time with other people in a friendly or relaxed way
dairy – relating to milk and milk products
the equator – an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth that is exactly the same distance from the North Pole and the South Pole
expiry date – the date after which something should not be used (or for food, should not be eaten)
batteries – Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash
smoke alarm – Image from https://www.fireandemergency.nz/home-fire-safety/smoke-alarms/
Answers – you don’t have to write a complete sentence as long as you have the key idea in your answer
a. When does daylight saving time start?
2am on Sunday 28 September
b. What does the saying ‘spring forward, fall back’ mean?
In spring we turn the clocks forward (and in fall/ autumn we turn them back)
c. Which clocks usually need to be changed manually?
Clocks on ovens and microwaves
d. Which group of workers loses an hour’s work?
People who work nightshifts
e. Why do we have daylight saving in New Zealand?
To give us an extra hour of light on summer evenings
f. What activities do people have more time for?
To spend time outside, playing sport, gardening, or socialising
g. Why do many dairy farmers not like daylight saving?
It’s dark when they get up to milk their cows
h. When does daylight saving end?
2am on the first Sunday in April
i. What proportion of countries practises daylight saving?
About a third
j. What do Fire and Emergency NZ recommend that people do when daylight saving changes?
Check the batteries on smoke alarms.