The Present Perfect in journalism – answers to exercise 1

Key

1l have visited	4o have provided	7i has made	10h have only managed	13n have been able
2e have come away	5b have spoken	8c have declined	11d have enabled	14f has been
3g have actually gained	6k have degraded	9j have worked	12a have raised	15m have already abandoned

What future for hill farming?

Few of those who have visited ^1l the moors high up in the Derbyshire Peak District have come away ^2e without a lasting memory of its beauty. Yet it is probably the case that fewer still have actually gained ^3g any sense of how important these moors are to everyone’s working lives. For decades moors, mountains, hills and valleys have provided ^4o food, drinking water, weekend retreats and summer holidays for humans, and habitats for rare birds, flowers and butterflies.

Hill farmers in the uplands have spoken ^5b recently of their uphill struggle in overcoming the threats currently facing them and their livelihoods. Erosion, overgrazing, artificial draining, unregulated burning of moorland and industrial pollution of the atmosphere have degraded ^6k vast areas. Much is at stake, but the problem is, there are many stakeholders. The fight to preserve the uplands has made ⁷ⁱ them a battleground of tension and feud. Farmers’ incomes have declined ^8c, and many of those who have worked ^9j these challenging areas have only managed ^10h to survive thanks to subsidies which have enabled ^11d them to balance the books – the more livestock they have raised ^12a, they more they have been able ¹³ⁿ to claim in payments.

 

Today, however, environmentalists point out the damage caused by overgrazing, drainage and burning, the legacy of generations of farmers seeking to eke out a living. The only solution to this has been ^14f to encourage hill farmers to de-stock. Only if hill farmers can earn grants pegged to other, environmental benefits, can they continue to stay on in their homes. When upland farmers join the younger generation who have already abandoned ^15m their farms another skilled workforce is lost, and the truth is, we cannot afford to lose them.

Vocabulary
What future for hill farming? = What is the future for hill farming? / What fate does the future hold for hill farming? Notice the omitted verbs in the title, a typical shortcut in journalism
Derbyshire – a county in the Midlands. The Peak District is a hilly area to the west of Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham. The first syllable of Derby rhymes with car / bar / far

moors – open, uncultivated areas or uplands, typically covered with heather
it is probably the case = it is probably true
uplands – areas of high or hilly land
an uphill struggle – a difficult task
eg Life at the office is an uphill struggle at the moment.
livelihood (live to rhyme with ‘dive‘) – way of earning a living, the way in which you get the basic necessities of life
graze – verb – (of cattle, sheep, etc) to eat grass in a field, feed on grass or grassland
overgrazing – the action or consequence of feeding too heavily on grass in such a way as to deplete the land
much is at stake – matters of great importance are involved
stakeholders – people with an interest or concern in something

feud – prolonged and bitter quarrel or dispute
to balance the books – to make certain that the amount of money spent is not more than the amount of money received
livestock (live to rhyme with ‘dive’) – farm animals
seek to – to try to
to eke out a living – to manage to make a living with great difficulty
to de-stock – to reduce the numbers of cows, sheep, hens etc (or any product)
pegged to – dependent on

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