News report · Savings, fear or stars? Facts, opinions and estimates.
VILLARRASA. Since 1 March, one in every two street lights in Villarrasa has been switched off between one and six in the morning. Six months on, the village, home to 2,300 people, is divided, and the October council meeting will decide whether the measure stays.
The mayor, Rosa Merino, says the decision is “sensible and necessary”. The first full bill, for April, was 28% lower than the previous April’s. “We estimate that in a year we’ll save 40%,” she says. The electricity company, however, points out that in that month the price per kilowatt-hour was 10% cheaper than a year earlier.
The El Pontón Residents’ Association doesn’t see it the same way. “People are scared. There are more burglaries and everybody knows it,” says its chair, Marta Ibarra. In July, the association surveyed 120 residents: 70% said they felt less safe walking home at night.
Figures from the Guardia Civil, the local police force, paint a different picture: between March and August, four burglaries were reported in the village centre, compared with five in the same months last year. Only one took place between one and six in the morning.
One group that is celebrating the darkness is the Valley Astronomy Club. Since the lights went off, the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye from the square, and its “star nights” drew around 300 people in August. “It’s been the best August in ten years,” says Andrés Soto, owner of the bar on the square. This year, what’s more, the village festival was moved from July to August.
The debate goes on in the street. “What people feel is one thing and what actually happens is another,” sums up one resident. For the council meeting, the town hall has promised to present all the bills for the six months.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Based on the figures in the report, which conclusion is the most rigorous? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Switching off the street lights has led to more burglaries in the village.
- ✓b) The bill has gone down, but not all the saving is due to the measure, and there’s no evidence that burglaries have increased.
- c) It has been proven that the measure saves 40% of the electricity.
- d) The bar’s good August is due only to the dark sky.
Which figures support it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: b). It’s the conclusion that separates facts from opinions and estimates.
Key clue: “Electricity was 10% cheaper that April, and burglaries went from five to four, with only one in the early hours.” Exactly: the price explains part of the saving, and the official figures show no rise in burglaries.
2 The Loom Order of events
The report doesn’t follow the order of events. Rebuild the timeline. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 3 The residents’ association surveys 120 residents.
- 2 The April bill arrives, 28% lower.
- 1 One in every two street lights is switched off at night for the first time.
- 5 The council studies the six months of bills and decides.
- 4 The village festival and the star nights fill the square.
Correct order:
- One in every two street lights is switched off at night for the first time.
- The April bill arrives, 28% lower.
- The residents’ association surveys 120 residents.
- The village festival and the star nights fill the square.
- The council studies the six months of bills and decides.
March: the switch-off begins. April: first full bill. July: residents’ survey. August: festival and star nights. October: council meeting. News reports usually start with what matters most, not with what happened first.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which follow-up story would fit this report? Tick only one option.
- ✓a) At the October meeting, the town hall presents the six months of bills to check whether the saving comes close to the promised 40%.
- b) The Guardia Civil corrects its figures: burglaries have tripled since March.
- c) The town hall decides to switch off the street lights during the day too, to save more.
- d) The residents’ association admits it never carried out any survey.
Answer: a). That’s exactly what the town hall promised to do, and it would allow the mayor’s estimate to be checked.
- b) It contradicts the figures in the report (four burglaries compared with five) with no basis in the text.
- c) Street lights aren’t on during the day; the measure affects the early hours. It makes no sense in context.
- d) The report gives the July survey of 120 residents as a fact; nothing suggests it was false.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t match the report. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) The 40% saving is an estimate, not a measured figure.Correct: “We estimate that in a year…”.
- ✗b) Since March, all the street lights have been switched off all night.Only one in two, and only between one and six.
- c) Between March and August there were fewer burglaries than the year before.Four compared with five.
- ✗d) The association surveyed every resident in the village.It surveyed 120 out of 2,300 people.
- e) This year the festival was held in August.It was moved from July to August.
- ✗f) The April bill went down by 40%.It went down by 28%. The 40% is the mayor’s yearly forecast.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows a street in Villarrasa at three in the morning this summer?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: One in every two street lights off and the Milky Way visible in the sky.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
October council meeting. The bills for the six months showed an average saving of 24%. Once the drop in electricity prices was taken into account, the saving due to the measure was around 15%: a long way from the 40% announced, but real.
The Guardia Civil presented its figures and the residents’ association, without disputing them, asked for something specific: to keep all the street lights on along the road to the station, which is the way people on the late shift walk home at night.
The council voted to keep the partial switch-off with that exception. And the bar on the square announced that next September, with no festival, it will check whether the stars are still pulling in visitors.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.