Файл: Кажекина.doc

Read the following text and: a) discuss the environmental situation in the world; b) say what the burning problems of nature preservation are and which of them are vital for your region.

Nature protection

Computers project that between now and the year of 2030 we are going to have an increase of the average temperature between 1,5 – 4,5 degrees C. Sea levels would rise by several metres, flooding coastal areas and ruining vast tracts of farmland. Huge areas would be infertile and become uninhabitable. Water contamination could lead to shortages of safe drinking water. It looks like the end of civilization on the Earth.

For hundreds of thousands of years the human race has thriven in Earth's environment. But now, at the beginning of the 21^st century, we are at a crucial turning point. We have upset nature's sensitive equilibrium releasing harmful substances into the air, polluting rivers and oceans with industrial waste and tearing up the countryside to accommodate our rubbish. These are the consequences of the development of civilization. We are to stop it by joint efforts of all the people of the world.

The range of environmental problems is wide. But the matters of people's great concern nowadays are atmosphere and climate changes, depletion of the ozone layer, freshwater resources, oceans and coastal areas, deforestation and desertification, biological diversity, biotechnology, health and chemical safety. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concentrates its activities on these issues.

Acid rains

One of the most alarming forms of air pollution is acid rain. It results from the release into the atmosphere of sulphur and nitrogen oxides that react with water droplets and return to earth in the form of acid rain, mist or snow. Acid rain is killing forests in Canada, the USA, and central and northern Europe. (Nearly every species of tree is affected.) It has acidified lakes and streams and they can't support fish, wildlife, plants or insects. (In the USA 1 in 5 lakes suffer from this type of pollution).

Depletion of the ozone layer

The protective layer of the Earth, the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from the sun's destructive UV (ultraviolet) rays, is being damaged by CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons). They are released by the daily use of industrial and household products: refrigerators, air conditioners, foam insulation, cleaning chemicals, food packaging. In the ozone layer they attack the ozone molecules making a «hole». This «hole» allows more UV rays to penetrate to the Earth. It increases the risk of skin cancer, weakens the immune system of people. Besides, UV rays influence the oceans, the growth of plankton, an essential part of the marine-life food chain in the negative way, reduce economically important crops (rice, cotton, soy beans). The life cycle is going to be undermined by the ozone.

Destruction of the tropical forest

It's generally agreed that the destruction of the tropical forest has a major impact on the world climate. The tropical rain forest is a natural recycler, provider and protector for our planet. It recycles carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, helps determine temperature, rainfall and other climatic conditions and supports the most diverse ecosystem in the world. Deforestation could cause one fourth of all species on earth to vanish in the next 25 years. These forests in Amazonia, South-East Asia and West and Central Africa are being destroyed at an alarming rate of 42 million acres per year.

Measures to be taken

We have only a few years to attempt to turn things around. We must review our wasteful, careless ways, we must consume less, recycle more, conserve wildlife and nature, act according to the dictum «think locally, think globally, act locally». To my mind, we are obliged to remove factories and plants from cities, use modern technologies, redesign and modify purifying systems for cleaning and trapping harmful substances, protect and increase the greenery and broaden ecological education. These are the main practical measures, which must be taken in order to improve the ecological situation.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. 159 countries-members of the UNO have set up environmental protection agencies. They hold conferences discussing ecological problems, set up environmental research centres and take practical urgent measures to avoid ecological catastrophe. There are numerous public organisations such as Greenpeace that are doing much to preserve environment.

The 5^th of June is proclaimed the World Environmental Day by the UNO and is celebrated every year.

VII. Fill in the blanks with suitable words and word combinations from the text.

1. But now in the first decades of the 21^st century we are at a ... ... . 2. It results from the release into the atmosphere of ... and ... ... that ... with water droplets and returns to the earth in the form of acid rain, ... or ... . 3. The life cycle is going to be ... by the ozone. 4. The tropical rain forest is a natural ... , ... and ... for our planet. 5. Sea levels would rise by several metres, ... coastal areas and ruining vast ... of farmland. 6. We must review our ... , ... ways, we must consume less, recycle more, ... wildlife and nature, act to the ... “think locally, think globally, act locally”.

VIII. Complete the sentences with the most suitable ending.

Environment changes are the consequences of the

development of sport.
development of civilization.
Protection of the environment.

Acid rains are killing

forests in Canada, the USA, central and northern Europe.
towns in Africa.
animals all over the world.

In the ozone layer CFCs attack

spaceships and satellites, making holes.
birds, killing them.
the ozone molecules, making a “hole”.

Tropical rain forests recycle carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and help determine

temperature, rainfall and other climatic conditions.
level of the world ocean.
the development of science.

Huge areas would be

conserved and recycle.
infertile and become uninhabitable.
destroyed by US rays.

Practical measures must be taken to

flood coastal areas and vast tracts of farmland.
improve the ecological situation.
protect animals.

IX. Match the definitions from the list and the words from the frame below.

permafrost ozone layer recycling rainforest wildlife

habitat extinct environment acid rain

reaction of sulphur and nitrogen oxides with water droplets
the natural or social conditions in which people live
treating used substances so that they are fit to use again
the natural home of a plant or animal
the layer of soil that is permanently frozen
hot, wet forest in tropical areas where rainfall is heavy and there is no dry season
animals (and plants) which live in a wild state
the layer which protects the Earth from the sun’s destructive UV rays
gone forever

X. Answer the following questions.

What are the main ecological problems? 2. What sources of air and water can you name? 3. What damage do acid rains bring? 4. Why are the ozone “holes” dangerous for the life on the Earth? 5. Why is tropical rain forest a natural recycler, provider and protector for our planet? 6. Why did some species of animals, birds, plants disappear from the Earth? 7. How has the human race upset the nature balance? 8. What can you say about ecological situation in Belarus?

XI. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Человечество процветало в окружающей его среде. 2. Одна из самых угрожающих форм загрязнения воздуха – это кислотный дождь. 3. Защитный слой Земли, озоновый, предохраняет Землю от разрушительных ультрафиолетовых лучей. 4. Кислотный дождь разрушает леса во многих странах. 5. Большое количество видов животных, птиц, рыб и растений находятся под угрозой вымирания, а некоторые редкие виды исчезли навсегда. 6. У нас есть только несколько лет, чтобы попытаться вернуть все вспять.

What You Can Do to Help!

Here are some ways in which you, your friends and your family can begin trying to save the Earth right now:

try not to waste energy;
before you throw anything away, stop and think. Might someone else have a use for it?
if you have a choice, avoid buying packaged goods;
don’t waste paper;
before you buy anything, ask yourself if you really need it;
never drop litter;
protect wild life, wild plants and trees;
put out food for wild creatures in winter;
safeguard water supplies;
don’t buy anything that involves cruelty to animals;
help to clean up your local environment;
try to reduce noise pollution;
buy organic products wherever possible;
join conservation organizations;
keep yourself informed about environmental issues;
explore nature in the right way;
use the law of nature in your life.

Last Chance

Learn how to read years:

Years ending in “00” are said with “hundred”: 1900: nineteen hundred, but note, 2000: the year two thousand.

Read the years mentioned in the text: 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500.

Guess the meaning of the words and explain their meaning:

a time machine the universe a space ship

Make up derivatives:

pollutant - загрязняющий агент

verb -

participle I -

participle II -

noun –

Match the words with their synonym or definitions:

to dump a. garbage
dangerous b. rich
a chemical c. to get rid of, to throw away
waste d. overcrowding
to cut down e. to begin suddenly and violently
liquid f. a substance neither a solid nor a gas
to warn [wo:n] g. hard to find, not common
scarce [`skeəs] h. a substance used in or produces by chemistry
to break out i. able or likely to cause harm or loss
wealthy j. to bring down by cutting
overpopulation k. to tell of smth bad that may happen

This is a science fiction story about a woman from the year 2500. She is talking to the leaders of the United Nations. Read the story and find out: Why did she come to speak to them?

Last chance

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming here and listening to my story. Let me begin by telling you how I came to be here: I came in a time machine. In the year 2500, we are able to travel through time to any year in the history of the earth.

I have returned to this year to tell you something important: This year is your last chance to change your lifestyle to save the earth!