Global problems:
Ø
Pollution in its many forms (water, air, nuclear, noise)
Ø
Destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty
Ø
Shortage of natural resources (metals, minerals, different kinds
of fuels)
Ø
Growth of population -> lack of food
Ø
The problem of coming WW III
Ø
Spiritual decline
Ø
The problem of nuclear storage, nuclear power stations.
Ø
Greenhouse effect
Practice
Ex. 1 Match the titles with the paragraphs.
a) Greenhouse
effect
b) Water
pollution
c) Spiritual
decline
d) Growth of
population
e) Air
pollution
f) Nuclear
pollution
g) World War
the III
h) Soil
pollution
____________________________________________________________________________________
1. More and more often people are told not to be in direct
sunlight, because ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer.
Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from such radiation, but
if there are holes in the ozone layer ultraviolet radiation can get to the
earth. Many scientists think that these holes appear as a result of the emissions
from engine vehicles, factories, usage of aerosols which destroy the ozone layer.
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. The Earth has certain
limitations and in particular, there are limits to growth of things that
consume the Earth resources. Global human population growth is around 81
million annually. It is expected to keep growing to reach 11 billion by the end
of the century. Many people had predicted
catastrophic shortages of natural resources that would follow, because of
continued population growth. Overpopulation is destroying our environment,
lowering the standard of living, and generally degrading the quality of life. Overpopulation
also causes more violence, environmental pollution that reflects on land
degradation, tropical forest destruction, global warming and destruction of
coral reefs. 6 billion member society has to get a huge food infrastructure, so
society start producing genetically made food, which is cheaper than ordinary
one but might reflect in the nutrient balance.
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Scientists now realize
that the proportion of misbalance in the atmosphere gases has increased
significantly over a few hundred years. The normal proportion of them is about
71% of Nitrogen, 21% of Oxygen and other gasses. The real increase began around
the time of the Industrial Revolution. This is when we began to
burn fossil fuels (coal) in large quantities to power our steam
engines. These gases are termed ‘green house gases’ because during the day the
earth absorbs heat from the sun, although much of this is radiated back out
into space. The atmosphere surrounding our earth contains these gases, and acts
like a blanket keeping some of the heat in. If there weren’t an
atmospheric ‘blanket’ we would freeze during the night, like some of the other
planets or our moon. The problem of global warming is the problem of
temperature rise in the Earth’s atmosphere.
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. The sea waters today are dangerous. There is no ocean or
sea that is not used as a dump. Many seas are used for dumping industrial and
nuclear wastes. The poisons from wastes bring harm to animals, fish and birds.
Afterwards eating such food people suffer from different diseases, they may
even get a dose of radiation and die. There is less and less sources of fresh
water supplies, as our underground waters are polluted by extensive use of
agrochemicals. There is a theory that WW III may break out because of the lack
of fresh water.
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. The political, economic, and social problems we encounter
are the symptoms of the spiritual deterioration of a nations. Just as there are
spiritual principles that influence the life of an individual, so there are
political-spiritual principles that govern the life of a nation. Nations most
often fall from within, and this fall is usually due to a decline in the moral
and spiritual values in the family. As families go, so goes a nation. As
nowadays the institution of a family has been drawn backwards and on the first
place the material prosperity has been put, some morality and main principles
have lost their importance. People are mad about their fortune and the way to
earn it. This problem may be solved by appealing to religion and history of a
nation , where all the necessary principles of life are described.
____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Higher concentrations of heavy metals in the soil around
industrial enterprises deplete the local flora, with the more sensitive species
disappearing.
It is a difficult problem to restore the fertility of soil
polluted by heavy metals. People use many chemicals to prolong soil fertility
but overuse of them cause storing of harmful substances in it. The main
measure, and a cardinal solution to the problem is to improve technology so
that waste is not released into the environment. Sometimes various chemical
substances are introduced into the soil to neutralize the effect of soil
pollutants, and so on.
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Radiation due to uncontrolled radioactive waste and other
radioactive materials is a growing threat. It causes genetic damage and cancer.
Radioactive contamination or nuclear pollution is the most dangerous for the
environment since the wastes maintain their radioactive properties for
thousands of years. A responsible management of the nuclear waste would limit
the risk of nuclear pollution on the long term, allowing us to live on a cleaner
and safer planet, also preventing the temptation of dumping the waste in the
oceans. Another question is nuclear power stations. There is a constant threat
if something happens to a reactor, as it was the case with the Russian
Chernobyl for instance. There are other energy sources that are still highly
effective without the huge risks of nuclear pollution or irradiation:
geothermal sources, ocean currents, tidal waves, wind and waterfalls, all make
alternative power solutions that should not be neglected. Environment-friendly
electricity is one of the chances this planet has to survive.
8.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Nowadays according to the political situation in our world
hardly any person has ever thought, Worlds War III may break out in the nearest
future. As a result of the shortage of resources, the most powerful countries
try to capture all possible reserves, invading other countries, like it
happened in Iraq. Analyzing to the recent events happening in Ukraine the world
has been split into 3 groups of countries, the first which supports the USA,
the second supports the Russian Federation and the others who don’t interfere
into long historically established rivalry. Such blind fight for leadership may
cause great conflicts and lead to WW III break out. The only way to avoid it is
to solve the problems by peaceful dialogs between the countries.
Ex.1 Write about each global problem, using the plan.
-
the problem;
-
what people have been doing to create the problem
-
what people should do to prevent it.
Example:
1. Problem: Water pollution
2. False actions:
Factories dump waste materials in waters
Merciless overfishing
Destruction of ecosystems
3. What should be done
Dumping wastes should be forbidden
Fishing should be restricted
Ecosystems should be harmonized/ preserved/ saved
1.
Water pollution
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
Air pollution
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
Nuclear pollution
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
Noise pollution
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5.
Soil pollution
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6.
Destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7.
Shortage of natural resources (metals, minerals, different kinds of
fuels)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8.
Growth of population
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9.
The problem of coming WW III
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Greenhouse effect
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Spiritual decline
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Use of English
Environmental
protection – Nationwide Concern
1. As a highly industrialized state Britain cannot ignore
the problem of (environment) ________________________ pollution. The (practice)
_______________________ results of the state policy in environmental protection
include the (develop) ________________________ of technology to control
(atmosphere) ________________________ and water pollution, (agriculture)
________________________ pollution control, the study of men’s influence on the
climate, (forecast) ________________________ of earthquakes and tsunamis, the
(biology) ________________________ and (gene) ________________________
consequences of pollution, protection of rare and (vanis)
________________________ plants and animals as well as a whole lot more.
The Control of Pollution Act 1974, which (to
apply) ________________________ to England, Wales and Scotland, (to set)
________________________ out a wide range of powers and duties for local and
water authorities, (to include) ________________________ control over wastes,
air and water pollution and noise.
The main risks of land pollution (to lie) ________________________
in the (discriminate) ________________________ dumping of materials on land
(care) ________________________ disposal of pesticides and chemicals and
disposition of materials from flood-water.
There (to be) ________________________ a steady improvement
in water quality: the level of pollution in the tidal Thames (to reduce)
________________________ to a quarter of the 1950s level and 100 kinds of fish
(identify) ________________________ there. Discharges of polluting matter into
rivers, lakes and some coastal waters already (to control)
________________________ by law.
Considerable progress (to make)
________________________ towards the (achieve) ________________________ of
(clean) ________________________ air and a (good) environment, especially in
the last 20 years or so.
Transport is one of the main (offend)
________________________ in noise pollution.
2. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood were our neighbours. They
had two ________CHILD__________.
Their son
Michael _________NOT/DIFFER_________ from the other children very
much, but their daughter Matilda was a brilliant child.
By the time she was five, Matilda was able to
read very well. She studied every magazine and newspaper that
she ________CAN__________ find around the house.
Actually, she
read ________WELL__________ than most school pupils.
One afternoon when the parents were out of the
house, Matilda put on ________SHE__________ dress and shoes and went
to the library.
The librarian was surprised to see such a
small child. "Are you here for the ________ONE__________ time?
Would you like me to find a nice book with lots of pictures for you?" she
asked.
"No, thank you,
I ________FIND__________ what I need," answered Matilda and
pointed to a thick book of fairy tales.
Then she added,
“I _________COME_________ for a new book as soon as I finish this
one”.
The librarian was really shocked when she saw
Matilda only two days later.
“I wish all
children _________LIKE_________ reading so much,” the librarian said.
From that day on Matilda went to the library every afternoon.
3. Kate called me early in the morning. It
was the ________TWO__________ day of holidays; I felt angry with her
for waking me up.
“What ________HAPPEN__________?” I didn’t
sound very polite, but she paid no attention to that.
“Oh, nothing! I want to go shopping today
and wondered if you wanted to go with _________I_________.”
“No, I don’t want to.”
“But
it _________NOT/TAKE_________ you long! I promise.
My first impulse was to say “no”-unlike
most _______WOMAN_______ I hated shopping. But Kate sounded so
unhappy that I felt sorry for her.
“Ok, what do you need to buy?”
Kate’s
voice _________BECOME_________ cheerful again.
She excitedly explained to me that
she _________WANT_________ to buy a pair of hiking boots and a
raincoat.
That _________BE_________ strange
as Kate had never been fond of hiking.
“I want to take up hiking as a new hobby,”
went on Kate. “Bob Smith says that it’s very exciting.”
Now I knew what was going on. Bob Smith, the
captain of the school baseball team, was
the _________POPULAR_________ boy in our school. All the girls wanted
to attract his attention.
4. Michael could not imagine his life without computers. His parents ________BUY__________ him his first computer at
the age of seven.It took_________HE_________ several days to learn how to
use it.
His mum said that the younger people were,
the _________FAST_________ they could learn computer skills.
That was probably true –
most ________CHILD__________ in Michael’s class were very competent
computer users.
Michael was really surprised to find out
that the first personal computer ________INVENT__________ in the 70’s
of the last century.
“And how did you chat or send your
e-mails without computers?” he asked his mother.
She smiled:
“We ________NOT/SEND__________ each other e-mails. And there were no
networks.”
She also said that
it ________BE__________ fun to communicate face-to-face, to play
out-of-doors and to visit friends’ homes.
“But if
there ________BE__________ no computers, I wouldn’t be able to
communicate with my friends who live far away from me,” Michael replied.
“True. Technological progress is a
great thing,” his mother said “And I think
people ________CREATE__________ even more amazing communication
devices in the near future.”
Speaking
STUDENT CARD
Тask 1
Give a
talk about environmental problems.
Remember
to say:
·
what environmental problems our country has;
·
what environmental problem you consider to be the most serious, why;
·
what people can do to improve the situation.
You have to talk for 1.5 – 2 minutes. The examiner
will listen until you have finished. Then he/she will ask you some questions.
|
Writing
You have 30 minutes to do this task.
You have received a letter from your
English-speaking pen friend, Ben.
…Yesterday was a special day
we
had the Earth Hour. My town (and lots of towns around) went dark for one
hour. It’s one of the ideas of an ecological group called the Green Movement.
We switched off the lights to draw people’s attention to the poor ecological
situation on the planet …
…Do people have the Earth Hour in your country? What
can people do to save energy in their everyday life? Do you approve of the
Green Movement, why? …
|
You
have 30 minutes to do this task.
You
have received a letter from your English-speaking pen friend, Ben.
…I’ve
just been to the zoo. What lovely animals are there! Bears, tigers and even
sharks! When I look at them in the zoo I can hardly imagine that they could
be dangerous or eat other animals…
…
What do you think is better for animals
to
live in the zoo or in the wild, why? What animals are common in your region?
Have you ever seen any animal in the wild? …
Write
him a letter and answer his 3 questions.
|
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