1. Are you concerned about the present ecological situation in the place where you live?
2. What are the most dangerous kinds of pollution?
3. How can you help save the environment?
4. What must be done to make the Earth a safer and better place?
5. During the last 30 years environmental protection has become a vital necessity for people. Why?
Read and translate the meanings of the environmental problems and insert the proper word combinations into gaps.
The destruction of habitats, holes in the ozone layer, acid rain, global warning, the greenhouse effect.
1. _______ is caused by harmful gases known as greenhouse gases. These gases are produced when we burn fuels, especially when coal is burned in power stations to make electricity. These gases go up into the Earth’s atmosphere and stop heat from leaving the earth.
2. _______ may cause the ice at the North Pole and South Pole to melt and sea levels to rise, leading to serious flooding in many parts of the word. In other places, temperatures will rise and there will be less rain, turning more of the land into desert.
3.________ The ozone layer is a layer of gases that protects us from ultraviolet light from the sun, which can have a harmful effect on animals and can cause skin cancer in humans. When holes appear in the ozone layer, harmful light from the sun research the Earth.
4. _______ is rain that is harmful to the environment because it contains acid from factory smoke. Acid rain causes damage to trees, rivers and buildings.
5. ________All over the world, wildlife is being threatened because habitats and woodlands are being destroyed. Rainforests are being cut down so that people can use the land to grow crops. Many species of animals have become extinct and many more are endangered.
5. What are possible solutions to the most urgent environmental problems? Make use of the following:
alternative forms of transport, renewable energy sources, green products, recycling, protesting.
Give the right form of the words in brackets.
1. Yesterday was the (hot) day we have had this summer.
2. The twenty-second of December is the (short) day of the year.
3. Iron is (useful) of all metals.
4. The Neva is (wide) and (deep) than the Moskva River
5. Silver is (heavy) than copper.
6. London is the (large) city in England.
7. Rewrite the sentences. Begin each sentence with I wish.
1. I think my neighbour isn't aware of polluting the environment.
2. Oil pollution can damage the ecology of the costs.
3. Please do not pollute the air.
4. It would be nice to use of waste heat to reduce electricity consumption.
5. She has lots of poisonous plants in her garden.
6. We can recycle paper, glass, cans instead of throwing away.
8. Comment on the statement:
one planet – one community.
Create environmental slogans for your city or town.
1. Good environment is good health.
2. Air pollution causes health hazards.
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
5. ____________________________
6. ____________________________
7. ____________________________
8. ____________________________
9. ____________________________
10. ___________________________
In pairs discuss the role of youth in solving ecological problems nowadays.
LESSON 10
1. Read and translate the text.
COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION SEARCH
Today the computer has made locating, gathering, and analyzing data much faster and cost-effective. Even individual who owns a good computer and a modem can access databases and conduct in-depth intelligence searches that in the past only large corporations and libraries could afford.
Nowadays, using public and specialized online computer databases, one researcher can accomplish what formerly took the entire department far longer to accomplish. Some of the hardware required for efficient computerized searches include a modem, fax machine, and high-speed printer. The faster the transmission mode, the more efficient your research is likely to be.
The Internet
Many electronic network systems were created in 1989 and have continued to grow since then. They now offer access to information and the means to communicate with other individuals, businesses, or countries all over the world. A tremendous amount of pertinent information is available on what is termed the Internet. In fact, you do not even have to leave your computer to obtain information from the world famous libraries.
The Internet is a global computer network. It is developing very rapidly. You can read many publications (newspapers, magazines, journals) through the Internet. E-mail is the most popular service. A great many of people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving E-mail messages. In many countries the Internet provides businesspersons a reliable alternative to the more expensive and unreliable telecommunications systems. That is always cheaper, because you send E-mail messages, you only have to pay for phone calls to your local service providers, not for calls across your country or around the world. For these services you pay your service provider a monthly or an hourly fee. Part of this fee goes towards its costs to connect to a larger provider, another part received by the larger service provider goes to cover its costs of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.
Internet services combine the use of audio, video, graphics, and text for procuring information. If the topic of your paper is NAFTA, and you have narrowed this down to an update on the North American Trade Agreement, it is possible to gather material through an Internet service. When you enter this term, you might find dozens of sources. Therefore, you must make choices to narrow down your topic as you work.
However, the Internet is considered unreliable source of information. It is very important as you use the Internet to keep in mind the thesis of your research. Because it is so easy to gather information and nothing guarantees its quality and accuracy, the writer must not become distracted and must be the final judge of the facts obtained. Another problem is its insecurity. When you send an E-mail message to someone, it travels through many different networks and computers. The information is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. So it is possible to intervene into any of the computers along the route, read and even change the data being sent on the Internet. That is why you cannot send original contracts, letters of credit, invoices and other important documents through the Internet. However, these commercial and technical problems must be resolved in the nearest future.
Another popular Internet application is World-Wide Web. The number of Web-pages is hundreds of millions. There is a searching system to find the proper Web-page. Such a page contains a short description of a subject (program, institution, etc.) and the reference to other Web-documents.
