TEXT 1. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

“Ecology” is a very popular word today. But what does it mean? “Ecology” is a science, which studies the relationships between all forms of life on the Earth with its environment. This word came from the Greek “oikos” which means “home”. This idea of home includes the whole planet of ours, its population, Nature, animals, birds, fish, insects, all other living beings and even the atmosphere around the Earth. Environmental protection is a universal concern. Active measures should be taken to create an international system of ecological security. Some progress has been made in this direction. 159 countries – members of the United Nations Organisation – have set up environmental protection agencies. A lot of conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss ecological problems, some of which are of extreme urgency.

Since ancient times Nature has served Man giving him everything he needs: air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, wood for building and fuel for heating his home. For thousands years people lived in harmony with environment, and the resources of Nature seemed to have no end and limit. But with the era of industrial revolution an end had been put to this harmony and our negative influence towards Nature began to increase rapidly. Large cities with thousands of steaming, polluting plants and factories can be found nowadays all over the world. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the fields where our crops are grown.

Every year the atmosphere is polluted with about 1, 000 tons of industrial dust and other harmful substances. Big cities suffer from smog. Cars with their engines have become the main source of pollution in industrial countries. Vast forests are cut down in Africa, South America and Asia for the needs of industries in Europe and the USA. The loss of the forests upsets the oxygen balance of the new wastelands. As a result some species of animals, birds, fish and plants have disappeared and keep disappearing. Rivers and lakes dry up. One of the recent examples is the Sea of Aral, which has become much smaller due to man’s activity. The pollution of air and the world’s oceans, the thinning of the ozone layer are the other problems arising from man’s careless attitude to ecology.

In Russia and former Soviet republics there are some areas where ecology is in a poor state. First of all it is the Sea of Aral, Baikal, Kuz-bass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl, just to name a few. For decades, nuclear weapons were tested near Semipalatinsk and the ground is pol-luted with radiation there. More than twenty years ago a paper factory was built on the shore of Lake Baikal. As a result, because of the pollu-tion, more than 50 per cent of the world’s purest water has been ruined. The whole ecological system of the lake has changed greatly. After the disaster in Chernobyl the inhabitants of the nearby towns and villages had to be evacuated. Some of them died and some have become inva-lids. Ecological catastrophes do a lot of harm to Nature but they are much more dangerous for Man. The question is whether humankind is going to live or die.

VOCABULARY
environment – кружающая среда
ecological - экологический
dandelion - дуванчик
to blossom - вести
to vanish - исчезат
interfere with/ interfere in - мешать /вмешиваться
universal concern - всеобщая забота
extreme urgency - крайняя срочность
by-product – побочный продукт wasteland – пустош
disaster – катастрофа ton (tonne) – тонна rops – урожай
´invalid (n.)/in´valid (adj.) – инвалид/не имеющий законной силы, не-действительный
litter, trash, garbage  - мусор
pollution - загрязнени
to contaminate – загрязнять, отравлят
to recycle - повторно использовать; возвращать в оборот
to reuse - повторно использоват
to reduce - уменьшат
conservation area - заповедник
habitat - место распространения, ареал



ASSIGNMENTS
 

II. Express your attitude towards the main points of the text. Organize each problem in one sentence for making a plan for the further discussion.

III. Answer the following questions.

1. What does the word “ecology” mean? 2. What can you say about the present ecological situation? 3. What does Nature give to a person? 4. What pollutes Nature, and how? 5. What are the main ecological problems? 6. What measures should be taken to protect Nature? 7. What do you know about ecological problems in Russia? In your home area?

IV. Translate into English

1. Одуванчик – мой любимый весенний цветок. 2. Охрана природы – это общее дело и дело каждого. 3. Мать попросила сы-на вынести мусор. 4. Прошлым летом студенты побывали в запо-веднике “Беловежская пуща”. Видеть диких животных в есте-ственной среде обитания – это незабываемое впечатление. 5. Вмешательство человека в природу может привести к экологи-ческой катастрофе. 6. Не вмешивайся в мои дела! 7. Пожалуйста, не мешай мне работать. 8. За последние сто лет многие виды жи-вотных и растений исчезли с лица земли. 9. Улыбка исчезла с ее лица, сменившись выражением озабоченности. 10. Мне всегда жалко инвалидов. 11. Истончение озонового слоя может привести к серьезным последствиям. 12. Побочные продукты производства загрязняют воздух. 13. Возможно, химикаты и пестициды помогают бороться с вредителями, однако они чрезвычайно вредны для здоровья человека.

V. Put the verb into the right form.

1. Until we (learn) to recycle, we (continue) to have environmental problems. 2. By the time I (grow) up, our way of life (be) seriously under the threat. 3. Our river (be) polluted until out city (have) the funds for cleaning it. 4. By the time we (have) the children of our own, the trees we have planted in our school ground (grow) high. 5. If everybody (not feel) responsibility for environment, our planet (die). 6. When we (be) fifty, it (be) difficult to find fresh drinking water. 7. Environmental problems (get) worse and worse until we (stop or reduce) pollution.