Until fairly recent times – еще достаточно недавно

Migratory Bird Treaty – соглашение о перелетных птицах

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) – Международный союз охраны природы и природных ресурсов, МСОП

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) –

Договор о международной торговле вымирающими видами флоры и фауны

the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) – служба по охране рыбоводства и природы

The World Wildlife Fund – всемирный фонд по охране природы

The Nature Conservancy – комитет по охране природы

breeding program – программа по разведению животных

Ex.1. Find in the text synonyms for the words:

influence, specialist, some, extinct, help, to teach, nature, out of law, to keep safe

Ex.2. Find equivalents:

activity conservation illegal public way effort natural environment impact change control habitat protect landscape come up trade to conserve direct

контролировать путь, способ выступать, упоминать незаконный естественный, природный окружающая среда место обитания усилие сохранение торговля защищать деятельность сохранять пейзаж, ландшафт перемена, изменение общественный прямой влияние

Ex.3. Find antonyms:

changeable	indirect
illegal	artificial
public	live
direct	legal
endangered	constant
to have no duties	to worry
natural	private
dead	safe
zoo	to be responsible for
to keep quiet	wildlife

Ex.4. Put the words in the correct order to make sentences:

Example: changes /human /to /environment / in / activities / the / led / extreme. – Human activities led to extreme changes in the environment.

1. wildlife /about / began / in / people / the / changes / to / worry.

2. controls /animals /plants /of /law /the /trade /the /and.

3. aid /species /private /for /endangered /provide /do /organizations?

4. for /breeding /reserves /some /experts /programs /in /animals /nature /oversee.

5. work /species /organizations /save /threatened /to /what?

6. the /public /do /organizations /programs /many /educate /TV /through?

7. countries /wildlife /does /to /establish /help /reserves /for /the WWF?

Ex.5. Answer the questions:

1. Were many people concerned about the impact of human activities on animals and plants until fairly recent times?

2. What led to extreme changes in the landscape and wildlife?

3. When did people try to come up with ways to conserve the environment?

4. What was one of the first efforts to protect wildlife?

5. What organizations around the world work to save threatened species?

6. What do experts do in nature reserves and zoos?

Ex.6. Find more information about international organizations and programs to save threatened species. Speak about organizations that work in Russia.

Ex.7. Make a written translation of the text “Greenpeace”.

Text 5. POLLUTION

Memorize the words and expressions:

contamination, pollutant, area, condition, sanitation, health, century, disease, to improve, spread, complicated, technology, vehicle, rapid, uninhabitable, respiration, radioactivity, to expose

The contamination of the environment—land, water, and air—by waste, smoke, chemicals, and other harmful substances is called pollution. The most serious pollution occurs in areas with large cities and many factories.

Pollution is not a new problem. Cities of ancient times were often fouled by human wastes and debris. In the Middle Ages unsanitary conditions caused the spread of diseases such as the plague. Much has been done to improve sanitation and public health over the centuries. But since the Industrial Revolution, the problems of waste disposal have become more complicated. The growth of industry, the introduction of new technologies such as motor vehicles, and rapid increases in human populations have combined to create pollution problems on a level never before seen.

Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.

A pollutant need not be harmful in itself. Carbon dioxide, for example, is a normal component of the atmosphere and a by-product of respiration that is found in all animal tissues; yet in a concentrated form it can kill animals. Human sewagecan be a useful fertilizer, but when concentrated too highly it becomes a serious pollutant, menacing health and causing the depletion of oxygen in bodies of water. By contrast,radioactivityin any quantity is harmful to life, despite the fact that it occurs normally in the environment as so-called background radiation.

There are three main types of pollution: air, water and land.

Glossary:

waste disposal – распределение отходов

the plague – чума

to pass laws – издавать законы