Text 2. Environmental Problems

The natural world is under violent assault from man.

The seas and rivers are being poisoned by radioactive wastes, by chemical discharges and by the dumping of dangerous toxins and raw sewage. The air we breathe is polluted by smoke and fumes from factories and motor vehicles, even the rain is poisoned.

It's a little wonder forests and lakes are being destroyed and everywhere wildlife is disappearing. Yet the destruction continues.

Governments and industries throughout the world are intensifying their efforts to extract earth's mineral riches and to plunder its living resources.

The great rain forests and the frozen continents alike are seriously threatened. And this is despite warnings of the scientific community and the deep concern of millions of ordinary people.

Despite the fact, too, that we can create environmentally-clean industries, harness the power of the sun, wind and waves for our energy needs and manage the finite resources of the earth in a way that will safeguard our future and protect all the rich variety of life-forms which share this planet with us.

But there is still hope. The forces of destruction are being challenged across the globe - and at the spearhead of this challenge is Greenpeace.

Wherever the environment is in danger, Greenpeace has made a stand. Its scientific presentations and peaceful direct actions at sea and on land have shocked governments and industries into awareness that Greenpeace will not allow the natural world to be destroyed.

Those actions, too, have won the admiration and support of millions.

Now you can strengthen the thin green line; you can make your voice heard in defence of the living world by joining Greenpeace today.

Exercise 5. Choose the best answer to these questions.

1) Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the text?

a) Drinking water is polluted, b) Radioactive waste pollutes the sea.

c) Sewage isn't processed d) Cars and factories pollute the air.

2) The writer _______ forests and lakes are being destroyed.

a) is surprised that b) is unsure why

c) wonders why d) understands why

3) Rain forests are being destroyed because governments and industries ...

a) are unaware of what they're doing wrong,

b) are rich and powerful.

c) choose to ignore criticism,

d) basically care about the environment.

4) The earth's resources ...

a) should be left for people. b) can be made to last longer.

c) will last forever. d) belong to just humans and animals.

5) How does Greenpeace feel about the future?

a) desperate b) resigned

c) cautiously optimistic d) deeply pessimistic

6) Governments and industries ...

a) don't know what Greenpeace thinks.

b) are forced by Greenpeace to understand the problems

c) can easily ignore Greenpeace

d) misunderstand what Greenpeace thinks

7) How does Greenpeace think that people can help?

a) by becoming members b) by speaking out

c) by painting a green line d) by making waves

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences using one of the words in the box.

acid contaminated dumping ecology extinct environment fallout pollution reactor waste

1) The world in which we live is our ________________.

2) _____________ is the science which studies the relationship between different life

forms in nature.

3) Smoke, dirt and noise are all types of ____________.

4) If man continues to hunt Ussuri tigers, they can become ___________.

5) In many parts of the world lakes, trees and rainforests are being destroyed by

_________ rains.

6) It is necessary that ________ of hazardous chemicals in the sea should be stopped.

7) Many countries have run out of space for disposal of nuclear____________.

8) When the nuclear ____________ exploded at the Chernobyl power plant, large areas of the surrounding countryside were _____________ and there was _________ all over Europe and even in Brazil.

Exercise 7. Complete the table and use some words from the table in the sentences given below. Use the nouns with the meanings of physical characteristics.

Adjective	Noun	Verb
strong	strength	Strengthen
wide
deep
weak
short
high
broad

1) Only people over a certain _____________can join the army.

2) These country roads are dangerously narrow. They need ______________.

3) Industries are laughing at the _____________ of the new regulations.

4) They wanted to ______________ the bottom of the harbour to allow oil tankers in.

5) Greenpeace has ______________ our understanding of the environment.

Exercise 8. Divide this words and expressions into two lists: protectors of the environment; threats to the environment.

nuclear power station wildlife landscaping

car erosion waste disposal

lorry National parks fertiliser

green belt sulphur emission intensive forestry

urban development smog Greenpeace

countryside pesticide acid rain

Exercise 9. Dealing with problems.

Study the following phrasal verbs and their definitions:

run up against - to have to deal with some unexpected problems or

difficulties

run into - to suddenly experience a problem and have to deal with it

come up against - to be faced with a problem, or a difficult situation, or a person

face up to - to accept that an unpleasant fact is true or a difficult

situation exists

deal with - to take action in order to solve a problem

sort out - to solve the problem

get around - to find a way of dealing with a problem, especially by

avoiding it

figure out - to find the answer to a problem, question, etc.

think over - to think very carefully about an idea or a plan before

accepting it

work out - to calculate the answer to the problem that involves

numbers; to succeed in understanding something

Use some of them in the sentences:

1) We hope to ____________the problem with relief supply soon.

2) He was trying to ____________a way of paying them back the money he

owed them.

3) It was a wonderful offer, so I agreed to __________it __________for a

couple of days.

4) There was obviously something wrong with the machine, but they couldn't

___________ what it was.

5) Many countries introduced new security systems, but it happens that

highjackers can ____________them.

6) Plans to build another tunnel through the mountains ___________strong

opposition from local residents and environmental groups.