Questions

1. Are you optimistic about the future?

2. Do you believe that robots will do all the dangerous and dirty work for us?

3. What will robots do for us?

4. Do you think children will go to school in the future?

5. What’s the difference between a telephone and a videophone?

6. Will writing by hand become the thing of the past?

7. Why do you think people will become healthier?

8. Will our planet become cleaner or more polluted?

9. Pessimists say that one day we’ll have to pay for clean air just like we do now for clean water. Do you think it’s possible?

10. Will there be wars in the future?

11. Have you ever seen an electric car?

12. Do you think the world will become more democratic?

Computer Revolution

50 years ago people didn’t even heard of computers, and today we cannot imagine life without them.

Computer technology is the fastest-growing industry in the world. The first computer was the size of a minibus and weighed a ton. Today, its job can be done by a chip the size of a pin head. And the revolution is still going on.

Very soon we’ll have computers that we’ll wear on our wrists or even in our glasses and earrings.

The next generation of computers will be able to talk and even think for themselves. They will contain electronic “neural networks”. Of course, they’ll be still a lot simpler than human brains, but it will be a great step forward. Such computers will help to diagnose illnesses, find minerals, identify criminal and control space travel.

Some people say that computers are dangerous, but I don’t agree with them.

They save a lot of time. They seldom make mistakes. It’s much faster and easier to surf the Internet than to go to the library.

On-line shopping makes it possible to find exactly what you want at the best price, saving both time and money.

E-mail is a great invention, too. It’s faster than sending a letter and cheaper than sending a telegram.

All in all, I strongly believe that computers are a useful tool. They have changed our life for the better. So why shouldn’t we make them work to our advantage?

Questions

1. Have you got a computer?

2. Do you think it’s a useful tool?

3. Will computers become smaller in the future?

4. Can the Internet help you to do your homework?

5. Can computers help us to learn foreign languages?

6. Do you play computer games?

7. What are the advantages of on-line shopping?

8. What are the advantages of e-mail?

9. Do you think that computers are bad for health?

10. Some people have made friends through the Internet. What about you?

11. Some people say that computers make us less sociable. Do you agree?

12. What will the next generation of computers be able to do?

Our Planet Earth

The planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but it’s the only place where human beings can live.

Today, our planet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution, overpopulation are the problem that threaten human life on Earth.

Who is to blame for the disaster? The answer is simple: all of us.

Our forests are disappearing because they are cut down or burnt. If this trend continues, one day we won’t have enough oxygen to breathe.

The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.

Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out for ever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today may soon become extinct.

Air pollution is another serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the air is dangerous – equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same holds true for many Russian cities.

Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains.

An even gerater threat are nuclear power stations. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are.

Fortunately, it’s not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and even the technology to make our planet a better, cleaner and safer place. We can plant trees and create parks for endangered species. We can recycle little. We can support green parties and put pressure on those in power. Together we can save the planet and all of us with it.