Scanning

To do this exercise, glance at the text above for information, then, eyes up, give a response.

1. What did the author think about when one of the party explained why she had four dustbins?

2. What do these words mean: ‘Here was someone actually taking action in the most direct way’?

3. What is meant by ‘the diet book syndrome’?

4. What party was supported by 2 million people in the European Elections?

5. Why does the author say that the woman with her rubbish bins wouldn’t be considered anything out of the ordinary? Give some facts to confirm your words.

6. Is there any difference between the turnover of the companies selling ecologically sound cleansing products and the amount of money gained by the companies still polluting the environment?

7. What measures are being taken in California according to their processes in making paper products?

8. Have you got a Green supermarket in your city?

9. What other steps are suggested by the author to save the life on our planet?

10. How were the manufacturers in Sweden forced to change their processes in making paper products?

11. What does the saying ‘Waste not, want not’ mean?

12. Give the gist of the text.

Suggest a statistical questionnaire for a survey to study day-to-day waste disposal habits of Russian people.

TEXT 2

Read the text, define its main idea.

Single out the most important sentence in each paragraph.

If you do not litter, our town will glitter

Our society is consumer-oriented. People manufacture consumer goods in endless quantities, exhausting the earth’s resources.

We produce more and more waste. And the problem of pollution is aggravated by our ‘throw-away’ technology. Each year only Americans dispose of about 10 million autos, 20 million tons of waste paper, 50 million cans.

We are turning the world into a gigantic dump. Instead of repairing a radio set, for example, it is easier and cheaper to buy a new one and discard the old. It is no longer fashionable to re-use anything. Cities are surrounded by junkyards full of rusting automobiles. Cans and bottles have piled up.

Is their any hope that we can solve the pollution problem? Fortunately, solutions are in sight. Cars are flattened in a giant compressor that reduces a car to the size of a television set in a matter of minutes. Any left-over scrap metal is mixed with concrete and made into exceptionally strong bricks that are used in buildings and bridges.

To eliminate the problem of man-made pollution, to make our earth beautiful again, each of us must take some steps to clean up the environment. The latest idea is an ‘ecology drive’. Students in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, for instance, collected tons of discarded bottles and cans and transported the junk to collection centres.

Everything can be recycled. The salvaged aluminium is used to make new cans, and the glass is melted down to make new bottles.

(“The Bell Curve”, April 2004)

Answer these questions to the text:

1. Why do they call our society ‘consumer-oriented’?

2. What is meant by ‘throw-away’ technology?

3. What attracts people to this kind of technology?

4. What are the dangers of the situation in which the worked is turning into a dump?

5. Are there any measures that could stop the pollution?

6. What is ‘an ecology drive’?

7. What can each of us do to control pollution?

8. Which of the words from the text could be considered special ecological terms?

CONVERSATION

Summarize the information from Text 1 and Text 2 in three or four paragraphs using the words below. (Make up a plan of your summary.)

To take action, to recycle the rubbish, consumer generation, to exhaust the earth’s resources, to aggravate, ‘throw-away’ technology, to switch (over) to, to cast one’s vote for, out of the ordinary, ecologically sound, to pollute the environment, dangers to health, organic farming, ingrained attitudes, a gigantic dump, to discard, junkyards, scrap metal, to eliminate, ecology drive.

Did you know: The pile of rubbish at New York’s Fresh Kills rubbish dump was so big it could be seen from out space! Comment on the fact.

Say why environmentalists state that

	regenerates the environment?
	conserves the resources?
	reduces pollution and litter?
	reduces acid rain?
recycling	reduces the need for landfill sites?
	cuts energy costs?
	generates jobs?
	engenders a sense of community pride?
	creates profitable industry?
	provides funds for charity?

TEXT 3

RENDERING

Here is a text for you to render and then to comment on. Use the given words and word combinations below: