2. Understanding the text: True or False?

From the information contained in the text, decide whether the statements are true or false.

(a) A lot of biological changes occur to indicate the acidification of the freshwater in many European countries.

(b) The main reason of phytoplankton declining is that a lake has a pH value more than six.

(c) The groups of the adult fish species can easily live on in an acidified environment.

(d) The Aluminum ions in raised concentration may kill fish.

(e) The areas with limestone bedrock are immune to acidification.

(f) Acid water is always the only reason of aquatic animals’ death.

(g) Big moss bloom in an acidified environment and smother lobelia, quillwort, and shoreweeds.

3. Find in the text the following words and expressions and translate them into Russian

fish population fish stocks

to become acidified acidified environment

acidic water aquatic species

to precipitate the uptake of oxygen

the cause of extinction in ion form

repercussion to accumulate acid from

acid flushes limestone bedrock

4. Scanning

Read quickly and find a specific piece of information

1. What are the signs of acidification on fresh water life?

2. What do the humic substances usually do to clear the water?

3. How many species are there usually in lakes with pH value more than 6?

4. What kinds of plants thrive in an acidified environment?

5. What type of aquatic species are the most sensitive to acidification?

6. How can Aluminum ions harm fish?

7. What effects do the seasonal phenomena have on the Ph value of the waters?

4. Grammar Reference

In the article you can see the underlined sentence fragments. Can you translate them into Russian?

The rule:

You form the Present Simple Passive with am\ is\ are + Past Participle

Shops are filled with different goods

A new building is built in our street

We use the Passive when we are more interested in the object of the sentence or we don’t know who or what does smth.

If we want to know who or what does smth., we use by

Practice exercises

Look at these pairs of active and passive sentences. In each pair, which do you think is the best sentence?

1. They make Fiat cars in Italy.

Fiat cars are made in Italy.

2. They sell Macdonalds hamburgers in many countries.

Macdonalds hamburgers are sold all over the world.

3. My mother does a lot of cooking.

A lot of cooking is done by my mother.

4. My brother writes poetry.

Poetry is written by my brother.

5. Coffee is drunk in most countries.

They drink coffee in most countries.

Rewrite these sentences into the Passive

1. People smoke a lot of cigarettes a day.

2. Many children play the piano.

3. You change money in a bank.

4. They often buy the bread in markets.

5. They arrange the gifts around a wooden frame

4. Making a summary

Pick out five key sentences and use them to make a summary of the whole passage.