1. Read the text again and answer the following questions:

1. Why is healthy soil indispensable for a healthy garden?

2. What does soil consist of?

3. What does mineral content provide plants with?

4. What is the role of organic matter?

5. Why is water and air also very important?

6. What do plants use nutrients for?

7. What nutrients do plants need in large amount?

8. What substances do micronutrients include?

9. What plant characteristics does soil texture affect?

10. What particles constitute soil texture? Which of them are the biggest / the smallest?

11. What kind of soil is the best for most plants?

12. What is the measure of soil acidity or alkalinity?

13. What factors influence acidity and alkalinity of a soil?

14. What is pH of pure water?

15. Which soils are considered acidic and which alkaline?

2. Make a summary of the text. Use the questions above as a plan.

FERTILIZING

Not all soils have enough nutrients or the right balance of nutrients. In addition, plants remove nutrients from the soil as they grow, so these nutrients must be replaced in order for the soil to remain productive. For these reasons, gardeners enhance soil by adding fertilizer, a material that contains one or more of the nutrients plants need.

Fertilizers are divided into two categories: synthetic and organic. Synthetic fertilizers are concentrated salts or minerals, some of which are produced as by-products of petroleum production. Organic fertilizers originate in plants, animals, or minerals and include compost, seaweed, and ground bone.

Fertilizers usually are sold in packages, on which the percentage by weight of the macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are listed on the label—always in the order N-P-K. For example, a fertilizer that is labeled 10-5-3 is 10 percent nitrogen, 5 percent phosphorus, and 3 percent potassium.

Vocabulary

enhance – покращувати, збільшувати, посилювати

fertilizer – добриво

by-product – субпродукт

petroleum – нафта

originate - походити

seaweed – морська водорість

Vocabulary exercises

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

fertilizing, enhance, synthetic, petroleum, seaweed, package, percentage, macronutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium

2. Find the stem in the following words; point out suffixes. Translate the words into Ukrainian:

addition, productive, fertilizer, organic, originate, package, percentage

3. Form adjectives with the help of the suffix –ive. Translate them into Ukrainian.

effect, protect, create, react, act, attract, select, impress, mass, progress

4. Fill in the blanks with suitable words from the active vocabulary:

1. Plants and animals ... the quality of our environment: they add more colours and positive emotions to our lives.

2. ... is a chemical or natural substance that is put on the land to make crops grow better. 3. Silver is often obtained as a ... during the separation of lead from the rock. 4. The word ecology ... from the Greek words meaning house and science.

5. Say whether these statements are right or wrong. Correct them if they are wrong.

1. All soils have enough nutrients or the right balance of nutrients.

2. Fertilizer is a material that contains one or more of the nutrients plants need.

3. A fertilizer that is labeled 5-3-10 is 5 percent nitrogen, 3 percent potassium and 10 percent phoshporus.

Grammar exercise

1. In the text there are six examples of the Passive Voice. Find them and translate them into Ukrainian.

Speech exercices

1. Read the text again and do the following tasks:

1. Give the definition of a fertilizer.

2. Name two categories of fertilizers.

3. Explain how to understand the labels on the fertilizer packages.

PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING

Before planting seeds, gardeners prepare, or till, the soil using a variety of methods. Some turn over the soil with a spade, while others loosen it with a garden fork. Then, they rake it smooth before planting. Some gardeners prefer not to turn or loosen the soil because the oxygen that enters the soil when it is tilled by these methods hastens the breakdown of needed organic matter in the soil. Instead, they just dig a small hole for each seed or plant. To keep the soil loose so that roots can develop easily, they keep it covered with grass clippings, compost, or other organic matter. The presence of this organic matter encourages large populations of worms, whose tunneling breaks up the soil.

Gardeners plant seeds at different depths, depending on the seed’s size and its requirement for light. Seeds contain starch and oil, stored food that provides the energy needed for sprouting, or germination. Small seeds do not hold much food, so they are sown on or close to the soil surface, where they will not require a lot of energy to push through the soil. Larger seeds have enough food reserves to be planted deeper. This gives the root system more time to develop as the seedling, or young plant, grows up through the soil. As a general rule, a seed can be planted three times as deep as the seed is wide(1). Some seeds, such as lettuce, require light to germinate; these seeds must be sown on or very near the soil surface. Once the seeds are sown, the gardener gently presses down the soil to ensure that the seed touches soil, not air pockets—this soil contact helps keep the seeds moist.

Seeds usually are sown close together in case some of them do not germinate successfully. Once the seedlings that emerge are several inches tall, the gardener removes extra ones so that the remaining seedlings are evenly spaced and not crowded. The correct spacing between seedlings depends on how much room the mature plant needs(2). To prevent the seeds and seedlings from drying out, the gardener keeps the soil damp—not wet—until the seedlings are several inches tall and then gradually tapers off watering.

Rather than starting seeds directly in the garden(3), some gardeners opt to use transplants—young plants purchased from nurseries or grown by the gardener indoors. Transplants are a particularly popular option for gardeners who live in cooler climates with short growing seasons. In a short growing season, good weather does not last long enough for plants grown from seeds to mature. Transplants give the garden a head start(4). They can be placed in the garden in early spring, but must be protected from the cold. One protective method is to cover each transplant with a transparent milk jug or plastic soda bottle with the bottom cut off, which acts like a small greenhouse to trap heat around the plant. Using the same principle, some gardeners place transplants, still in the pot, outdoors in a large bottomless box with a clear top called a cold frame. The sunlight passes through the top and heats the air in the cold frame.

Notes

1. a seed can be planted three times as deep as the seed is wide – глибина посадки насіння повина втричі перебільшувати його ширину

2. how much room the mature plant needs – скільки місця потрібно зрілій рослині

3. Rather than starting seeds directly in the garden - Замість того, щоб висаджувати насіння безпосередньо у сад

4. a head start – ривок уперед (на старті)