Vocabulary

1. undoubtedly – несомненно

2. outcome – результат

3. affair – дело

4. actually – фактически

5. impeccably – безупречно, непогрешимо

6. superficial – поверхностный (знания)

7. thoroughly – до конца, тщательно

8. acquirement – приобретение (знаний)

9. fluently – бегло (о речи)

10. at the most – самое большее

11. on the world’s stage – на мировой арене

12. contrary to – противоположный (чему-либо)

13. contain – содержать

14. as many … as – как можно больше; настолько много, насколько возможно

15. significantly – значительно

16. to get in contact – вступать в контакт

17. be concerned about – беспокоиться о

18. to obtain – получать

19. despite - несмотря на

20. controversial issue – противоречивый вопрос

16. The world around us environmental problems

Nature is everything we can see around us: the Sun, the Moon, the stars, our Earth, the plants that grow on it and the animals that live on it. Nature is a nice storybook and those who are attentive can find in it a lot of interesting things to learn. If you keep your eyes open¹, you can see a lot of wonders: blue sky, shiny stars, bright sunshine, green trees, deep seas and oceans.

The planet where we live, the Earth, is round like a ball. It is turning all the time but you can't feel it. It moves around the Sun during twelve months. Twelve months make a year. The Earth is covered with water and land. There is more water on the Earth then anything else. You can find water in rivers, ponds², lakes, seas and oceans. Water in the seas and oceans is salty. Only three per cent of Earth's water is fresh. Three-fourths³ of it is frozen in glaciers⁴. Some water falls to the Earth as rain and snow. Water is in the plants, animals and in the air. For example clouds are made of millions of raindrops. They are so small that float⁵ in the air like little balloons.

Our planet is big. There are mountains and hills, fields and meadows⁶ on the Earth. Animals and plants live almost everywhere. They can live on the Earth because it is just the right distance from⁷ the sun. If the Earth were too close to the sun it would be too hot for living things. If the Earth were too far from the sun it would be too cold for anything to live. No one knows how many kinds of animals live on the Earth, but you can enjoy the beauty of the planet everywhere.

For the next decade the world's population may rise by 97 million people a year. Scientists predict⁸ that by the year 2025 the population will rise 8, 5 billion, and by the year 2050 it will double.

Most people find these figures alarming⁹, they are afraid that we will run out¹⁰ of land, energy and minerals.

But optimists are sure that new generations will find a way out. Exploration and new technology open new reserves of minerals like coal and oil. Some scientists think that these reserves will go on forever¹¹.

But such confidence¹² is deceiving¹³. If we go on using our natural resources as quickly as nowadays we will use up¹⁴ all the resources of copper, natural gas and oil by the year 2054.

On the other hand the problem of what we waste is more important. This includes not only all the resources but also our attitude to forests and species of animals and plants we destroy carelessly. Thus, we are facing a pollution crisis.

We pollute the air we breathe. Everybody sees smoke coming out of tall factory chimneys. Everybody can smell the gas from the back of a bus.

In big cities thousands of automobiles and factories may add tons of poison¹⁵ to the atmosphere every day.

Another problem is our sewage systems¹⁶. Do you know where the sewage from many houses of a big city goes? It pollutes rivers and lakes and may even make them die. Fish can't live in them, and people can’t swim in them.

The seas are in danger as they are also polluted. Even the ocean is falling ill. If nothing is done about it, fish and sea animals will disappear.

Do you know where the poison goes when we spray it on our plants to kill insects and weeds¹⁷? Onto the things people and birds eat. This way we kill ourselves and birds and animals around us.

If we don't stop spoiling the world around us, our life will not be nice. But there is much that we can do. Factories can clean their smoke. Cars and planes can be done so that they do not pollute the air. The dirty water from the factories and sewage can be made clean again.

Our beautiful planet must be covered with forests because trees supply us with oxygen, necessary for our life. So we must take control of cutting down forests and trees. We must plant again where we have cut.