Kinds of pollution Part I

Vocabulary

pollutant забруднюючий агент

waste відходи

solid твердий

liquid рідкий

hazy затуманений

particle частка

substance речовина

vehicle транспортний засіб

combustion згоряння

fuel паливо

scatter розсіювати, розвіювати

dispose of позбавитися

furnace піч

Reading Read the text and say about different kinds of environmental pollution.

There are several kinds of environmental pollution. They include air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, and pollution caused by solid wastes, noise, and radiation.

All parts of the environment are closely related to one another. The study of the relationships among living things, and between living things and other parts of the environment, is called ecology. Because of the close relationships, a kind of pollution that chiefly harms one part of the envi­ronment may also affect others. For example, air pollution harms the air. But rain washes pollutants out of the air and deposits them on the land and in bodies of water. Wind, on the other hand, blows pollutants off the land and into the air.

Air pollution turns clear, odorless air into hazy, smelly air that harms health, kills plants, and damages property. People cause air pollution both outdoors and indoors. Outdoor air pollution results from pouring hun­dreds of millions of tons of gases and particulates (tiny particles of liquid or solid matter) into the atmosphere each year. One of the most common forms of out-door air pollution is smog. Indoor air pollution results from many of the same substances found outdoors. But indoor pollutants can present a more serious problem because they tend to build up in a small area from which they cannot easily escape. Cigarette smoke is a familiar indoor air pollutant.

Most air pollution results from combustion (burning) processes. The burning of gasoline to power motor vehicles and the burning of coal to heat buildings and help manufacture products are examples of such pro­cesses. Each time a fuel is burned in a combustion process, some type of pollutant is released into the air. The pollutants range from small mounts of colorless poison gas to clouds of thick black smoke. Weather condi­tions can help reduce the amount of pollutants in outdoor air. Wind scat­ters pollutants, and rain and snow wash them into the ground. But in many areas, pollutants are put into the air faster than weather conditions can dispose of them. In crowded cities, for example, thousands of auto­mobiles, factories, and furnaces may add tons of pollutants to a small area of the atmosphere each day.

Exercise 1. Translate the following word-combinations.

Outdoor air pollution, cigarette smoke, motor vehicles, colorless poison gas, indoor air pollutants, solid wastes, combustion process, odorless gas.

Exercise 2. Find the word with an opposite meaning matching A with B.

	A		B
1	clear	a	liquid
2	odorless	b	smelly
3	outdoor	c	hazy
4	solid	d	indoors

Exercise 3. Label the scheme of pollution with the following words:

soil, water, air, solid, wastes, noise, pollution, radiation.

Exercise 4. Complete the sentences with one word from each column using the scheme below.

A	B	C
Air pollution	washes	pollutants on the land;
Wind	deposits	pollutants off the land;
Rain	harms	the air;
	blows	pollutants out of the air;
		pollutants into the air.

Exercise 5. Complete the gaps with the words from the box.

environmental scatters particles solid hazy liquid washes

1. Hundreds of millions of tiny … of liquid or solid matter pour into the atmosphere every year.

2. Air pollution turns clear, odorless air into … smelly air that harms health.

3. Air pollution is one of the most dangerous kinds of … pollution.

4. Some kinds of pollution can be caused by … and … wastes added to the atmosphere.

5. Wind … pollutants, and rain and snow … them into the ground.

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences with prepositions:

to, of  3, among, between

1. All parts … the environment are closely related … one another.

2. The study … the relationships … living things and … living things and other parts … the environment is called ecology.

Exercise 7. Put the questions in the correct order and use the answers to get summary of the text.

1. What does most air pollution result from?

2. What are "particulates"?

3. What does environmental pollution include?

4. How do weather conditions influence pollutants?

5. All parts of the environment are closely related. How can their pollution affect each other?

6. What does the ecology study?

Exercise 8. Translate the text in the written form.

At times, weather conditions cause pollutants to build up over an area instead of clearing them away. One such conditions – called thermal inversion – occurs when a layer of warm air settles over a layer of cooler air that lies near the ground. The warm air holds down the cool air and prevents pollutants from rising and scattering. A serious pollution problem results when a thermal inversion occurs over a city that is pouring tons of pollutants into the air.

Lesson 3