VII. Oral Practice.

While doing the exercise given below, use some of the se conversational formulas:

1. To begin with… —

2. It’s interesting to note…—

3. It’s well known that…—

4. It should be added…—

5. To cut a long story short…—

6. It’s worth pointing out…—

7. We can’t but mention…—

8. In conclusion, I’d like to stress…—

Ex .16 .Speak on the interaction of the problems of man and the environment .

Ex.17. Say which of the problems below are mentioned in the texts A and B.

conserving water

global warming

water pollution

nuclear power

air pollution

acid rain

chemical waste

transport

the increasing noise level

Ex.18. Comment on: “that destroys its soil and air, destroys itself”.

Ex.19. Role play the following situation:

You are a member of the local branch of the world-known organization Green Peace that was founded in 1970 to protect the ecology of the planet. The spheres of its activity include: prevention of the air, land, water pollution , the protection of the flora and fauna, etc.

You meet a member of the Green Peace organization from Canada. Ask him questions about the common problems of your organizations, about the ways of decreasing air pollution, protecting environment and improving the ecology.

Supplementary reading text c man protects his environment

Interrelations between man and the biosphere are a fairly complex nature. Man, like every other living organism, de­pends for his life on what the biosphere provides: water, oxygen, food and shelter. On the other hand, the biosphere is strongly affected by all sorts of human activity.

About 200 years ago man lived in greater harmony with his environment because industry was not developed. Pre­historic man withdrew from the atmosphere only the oxygen he required for respiration. Today the situation is quite differ­ent. Modern man consumes a far greater amount of oxygen to support fires, power plants and chemical processes. The carbon dioxide produced by technological processes has greatly changed the carbon dioxide concentration in the at­mosphere. The technology has introduced into the biosphere, man made radio-isotopes and a wide variety of synthetic materials such as plastics, insecticides, herbicides and nu­merous industrial materials. These substances and materials alter the biosphere.

The problem of the environmental crisis has recently as­sumed global proportions. Scientists say, that unless some radical steps are taken, before long life on our planet may be irrevocably damaged, if not destroyed altogether.

The Earth provides people with mineral resources, rivers and forests. The resources demand rational use. But very often a man can not cope with this task. As a result the na­ture and people suffer. Such vital sources of life as air, wa­ter, minerals, fauna and flora are being wasted and de­stroyed. Some animal species and plants have become ex­tinct. When this happens the Red Fish die in the lakes, rivers and seas, while trees die in the forests.

The Earth is our home. We must take care of our home. The protection of nature has become one of the real problems of the 20th century. More and more people in all countries are raising their voices in defence of nature.

Concern about the preservation of the environment and its protection from pollution as well as concern about our limited natural resources has given rise to a powerful movement throughout the world. This movement is called environmentalism from the English word environment.

Everybody knows that the Baikal is being saved, not on­ly by the Russian people but also by foreigners and from an international organization Greenpeace.