Flower Power
Flowers grow everywhere in the world but when people think of tulips, they think of the Netherlands. The Dutch have a saying: “Flowers love people”. If this is true, then flowers really love the Dutch, (1) __________ flowers have been cultivated in the Netherlands for hundreds of years. (2) __________, the flower industry has been so profitable that it has been boosting the Dutch economy since the seventeenth century.
Recently, (3) __________, the Dutch flower growers have been having difficulties in coping with the tough competition from abroad. The Colombians, (4) __________, have taken the Dutch by surprise. Their flowers are now in demand all over the world (5) _________to the simple fact that they are cheaper. Within a few short years, Colombians have brought Holland’s domination of the flower industry to an end.
(6) __________ this fact, the Netherlands is still in control of over sixty per cent of the world’s flower market.
In order to help the Dutch growers, the European Commission has decided to promote the flower industry, as (7) __________ as the growers themselves are willing to cut costs and become more competitive. All this in the hope of making people buy more flowers than they used to.
Today the average Dutchman buys 150 stems a year, (8) __________the Germans buy 80 stems and English only 50 stems. These numbers are constantly declining. (9) __________ this trend is reversed, (10) __________ many Dutch growers will soon be out of business. |
Reading Practice
Read the text below.
Why sleep is necessary?
T
homas
Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, thought that sleep was
unnecessary and that a society that operated without sleep would be
an ideal one. However, he was wrong. Nowadays, we are living in a
society which is sleeping less than ever and this has resulted in
many negative effects.
According to police reports, more than twenty five per cent of motorway accidents are directly and indirectly attributed to lack of sleep. It is true that people used to sleep nine hours a night, whereas today they sleep seven or even less. This is because our way of life has changed and we are trying to squeeze activities like watching television, shopping or going to the gym in our 24-hour day.
Lack of sleep also has a negative effect on our health. Research that has been carried out on animals continuously deprived of sleep has shown that they are likely to die. Of course, experiments of this kind are highly unlikely to be carried out on humans themselves. The longest period of wakefulness which broke the record was eleven days. This experiment showed that after a few days without sleep, the mind and body were unable to function normally.
To put it in a nutshell, the vast majority of us need an adequate amount of sleep, in every twenty-four-hour period.
Discuss the following statements.
1. |
Nowadays people sleep less than years ago. |
2. |
Lack of sleep has a negative effect on our health. |
3. |
It is necessary to sleep 8 or more hours a day. |
4. |
Give a piece of advice how to sleep well. |
Unit 17 |
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Причастие. Аудирование. Диалоги. Письмо |
Lesson 17
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Раздел 17 |
Grammar & Vocabulary Practice