1. Rivers, 2. Grasslands, 3. Oceans, 4. Islands, 5. Forests

Text A. Today the savanna is home to about 40 species of large animals. Millions of these animals once inhabited the savanna, but since the arrival of the Europeans some 300 years ago, their habitat has shrunk year by year and their populations have decreased greatly.

Wildlife is threatened throughout the world. A few large animals have managed to survive, but everywhere wildlife is endangered due to hunting and the destruction of habitats.

Only the most hostile of these lands have been left to wildlife — lands where the temperature is too high, there is little rain, or the winds blow too strongly to suit the needs of people and their livestock. Here many wild creatures escape the ravages of nature by living in burrows most of the time or migrating to more temperate climates when conditions become unbearable.

Text B. Though teeming with life, tropical rainforests are also extremely fragile. Their most abundant resources are the rain and the warm sunshine.

Jungles are usually cleared for farming by the primitive technique of cutting and burning all the vegetation. This is fast, but it also destroys the reservoirs of nutrients. Crops usually grow well for only one or two seasons; the pioneer farmers then have to move on to new land. There they repeat their slash-and-burn devastation again, leaving behind a greatly depleted soil — one that is less rich than that of many desert lands. When attempts are made to prolong the use of the land, such as by adding chemical fertilizers, the heavy rains leach the nutrients from the soil before the crop plants can derive any benefit. A forest will eventually grow again, but many centuries must pass before a multistoried jungle reappears.

Text C. Already there are strong indications that the plankton pastures of the open ocean are being affected by pollutants washed in the land. These small life forms are not on threatened or endangered species lists, and most people would consider it strange even to think in those terms. But if the abundance of plankton was sharply reduced, all life on earth would be imperiled. The web of life is complex, and the oceans are vital to sustaining life. At present the harmful effects of pollution in the seas are most noticeable in coastal areas, but there are many indications that pollutants are affecting ocean life on a broad scale.

Text D. Streams become open sewers; lakes become cesspools or catch basins. In the United States many major river systems are now polluted — so much so that a few can no longer support almost any sort of life. Cities and industries are not the only polluters. Some of the most damaging pollution comes from agriculture. Fertilizers and insecticides (pesticides), applied to crops and also to forest areas, eventually find their way into streams, lakes, and wetlands. Directly or indirectly, they kill fish and their prey and also birds and other predators that feed on fish.

Text E. The appearance of humans on the islands destroyed this isolation. Even if people do not try to eliminate the native species directly, introduced domestic or wild animals may take over their food and living space or prey on the island dwellers. Some of the most tragic examples of human-caused extinction have occurred on oceanic islands.

Exercise 7. Read the texts above once again and decide true or false are the following statements:

1. 40 species of large mammals inhabit savanna today.

2. The Europeans arrived to savanna 300 years ago.

3. The wildlife is endangered due to changing climate conditions.

4. In order to survive some creatures live in burrows others migrate to other places.

5. Jungle is being terribly cut down.

6. Adding of chemical fertilizers give great results in growing plants.

7. Plankton is still abundant in the ocean.

8. The loss of plankton would be imperiled for the life on earth.

9. The use of lands in agriculture is a soil destruction problem only.

10. Oceanic islands suffered greatly from humans’ activity.

Exercise 8. Give English equivalents to the following expressions:

однажды населявшие саванну; по всему миру; удалось выжить; из-за охоты и разрушения среды обитания; самые непригодные для жизни из этих земель; соответствовать потребностям людей; кишеть жизнью, чрезвычайно хрупкий; опустошение природы; подсечно-огневое опустошающее земледелие; истощенная почва; посредством добавления химических удобрений; многоярусные джунгли; открытые сточные канавы; любая форма жизни, наиболее опасное загрязнение; и другие хищники, которые кормятся рыбой; местные биологические виды

Exercise 9. Compose a dialogue for the TV News from the International Environmental Press Conference. In your dialogue use the following questions and the ideas of your own:

1. Excuse me, could I ask you a few questions?

2. How does the developing civilization affect the environment in the region where you live?

3. What are the main branches of industry in your place?

4. What are the consequences of this development?

5. Do people think much about the environment in your region?

Additional Vocabulary:

flambeau light [’flæmbəu lait] – газовый факел

oil spillage [ɔil ’spilidჳ] – разлив нефти

to emit a great amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – выбрасывать большое количество углекислого газа в атмосферу

the result is the ozone layer depletion – результатом является истощение озонового слоя