1130

34. Read the whole article again (Ex. 27, 32) and make notes under the following headings PROBLEM – CAUSE

– EFFECT as shown in the table.

35. Read this background information. Then take the quiz that follows. Decide whether the statements are myth or fact, and mark the appropriate box.

Water. We all need it; we all drink it; it is the true source of life without which we wouldn’t exist. Nearly threequarters of the earth’s surface is covered with water. No life we know of can survive without water. Water plays a huge role in our everyday lives. We can live for weeks without food, but only days without water. Between 55 and 65 percent of the human body is made up of water. In other words, if you took all of the water out of a 175-pound man, he would weigh only 70 pounds! Increasingly, however, the public is losing its trust in water. According to current research, easy access to clean, safe water can no longer be taken for granted. Water quality is threatened throughout the world, including the United States. Growing populations, aging sewer systems, and environmental and biological pollution are all contributing to the problem.

What Is Your Water I.Q.?

Myth Fact

1.Bottled water isn’t really better than tap water. In the United States, both are inspected by the government.

2.In the United States, 3 percent of the population regularly drinks bottled water.

3.Every brand of bottled water has its own distinct flavor.

4.Most people need to drink about three glasses of water each day.

5.People in the United States buy bottled water because they think it is healthier than tap water.

6.The tap water in large American cities may be as impure as that of some developing countries.

7.Some people buy filters or water purifiers to purify their tap water. These, however, may end up adding more impurities.

8.By tasting and smelling your water, you can detect impurities.

9.Bacterial pollutants in water are more dangerous than chemical and industrial pollutants.

10.“Pure”, “natural”, “100% organic” are labels that assure the bottled water consumer that the water is free of impurities.

11.The purest water comes from natural springs, a place where water comes up naturally from the ground.

12.If you boil your tap water for ten minutes, you can eliminate all impurities.

36.Now check your answers. Discuss them with your partner. Compare the information with that one in our country. Use the Internet if you need to find out.

1.Myth. Bottled water follows stricter standards than tap water. In the United States, bottled water is classified as a “food.” therefore it must follow the stricter guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration, the government agency which regulates food safety. Tap water is regulated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). EPA standards allow for higher amounts of impurities in the water.

2.Myth. In the United States, one out of every six households drinks bottled water on a regular basis.

3.Fact. Despite the fact that bottled water must meet strict standards, the taste of the water varies according to its source.

4.Myth. People need eight glasses of water a day.

5.Myth. Nearly half of all bottled water drinkers choose it for taste reasons.

6.Fact. Contaminated drinking water is a tremendous problem all over the world, even in some areas of the United States. In the developed world, the problem is less obvious because drinking water contamination takes effect slowly or mildly.

7.Fact. Home water filters may remove some impurities from tap water. However, if the filters aren’t regularly cleaned or changed, the water they supply could actually be dirtier than what comes directly out of the tap.

8.Myth. Most impurities cannot be tasted or smelled.

9.Fact. Much attention has been given to water pollution caused by chemicals and metals. However, it’s easy to measure chemicals and metals in water. It’s more complicated to measure bacteria and viruses, but 80 percent of water-related diseases are caused by pollution from bacteria and viruses.

10.Myth. Those words are marketing terms only. It’s perfectly legal to sell water with those labels. The bottling company may be selling purified water from a very impure source. The company is not legally required to reveal the source.

11.Myth. Natural sources of water are often contaminated by toxic pollutants.

12.Myth. Boiling tap water only kills mild impurities. It does not remove more dangerous pollutants like lead, pesticides, radon, or other harmful chemicals.

37.Work in pairs. Underline the words and expressions relating to the subject in this dialogue. Use them in the dialogue of your own.

- Peter, what can you tell us about the environment and how to protect it?

- Well, Mrs. Smith. There are many environmental problems that people have to cope with. - Would you give any examples?

- Pollution, the greenhouse effect, holes in the ozone layer … - Very good, Peter, but what is the greenhouse effect?

- The greenhouse effect is caused by harmful gases, so called greenhouse gases. They are produced by power stations. They go up into the Earth’s atmosphere and prevent heat from escaping. Because the heat cannot leave, the Earth gets warmer. This is known as global warming.

- What can we, as inhabitants of the Earth, do to protect our planet?

- It is very important to know the main sources of pollution and try to change them for the better. Cars are the biggest polluters today, because the produce exhaust fumes, which are the main cause of bad air quality. Maybe we should use public transport more often because it is more environmentally friendly than cars.

- And what about wasting energy?

- There are alternative energy sources we could use instead of oil and coal. Wind power, wave power and solar power do not pollute the environment.

- Very good. But what about ordinary people? How should we change our lifestyles?

- It’s easy. We can help the environment by choosing to buy green products like paper and glass, which can be recycled. We should eat organic fruit and vegetables that have been produced without chemicals.

- Excellent, Peter. You are a very good citizen of our planet.

38.Are these sentences true or false? Write the correct ones.

1.Paper can be recycled.

2.Aerosol cans protect the ozone layer.

3.Cutting down tropical forests is good for animals.

4.Skin cancer may be caused by ultraviolet light.

5.Acid rain contains acid from factory smoke.

6.The greenhouse effect is caused by ultraviolet light.

39. Complete the sentences with the appropriate words.

1.Greenhouse gases go up into the Earth’s ___________ and prevent

__________ from leaving the Earth.

2.The ozone ___________ is being damaged by chemicals.

3.The greenhouse ______________ is caused by harmful ____________ .

4.The Earth is getting warmer and this is known as global ____________ .

5.Exhaust ___________ are the main cause of bad air _______________ .

40. What should and shouldn’t we do in order to protect the environment? Put the verbs in the gaps. We should:

________ more trees;

________ natural resources;

________ paper, glass and plastic;

________ against polluting the environment.

We shouldn’t:

________ tropical forests;

________ bottles, newspapers and plastic cans;

________ natural resources;

________ the environment.

41. Answer the question “If all the earth’s water were put in a gallon jar, how much of it would be available fresh water and how much of it would be sea water?” Read the following essay, “The Bounty of the Sea,” by Jacques Cousteau, the French oceanographer and conservationist and check your answer.

The Bounty of the Sea by Jacques Cousteau

Cousteau’s essay was written in 1966, at a time when fishermen’s trawlers were destroying the ocean floor. Since then, many national and international agencies – such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency located in London – have worked hard to protect our waterways.

1.During the past thirty years, I have observed and studied the oceans closely, and with my own two eyes I have seen them sicken. Certain reefs that teemed with fish only ten years ago are now almost lifeless. The ocean bottom has been raped by trawlers. Priceless wetlands have been destroyed by landfill. And everywhere are sticky gobs of oil, plastic refuse, and unseen clouds of poisonous effluents. Often when I describe the symptoms of the ocean’s sickness, I hear remarks like “they’re only fish” or “they’re only whales” or “they’re only birds”. But I assure you that our destinies are linked with theirs in the most profound and fundamental manner. For if all the oceans should die – by which I mean that all life in the sea would finally cease – this would signal the end not only for marine life, but for all other animals and plants of this earth, including man.

2.With life departed, the ocean would become, in effect, one enormous cesspool. Billions of decaying bodies, large and small, would create such an insupportable stench that man would be forced to leave all the coastal regions. But far worse would follow.

3.The ocean acts as the earth’s buffer. It maintains a fine balance between many salts and gases which make life possible. But dead seas would have no buffering effect. The carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere would start on a steady and remorseless climb, and when it reached a certain level a “greenhouse effect” would be created. The heat that normally radiates outward from the earth to space would be blocked by the CO2 (carbon dioxide) and sea level temperatures would dramatically increase.

4.One catastrophic effect of this heat would de the melting of the icecaps at both the North and South Poles. As a result, the ocean would rise by 100 feet or more, enough to flood almost all the world’s major cities. These rising waters would drive one-third of the earth’s billions inland, creating famine, fighting, chaos, and disease on a scale almost impossible to imagine.

5.Meanwhile, the surface of the ocean would have scammed over with a thick film of decayed matter, and would no longer be able to give water freely to the skies through evaporation. Rain would become a rarity, creating global drought and even more famine.

6.But the final act is yet to come. The wretched remnant of the human race would now be packed cheek by jowl on the remaining highlands, bewildered, starving, struggling to survive from hour to hour. Then would be visited upon them the final plague, anoxia (lack of oxygen). This would be caused by the extinction of plankton algae and the reduction of land vegetation, the two sources that supply the oxygen you are now breathing.

7.And so man would finally die, slowly gasping out his life on some barren hill. He would have survived the oceans by perhaps thirty years. And his heirs would be bacteria and a few scavenger insects. Available fresh water would be just over a teaspoon, less than one half of 1 percent of the total. About 97 percent of the water on our planet is seawater. Another 2 percent is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. The rest is under the earth’s surface, too difficult and expensive to extract.

42. Answer the question and share your ideas with your partner.

Do you believe Cousteau sounds reasonable, or he seems too extreme in his predictions?

43. Identify the causes of sea pollution, according to Cousteau.

a._______________________________________________

b._______________________________________________

c._______________________________________________

d._______________________________________________

44.List the effects of the death of the oceans, according to Cousteau. a. __________________________________________________

b. __________________________________________________

c. __________________________________________________

d. __________________________________________________

e. __________________________________________________

f. __________________________________________________

45.Does this essay focus more on the causes or the effects of sea pollution?

46.Fill in the causal chain used in the text.

The Oceans Die

1.the sea is a cesspool _______________ ____________________

2.dead seas won’t act as a buffer _____________ _____________ flooding of coastal cities

____________________

3.no rain _____________________ and ___________________

4.the end of sea algae and land vegetation ____________________

47.Tell about the pollution using your notes.

48.What are the most well-known ecological threats in Russia? Are people in Russia environmentally conscious? Is there the Green Party in Russia? How is the rubbish dealt with? What recycling facilities are there in Russia? Read the questions and choose the answer you agree most with. Are your answers mostly a, b or c? See the key to find out how green you are.

How Green Are You?

1.If you had a lot of old newspapers and empty bottles, would you … a) leave them on the pavement?

b) put them in a rubbish bin? c) recycle them?

2.If somebody offered to give you one of the following as a gift, which would you choose? a) a big, fast car;

b) a motorbike; c) a bicycle.

3.If you were in the middle of a city and wanted to go somewhere one or two kilometers away, would you … a) take a taxi?

b) take a bus? c) walk/cycle?

4.If you had a picnic on the beach, what would you do with rubbish? Would you …

a)leave your rubbish on the beach?

b)put your rubbish in the first bin you found?

c)take your rubbish home?

5. If you had £1,000 to spend, would you …

a)buy a fur coat?

b)go on a safari?

c)adopt a dolphin?

mostly a’s: You’re not very green, are you? Please Look after our world before it’s too late!

mostly b’s: You’re trying to be more green, but you don’t always get it right. Learn more about the environment and think before you act.

mostly c’s: Well done! You’re really green! We need more people like you to help us save our environment!

49.In groups, write a Green Party manifesto, giving your proposals for an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

A paper factory is planned for your town, which is very beautiful but high in unemployment. There are concerns from the local community about pollution and the destruction of an ancient forest nearby.

Some people in the town are in favour of the factory. They are: the mayor, representatives of paper company, the building contractor, unemployed people.

Members of the Green Party, environmental scientists, local craftsmen and local hotel owners are against the factory. Allocate these roles sand role-play a public consultation meeting to listen to the local views.

Think about pollution, visual impact, tourism, jobs and effects on the local businesses.

50.Be ready to discuss some environmental problems.

Student A, B, C, D, you are biologists (you will have to prepare a short presentation concerning global warming and its effects),

Student E, you are a politician (you will talk about some measures various governments take to protect our environment),

the rest of the group, you are residents (you will have to prepare some questions to the speakers). The information below can be helpful.

Climate change: Uncharted waters?

By Alex Kirby

BBC News Online environment correspondent

Pic. 16

As part of Planet Under Pressure, a BBC News series looking at some of the biggest environmental problems facing humanity, Alex Kirby explores the implications of climate change.

Climate change is our biggest environmental challenge said the UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair. His chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, called it a far greater global threat than international terrorism.

It is certainly possible that warming temperatures could take the Earth into uncharted waters, even though nobody can say exactly how fast it may happen and who will be most affected.

Life on Earth exists only because of the natural greenhouse effect, the ability of the atmosphere to retain enough heat for species to thrive (and no more).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a consortium of several thousand independent scientists, says rising levels of industrial pollution are unnaturally enhancing this effect, with increasing amounts of heat trapped near the Earth instead of escaping into space.

The main culprits, it says, are the burning of fossil fuels - oil, coal and gas - and changes in land use. The chief greenhouse gas from human activities is carbon dioxide (CO2).

Before the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were about 270-280 parts per million (ppm). They now stand at almost 380ppm, and have been rising at about 1.5ppm annually.

Rising temperatures

The consequence of increasing CO2 and other pollutant levels will be higher average global temperatures, meaning unpredictable weather, rising sea levels, and perhaps runaway heating as the whole climate system slips out of gear. Scientists predict that if we go on as we are, by 2100 global sea levels will probably have risen by 9 to 88cm and average temperatures will be between 1.5 and 5.5C higher than now.

That may not sound very much - but the last Ice Age was only 4-5C colder than today.

The sceptics are unmoved. Some say the human influence on the climate is negligible, and that isolating one small variable, CO2 and other greenhouse gas levels, in an immensely complex natural system is meaningless.

Others insist such measurements are flawed and the predictions unreliable. Yet others believe a warmer world would be better for most of us.

They are entirely right to argue that there are still many uncertainties about the climate and any influence we may have on it.

Sobering facts

But many who were once sceptics now accept that enhanced climate change is happening, and that we have to respond - not necessarily by trying to reduce its extent but by adapting to its effects.

Part of the problem is that climate change is now part of the stuff of science fiction, with Hollywood and some campaign groups alike feeding scare stories that owe little, if anything, to scientific fact.

But the facts are sobering enough. We know that average global surface temperatures have risen by 0.6C in the last 140 years.

All of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 1990, including each year since 1997. The possibilities are sobering too.

Many water-scarce regions now will probably become thirstier.

Some countries may be able to produce bigger harvests, but in others yields will drop. Sea level rise may make many coastal areas uninhabitable.

Weather patterns may change, producing more heat waves, droughts, floods and violent storms.

Aid agencies are warning that these combined effects could seriously jeopardise attempts to lift the world's poorest people out of poverty.

Furthermore, there is also the possibility of "positive feedbacks"- for example, higher temperatures may release more methane from the Arctic tundra and CO2 from peat bogs, which will themselves speed up the warming process. Then there is the inertia of the atmosphere and the oceans.

Pic. 17

Delayed effect

If somehow we could halt all greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, the heating would continue for decades or centuries.

What we do today may literally determine how long the Greenland icecap survives - even though, at fastest, it will still take a good few centuries to disappear.

And wildlife, less equipped to adapt than humans, could be hit hard. One estimate suggests hundreds of thousands of species may be at risk of extinction by 2050 because of climate change.

Creating worldwide consensus on this global problem is difficult, not least because of the economic cost of cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol, which commits rich countries to reducing emissions, is a small but necessary start on building an international system for tackling climate change, its proponents believe.

But the country responsible for about a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, the US, has refused to sign up to it.

The protocol does not require developing countries to cut their emissions, although fast-industrialising countries like China will soon be significant contributors as those in poor nations increasingly demand rich world lifestyles.

For them, emissions cuts could have significant social costs in slowing the growth that feeds economic development, creates jobs and helps lift the poor out of poverty.

A prudent look at the evidence, preliminary though it is, suggests we shall be wise to err on the side of caution.

Dr Geoff Jenkins, of the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, said recently: "Over the last few decades there's been much more evidence for the human influence on climate.

"We've reached the point where it's only by including human activity that we can explain what's happening." And what's happening now could lead to a world beyond our experience

Pic. 18

14.How much water do you need a day?

15.What is the greenhouse effect caused by?

16.Why are cars the biggest polluters today?

17.How should we change our lifestyles to save the planet?

18.List as many facts as you can about the ocean using The Bounty of the Sea by Jacques Cousteau.

19.Why does Sir David King think that climate change is a far greater global threat than international terrorism?

20.What is the Kyoto Protocol?

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