Английский язык методические указания по самостоятельному чтению для студентов I курса всех факультетов заочной формы обучения

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК

Методические указания по самостоятельному чтению

для студентов I курса всех факультетов заочной формы обучения

Санкт-Петербург

2011

Рассмотрены и рекомендованы к изданию учебно-методической комиссией гуманитарного факультета Санкт-Петербургской государственной лесотехнической академии 14 декабря 2010 г.

С о с т а в и т е л ь старший преподаватель И. Е. Титенская

Р е ц е н з е н т кандидат педагогических наук, доцент С. Д. Кожевников

Английский язык: методические указания по самостоятельному чтению / сост. И. Е. Титенская. – СПб.: СПбГЛТА, 2011. – 24 с.

Методические указания составлены для студентов I курса заочного отделения всех факультетов, изучающих английский язык. В них собраны тексты для самостоятельного чтения студентов. Тексты снабжены переводом некоторых специальных или ключевых терминов. В подборку включены оригинальные тексты различной степени трудности, охватывающие широкий круг актуальных профессиональных проблем.

Темплан 2011 г. Изд. № 183.

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Ecology

Ecology is a very popular word today. But what does it mean? Ecology is a science which studies the relationship between all forms of life on our planet and the environment. This word came from Greek “oikos” which means home. The idea of home includes our whole planet, its population, Nature, animals, birds, fish, insects and all other living beings and even the atmosphere around our planet.

Since ancient times Nature has served Man giving everything he needs: air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, wood for building and fuel for heating his home. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with the environment* and it seemed to them that the resources of nature had no end or limit. With the industrial revolution our negative influence on Nature began to increase. Larges cities with thousands of steaming, polluting plants and factories can be found nowadays all over the world. The by-products of their activities pollute* the air we breathe, the water we drink, the field where our crops are grown. That’s why those who live in cities prefer spending their days off and their holidays far from the city to be closer to nature.

So, pollution is one of the most burning problems of nowadays. Now millions of chimneys, cars, buses, trucks all over the world exhaust fumes and harmful substances into the atmosphere. These poisoned substances pollute everything: air, land, water, birds and animals. So, it is usually hard to breathe in the large cities where there are a lot of plants and factories. Everything there is covered with soot and dirt. Every year the atmosphere is polluted by about 1000 tons of industrial dust and other harmful substances. Big cities suffer from smog. Cars with their engines have become the main source of pollution in industrial countries. Vast forests are being cut down for the need of industries in Europe and USA. The lost of forests upsets the oxygen balance of the new wastelands. As the result some species of animals, birds, fish and plants have disappeared and keep disappearing.

Water pollution is very serious, too. Ugly rivers of dirty water polluted with factory waste, poisoned fish are all-round us. And polluted air and poisoned water lead to the end of the civilization. So, nowadays a lot of dead lands and lifeless areas have appeared. Our actions and dealings can turn the land to a desert.

The environment – окружающая среда

To pollute – загрязнять окружающую среду

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Photosynthesis

Before the middle of the 1700s, many people believed that plants took their food from the soil. During the 1700s, a chemist named Joseph Priestley discovered new clues to the food-making process in plants.

Priestley knew that air contained something important for living things. A mouse placed in a sealed container could not survive more than a few hours. However, a plant placed in a sealed container could survive for several months. Priestley wondered what the difference was: why a plant was able to survive – but a mouse would not?

Priestley then placed both a mouse and a green plant inside a sealed container. Both a mouse and a plant survived. Priestley concluded that plants

“restored air.” They put something into the air that the mouse needed to survive.

Further experiments by Priestley and others led to following discoveries:

Only the green cells of plants “restored air.”

Only plants grown in light “restored air.”

Oxygen was the substance restored to the air by plants.

Plants grown in light take in carbon dioxide.

Oxygen was given off by the sacs inside the plant cells that contained the green substance chlorophyll.

In the mid -1800s, Julius Robert Mayer tied some of these discoveries together. He noted that the cells of green plants used the sun’s energy to build chemicals. The chemical glucose was produced, carbon dioxide and water were used, and oxygen was given off. This process was photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is actually two processes: one process requires light, the other process does not require light. In the light reaction chlorophyll traps the energy in sunlight. The sun’s energy causes ATP* to be produced. ATP can store energy for many cell processes. During the light reaction, water is split into hydrogen and oxygen. Some of oxygen is used by plant in respiration, but much of the oxygen is given off into the air. In the dark reaction, carbon dioxide and other chemicals are combined to form sugar. Energy for this process comes from the ATP produced in the light reaction.

Some of the sugar produced during the photosynthesis is used by the plant in respiration, some is used for growth. Most plants make more sugar than they use at the time they make it. The extra sugar is stored in roots, stems and leaves.

All plant cells carry on respiration. Plant cells that contain chlorophyll carry on photosynthesis. Photosynthesis and respiration depend on each other. The oxygen released in photosynthesis is used in respiration. The water and carbon dioxide released in respiration are used in photosynthesis.

ATP – АТФ, аденозинтрифосфат

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How is Paper Made?

All wood material is formed of fibers, tiny cellulose strands* stuck together with a natural adhesive material called lignin. It's by separating and reorganizing those fibers that we make paper.

Some paper is made brand-new* from trees - either small trees harvested just for that purpose, or from sawmill scraps left over when larger trees are made into lumber*. A second source of papermaking material is recycled* fiber. Each year, more and more paper is recycled - its fibers used a second, third or fourth time. Every year, about 50% of the paper Americans use is recovered for recycling and other uses.

Almost all of the paper you use today is made of wood fibers. Some specialty papers, like stationery* and money, are made from linen, cotton, or other plants. Other papers contain a combination of cellulose fibers and synthetics such as latex. Still others are made completely from synthetic materials such as polyolefine*. You might find latex in a waterproof mariner's chart, or polyolefine in a rugged courier envelope. But you'll find natural fiber paper almost everywhere!

Each tree species grows a certain way, and that affects the way its wood looks and performs. Foresters divide trees into two categories: hardwood* and softwood* species.

Hardwood trees such as oaks and maples have wood with very short fibers. Paper made from these species is weaker than that made from softwoods, but its surface is smoother, and therefore better to write and print on.

Softwood trees such as pine and spruce have wood with long fibers, and paper made from this type of wood is much stronger. This paper is ideal for making products like shipping containers that require superior strength. But the finish is rougher, and that's not as good for writing, printing and many other uses.

Happily, we can blend fiber from hardwoods and softwoods into a single paper, getting just the combination of strength, whiteness, writing surface and other characteristics that we want.

And that's just what we do! Most of the paper you see today is made from both hardwoods and softwoods, a special blend for each purpose.

We make newsprint to be opaque (that means difficult to see through) - so you only see the newspaper's comics, not the stock market report on the other side!

We make grocery bag paper strong, tissue soft, fine writing paper smooth. Even within the same category, there's quite a range. Among printing papers, for example, compare the thin sheets of a Bible to the thick, tough pages of a kid's picture book.

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The basic recipe – wood, water and energy – is adjusted to make just the paper that's needed.

First, workers harvest trees, mostly from special tree-growing areas called tree farms. After the trees are removed, more trees are planted in their place. While they are growing, the young trees produce lots of oxygen, and provide great habitat for deer, quail, turkeys and other wildlife.

The logs are transported to the paper company where they get a bath to rinse away dirt and other impurities before being turned into small chips of wood. The chips are then sorted according to size, and moved to the pulping* operation, where they will be turned into pulp for making paper.

In the pulping stage, the individual wood fibers in the chips must be separated from one another. This can be accomplished using one or more pulping techniques. The type of paper that's being made determines the pulping process that is used. The finished pulp looks like a mushy, watery solution. But if you look at it under a microscope, you will see that the individual wood fibers have all been separated. Now it's time to make paper out of our pulp. That mainly means getting the water out of the wood-fiber soup, since this papermaking stock is about 99% water. The first area in which this takes place is called the wet end of the papermaking machine. First, papermakers spray the stock onto a long, wide screen, called a wire*. Immediately, water begins to drain out the bottom of the wire. This water is collected so that it can be reused over and over again. Meanwhile, the pulp fibers are caught on the top side of the wire, and begin to bond together in a very thin mat. The fiber mat remaining on the wire is then squeezed between felt-covered press rollers to absorb more of the water.

Even when this wet end work is over, the pulpy stuff on the wire is still about 60% water. But now it's time for the dry end.

In the dry end, huge metal cylinders are heated by filling them with steam. The wet paper, which can be up to 30 feet wide, passes through these hot rollers - sometimes dozens of them, and often in three to five groups. Heating and drying the wet sheet seals the fibers closer and closer together, turning them gradually from pulp into paper.

When you look at a piece of paper, can you find any difference in thickness in that single sheet? Probably not, thanks to a part of the paper machine called the calendar* - big, heavy cast iron rollers that press the drying paper smooth and uniform in thickness.

Sometimes the paper is coated, often with fine clay, to make it glossier and easier to print on.

A bit more drying, and then rolled onto a big spool or reel, the pulp - a miraculous mat of fibers from trees - has become paper, ready for a thousand uses.

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Economy of Canada

Until the early 20th century, Canada was primarily an agricultural nation. Since then it has become one of the most industrialized countries in the world. To a large extent the manufacturing industries* are supplied with raw materials* produced by the agricultural, mining, forestry, and fishing sectors of the Canadian economy.

The Canadian economy depends heavily on agriculture, which employs about 4 percent of the labor force. Because of its abundant production and relatively small population, Canada is a leading exporter of food products. Farms in Canada are about equally divided between crop raising* and livestock* production. Wheat is the most important single crop, and the Prairie provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan form one of the greatest wheat-growing areas of the world, with an average annual production of more than one fifth of the world’s supply. After wheat, the major cash receipts from field crops are obtained from sales of canola*, vegetables, barley, maize, potatoes, fruits, tobacco, and soybeans. Fruit farming is done in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, with apples contributing about 40 percent of the total value. Berries, peaches, grapes, and cherries are other important crops. Tomatoes, onions, carrots, turnips, peas and beans are major vegetable crops.

Forestry is a major source of Canada’s wealth, and forest products annually account for nearly 14 percent of Canadian export. Forests cover some 4, 2 million sq km of the country, and the provincial and federal governments own about 90 percent of this land. Canada has more than 150 varieties of native trees; about 80 percent of them are softwoods, such as spruce, Douglas fir, hemlock, cedar, pine, and balsam. Forestry sustains a complex and diversified export and domestic industry, employing more than 250,000 people. Canada leads the world in newsprint* production and accounts for more than one-half of world exports; most of the Canadian export is sent to the United States. The sawmill and planning-mill industry* is centered in British Columbia. Quebec and Ontario lead the nation in pulp and paper production.

The fishing resources of the country are harvested from northwestern Atlantic and northeastern Pacific oceans and from the most extensive bodies of fresh water in the world. Canada is a leading exporter of fish products. The United States receive more than one-half of exports, followed by Japan and the nations of the European Union. The catch includes herring, redfish, scallops, salmon, flatfish, lobsters, and crab.

The natural variety of seasons and scenic wonders of Canada draw a large number of tourists. In the spring, blossom festivals flourish across Canada, especially in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Noteworthy is the Ottawa Festival of Spring (Tulip Festival)

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in May. Alberta’s Calgary Exhibition in July is world-famous. The Niagara Grape and Wine Festival and autumn-color tours in central Ontario and the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec are among the other attractions. Skiing centers and more than 730,000 sq km of natural areas preserved in Canadian federal and provincial parks also attract visitors.

From the 16th to the 18th century, the leading Canadians items of export were fish and furs. During the 19th century, the exploitation of white-pine forests of the Laurentian region was initiated, and timber* became the staple item of export. With the improvement of railroad lines early in the 20th century, the western prairie regions were opened, and wheat became the chief item of export. The mining industry began to grow at about the same time; valuable mineral deposits were discovered in the Laurentian region. Manufacturing industries developed to supply and process the goods of the three primary industries – agriculture, forestry, and mining.

Per capita* foreign trade of Canada ranks among the highest of any nation in the world. Most of Canadian foreign trade is with the United States, which typically takes about fourfifth of Canada’s exports and supplies more than twothirds of its imports. The value of the Canada-United States merchandise trade is greater than between any other two countries in the world. Components of Canadian exports are increasingly manufactured items; while resource exports, such as minerals, timber, and grains are still important, their share of total export volume is decreasing. The leading products Canada sells abroad include automobiles, trucks, motor-vehicle parts, crude petroleum, lumber*, newsprint, wood pulp, wheat, industrial machinery, natural gas, office machines and aluminum. Principal imports are general purpose and specialized machinery, chemicals, computers, telecommunications equipment, fruit and vegetables.

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