Биология в современном мире. Учебное пособие

3.4 Exercise 4

Read and translate the following groups of words. Use a dictionary if

necessary.

1)long – length – lengthy period of time;

2)notice – noticeable – noticeably – noticed – noticing – unnoticed;

3)part – partake – partaker – parted – partial – participant – participate - participation – particle – particular, - particles of soil – particularly – parting –

partition - partner;

4)proper – properly – property – improper;

5)restrict – restricting – restricted – restriction – unrestricted;

6)new – renew – renewable – nonrenewable resources.

3.5 Exercise 5

Read and translate the following word phrases. Pay attention to the attributes. soil – forming rock; heavy rain; dust storms; a very lengthy period; improper

working of the land; water erosion; mud streams running off the surface; hard underlying rock; different ways of fighting water erosion; non-turning deep ploughing; the soil’s specific retention of water; soil conservation crop rotation techniques; wild nectariferous grasses; soil moisture retention; prevailing erosion winds; wind-break forest belts.

3.6 Exercise 6

Choose the proper equivalents to the following verb groups.

3.7 Exercise 7

Open the brackets, translate the sentences.

1)If nothing (to prevent) erosion small washouts will turn into deeper ones.

2)If the source of erosion deposits (to be) higher up the entire gully will be filled by the deposits.

3)If the system of land cultivation (to be changed) wind erosion will not

occur.

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3.8 Exercise 8

Translate the sentences into English.

1)Если бы в прошлом году ничто не помешало бы эрозии, то маленькие размывы превратились бы в более глубокие.

2)Если бы система обработки в нашей стране изменилась бы, то не происходила бы и ветряная эрозия.

3.9 Exercise 9

Translate the sentences paying attention to the non-finite forms of the verbs.

1)Plants grow stronger and protect the soil from being washed away.

2)The simpliest hydraulic works are used to prevent gullies from forming.

3)The role played by plants is twofold.

4)Fighting any kind of soil erosion always requires a set of anti-erosion

measures.

5)It takes 250 to 300 years to restore one cm. of soil.

6)Moving in jumps the bits of soil fall on the surface of the field.

7) The plant remains on the field preventing the wind from driving bits of

soil over it and raising dust particles into the air.

3.10 Exercise 10

Put four types of questions to the following sentences.

1)Birds need food plants and trees to nest in.

2)Crops are planted in strips.

3)Plants grow deeper roots on such soil.

3.11 Exercise 11

Read the text. Translate it.

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Soil erosion is the destruction and wearing away of the soil and sometimes even the soil-forming rock by water or wind. A layer of soil formed in the course of 100 or 200 years may be destroyed in a few days by heavy rain or dust storms. The soil is rapidly destroyed but forms only over a very lengthy period. That’s why it is so vitally important to protect the soil.

Soil erosion by water is widespread and most destructive. It occurs on slopes and is due to improper working of the land. There are three kinds of water erosion: sheet, stream and gully.

Surface soil is mostly washed away where vegetation cover is sparse. The top layer of soil is eroded gradually, so the process may go unnoticed in its early stages. It begins when drops of rain hit the ground, spray it and carry away small particles of soil suspended in the water clogging the pores of the soil with mud and forming mud streams running off the surface.

Stream erosion occurs during the snow melting in spring followed by heavy rains in summer. Millions of tons of soil are washed away from the fields every year with the melted snow and rain. This soil contains biogenic (nutritive) elements – nitrogen, phosphorus, potasium and others.

Gully erosion takes place when stream erosion is not restricted to the soil but also involves the matrix and reached the hard underlying rock. If nothing prevents erosion small washouts will turn into deeper ones which gradually become gullies. Soil erosion is bad for agriculture in all respects. Grain harvests on strongly eroded soils are half those on uneroded soils.

There are different ways of fighting water erosion. The simpliest and easiest way of reducing the surface water run-off for all areas where water erosion occurs is to plough the land across the slope. This method is effective only on flat lands and gentle slopes. The most effective anti-erosion measure which dramatically reduces water run-off is non-turning deep ploughing. In the latter case the soil absorbs more water and holds it for a longer time. Plants grow deeper roots on such soil, have a larger reserve of nutritive substances and, therefore, grow stronger and protect the soil from being washed away better.

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In order to reduce the surface run-off and increase the soil’s specific retention of water farmers practise ploughing with banking, discontinuous furrows and holes and snow retention.

Major importance in fighting erosion is attached to soil conservation crop rotation techniques, the effectiveness of which increases when crops are planted in strips. The simpliest hydraulic works-small dams, embankments, etc.-are used to prevent gullies from forming and trees, shrubs and weeds are planted. The role played by plants is twofold: firstly, they physically protect the soil from being washed away; secondly, they reduce the speed of water run-off by increasing the hydraulic resistance of the stream bed which in its turn reduces the effect of the stream in washing and wearing away the soil. When the speed of the water is reduced significantly the particles of silt in the water are deposited promoting plant growth. If the source of erosion deposits is higher up, the entire gully may be filled with the deposits. Fighting any kind of soil erosion always requires a set of anti-erosion measures. No one measure alone is effective.

The enormous areas taken up by gullies must be made suitable for economic use and this task must be subordinated to the main purpose of eliminaling water erosion completely. Fruit bushes may be planted on the brow, slopes and bottom of gullies. Of the former blackthorn, bucktorn and some kinds of cherries may be used.

A variety of plants and crops in a gully secures the forming of complex and stable biocenoses. Birds need food plants (black and red elder, juneberry and mulberry trees) and trees (blackthorn, hawtorn and gooseberry, wild apple, pear trees) to nest in. Cerfain nectariferous grasses are necessary for bees and other useful insects.

3.12 Exercise 12

Answer the questions.

1)Why is it so important to protect the soil?

2)What is soil erosion by water due to?

3)When does the sheet erosion occur?

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4)When does the stream erosion occur?

5)When does the gully erosion take place?

6)Why is it necessary to grow plants when fighting the soil erosion?

3.13 Exercise 13

Write down from the text all names of different plants. Mind them.

3.14 Exercise 14

Fill in the scheme and speak on the kinds of water erosion, figure 4. Soil erosion by water

sheet erosion

agriculture

Figure 4 - Exercise 14

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3.15 Exercise 15

Summarise the information about the ways of fighting water erosion and

3.16 Exercise 16

Read the text, discuss it with your partner: ask questions, share your opinions, make up your own schemes.

Soil erosion by wind.

Soil erosion by wind is characteristic mostly of open, dry, diffused soils. It may arise on any field with sparse vegetation.

In wind erosion the wind usually blows small bits of soil (less than 1mm in diameter) over the surface. When the wind grows stronger these bits not only roll over the surface of the field but are even thrown into the air for distances of 3 to 4 metres. This rolling and flying through the air resembles snow drifting in the wind in winter. The particles of soil in the stream of air acquire great destructive force. A polished steel plate placed in the field during such a wind becomes dull in an hour

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from being hit by the particles while the paint may be peeled from the side of a car during the storm. Bits of soil may hit seedling and destroy them completely.

Moving in jumps the bits of soil fall on the surface of the field, dislodge dust particles which are then caught up by the wind and carried away over large distances, sometimes for hundreds and thousands of kilometres. A cloud of dust raised and driven over a field where the soil is destroyed by the wind is called a dust storm. Sometimes the wind may erode 1 to 5 cm of soil from a field. In natural conditions it takes 250 to 300 years to restore one cm. of soil. Soil loss is thus irretrievable.

Measures against wind erosion include: firstly, protection of fields against the wind; and secondly, retention of moisture in the soil because moist soil is firmer, plants grow quicker and more thickly in it, preventing the wind from destroying the soil.

It has been established that wind erosion is inevitable in spring on fields ploughed in autumn with a terracing plough. If the system of land cultivation is changed, wind erosion will not occur. The plant remains on the field preventing the wind from driving bits of soil over it and raising dust particles into the air.

In Kazakhstan and the steppe areas of Siberia soils are sandy loam and light loam. On these soils the use of non-turning method of cultivation combined with the introduction of soil conservation crop rotation with grass is recommended. The most effective conservation crop rotation is where grass is alternated with annual crops across the direction of the prevailing erosion winds. The strips should not be wider than 50 meters. Under this crop rotation system, each field has 50 per cent grass and 50 per cent annual crops and fallow land. A reliable means of preventing wind erosion is to create wind break forest belts. There are two main types of protective forest belts: water regulating and wind breaking. These belts are planted with clearings covered with shrubs. All this creates conditions similar to natural forest conditions.

Specialists believe that in future attention should be focused in creating protective forest belts on specifying their optimal size and location selecting the most stable and long-lasting tree and shrub varieties, breeding new plants which best

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satisfy the needs of creating protective belts. These belts should be also considered as the habitat of wild animals, recreation sites and in terms of their aesthetic value.

3.17 Exercise 17

Speak on the soil erosion according to the plan.

1)Soil erosion by water.

2)Soil erosion by wind.

3)Protective measures.

4 Lesson 4. Conservation and rational use of forest resources

(Сохранение и рациональное использование лесных ресурсов)

4.1 Exercise 1

Mind the following words and set expressions.

1)timber – строевой лес;

2)wood – дерево (как материал), древесина;

3)forest – лес, засаживать лесом;

4)forestry – лесоводство, лесничество;

5)raw material – сырье;

6)pulp – бумажная древесная масса;

7)cardboard – картон;

8)artificial measures – искусственные методы;

9)watershed forests – леса по водоразделу;

10)to be clogged by silt – засоряться илом;

11)place for recreation – место для отдыха;

12)water fowl – водоплавающие птицы;

13)fur animal – пушной зверь;

14)hoofed animal – копытное животное;

15)to yield profit – приносить доход;

16)pine forest – сосновый бор;

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17)in view of – ввиду, принимая во внимание;

18)upkeep work – работы по очистке леса;

19)annual increment – ежегодные прибыль;

20)clearing – участок леса, расчищенный для обработки почвы;

21)coniferous – хвойный;

22)undergrowth – подлесок;

23)deciduous trees – лиственные деревья.

4.2 Exercise 2

Mind the following regular verbs.

to finish – заканчивать, обрабатывать, отделывать; to retain – сохранять; to contribute – содействовать, способствовать; to populate – населять; to divide (into) – делить на, подразделять; to fell – рубить, валить (деревья); to exploit –

эксплуатировать, разрабатывать; to obtain – получать; to estimate – оценивать; to occupy – занимать; to cover – покрывать; to seem – казаться; to distribute –

распределять; to conserve – сохранять; to transfer – переносить, передавать; to succeed – преуспевать, сменять, следовать за; to appear – появляться,

оказываться; to introduce – вводить.

4.3 Exercise 3

Give three principle forms of the irregular verbs. Mind them. to keep, to spread, to lose, to put, to choose, to burn, to deal.

4.4 Exercise 4

Read and translate the following groups of words. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1) to use – useful, useless, usage, using, usable, user, used, usual, usually; make rational use, to disuse;

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