Деловой иностранный язык (английский). Учебное пособие по направлению подготовки 20.04.02 Природообустройство и водопользование, магистерская программ

for example), which can restock (renew) themselves if they are not over-harvested but used sustainably. Once renewable resources are consumed at a rate that exceeds their natural rate of replacement, the standing stock will diminish and eventually run out. The rate of sustainable use of a renewable resource is determined by the replacement rate and amount of standing stock of that particular resource. Non-living renewable natural resources include soil and water.

Flow renewable resources arc very much like renewable resources, only they do not need regeneration, unlike renewable resources. Flow renewable resources include renewable energy sources such as the following renewable power sources: solar, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas, tides and wind.

Resources can also be classified on the basis of their origin as biotic and abiotic. Biotie resources are derived from living organisms. Abiotic resources are derived from the non-living world (e.g., land, water, and air). Mineral and power resources are also abiotic resources some of which are derived from nature.

Non-renewable resources

A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that exists in a fixed amount that cannot be remade, regrown, or regenerated as fast as it is consumed and used up.

Some non-renewable resources can be renewable but take an extremely long time to renew. Fossil fuels, for example, take millions of years to form and so are not practically considered "renewable". Many environmentalists proposed to tax on consumption of non-renewable resources.

Resource complexity

Many natural resources serve multiple values. For example, a whale may be consumed as food or enjoyed by ecotourists as a source of sightseeing. Many of the most contentious issues surrounding natural resources arise because different values of a resource conflict with each other. A prominent example of this includes the debate over use of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: oil exploration or wildness preservation.

51

6. Give the synonyms to the following words

to consume, to diminish, to include, to classify, multiple, to enjoy,

exploration, preservation.

7. Translate the sentences into English

1.Интенсивность использования возобновляемого ресурса определяется темпом его восстановления и количеством его запасов.

2.Ресурсы по своему происхождению делятся на биотические и абиотические. Биотические ресурсы — это все организмы (растения,

животные, микробы). Абиотические ресурсы — это неживые химические

ифизические факторы окружающей среды (земля, вода, воздух).

3.Многие сторонники бережного отношения к природе предлагают ввести налог на использование невозобновимых ресурсов.

4.Некоторые природные ресурсы являются многоцелевыми

7. Annotate the text

Human Activities and Natural Resources

As the century begins, natural resources are under increasing pressure, constituting a threat to public health and development. Water shortages, soil exhaustion, loss of forests, air and water pollution, and degradation of coastlines afflict many areas. Most developed countries currently consume more resources, than they can regenerate. At the same time most developing countries with rapid population growth face the urgent need to improve their standards of living.

The link between population growth and the environmental impact seems obvious at first glance: more people consume more resources, damage more of the earth and generate more waste. This simple reasoning is true as far as it goes, but the larger picture of the link is more complex. A very small proportion

52

of the population consumes the majority of the world's resources. The richest fifth consumes 86% of all goods and services. An average American's environmental impact is 30 to 50 times that of the average citizen of a developing country such as India. Per capita consumption in all industrialized countries is permanently growing.

Human action has transformed between one-third and one-halt on the entire land surface on the earth. We have lost more than one-quarter of the planet's birds and two-thirds of major fisheries are fully exploited, overexploited or depleted. We live in the period of the greatest extinction of plant and animal species since the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Two of every three species are estimated to be in decline. In contrast to the previous extinctions which were due to the change in climate and sea level, the last one has begun because of humanity's gross misuse of the earth's resources.

Vocabulary

constitute - составлять; зд. представлять угрозу exhaustion - истощение

degradation - ухудшение afflict - беспокоить, тревожить

urgent - срочный, крайне необходимый deplete - истощать, исчерпывать extinction - вымирание

decline - падение, упадок, спад

8.Answer the questions

1.Why are natural resources under increasing pressure nowadays?

2.What ecological problems afflict many areas?

3.Is there any link between population growth and the environmental

impact? Why is it so complex?

53

4. What is the main reason for the greatest extinction of plant and animal

species?

9. Give the derivatives:

health, development, pollution, to consume, to regenerate, rich, to act,

misuse, grow.

10. Translate into English:

1.Недостаток воды, истощение почв, вырубка лесов, загрязнение воздуха и воды, ухудшение состояния побережий наблюдаются во многих регионах.

2.Связь между ростом численности населения и воздействием на окружающую среду очевидна с первого взгляда.

3.Влияние на окружающую среду среднестатистического американца

в30-50 раз больше, чем влияние на нее среднестатистического жителя развивающейся страны, такой как Индия.

4.Последнее масштабное вымирание многих видов растений и животных началось из-за нерационального использования человечеством ресурсов Земли.

11. Translate the text

Environmental Organizations in the World

The wounds suffered by the planet have forced a variety of disciplines to rethink basic assumptions. Economists are wrestling with the absurdity of a system of national accounts that views the liquidation of forests as a positive contribution to gross domestic product.

Theologians and religious leaders from Islam, Judaism and Christianity are trying to reconcile their doctrines with environmental needs. Leaders of the property-insurance industry realize that they could be bankrupted by more

54

frequent and deadlier storms if the release of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases heats up the planet. Multinational companies like the US pharmaceutical and agricultural giant "Monsanto" have made ecological concerns a part of strategic planning.

Millions of people around the world, individually and through thousands of organizations, are mounting actions to protect the natural environment. For example, member of "Earth First" have chained themselves to trees to prevent their cutting. Members and leaders of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund and other groups focus their efforts on promoting legislation for environmental protection. Organizations such as World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International arc working in cooperation with governments in many countries around the world to set up and manage biological reserves, areas of natural habitat for the purpose of saving particular species from extinction. Even labor unions, which traditionally have been antienvironment because of fear that environmentalism would lead to the loss of jobs, arc beginning to change.

In this century the environment will no doubt continue its invasion of public consciousness and the precincts of power. Before too long the needs of the planet will likely become an integral part of decision making, and some new paradigm will emerge incorporating the recognition that humanity depends on nature and not vice versa. Change will occur because every year the distress signals from the biosphere become more pointed and new groups of people come to understand how environmental degradation mortgages their future - and the future of all their descendants.

Vocabulary

assumption - предположение, допущение wrestle - бороться

contribution - вклад, содействие

55

gross domestic product - валовой внутренний продукт (ВВП) reconcile - примирять

bankrupt - банкрот

mount - усиливать, наращивать, активизировать habitat - среда обитания

consciousness - сознание precincts - окрестности vice versa - наоборот mortgage - закладывать descendant - потомок

12. Answer the following questions on the text:

1.What has forced a variety of disciplines to rethink basic assumptions? Give the examples of the new approach.

2.What organizations arc mounting their actions to protect the natural environment?

3.Why can people be sure that change will occur?

13. Insert the right word:

1.A great number of environmental problems have forced a variety of disciplines basic assumptions.

2.Many multinational companies have made ecological a part of strategic planning.

3.Millions of people around the world arc mounting actions to protect the

natural.

4.Change will occur because every year the distress signals from the become more pointed.

5.Some organizations focus their efforts on promoting for environmental protection.

56

14. Translate the sentences into English:

1.Миллионы людей во всём мире, индивидуально или через тысячи организаций, предпринимают шаги, чтобы защитить природу.

2.Члены организации «Земля прежде всего» привязывались цепями

кдеревьям, чтобы предотвратить их вырубку.

3.Такие организации, как Международный фонд любителей животных и Международная организация по защите окружающей среды, сотрудничают с правительствами многих стран мира, чтобы создать биологические заповедники, территории естественного обитания для сохранения определенных видов от вымирания.

4.Даже профсоюзы, традиционно выступавшие против бережного отношения к природе, начали меняться.

Water Resources Maintenance

1. Annotate the text

Earth's Water Supply

Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful to humans.

Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water.

More than 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water. But most of it (97.5%) is salt water in the oceans. Fresh water comprises less than one percent of earth's water supply and over two thirds of it is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. The remaining unfrozen fresh water is mainly found as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air.

Fresh water is a renewable resource, yet the world's supply of clean, fresh water is steadily decreasing. Water demand already exceeds supply in many parts of the world and as the world population continues to rise, so too does the water demand.

57

The amount of water available for our use depends on the condition of the water - its quality. Each time we use water we change the quality of that water by adding substances such as municipal sewage, toxic chemicals, solvents, detergents, sediment, fertilizers, oil-based compounds, debris, and waste heat. The result of our fast-paced, industrial life style is changing the chemical, biological, and physical characteristics of our water. Polluted water can spread disease, kill aquatic life, destroy plants and animals, and make lakes and rivers unfit for recreation. Because our water supply is limited, cleaning our used water is an important part of using our available water resources wisely.

Fact: one billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water.

The US, with 5% of the world's population, consumes 25% of its resources.

Vocabulary

fresh water - пресная вода

comprise - включать, заключать в себе glacier - ледник

groundwater - грунтовые воды decrease - умсньшать(ся), убывать exceed - превышать

sewage - сточные воды detergent - моющее средство sediment - осадок, отстой

debris - осколки, обломки; строительный мусор consume - потреблять

2. Answer the questions on the text:

1.What do we call "water resources"?

2.What proportion in earth's water supply docs fresh water comprise?

3.Why is fresh water steadily decreasing?

58

4. How is our industrial life changing the chemical, biological and physical

characteristics of water?

5.Why is it so important to use our available water resources wisely?

3. Give the Russian equivalents to the following words and word

combinations

household and recreational activities

fresh w'ater

earth's water supply

groundwater

w'ater demand

municipal sewage

oil-based compounds

fast-paced life style

4.Translate the sentences into English:

1.Пресная вода составляет менее 1% всех водных запасов планеты, а

2/3 её содержится в замороженном виде в ледниках и полярных льдах.

2.Так как численность населения в мире продолжает расти, то растёт

испрос на воду.

3.Загрязненная вода может быть источником болезней, погубить растения и животных, сделать озера и реки непригодными для отдыха.

4.США, население которых составляет 5% от мирового, является потребителем 25% всех ресурсов.

5.Speak about earth's water supply. What are the three main problems mentioned in the text?

Why Are We Short of Water?

Why are we short of water in Britain?

59

In many areas, we aren't. In East Anglia, the South West, parts of Wales and most of Scotland, reservoir levels and river flows arc higher than average. But South-East England is at the fringe of the drought affecting Europe.

London, Berkshire, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and west Cornwall arc still seriously "dry".

Are water companies to blame?

Partly, yes. In 1995, 25% of water was lost through leakage from the companies' own pipes. Under government pressure the leaks were cut, but they have been creeping up again. Thames water has the worst record, leaking enough to supply a city the size of Leeds. In defense, the company notes that it has the oldest pipes in Britain; and it is embarking on a huge investment project to replace them. But that will take time.

And is the shortage also the consumer's fault?

Lack of rainfall is compounded by overcrowding in the South East, which now' contains so many people it has less water per person. The concreting of fields and flood plains has also made it harder for underground supplies to be topped up: rain falling on patios, roads and pavements ends up in the sewer. Changes in lifestyle add to the problem: three generations ago, a bath was a weekly affair; today most people take a bath or shower daily. Washing machines, second bathrooms, sprinklers, dishwashers and the resurgence in interest in gardening have all helped drive up demand in the South East by 70% in the past decade. John Prescott's plan to build 720,000 new homes in the South East will make demand soar yet further.

Flow can we be made to use water more carefully?

At present through a combination of regulation and exhortation Hosepipe bans have already been imposed in parts of Wiltshire, Surrey and Sussex, and they arc probably imminent in the capital. Consumers are being urged to have showers instead of baths; turn off hoses; avoid washing the ear; leave lawns dry

60