Vocabulary

to occupy [′ kjupai] - занимать

surface [sә:fis] – поверхность

total area [′toutl ′ әriә] - общая площадь

to wash - cмывать

to border on [b :dә] - граничить с ...

There is hardly a country in the world - Едва ли найдется страна...

variety [vә′raiәti] - ранообразио, множество

scenery [′si:nәri] - пейзаж, ландшафт

vegetation [ved i′teijn] - растительность

steppe [step] - степь

plain - равнина

midland [′midlәnd] - средняя полоса

tundra [′tΛndrә] - тундра

taiga [tai′ga:] - тайга

highland [′hailәnd ] - нагорье, высокогорная местность

desert [′dezәt ] - пустыня

chain - цепь

to separate - разделять

to flow into [′flou] - впадать

bottom [′b tәm] - дно

to concentrate [′k nsәntreit ] - концентрироваться

vast [′vaist] - обширный

various [′v әriәs] - различный

climate [′klaimit] - климат, климатический пояс

arctic [′a:ktik] - арктический

subtropical [s b′tropikl] - субтропический

temperate [′tempәrit] - умеренный

continental [ k nti′nentl] - континентальный

oil - нефть

coal - уголь

iron ore [′aiәn o :] - железная руда

copper - медь

mineral resources [ri′s :siz] - полезные ископаемые

parliamentary - парламентский

head of state – глава государства

legislative [ led is′leitiv] - законодательный

powers [′pauәz] - полномочия

to exercise - осуществлять, выполнять

scientific [ sәiәn′tifik] - научный

complicated - сложный, запутанный

to decrease [di′kri:s] - снижаться, падать

constantly [′k nstәntli] - постоянно

the rate of inflation – уровень инфляции

to go bankrupt [′bæŋkr pt] - обонкротиться

in spite of - несмотря на

the younger generation - молодое поколение

powerful [′pauәful] - могучий

Environmental protection

Big cities face the environmental catastrophe. Concentration of millions of people on a tiny area causes numerous problems. Some of them can be solved only at the expense of creating new ones. For example, air pollution is caused by the ever-increasing number of automobiles that help to cope with the transportation problem. The need for energy generates pollution on a large scale. Energy that derives from fossil fuels contaminates the atmosphere. Nuclear power plants threaten air, water and land. The necessity to employ all the inhabitants of the city leads to the creation of new factories that produce not only consumer goods, but wastes and smog as well. Constant carbon dioxide emissions is a characteristic feature of big cities. Pollution of water by both industrial and domestic users creates the problem of water deficit. One form of pollution that is characteristic of large urban cities is noise that has destructive influence on a person’s mind. Litter is another issue that people face in big cities. As a result of it big industrial centers today look more like garbage dumps.

It would be naive to think that the environmental problems are limited to big cities only. Our Earth is a living entity; land, air and water are inseparable. Water contaminated in big cities runs to the major rivers that then flow into oceans and seas, thus affecting places far from the point of origin. The atmosphere is in constant movement; the air polluted in the United States can travel the next day to Russia poisoning our people.

Another source of global danger is acid rain. It is a relatively new kind of pollution. Acid rains appeared as a reaction of the atmosphere to the air contamination. Acid rains damage water, forest, and soil resources. Acid rains cause the disappearance of fish from many lakes, bring death to the forests and woods in Europe and America. One more danger comes from the depletion of the ozone layer, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. If it continues it will damage all living organisms on our planet.

The only thing that people fail to realize is that humanity is also part of the biosphere and that people depend completely on the environment. The war on nature that mankind is waging today is a kind of collective suicide. People pollute the air that they breathe, poison the water that they drink. The most evident example of such suicidal tendencies is smoking. Smoking not only harms the health of the smoker, but also is destructive for others. That is why many countries passed laws to restrict smoking in public and at work.