Word Study

1. Give the Russian equivalents to the following words:

situation, smog, fragment, hydrocarbon, carcinogenic, concentrations, mental, physical, combine, ozone, ground, photochemical, allergy, motor, toxic, accumulate, catalytic converters, strategy, battery, electric

2. Guess the meaning of the underlined words. Translate the sentences.

1) Pollution is one of the most urgent problemsof nowadays. 2) For thousands of years people lived inharmonywith the environment. 3) It seemed to people that theresourcesofnaturehad no end orlimit. 4) Every year theatmosphereis polluted by about 1000tonsofindustrialdust and other harmfulsubstances. 5) Certainly, the strategy for lead pollutioncontrol exists. 6) The quality ofatmosphericair is the most importantfactorinfluencing the health, thesanitaryandepidemiological situation. 7) The high level of air pollution in theseterritorieswas observed in the last years. 8) Thefederal programsofsocial-ecologicalsafety wererealizedin the SamaraRegion.

3. Translate the following word combinations:

from here and now; routes into holiday weekends; serious congestion; to cut down trees; exhaust fumes from cars; difficulty in breathing; to hang in the air; combustion of fuel; hydrocarbon fragments; at moderate concentrations; to cause drowsiness; to impair mental and physical alertness; in vehicle exhausts; traffic-congested cities; poorly maintained; to suffer from coughs; due to the effects of ozone; suspended in air minute solid particles; cause lead poisoning; to run on unleaded gasoline; powered by storage batteries

4. Match the word from list A with its definition in list B.

A	B
route congestion breathe fuel engine drowsiness install minute gasoline	way taken or planned from one place to another petrol; motor spirit machine that converts energy into power or motion take air into the lungs and send it out again very small material for producing heat or other forms of energy being too full, overcrowded place, fix in position for use half-asleep condition

5. Place the appropriate word from the list in each of the blanks below:

pollutants, air quality, urban areas, road traffic, at ground-level, respiratory diseases, vehicles, allergies, particles

1. Air pollution can cause …

2. …, ozone can be harmful to plants, animals, and humans.

3. Air can be polluted by … such as dust, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.

4. Indoor … also requires attention because this is where we spend most of our time.

5. Asthma and … are increasing in many European countries.

6. In Europe, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollutes the air mainly as a result of … and energy production.

7. Motor vehicles engines produce a number of air … that pose risks to your health.

8. The number of … on Canada's roads and highways has increased over the years.

9. Traffic emissions are higher in … because of the numbers of cars and trucks on the roads.

Reading for Speaking and Discussing

Read the text and answer the question:

- What is smog and why is it poisonous?

Traffic and Air Pollution

Cars are wonderful, aren’t they? They free us from here and now, they open up routes into holiday weekends, and they turn difficulties of a journey into the pleasures of a trip. However, a continuous increase in the number of cars leads to serious congestion and escalates pollution caused by cars. Governments build new roads trying to improve the situation but this means that they cut down trees and destroy more of the countryside.

The car is one of the biggest polluters today. Exhaust fumes from cars are the main cause of bad air quality, which can make people feel ill and have difficulty in breathing. The problem is especially bad in some cities where on days, when there is not much wind, a brown layer of smog hangs in the air. The relatively inefficient combustion of fuel in a car engine causes many hydrocarbon fragments to be left unburned. These fragments help to form smog and are believed to be carcinogenic. The incomplete combustion of fuel produces also carbon monoxide (CO). It is poisonous and at moderate concentrations can cause drowsiness and impair mental and physical alertness.

Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in vehicle exhausts combine with one another in sunlight to produce ozone. The ground level ozone is a major air pollutant. The photochemical smog is worst in traffic-congested cities on hot, dry summer days. It is especially common when the vehicle engines are old and poorly maintained, as often occurs in developing countries. In some overpopulated cities such as Mexico-City and San Paulo almost all children suffer from coughs and different forms of allergies. This is mainly due to the effects of ozone and other motor vehicle pollutants.

Air in large cities contains a great deal of dust – suspended in air minute solid particles. Some of them are toxic and can contain lead. The lead is emitted in tiny particles, which take a long time to settle and, if breathed in, can accumulate in the body and cause lead poisoning. Today more and more cars are made to run on unleaded gasoline.

The toxic emissions from car exhausts can be reduced considerably by installing catalytic converters on the engines. Other strategy to solve the problem is to use electric cars powered by storage batteries. However, the storage batteries currently available have very limited capacity and require frequent charging.