The attack on britain’s environment

There has been bad pollution of Britain’s rivers, and the government has tried hard to stop it. There are now strict laws against water pollution, though it still quite often happens incidentally. Britain and France share the problem of oil pollution from the Channel. This has caused great damage to beaches and wildlife.

The need for new roads causes great environmental difficulties. They often spoil the countryside and bring noise and pollution to thousands of homes. Since 1958 the pollution of Britain has increased by 11% but the number of cars increased by 400%.

There are now only about thirty meters of road for each car in Britain, so we’ll have to build more expensive motorways which damage the environment.

Cars cause other problems too: thousands of people die in car accidents; car parks use valuable space in towns and cities; cars use a lot of our limited amount of oil. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to do anything about all this because cars play an important part in the lives of many families, and the car industry employs large numbers of people.

Friends of the Earth suggest that the bicycle is the best way to travel because it is cheap, quiet and riding keeps you healthy. However, there are far fewer cyclists in Britain than in some other European countries, so our roads are not built for cycling. It can be dangerous to cycle in large cities as British motorists don’t seem to notice cyclists. Some people think that only buses and bicycles should be allowed in our centers.

Вариант 3

I. Перепишите и переведите на русский язык следующие предложения, принимая во внимание, что субъектный и объектный инфинитивные обороты переводятся на русский язык большей частью придаточными предложениями (см. образец выполнения 1).

1. We asked our partners to be informed of the arrival of the cargo.

2. He ordered the goods to be sold immediately.

3. Many buildings were reported to have been damaged by the fire.

4. The telegram was not likely to reach them in time.

5. The negotiations are said to have been completed already.

II. Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык следующие предложения, учитывая различия в переводе зависимых и независимых причастных оборотов.

1. Having taken the examinations, he went to his native town.

2. All the students having finished the translation in time, we could check it in class.

3. Having achieved the necessary results, we decided to describe them in our article.

III. Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык сложные предложения, содержащие придаточные предложения условия.

1. If you annoy the cat she will scratch you.

2. But for the storm we should have arrived in time.

3. Unless it stops raining we shall not be able to go to the country.

IV. Перепишите и письменно переведите текст на русский язык.

MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE

Interrelations between man and biosphere are of a fairly complex nature. Man, like any other living organism, depends for his life on what the biosphere provides: water, oxygen, food and shelter. On the other hand, the biosphere is strongly effected by all sorts of human activity.

Technology powerfully amplifies the effects human beings on the atmosphere. Prehistoric man withdrew from the atmosphere only the oxygen he required for respiration; technological man consumes a far greater amount of oxygen to support fires, power plants and chemical processes. The carbon dioxide produced by technological processes in the biosphere substances wholly new to it; man-made radioisotopes and a wide variety of synthetic materials such as plastics, insecticides, herbicides and numerous industrial materials. These, too, also alter the biosphere.

The problem has already been discussed at a large number of conferences, some of them sponsored by the UN. However, relatively little has so far been done to check environmental pollution.