5. Fill in the blanks the proper words, using the text.

1.Ecosystem is a complex of interacting plants and animals …

2.An ecosystem consists of plants, animals and microorganisms interacting …

3.Ecosystems are defined by …

4.Ecosystem structure is the

5.Each ecosystem has its own set …

6.Sources and disturbance and stress include …

7.Ecosystem management is …

Grammar Issues to Be Revised

1. Modal verbs.

1. Complete the sentences paying attention to the usage of the underlined modal verbs.

1.People must...

2.Many organisms may ...

3.I could ...

4.Ecologists should ...

5.He ought to ...

6.Students need ...

7.Crops can ….

2.Fill in the blanks using modal verbs (can, may, must, might, should, ought to)

1.You ... become a good specialist.

2.They ... have a thorough knowledge of the environmental science.

3.Most ecologists ... to know this information.

4.This report... be prepared in 3 days.

5. ... I use information from different disciplines?

6.Employees ... get their wages some days ago.

7.Sources of disturbance …. act alone or in concert to influence the development, structure and functioning of forest ecosystems.

8.Acid rain … fall far from the source of pollution.

3.Complete the sentences using Could or Was/Were able to

1.They were discussing ecological problems loudly. I... hear everything they said.

2.He... swim when he was 4.

3.Most scientists ... solve this problem.

36

4.The organization ... afford employing a system ecologist.

5.You ... see the consequences of human errors with your own eyes.

4.Complete the advice using should or ought to .Find the advice for the problems.

Example: "I've lost my credit card". "You should(ought to) report it to the credit card company immediately.

5. She doesn't know much about e) You/consult your teacher global warming.

5.Complete the sentences using (must, may, can, could, need).

1.He … do it himself. 2.She … speak English. 3.She … attend lectures because she is ill. 4. … he come here? No, he … not come so early. 5. He … swim very well when he was young. 6. They … go there tomorrow. 7. You … take my dictionary. 8. … I come in? 9. He … know her address. 10. I don’t … your book any longer. 11. Does he … my help? 12. He … not find him there. 13. I … do it now. 14. You … consult your dean. 15. … I translate these documents? No, you … not. 16. … I smoke? No, you … not.

6.Translate the sentences into Ukranian.

1.Can they finish their work next month? 2. This work can be done. 3. This article can be translated. 4. These texts can be read. 5. This work can’t be done at once. 6. He could read Spanish books after he had studied Spanish for a year. 7. She could speak French when she was a girl. 8. We were able to translate the article without a dictionary. 9. My sister was able to do it without my help. 10. If he had tried, he could have done it. 11. If she had worked harder, he could have finished this work on time. 12. You could have asked him about it. 13. Why didn’t you do it? 14. They may come to Paris in the summer. 15. The documents may be received tomorrow. 16. This work must be done at once. 17. You have to go there.

37

7. Do the grammar test.

1. Please make sure to water my plants while I am gone. If they don't get

38

UNIT 6

THE WORLD'S BIOMES

A biome is a climatic and geographically defined area of ecologically similar communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined based on factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and other factors like climate. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation. Here we group biomes into six major types: freshwater, marine, desert, forest, grassland, tundra.

Biomes have changed and moved many times during the history of life on Earth. More recently, human activities have drastically altered these communities. It is important to preserve all types of biomes as each houses many unique forms of life. However, the continued heavy exploitation of certain biomes, such as the forest, freshwater, and marine, may have more severe implications.

Forests are important as they are home to the most diverse biotic communties in the world. Hidden within these biomes are potential medicines and many thousands of unseen and undiscovered species. Also, forests have a global climate-buffering capacity, so their destruction may cause large-scale changes in global climate.

The freshwater and marine biomes are probably the most important of all the biomes. Their medium, water, is a major natural resource. Water is the basis of life, it supports life, and countless species live in it for all or part of their lives. Freshwater biomes supply us with our drinking water and water for crop irrigation. The world's oceans have an even greater effect on global climate than forests do. Water has a high capacity for heat, and because the Earth is mostly covered with water, the temperature of the atmosphere is kept fairly constant and able to support life.

Freshwater biomes have suffered mainly from pollution. Runoff containing fertilizer and other wastes and industrial dumpings enter into rivers, ponds, and lakes and tend to promote abnormally rapid algae growth. When these algae die, dead organic matter accumulates in the water. This makes the water unusable and it kills many of the organisms living in the habitat. Stricter laws have helped to slow down this thoughtless pollution.

Overfishing and pollution have threatened to make oceans into ecological disaster areas. Industrial pollutants that are dumped upstream of estuaries have rendered many marine habitats unsuitable for life. Again, tighter regulations have been used to prevent further destruction of the ocean biomes.

39

Notes on the text

drastically - радикально

altere - змінятися, переробляти

preserve - берегти, охороняти, оберігати

supply - 1) постачати (with) 2) поставляти, доставляти; давати

3)відшкодовувати, повертати; задовольняти (потребу)

4)заміщати, заміняти

consequence - наслідок capacity - місткість, здатність

suffer 1) страждати; зазнавати 2) терпіти, зносити fairly – фактично, належним чином

dump - розвантажувати, скидати, звалювати abnormally - ненормально

algae - водорості

thoughtless – ) безтурботний, нерозсудливий 2) необдуманий, дурний render - оплата, віддавати належне, платити

tight - щільно, міцно

Post-text exercises

I.Answer the questions:

1.How is a biome defined?

2.How can we group biomes ?

3.How are forests, grasslands, and deserts distinguished ?

4.Why is it important to preserve all types of biomes as each houses many unique forms of life?

5.What are the main problems of conservation and preservation of the Earth's natural biomes?

1. Give definitions:

an ecoregion, community, environment, biome, succession, preservation, vegetation, precipitation, runoff

1.The process by which one community gives way to another.

2.Protection from harm - the guarding of something from danger, harm, or injury.

3.Surface water effluent (usually from precipitation but may be from human activities such as irrigation) that moves too quickly to be absorbed into the ground.

4.Plant life.

5.The area in which something exists or lives.

7. A climatic and geographically defined area of ecologically similar communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms.

40

8.All the organisms living together in a particular location. 8. Water that returns to the earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow.

2. Match the following English words with their Ukrainian equivalents:

3. Make up word combinations using the text. Translate them into Ukranian in written form.

4.Study the logically connected words and learn them by heart.

To preserve - preservation

To conserve - conservation

To restore-restoration-restorationist

To interactinteraction

To destruct - destruction

5. Give a brief summary of the text.

5. Test Your Vocabulary.

1. The study of living things, their environment, and the relation between the two is ....... .

Agenetics

Becology

Cenvironment

41

D ecophysiology

2. The relationship between the environment and a species is ......... .

Acommunity ecology

Bphysiological ecology

Cnvironmental ecology

Dlandscape ecology

3. ...... is surrounding where living beings inhabit.

Aharvesting

Benvironment

Ccultivation

Dpastures

4. All the organisms living together in a particular location.

AEnvironment

BSuccession

CBiodiversity

DBiosphere

5. ...... is expressed at the ecological level (ecosystem), population level (intraspecific diversity), species level (specific diversity), and genetic level.

ABiodiversity

BEnvironment

CDiversification

DThe primary technique

6. ...... studies the flows of energy and matter through the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.

AEcophysiology

BEcosystem ecology

CLandscape ecology

DPhysiological ecology

7. ..... is the portion of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.

AHydrosphere

BBiosphere

CAtmosphere

DLithosphere

8.Water that returns to the earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow.

APreservation

BRunoff

CPrecipitation

DDiversification

42

Do - was done

Damage - were damaged

Reduce - to be reduced

Protect - will be protected

6.Make the sentences passive as in the example Example: We protect nature - Nature is protected by us.

1.They pollute the environment.

2.Scientists will develop ways to reduce the acidity of rain.

3.Peter Smith always does his work in time.

4.This comjnany employs only qualified specialists. ■

5.Most power plants burn fuel for energy.

6.Acid rain aifected these regions.

7.Make the sentences active as in the example.

Example: The Clean Air Act was amended by the United State Congress. - The United State Congress amended the Clean Air Act.

1.An enormous quantity of pollution is produced by one car. 2.The word "ecosystem" was invented by ecologists.

3.The negative parts of the discipline are emphasized by environmentalists.

4.His attention will be focused on methods of environmental protection.

4.Life in big cities is also affected by big industries and transport.

5.Pollutants were transported farther from their sources by the winds.

8.Complete these sentences using the passive (Present or Past) of the given verbs.

To subject to carry to transport to remove to affect

1. Large parts of eastern North America ... by acid rain.

2.Sulphur and nitrogen compounds ... from fuels or industrial emissions. 3.Since about 1950s pollutants ... father from their sources.

4.The pollution ….. carried short distances by the wind, so sulphuric acid produced in Britain can travel as far as Scandinavia.

5.A lot of people ... to massive doses of radiation.

45

9. Use the Present Simple, Active or Passive, instead of the infinitives in brackets.

1.The branch of science that (to concern) with the relationships between organisms and their environments.

2.The environment of an organism (to include) both the physical properties.

3.The word "ecology" (to use) in common parlance as a synonym for the natural environment or environmentalism.

4.Ecology (to be) a multi-disciplinary science.

5.Ecology (to draw) heavily on many other branches of science.

6.Ecology usually (to consider) a branch of biology, the general science that studies living organisms.

6.Organisms can (to study) at many different levels.

7.As a scientific discipline, ecology ( not/ to dictate) what is "right" or "wrong".

8.Note that these different systems (to unrelate) and often applied at the same time.

9.What the term ecology (to mean)?

10.This remarkable ecological system (not/to be) dependent on sunlight.

11.Some of this glucose (to use) directly by other organisms for energy.

10. Translate into Ukranian.

1.Either word may be used with specialized meaning in various contexts.

2.Ecoregions are classified by biome type, which are the major global plant communities determined by rainfall and climate.

3.The outer layer of the planet Earth can be divided into several compartments.

4.Forests, grasslands, and deserts are distinguished by climate .

5.Biome types like Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub, Tundra, and Mangroves host very distinct ecological communities, and are recognized as distinct biome types as well.

6.The term oekologie was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel; the word is derived from the Greek oikos ("household") and logos ("study").

7.A holistic view of nature is stressed in both ecology and environmentalism.

46