Unit 8.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.

Text: This Fragile Planet.

Grammar: The Present Continuous Tense.

Практические цели: Закрепление лексического материала по теме “Environmental Protection”, закрепление навыков устной речи и изложения текста, ознакомление с новым грамматическим материалом.

This Fragile Planet.

The word environment means simply what is around us. Some people live in a town

environment; for others, their environment is the countryside. But the air we breathe, the soil

on which we stand and walk, the water we drink are all parts of the environment.

Nowadays people understand how important it is to solve environmental problems that

endanger people's lives. The most serious environmental problems are;

-pollution in its many forms (water pollution, air pollution, nuclear pollution);

-noise from cars, buses, planes;

-destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty;

-shortage of natural resources (metals, different kinds of fuel);

-the growth of pollution.

Water pollution. How awful it is to live without water. There is no ocean or sea which is

not used as a dump. The Pacific Ocean, especially, has suffered from nuclear pollution because some governments test nuclear weapons there. Many seas are used for dumping industrial and nuclear waste. Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too. Fish and reptiles can not live in them. There is not enough oxygen in the water. In such places all the birds leave their habitats and many plants die. If people drink this water they can die.

Air pollution. When the Americans decided to clean up the Statue of Liberty in 1986, the first thing they had to do was to make a hole in her nose and take away the acid rain that had collected inside. The polluted air of New York had mixed with the rain and damaged the Statue badly. And you certainly know that most of the pollution in big cities comes from cars and buses. More and more people are told not to be in direct sunlight, because ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer. Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from such radiation, but if there are holes in the ozone layer ultraviolet radiation can get to the earth. Many scientists think that these holes are the result of air pollution.

Both clean water and clean air are necessary for our health. If people want to survive they must solve these problems quickly. Man is beginning to understand that his environment is not just his own town or country, but the whole earth. That's why people all over the world think and speak so much about ecology.

Topical vocabulary.

1. environment окружающая среда

2. to endanger подвергать опасности

3. shortage of smth. нехватка, дефицит

4. dump свалка

5. nuclear pollution ядерное загрязнение

6. weapon оружие

7. waste отходы

8. to be poisoned отравленный

9. oxygen кислород

10. acid rain кислотный дождь

11. ultraviolet radiation ультрорадиация

12. ozone layer озоновый слой

13. to survive выживать

14. ecology экология

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

1. What does the word environment mean?

2. What are the most serious environmental problems?

3. what makes the sea waters dangerous today?

4. Why is it dangerous to dump industrial waste in the sea?

5. why was the Statue of Liberty damaged?

6. Why is it not safe to be in the sunlight in certain places?

Ex. 2. Find in the text and read out English equivalents of these words and word combinations.

Жить в условиях города, решать проблемы окружающей среды, угрожать жизни людей, загрязнение водной среды, загрязнение воздуха, разрушение, нехватка природных ресурсов, используется в качестве мусорной свалки, проводить испытания ядерного оружия, промышленные и ядерные отходы, покидать места своего обитания.

Ex. 3. Speak about the problems of air pollution and water pollution as you see them. Mention water bodies used as rubbish dumps, destruction of buildings in towns, water and air pollution influence on people's health.

Ex. 4. Translate into English.

1. Если мы сможем разрешить экологические проблемы, мы спасем землю.

2. Люди будут здоровыми, если загрязнение воздуха остановиться.

3. Мы выживем, если будем защищать природу все вместе.

4. Когда поедешь на юг, постарайся не находиться под прямыми лучами солнца долго.

5. Когда экология станет лучше, животные вернутся в места своего обитания.

2. Grammar: The Present Continuous Tense.

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERREGATIVE
I am reading	I am not reading	Am I reading?
He is reading	He is not reading	Is he reading?
She is reading	She is not reading	Is she reading?
It is reading	It is not reading	Is it reading?
We are reading	We are not reading	Are we reading?
You are reading	You are not reading	Are you reading?
They are reading	They are not reading	Are they reading?

The Present Continuous may denote:

• an action going on at the present moment:

Why are you wearing that funny hat?

What’s that smell? – Something is burning.

• a future action when it is planned:

I am leaving tonight.

They are getting married in June.

• a continuous process (with the adverbs always, constantly):

The Earth is always moving.

• an action thought of as continuous process (with the adverbs always, constantly):

He is always grumbling.

She is constantly laughing.