Part III

Task 1

Writing your personal statement.

a) Read Alexander’s personal statement and choose the correct word to fill each gap.

control - responsibility - licence - position - course - activity - opportunity - work – aim – part - familiar – attending - meeting

Name: Alexander Bobrov

I have always been interested in the role of wildlife in a modern world and my 1……….. is to find 2 ………. in this area. I have always enjoyed taking part in any kind of 3 ………. which deals with wildlife, and I have used every 4 ………. to realize my ambitions. I have even taken a 5 ………. in animal welfare, and I went on a safari tour with an organized expedition two years ago. I like reading, skiing and travelling to European countries, 6 ……….people of different nationalities. I am in possession of a current driving 7 ………. and am 8 ………. with a range of existing computer software . At the moment I am 9 ………. a training course in English two times a week in the evening. I think that the knowledge of foreign languages today is important in many 10 ………. of our daily life. I will have finished my full-time education this year and I would be free to take up a11 ………. after that time.

I am emotionally stable and I enjoy working as a 12………. of a team but I would welcome taking on 13 ………. for others.

b) Write a personal statement for yourself, change the details in the model so that they apply to you.

Example

Name: ………………………………………….

For a long time I have been dreaming about ………………………………………..

and my ambition is to find work in this field.

c) Writing a letter of application

Try to finish a letter of application for Alexander. Some gaps require more than one word.

ARCHANGELSKAYA PRAVDA

A P P O I N T M E N T S

VODLOZERSKY NATIONAL PARK requires an assistant to the Director to aid in its daily running and in the planning of the future projects.

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Interviews to take place in July Post becomes vacant in September

___________________________________

Please send your CV and personal statement.

____________________________________

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to apply for the job of 1 ………. advertised in 2 ………. .

I realize that the successful 3 ………. will be required to 4 ………. the position in 5

………., which would fully 6 ………. me.

Please find 7 ………. my 8 ………. and 9 ………., together with my completed 10

………. .

I look 11 ………. . Yours 12 ……… ,

Alexander Bobrov

d) Look at the advertisement in the Moscow News and the one in the Kaliningradskaya Pravda. Choose the job you would like to have in summer and write your letter of application in 120 – 180 words:

PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH

If you are students and dream to spend summer months in England you have a chance to win a trip to England.

Elderly people need your help.

You will have good conditions and pay. All expenses paid. We want information about your level of English, experience with the elderly.

Letters of application should be sent to: Dr Ingrid Nelson,

Morning Star Estate,

PO Box 158

Short-listed applicants will be called for interview in May.

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Animals need your care!

We are looking for students for temporary summer work. If you love animals you have an opportunity to

realize yourself in this area as an assistant to animal-keeper in our Zoo. You would be responsible for looking after the general welfare of wild animals, for feeding them and helping the workers of the Zoo in other ways. We ensure you will have positive emotions and some sort of adrenalin! You are required to have experience with animals, to be available during the day on some days and on others – in evenings, to have patience and good communication skills.

Send your letters of application to Personnel Manager of the Kaliningrad Zoo.

Task 2

a) Writing a CV.

When you apply for a job, your CV can put you in a strong position. It should be -word-processed

-printed on good quality paper

-no longer than two pages of A4 paper You should include:

1.Personal details (only essential information) – who you are and how to contact you.

2.Education

3.Work experience. It is advisable to stress your achievements.

4.Positions of responsibility (you might be the leader of a university’s student trade union with a number of responsibilities etc.).

5.Skills (for example, working knowledge of German or current clean driving licence ). Try to be positive about your ability and experience.

6.Interests

7.Referees (an academic referee or an employer). First, you should get your referees’ permission informing them what you are applying for and what you would like them to stress in a reference.

b) Below are sections of a CV. Match them with the headings in the box and put them into the correct order.

a Skills b Interests c Work experience d Referees e Address f Education

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7.

Konstantin Zuev

Date of Birth: 11.03.1988

8.

Sports: basketball, archery. Music: I sing in a choir.

c) Following the guidelines above, prepare your own CV.

Task 3

a) Speaking: Convincing a sponsor

Many companies contribute money towards activities to maintain their image or to create a new image. Think of an ecological project which needs sponsorship and choose a company (it might be an international company) to approach for sponsorship. Decide what your project can offer the company and prepare the arguments that you will use to persuade them to sponsor your project as: if it has a logical link with the company; if it is unique or one of many similar things on offer; what kind of media coverage the project offers (for example, local press, TV, company name/logo on T- shirts, programmes etc.); what the chances of it being successful are; etc.

Examples of a project:

Tree planting event

You are members of a local environmental group which takes care of green parts of big cities and organizes trees planting in city areas. You are planning a ‘tree planting’ event in the central square of your city. You need sponsorship to buy the trees, bushes and flowers. You intend to put the sponsors’ names on plaques mounted in front of each tree.

Important local politicians will be at the event and might participate in the action itself.

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Photomania

You are in charge of organizing an exhibition of photos and invite those who would like to try themselves in photography. The subject matter of the exhibition is wild life. The purpose is to attract attention from our society to rare species in nature and thus, through pieces of art to raise a problem of wild life protection. You are looking for sponsorship to finance programs, catalogues, reproductions etc. You have invited representatives of local administration from Art Sector.

An environmental case

You are members of a local environmental group which participates in “sea shore cleaning from garbage campaign”. Local journalists have agreed to write articles aimed at raising awareness of the scheme. This could also initiate other projects and attract our society’s attention to the possibility of plastics recycling plant building not far from our sea. In such case it could be cheaper to carry the garbage from the shore and could minimize the amount of plastics along the sea-shore.

b) Writing a letter:

Write a letter to the company asking them to consider your sponsorship. Use the guidelines below to help you.

Dear …

(Opening paragraph) I am a member of a team … (give details) currently working on (present the project in general terms). I am contacting you because … (introduce the idea of their possible interest in the project)

(In the second paragraph, outline the project giving dates, times and activities. Give specific reasons why the project should interest the company, including possible media coverage, customer appeal, etc.)

(In the closing paragraph, say how you hope the project will be of interest to the company.)

(Closing formalities and signature)

c)Writing E-mail

E-mail, or electronic mail, is how messages are sent over the Internet, and is

increasingly common. Unlike telephone calls, e-mail is useful for differences in time zones and messages can be read when the receiver is ready.

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This is an e-mail confirming that two colleagues will meet at the conference.

The theme is – Distribution and relative number of living beings on Earth. Students split into two or three groups and choose a chairperson in each, who is responsible for keeping an eye on time, for opening and closing an event. He can also ask questions to clear up some points and interrupt the speaker politely if he doesn’t speak to the point.

The other participants choose the topic to speak about and try to cover all important factors determining the abundance of organisms on Earth.

Notes:

Preparing the speech you should think carefully how to structure your presentation. In the introduction you should tell the audience what you are going to say. Use the sequencing words to explain the sequence. Keep in mind six key points on Preparation of your presentation: Objectives, Organization, Audience, Content, Visual information, Practice.

Don’t write the presentation, but make notes to help you remember what you want to say. Your presentation can be considered successful if the message was clear and easy to follow; if you were fluent in your speech and didn’t make many mistakes.

Useful language:

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b) Produce a report summarizing the main findings during the conference.

Reports should be well-structured and easy to read. They include an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.

The introduction should explain what the report is about. The main body examines the issues or problem in detail. The conclusion summarizes the main points of the report.

Task 6

Speaking: A job of ecologist

a)Split into groups and discuss the aspects of your future profession: where you can work; what responsibilities you can have; what advantages of such work you can imagine; how the knowledge of the disciplines you study at the university can help you in work; etc.

b)Produce a short leaflet to participate in a competition: How well I imagine my future profession.

c)Present your leaflet to the group. You may add pictures and titles.

Task 7

Split into groups. Within your group discuss the ways environmental pollution influences natural populations (Unit 5, Reading C). In each group decide who will report the main findings of the discussion.

Task 8

a) Writing an annotation

An annotation is a brief paragraph of information that either describes or evaluates a book or journal article. The purpose of an annotation is to describe the work in such a way that the reader can decide whether or not to read the work itself, to attract readers or to guide selection of materials. Annotations should be about 200 words and differ from an abstract or summary, as abstracts and summaries usually only describe or summarize the content and do not critically evaluate.

Useful phrases:

The text/article gives us a sort of information about … The article deals with the problem …

The subject of the text is …

At the beginning the author describes ( dwells on; explains; touches upon; analyses; comments; characterizes; underlines; reveals; gives account of…)

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The article begins with the description of …, a review of…, the analysis of… The article opens with…

Then (after that, further on, next) the author passes on to …, gives a detailed analysis (description), goes on to say that…

To finish with, the author describes…

At the end of the article the author draws the conclusion that …; the author sums it all up (by saying…)

In conclusion the author…

b) Read the Text: Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea

It is often stated that during the 1900s there has been a fourfold increase in the load of N, and an eight-fold increase in the load of P to the Baltic Sea. Most of the increase has likely occurred since 1950. Although there are indications that such an increase may have occurred, it must be kept in mind that quantitative estimates of long-term changes in the loading of nutrients are uncertain. During 1970-1993 the total annual riverine loads of N and P discharged into the Baltic Sea were fairly constant, with inter-annual variation correlated to freshwater runoff.

The input of nutrients to the Baltic Sea occurs along four pathways, namely through riverine runoff, direct emissions from industries and urban areas on the coast, atmospheric deposition on the sea surface, and through N2 fixation. Seepage of groundwater is also a possible way by which nutrients can enter the sea, but this input is regarded As playing a small role for the flux of N and negligible in the transport of P. Fish farms may locally be of importance, e.g. in the archipelago of Finland. There may be other minor inputs, e.g. from ships.

The riverine runoff of N and P exceeds in size those of direct discharges, atmospheric deposition, and N2 fixation. During the period 1980-1993, the average annual river transports of N and P to the Baltic Sea were estimated to be 830,000 and 41,000 tonnes, respectively. The six largest river basins, namely the Neva, Narva, Daugava, Neman, Vistula, and Oder River Basins contributed with about 50% of the load of both Tot-N and Tot-P.

Direct emissions into the sea from about 20 million people living in areas along the coast of the B atmospheric deposition to the Baltic Sea increasedaltic Sea amounts to a substantial volume of nutrients. Estimated coastal point-source pollution of nutrients are about 95,000 tonnes per year of N and 12,500 tonnes per year P.

Atmospheric deposition of N is primarily composed of nitrate from combustion of fossil fuels and exhaust from motor vehicles, and ammonium from agriculture, particularly from livestock farming. The origin of P in this context is less important, although combustion of organic matter, sea-spray, and wind erosion of soils are the dominating sources. The nitrogen atmospheric deposition to the Baltic Sea increased

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during the 20th century and was about 330,000 tonnes per year in the middle of the 1980s. Since then it decreased to about 250,000 tonnes per year in the middle of 1990s. There is a clear gradient between different basins: from 1,000mg N/m2.yr in the southern Baltic to less than 200 mg N/m2.yr in the Bothnian Bay. For P investigations propose a range of 5,500-6000 tonnes per year.

N2 fixation by blue-green algae, properly called cyanobacteria, where nitrogen gas is transformed into bioavailable N, has been estimated to contribute 180,000 to 430,000 tonnes per year to the Baltic Sea proper. In other sub basins N2 foxation is regarded as insignificant.

c) Write your annotation to the text and then compare it with the annotationexample, given below.

Example:

The text gives us a sort of information about the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. The first paragraph deals with quantitative estimates of changes in the loading of nutrients in the Baltic Sea during different periods of time. Then the author dwells upon possible ways by which nutrients can enter the sea. Next the contribution of the riverine runoff of N and P in comparison with other discharges is discovered. Further on, the author touches upon the quantity of direct emissions into the sea and analyses the sources and the development of atmospheric deposition of N. To finish with, the author gives account of N2 fixation, that is really important to understand the ecological situation in the Baltic Sea. The text is interesting for those who are involved into ecological studies.

d) Read the text in Part II: Dispersal, Dispersion and Migration in Space and Time. Write an annotation to this text.

Task 9 Writing a summary

a) A summary is a shortened version of the original. The main purpose of such a simplification is to highlight the major points from the original version, e.g. a text. In contrast to an annotation, a summary contains neither interpretation nor rating. Only the opinion of the original writer is reflected – paraphrased with new words without quotations from the text. A summary is written in present tense. Minor facts have to be left out. In summaries only indirect speech is used and depictions are avoided.

How to write it:

-Read the text carefully. Determine its structure. Formulate the main statement.

-Reread the text. Underline key ideas and terms in each paragraph.

-Write a thesis – a one-sentence summary of the entire text. It should express the central idea of the article. For persuasive articles, summarize in a sentence the author’s conclusion. For descriptive texts, indicate the subject of the description and its key features.

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-Write your summary by (1) combining the thesis with your list of one-sentence summaries or (2) combining the thesis with one-sentence summaries plus significant details from the text. In either case, eliminate repetition. Eliminate less important information, generalize minor details. Use as few words as possible to convey the main ideas.

-Check your summary against the original text, and make whatever summary reflects the original conclusion. Revise your summary, inserting transitional words and phrases where necessary to ensure coherence. Check for grammatical correctness, punctuation, and spelling.

b)Read the text in Part II: ‘Dispersal’ and the summary-example, given below.

The subject of the text is dispersal of organisms.

1. Though all species disperse, some are more dispersive than others. There are different types of Dispersal. In some cases it is an escape from the immediate environment. In other cases it is a ‘discovery dispersal’, when individuals ‘explore’ new sites and either return to a previously chosen one or cease to move at a moment. Such cessation of movement might be under an organism’s control or uncontrolled.

Plant seeds, for example, disperse in no-exploratory way and animals can have any of the three categories of dispersal like most aphids whose ‘discovery dispersal’ is under some limited control.

Dispersal is especially essential for the persistence of species that live in a changing community as their home is sooner or later a dangerous place.

2. There are two ways to gain in fitness: migration in time (by delaying the arrival on the scene) and migration in space (by dispersing progeny). Migration in time is regarded as a period of delay (predictive or consequential) in a state of dormancy to conserve energy and tolerate the adverse environmental conditions.

c) Read the text: ‘Intraspecific Competition’ and give your own summary of the article.

Task 10 Making translation in the way of Precis.

a) A translation in the way of Precis is a shortened version of a full written translation or a full translation of previously chosen parts of a foreign text.

How to write it:

-Read and translate the text.

-Underline the main idea.

-Exclude unessential and surplus information.

-Formulate the author’s conclusions clearly.

-Make up a plan of your Precis.

-Write translation according to your plan.

b)Read the text: ‘Interspecific Competition’ and write your own translation in the way of précis.

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