Antarctica: Should We Exploit or Preserve It?

Ever since Captains Roald Amudsen and Robert Scott raced for the South Pole in 1911-1912, people have been irresistibly drawn to Antarctica. Although the Continent is the coldest and most isolated in the world, people have always viewed Antarctica as a potential source of wealth. The early explorations of the Con­tinent were driven by the search for colonies of fur seals, whose pelts were highly prized. Later, attention turned to whales, and more recently, to the possibility that this frozen region might con­ceal mineral resources, especially petroleum. Some people began to think of such commercial possibilities as tourism and icebergs. Some have said that Antarctica would be an ideal natural refriger­ator for the storage of perishable commodities.

Despite its isolation and forbidding climate, Antarctica is po­litically important. By 1942 seven nations had staked out territorial claims on it. In the years following WW II, these claims threat­ened to spark military conflict, and Antarctica became the stage for menacing naval manoeuvres, gunshots, arrests and deporta­tions.

Fortunately, peace has been preserved in the region by the Antarctic Treaty, which went into effect in 1961. The signatures to the treaty represent more than 70% of the world's population and include such diverse nations as India, the USSR, the US, France, China and Uruguay. The treaty has admirably served the interna­tional community by ensuring global scientific cooperation, putting sovereignty claims into abeyance and preserving the Antarctic's near-pristine environment.

Today there is every reason to believe that science is the prin­cipal export of Antarctica. The unique role Antarctica plays in the world environmental system makes it an invaluable scientific re­source for all mankind. While some applied and strategic research is being conducted to support the fisheries and related interests, the bulk of the activity is in basic science. Scientific institutions are concentrating their resources-on the following issues of global sig­nificance.

The Antarctic is vital to research into the greenhouse effect for several reasons. Computer models indicate that the temperature change caused by greenhouse gases will be greatly amplified in the Polar Regions. A significant temperature rise in Antarctica could, if detected, provide an early warning of global change.

If warmer conditions melted just part of the ice sheet, which holds 90% of the world's fresh water, the sea level would rise dramatically. People everywhere would suffer disastrous envi­ronmental, economic and political chaos. Paradoxically, the ice sheet might grow if the ability of the warmer Antarctic air to hold more water vapour were to lead to more snowfall; this too could have an important impact on the global environment.

The discovery of the ozone hole over the Antarctic has excited worldwide interest. It has also led to fast international political ac­tion. The Montreal Protocol, so far signed by 30 countries, will limit, although inadequately, the global production of CFCs, which have been identified as playing a major role in destructing the ozone. Never before have governments responded so speedily to new scientific facts. This dramatic response was, of course, ex­tremely satisfying to research scientists.

Antarctica offers two unique features for pollution monitoring. First, because it is the furthest landmass from the major centers of pollution generation, it is an excellent place to monitor global, rather than just regional, pollution levels. Second, the ice pre­serves the historical record. By drilling deep holes, we can analyze the particles that fell centuries ago.

Because the earth's magnetic field lines concentrate at the poles, Antarctica provides a window into outer space. High-quality radio wave measurements can be taken through this window. These measurements help us to understand the impact of solar winds on electromagnetic phenomena and can provide an early warning of geomagnetic storms, which have an important impact on both global weather and on satellite communications and radio.

Research shows that the Southern Ocean may very well be a major absorber of carbon dioxide. Small creatures which live near the surface of this ocean may take in as much of this greenhouse gas as the vegetation of the Amazon jungle does.

What does all this mean for the Continent's future? Will it be­come a great commercial resource shared by the nations of the world? Or an environmental and scientific preserve? Despite Antarctica's remoteness and its eternal winter, those of us living on the other six continents have an enormous stake in the answers to these questions.

Answer the questions:

1. What was the aim of the early explorations of Antarctica?

2. What could territorial claims of some nations on Antarctica cause?

3. What should be the main purpose of Antarctica's activ­ity?

4. What would happen if part of the ice sheet melted?

5. How did most of the countries react on the discovery of the ozone hole?

6. Why is Antarctica an excellent place for monitoring global pol­lution levels?

7. How can the Southern Ocean absorb carbon dioxide?

Text 7.

Read the dialogue:

Narrator:

How do scientists learn more about the threats to the atmosphere? One way is to study how this precious envelope of air evolved over billions of years. Scientists believe that when the Earth was in its in­fancy, there were many volcanoes, far more than today. Energy, produced by radioactive decay deep beneath the surface, melted rock, and forced lava and gases upwards toward the surface. Lighter gases, like hydrogen, escaped into space. Denser gases were held near the Earth's surface by gravity, forming a primitive atmos­phere. There also were vast quantities of water vapor, which, because of strong inter-molecular forces, eventually condensed to form the oceans.

How did the primitive atmosphere and the early oceans evolve to­gether to produce life on the Earth? Probing for that answer may help us understand how these systems stay in balance, and how hu­man activities threaten nature's exquisite balance. One of the best-known researchers in the field is Dr. Cero Pottom Paruma.

Dr. Cero Pottom Paruma:

What we have here is an apparatus that gives us an idea what could have happened on the primitive Earth four and a half billion years ago.

Narrator:

The upper flask represents the primitive atmosphere, while the lower one represents the ocean. The early atmosphere was made up mainly of methane, ammonia and water vapor. This side arm is kept warm, while this condenser is kept cold. Water vapor rises through the warm side arm to the upper flask, much like water evaporating from the ocean. And it falls back through the condenser, as if it were rain. This electrical discharge simulates lightning through the primitive atmo­sphere. When the lightning discharges, a number of reactions take place that could result in the formation of organic matter, which col­lects in the ocean below.

Dr. Cero Pottom Paruma:

Students of chemical evolution, who study the origin of life, call that the primordial soup. It is believed that the early oceans therefore had an accumulation of organic molecules, the very building blocks of life. Amino acids, the bases that occur in the nucleic acids, in this laboratory in this very experiment we have synthesized all five of the genetic bases. Here we have a wonderful way of simulating the at­mospheric conditions of the early Earth.

Narrator:

With the building blocks of amino acids in place, primitive life could begin to develop: first as single celled organisms originating in the pri­mordial soup of the sea, later as more complex and adaptable organ­isms capable of leaving the water and living on land. Gradually, some organisms developed the ability to release oxygen into the atmosphere. And from then on, life could begin to evolve in more complex forms, which in turn helped to produce more oxygen for the atmosphere. To predict how the atmosphere might change in the future, scientists to­day try to discover how it has changed in the recent past. One way to measure these changes is by taking samples of tree rings that reflect climatic changes over centuries or even thousands of years. Atmos­pheric scientists also can track past changes by taking samples of bur­ied ice that formed on the surface long ago. By testing such samples, scientists have shown that the Earth was a little warmer about a thousand years ago, and from the sixteenth to the middle of the nineteenth centuries, it was about one degree Celsius colder than it is today. For an even deeper look into the past, scientists sample layers of sediments that have settled on the floor of the ocean. Scientists also monitor subtle but significant changes occurring in the atmosphere today, since these changes have the potential to enhance life, or seri­ously disrupt global cycles.

One of these cycles is called the hydrologic cycle: the constant move­ment of water evaporating from earth to sky as water vapor, and from sky to earth as precipitation.

The hydrologic cycle has existed for millennia. It is even possible that when you take a drink of water, you may be swallowing a molecule or two once drunk by Julius Caesar.

Powered by the heat of the Sun, this slow but steady cycle of evapo­ration and precipitation is always in balance for the Earth as a whole. About ten percent of all precipitation falls on land, and provides us with the supply of fresh water that we depend on. In the laboratory, series demonstrator Donald Showalter, shows how carbon dioxide plays an important role in another cycle vital to life on Earth.

Donald Showalter:

This is bromo-thymo blue, a nice pretty blue color. Remember the blue. Now, this acid-based indicator will change color if there is a change in the acidity of the solution. Let's add some of our carbon dioxide, the dry ice, and see what happens. Notice the dry ice bub­bles. Oh look at that! There is a color change to this beautiful yellow color. Now what does that mean? Remember we said that this is an acid-based indicator. So, the carbon dioxide not only dissolved in the solution, but it also changed the acidity of the solution.

Narrator:

Photosynthesis by plants also depends on carbon dioxide. An experi­ment with bromo-thymo blue demonstrates this vital role.

Donald Showalter:

I have three test tubes here that are filled with water. And then I satu­rated them with carbon dioxide: just dropped it in there and let it bubble away. I also put some indicator. Remember that same indica­tor bromo-thymo blue, so it turned yellow. And then I put a water plant in two of these. Now, this is actually the experiment here. We want to see if the plant will absorb that carbon dioxide. And then the acid content will decrease and we will see a color change, if it hap­pens. What I'm going to do now, I'm going to take this tube with the plant, and this one over here without, and expose it to an intense light source. I'm going to take this tube out from herewith the plant in it, and put it into a dark area, where it's not exposed to light. Now what do you think is going to happen? Well, there's going to be some change, huh, we hope, because of the absorbed ion of the carbon dioxide. But that is going to take quite a bit of time, certainly, more than a day. So, I can't sit here and let you watch it while it happens. I 've already done that for you. Now let me show you what happens. After at least twenty-four hours, now, look what's happened: the solu­tion has turned blue. Now that means that this water is now less acidic. Right, the blue colour means less acidity. What happened to the other two though? Remember this one was in the dark, didn't have any light exposed, and it didn't turn color. And this one had no plant in it. It was exposed to the light, but it didn't turn color either. OK, now what does this all mean? It means now for the plant to absorb the carbon dioxide we need to have the plant, we need to have water, and we need to have light. And if all those are present, the carbon dioxide will be absorbed, and the solution will be less acidic.

Текст 8.

Read the text:

SAVE THE ELEPHANTS!

Charles Goodyear didn't invent a new polymeric molecule or a new elastomer when he spilled a mixture of rubber and sulfur onto a hot stove; he accidentally modified a natural, polymeric elastomer and came up with an enormous improvement in its properties. John Wesley Hyatt and his brother Isaiah, on the other hand, consciously and deliberately converted a modi­fied natural polymer into the world's first new, commercially successful syn­thetic plastic. They produced a plastic that hadn't existed earlier.

By 1863, three years after Goodyear's death, the slaughter of the world's elephants for their tusks had become a serious matter, as it still is today. In that era the disappearance of elephants was threatening to disrupt the world's ivory supply. Ivory, a valuable luxury item of the 19th century used for jewellery, ornaments, piano keys, and various other items, was becom­ing scarce and very expensive. Perhaps to protect the elephants but cer­tainly to ensure a source of raw materials, the firm of Phelan and Collander, a New England manufacturer of ivory billiard balls, offered $10,000 to anyone who could devise a satisfactory substitute for the rapidly disap­pearing natural ivory. John Hyatt, a 26-year-old printer born in Starkey, New York, took up the challenge. He was helped by a startling discovery made years earlier by a chemist in Basel, Switzerland.

In 1846, a Swiss chemistry professor, Christian Schoenbein, had ac­cidentally invented guncotton by spilling a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid in the kitchen of his home and then wiping up the mess with his wife's cotton apron. He rinsed out the apron thoroughly with water and hung it up to dry near a hot stove. As it hung drying, it disap­peared in a sheet of flame.

The smokeless guncotton of Schoenbein's accident proved far superior to the very smoky gunpowder used at the time in warfare and it became a popular military item. More to the point, by inadvertently inducing a reaction between the mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids and the cellulose of the cotton apron, Schoenbein had successfully transformed the polymeric cel­lulose into nitrocellulose, a compound in which varying numbers of the hydroxyl groups (—OH) of the polymer are converted into nitrate groups (—O—N0₂). (The sulfuric acid serves to catalyze the reaction.)

John Hyatt won the $10,000 prize with a combination of camphor, a pungent substance obtained from the camphor tree, and a lightly nitrated form of Schoenbein's nitrocellulose. The mixture forms a ther­moplastic so similar to ivory that it was known for some time as artificial ivory. We now call it celluloid. With the help of his brother Isaiah, Hyatt began manufacturing celluloid in 1870 and became more successful fi­nancially than Goodyear. His synthetic billiard balls proved a bit too brittle to be useful, but the plastic did make fine dental plates, photo­graphic film, brush handles, detachable collars, ping pong balls, and a host of other small products. Its major defect in consumer products is its tendency to burst into flames. Movie film was once made of this highly flammable celluloid and often ignited from the heat of the projector.

Although the Hyatts had produced celluloid, the world's first success­ful commercial plastic, they hadn't actually constructed a new polymeric chain. The plastic was, rather, a combination of camphor and chemically modified, naturally occurring cellulose. The credit forthe world's first fully synthetic organic polymer goes to Leo Hendrik Baekeland.

Make up a plan of the text and give titles to its parts.

Ask your fellow students as many questions on the text as you can. (Work in pairs.)

Retell the text in short.

Text 9.

Read the text:

THE USA NATIONAL PARKS

(from English Teaching Forum Number 4, 2007)

The first national park in the USA appeared in the 19^th century. An artist George Catlin expressed concern about the effects of westward expansion on native civilizations, wildlife and wilderness. He said that a certain government policy was required to safeguard the natural environment. However, more that 30 years had passed before the first natural park appeared. On March 1, 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone Park Act, which reserved the Yellowstone area of 3.300 miles of land in the Wyoming and Montana territories.

Three sites in California – Yosemite, Kings and Sequoia attained national park status in 1890. The fifth national park appeared on March 2, 1899. It was Mt. Rainier, a stratovolcano, and the surrounding area in Washington State.

In the early 1900s the parks movements gained momentum. Five more national parks appeared. Besides, some historic and prehistoric structures and objects of historic and scientific interest were proclaimed as national monuments, among them El Moro, New Mexico, Arizona’s Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon which later became national parks. Congress had earlier directed the War Department to preserve historic battlefields, forts and memorials as national military parks and monuments.

The reorganization in 1933 created a single system of federal parklands, truly natural in scope, preserving historical and natural wonders. In 1963 the scientists issued a report that commended that a national park “should represent a vignette of primitive America’.

The National Park System continued to grow and became more diverse. In 1980 the NPS was more that doubled in size, when over 47 acres of wilderness of Alaska were added to it.

In recent years the enormous popularity of the national parks created new stresses on the parks system. The problems of air and water pollution appeared. Some politicians wanted the national parks to be open for visitors’ enjoyment, others demanded to open the parks to commercial and industrial uses. The NPS became more focused on education the public about historical and environmental issues. The NPS also intensified efforts to expand partnerships and volunteer opportunities, emphasizing cooperation with government bodies, foundations, corporations and private industries to protect the parks and advance park service programs.

National parks are regarded as perfect vacation destinations. By 2008 the NPS had more that 280 million visitors a year. Parks contribute to a deeper understanding of the history of the USA and their way of life.

Glossary:

to express concern – выражать озабоченность

wilderness – дикая местность

petrified forest – окаменелый лес

momentum – движущая сила, толчок, импульс

Answer the questions:

1. Who was the ‘father’ of National Parks System?

2. When did the first national parks appear?

3. Which parks appeared after Yellowstone Park?

4. What did Congress direct the War Department?

5. What are new stresses on the parks system?

6. What do some politicians think about national parks?

7. What does NPS become more focused on?

8. Are national parks regarded today as perfect vacation destinations?

9. Do national parks help to understand the history of the country better?

Some Glimpses at National Parks

Acadia National Park is located on the rugged coast of Maine. The park is a combination of granite cliffs, stony beaches, deep lakes and glacier-covered mountains rising up out of the sea. It was designated a national park in 1919. Acadia Park is known for its 120 miles of trails. Approximately 50 miles of rustic carriage roads were created as a gift of a villioneer Joyn D. Rockefeller, who was a skilled horseman and wanted to travel on roads without motor-driven vehicles.

The carriage roads in Acadia are the best examples of broken stone roads it the USA today. It is a very good place for hikers, bicyclists, carriage riders and cross-country skiers. Other popular activities are kayaking and canoeing.

Denali National Park and Preserve

Among the oldest US national parks, it includes the tallest mountain in North America – Mount McKinley. The native Athabascan people called this mountain Denali or “the High One’. Naturalist Charles Sheldon lobbied for a national park to protect Dall sheep and other wildlife. In 1917 Moint McKinley National Park was established. In 1980 it was renamed Denali National Park and Preserve. The park is larger than the State of Massachusetts. It is a habitat of large mammals – caribou, moose, Dall sheep, wolves, grizzly bears and miniature plants. The park comprises tundra-covered lowlands, hills, flat valleys, glacier-fed rivers, lakes and streams. Denali is home for more than 650 species of flowering plants, mosses, lichens and fungi. Visitors to Denali enjoy sightseeing, mountaineering and research opportunities.

Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. It is located in southern Florida and west of Miami. Home to a wealth of birds and other wildlife, this preserve is particularly noticeable as a refuge for many rare and endangered species, such as the American crocodile, Florida Panther and West manatee. The park is often described as a water marsh, but it encompasses several distinct habitats. Florida Bay contains more than 800 square miles of marine bottom, largely covered by sea grass and containing fish, shellfish, coral and sponges. The coastal channels and winding rivers hold mangrove forests. The park also includes cypress swamps, saw-grass prairies and pinelands, which are home to more than 200 varieties of tropical plants.

Approximately 300 species of birds have been recorded in the Everglades, ncluding the short-tailed hawk, the Caribbean flamingo, herons, egrets and ibises. The park waters are inhabited by otters, manatees, alligators and crocodiles. More than 36 threatened or endangered animal species live in the preserve, including the green turtle, the Key Largo Cotton mouse, the American crocodile, and the Schaus swallowtail butterfly. All of the endangered species in the Everglades are threatened by loss of habitat and alteration of water flow.

Glacier National Park

Glacier national Park is located on the US-Canadian border in north-western Montana. It contains two mountain ranges, 37 glaciers, over 130 lakes, hundreds of different kinds of plants and hundreds of species of animals, including grizzly bears and the Canadian lynx. Glacier National Park was created on 1910. One of the remarkable sights of this mark is Going-to-the-Sun-Road, which was built in response to increasing numbers of park visitors. Many hotels and small lodges called chalets are built throughout this preserve. A road across the mountains was needed to accommodate visitors. Completed in 1932 after 11 years of work, the road is considered an engineering marvel and a National Historic Landmark. It goes through the park’s wild interior, presenting tourists with spectacular views of the Lewis and Livingston mountain ranges, thick forests, alpine tundra, waterfalls and two large lakes.

Grand Canyon National Park

The park contains 1,902 miles of spectacular landscapes ranging form pine and fur forests to painted deserts, from canyons to waterfalls. It was established a national park in 1916. Views of canyon are breathtaking. Most visitors stop their cars to admire the canyon. Some vacationers hike or ride mules to the gorge’s bottom which is 277 miles long and it is carved out of the colorful rocks of Arizona. At its base winds the Colorado River. According to the National Park Service geologic formations here date back 1,800 mln years.

It is home to numerous rare endangered plant and animal species, among them the California Condor, which has a wingspan of more than 9 feet! The park’s wildlife includes many species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, such as bighorn, sheep, bobcats, Albert squirrels, coyotes and mountain lions. Approximately 5 mln people visit the Grand Canyon every year.

Fill in the table:

Name of the National Park	Geographical place	Date of foundation	size	…is home to:

Text 10. Bird flu

Bird flu is an infectious disease due to a type of influenza virus that is hosted by birds, but may infect several species of mammals. It was first identified in Serbia Montenegro in the early 1900s and is now known to exist worldwide. A strain of the H5NI-type of avian influenza virus that emerged in 1997 has been identified as the most likely source of a future influenza pandemic and is known to have infected 137 people in Asia since 2003, killing 70. The avian influenza virus subtypes that have been confirmed in humane, ordered by the number of known human deaths, are: H1N1 caused Spanish flu, H2N2 caused Asian Flu, H3N2 caused Hong Kong Flu, H5N1, H7N7, H9N2, H7N2, H7N3. In humane, bird flu viruses cause similar symptoms to other types of flu. These include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjunctivitis and, in severe cases, severe breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal. The severity of the infection will depend to a large part on the state of the infected person's immune system and if the victim has been exposed to the strain before. It is feared that if a strain of avian influenza virus to which humans have not been previously exposed undergoes the point where it can cross the species barrier from birds to humans, the new subtype created could be both highly contagious and highly lethal in humans. If a human infected with influenza virus also acquires H5N1, a mutant strain of bird flu that can be transmitted from human to human could form. Such a subtype could cause a global pandemic similar to the Spanish Flu that killed up to 50 million people in 1918. Although avian influenza virus in humans can be detected with standard influenza virus tests, these tests have not always proved reliable. Currently the most reliable test requires use of the live virus to interact with antibodies from the patient's blood. Antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir and zanamivir are sometimes effective in both preventing and treating the infection. Vaccines, however, take at least four months to produce and must be prepared for each subtype. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a substantial risk of an influenza epidemic in the near future, most probably from the H5N1 type of avian influenza virus. One of the primary concerns is that the virus could quickly spread across countries as various birds follow their migration routes. In response, countries have begun planning in anticipation of an outbreak. While short-term strategies to deal with an outbreak focus on limiting travel and culling migrating birds and vaccinating poultry.

Glossary:

influenza virus - вирус гриппа

conjunctivitis - конъюнктивит

severity – тяжесть

be exposed to - подвергаться воздействию

contagious - заразный

short-term strategies – кратковременные стратегии

Answer the questions:

1. When and where did bird flu first appear?

2. What has been identified as the most likely source of a future influenza pandemic?

3. Why is bird flu dangerous?

4. What are the symptoms of bird flu?

5. What does the severity of the infection depend on?

6. How can a mutant strain of bird flu appear?

7. How can the virus be detected?

8. What is the primary concern of the World Health Organization?

9. What measures are taken by countries to prevent the spread of the disease?

Text 11. HEALTHY FOOD

All food is made up of nutrients which our bodies use. There are different kinds of nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Different foods contain different nutrients.

We need fat to live, it’s an essential part of our diet and physically we couldn’t exist without it. But we all know that to eat much fat is bad for our health. The matter is that there are different kinds of fat. There are fats that are good for us and fats that are bad for us. Eating less of the bad ones and more of the good ones can actually help us to live longer. Bad fats are the saturated fats, found in animal productions, like red meat, butter and cheese. Friendly fats are the unprocessed fats found naturally in foods like nuts and seeds, olives, avocados and oily fish, including tuna.

When food is cooked, its structure changes. It can change the vitamin and nutrient content of food. Today so much of the basic food we eat – meat, fish, fruit and vegetables – is grown using chemicals and additives. There is another problem. It is modified food which is cheaper than ordinary one. There is a rumor that such food can cause cancer and other problems. This problem could be solved and examined, but it will take some time. The food we eat depends on lots of things. Taste is a big factor. Culture, religion and health also play a part in what food we eat. Advertising and social factors also have a big influence. Income is also an important factor.

Finally, there are three main messages to follow for healthy eating: first, we should eat less fat, especially saturated fat; secondly, we are to cut down on sugar and salt; thirdly, we must eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.

Answer the questions:

1. What kinds of nutrients food is made of?

2. What is bad to our health?

3. What can actually help us to live longer?

4. Where can friendly fats be found?

5. When does the structure of food change?

6. What is modified food?

7. How do people choose their food?

8. What should people do to be healthy?

Text 12. IS MAN A PEST?

The question whether pesticides are more dangerous to pests or non-pests has not been fully resolved yet. One of the difficulties lies in finding a solution to the problem of a satisfactory definition to a pest. Is man a pest, or non-pest, for example? One thing is certain – all pesticides are dangerous to all life. They are present in a wide range of organisms throughout the world, including the oceans and the Polar Regions. The spread of contamination in Europe is rather typical. Pesticides are used in every European country and are manufactured in many of them, notably in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Russia and Britain; in addition, large quantities are imported from the USA. Pesticides, usually in the form of concentrations, move from one country to another in the normal course of international trade. The movement of pesticides from one place to another entails some risk because accidents sometimes occur, and as a result pesticides are spilled on the land or into rivers or the sea. They may also be discharged accidentally into rivers from factories making or using them. Insecticides applied as sprays are widely dispersed in the atmosphere and carried from country to country by winds. Finally, living organisms can themselves cause the dispersal of pesticides from one nation to another. Ecologists claim that pollution will have consequences (effects) adverse to life on our planet.

Answer the questions:

1. Has the problem of pesticides as pollutants been solved or is it still being discussed?

2. Where are certain pesticides found?

3. Why has the problem assumed new proportions these days?

4. How do pesticides spread around?

5. What are the possible consequences of pollution?

6. Are ecologists right claiming that pollution can be fatal for life on our planet?

Text 13.

Read the text and answer the questions.

THE PROBLEM OF SMOKING

Smoking is the best way to bad health. Today half the men and a quarter of the women in the world smoke on the average. Some people think that there is not much sense in refraining from smoking because we breathe air polluted with industrial and automobile wastes. They are very wrong. Automobile gases are harmful in themselves, but a smoking driver is subjected to something far more dangerous.

The harm of tobacco smoke on women should be especially emphasized. Smoking may affect the course of pregnancy. Smoking women may bring into the world crippled or abnormal children. The exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health risk to non-smokers, increasing their chance of getting lung cancer and heart disease. There is a high risk among workers in the hospitality industries (bar staff, casino workers). It is estimated that secondhand smoke causes one premature death a week.

In the past few years some measures have been taken to reduce smoking. The anti-smoking campaigns started in many countries and led to the decrease of the number of smokers among some groups of the population. In our country the campaign against the cigarette habit has got a purposeful nature. Instructions forbid smoking among schoolchildren. Lessons on the harm of smoking are included in the courses of the anatomy, physiology and hygiene, the sale of cigarettes to minors is prohibited. Warnings against the harm of smoking are printed on packets of cigarette brands. The government has worked out measures for regulating, limiting and restricting smoking in trains, planes, ships, in theatres, clubs, etc.

Glossary:

there is not much sense in refraining from smoking – нет смысла отказываться от курения

is subjected to – подвержен

secondhand smoke – пассивное курение

a purposeful nature – целенаправленный характер

Answer the questions:

1. What do some people think about smoking?

2. How does smoking influence women?

3. What is secondhand smoke?

4. What groups of people are exposed to it?

5. What measures have been taken to reduce smoking?

6. How should children be educated in the harm of smoking?