9. Read and translate the text “Soil”, find in the text:

a) sentences in the Future Simple (Indefinite) Active/ Passive;

b) conditional sentences.

Soil

After Kate had received a letter from America, she began thinking more and more about her future dream to become really a good specialist in the sphere of selection of plants. To become a professional you must know so much! Kate will create new sorts of plants for the region of the North – West. It is necessary to learn natural conditions of this region. She is sure she will work in a scientific laboratory in one of the agricultural universities of Saint Petersburg. “But these are only dreams now. We know nothing about the future”, thinks Kate.

“One of the most important points to be taken into consideration while creating new sorts of plants in a particular region is the soil which is known to be a natural resource that supports plant life. Kate was given homework for the seminar to prepare the report on the topic “Soil management”. She begins: “Soil is a real wonderful storehouse on our planet. If you put a sack of grain into it in the spring, twenty sacks will spring up there by the autumn. One pail of potatoes will become twenty pails. A handful of seeds will turn into a huge pile of cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes or carrots. This wonderful storehouse is called the earth. In springtime the storehouse is unlocked: the field is ploughed up. Then the seeds are sown in the field. After this the storehouse is locked up again: the grain is covered over with the earth. In autumn the master comes to collect what the wonderful storehouse has put away for him. But the wonderful storehouse will obey only a good master. It will never treasure things for a lazy one. A lazy master gets weeds instead of grain, carrots, cabbages or other vegetables. If the seeds are not sorted out, weeds will start growing very quickly. They choke the shoots of grain, robbing them of water and sunlight. The good master will never allow the weeds to grow in his field or in his vegetable garden”. Having written this introduction, Kate opened a book, found the scientific definition of the soil and put it down:

“Soil is a mixture of particles of rock, organic materials, living forms, air and water”. After that Kate began reading a book after a book searching all the information about the soil management. That’s what she got finally: Plants are connected to the soil by their root system, through which they draw nutrients and water. Soil is alive because it is inhabited by many living organisms. Moreover, it is always in a process of formation or destruction (erosion). Soil is at the upper level of the Earth's surface, the base on which our planet's land life has developed.

During his entire existence upon the Earth man has depended upon the soil either directly or indirectly. Grain, fruits and vegetables are food products obtained by man directly from the soil. Domestic animals consume grain and forage produced by the soil and in turn supply people with meat, milk, eggs and other products used for human food. These are the products obtained from soil indirectly.

Some good clay and loamy soils are naturally highly fertile; some light sandy soils are naturally poor. Various factors that make up soil fertility are moisture conditions, plant food, and soil structure. All these components may be regulated by proper management of the soil.

Soil management is the science of tillage operations, cropping practices, using fertilizers, lime and other treatments conducted on, or applied to, a soil for the production of crops. So, what can specialists do to increase plant growth and yields?

Plant growth and yields will be increased by applying certain recommended soil management practices, liming, fertilization and irrigation producing, as a rule, immediate yield increases. Good soil management will give better yields and lower cost per unit of production. Fertile soils produce plants that are less affected by diseases and less likely to be attacked by insects. In this case small losses of crops result.

Some time ago attention was centered on such macro elements as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. Now it is well known that in addition to primary plant food elements mentioned the so called secondary elements (calcium, magnesium and sulphur) as well as micro elements or trace elements (boron, copper, manganese, zinc and molybdenum) may be lightly important for crop yields, for livestock and human health.

It is important to make soil tests in order to determine whether any essential elements are lacking in the soil and to determine the rate of fertilizers to be applied. This is very important owing to some other reasons. Nowadays, people don’t want for nature to give them presents, they make her give them everything she has got. Past and present economic activities have often resulted in the pollution of the underlying soil where these activities take place. The most common toxic soil pollutants include metals and their compounds, organic chemicals, oils and tars, pesticides, explosive and toxic gases, radioactive materials, biologically active materials, combustible materials, asbestos and other hazardous materials. These substances commonly arise from the disposal of industrial and domestic waste products in designated landfills or uncontrolled dumps.

Thus”, concludes Kate, “the most important work for the specialists will be to get the land into good condition and to keep it that way. Such land is more easily cultivated and provides better conditions for seed germination and plant growth. The quality and yields of crops partially will depend on soil management. It also”, thinks Kate, “will depend on the quality of the seed to be used, the variety of crops and some other factors”.