Comprehension check

1. Here are some answers. What are the questions?

Example: Q: What forms a blanket around the planet?____________________

A: The by-products of fossil fuel use - carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases.

1. Q:________________________________________________________?

The melting of glaciers, warming of oceans, heavy rainfalls and droughts.

2. Q:___________________________________________________________?

Volcanic eruptions, El Niño and small changes in sun’s activity

3. Q:________________________________________________________?

Human-made greenhouse gases.

4. Q:________________________________________________________?

For as long as 200 years.

5. Q:__________________________________________________________?

Through photosynthesis.

6. Q:________________________________________________________?

Significant warming in the next century.

7. Q:________________________________________________________?

Lack of water and nutrients.

Focus on language

1. Read the sentences and study the models in the box.

• Acid rain is strongly acidic rain that …

• Soil naturally contains many metallic ions …

• We need to act now if we want to avoid the increasingly dangerous consequences of climate change in the future.

Adverb Collocations Adverbs often go with certain verbs and adjectives. Look at the examples below: Verb + adverb Adverb + adjective to think quickly severely damaged to remember well unusually fast to damage severely/ badly badly organized to speak confidently totally destroyed

Practice

1. Complete the sentences with an adverb from the box.

perfectly clearly badly fully desperately efficiently environmentally-friendly definitely extremely commonly highly

1. The possible impacts of climate change are more ………. understood now.

2. Cotton production will be ………. affected by droughts.

3. There is ………. something wrong with this thermometer, it can’t be that hot!

4. Animals ………. need protection.

5. We are ………. informed about the consequences of global warming.

6. I work with a ………. -motivated team of researchers.

7. People should buy ………. products.

8. Nuclear power plants produce ……… large amounts of electricity.

9. Today, our most ………. used fuels are oil, gas and coal.

2. Make up 3-5 sentences of your own using the adverb collocations from the grammar box.

Get real

Search the Internet, specialized magazines or talk to the experts who work in your university to get comprehensive and reliable information about one of the environmental problems in your country or the region you live in. Summarize the information you have collected and report back to the class. Follow the guidelines:

• State the problem briefly but clearly

• Describe the problem in detail

• Give examples of causes and effects of the problem you have chosen from your personal experience.

Speaking

Work in groups of 3-4 and discuss what actions as individuals you can take to help to solve the environmental problems listed below. Brainstorm solutions to some national or local problems. Use the phrases from the Tool box. Share your solutions with the rest of the class.

What can be done… a) to control the cutting down of forests?

b) to clean up the beaches?

c) to reduce air pollution?

d) to save rare animals and plants?

e) to slow down global warming?

f) to stop the spread of droughts?

Tool box: Making suggestions Well, one thing to do is… Another thing to be done is … Another way to help is… If we don’t do …, we will (won’t) … It would be great to … We should … We’d better( do sth.)…

Writing

A big petroleum company has announced that it wishes to build a plant for refining petroleum products in an area of countryside near your city. The plans have divided the community into three groups:

Greens:

You regard the chosen site as an area of outstanding natural beauty which should not be harmed in any way. You oppose any construction on the site.

Enthusiasts:

You welcome the economic benefits that the new plant will bring and aim to provide technological and financial support which will help the refinery to reduce its impact on the environment.

Regulators:

You would like to strengthen the rules on pollution and increase the fines on companies that release pollutants.

1. Which group do you associate yourself with?

2. Write a letter to the local authorities of your own city giving your opinion on this problem and saying which suggestions you agree or disagree with. Follow the model.

Your address and the date	6345 Willow Avenue Baltimore, Mariland 21220 4 November 2008
Name and address of the company/person you are writing to	Mr. Charles H.C. Wright City Hall Special Projects Officer 19 Harbor Place Baltimore, Mariland 21220
Salutation If you know the name of the person, put it: Dear M. Wright Dear M. Wright Dear Mr. Wright If not, put: Dear Sir(s), Madam The body of the letter Paragraph 1. The introduction Say who you are Say why you are writing Paragraph 2. The message Say which suggestions you agree or disagree with Give your reasons Paragraph 3. The conclusion Make any different suggestions of your own If you start: Dear Sir, Finish: Yours faithfully If you start: Dear Mr Wright Finish: Yours sincerely	Dear Mr Wright, I am writing to express my concern about ..._____________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ I strongly disagree with ...____________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ In my opinion ....___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ I hope you ..._______________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Thank you for your attention to this matter.______________________ Yours sincerely, Janette Grayston

3. Work in pairs. Exchange your letters and read them. Is the language, used by your fellow student, appropriate for a formal letter? Are his/her ideas and viewpoints clear? Make any suggestions for improvements.

In the Realm of Science

1. Practice reading these compounds and chemical reactions.

H2O	[‘eitʃ ‘tu: ou]
HNO3	[‘etʃ ‘en ‘ou ‘Θri]
NOx	[‘en ‘ou ‘eks]
SO2	[‘es ‘ou ‘tu:]
C + O→CO2	[si:plus ou tu: give si: out u:]	C plus O two give CO2
		1 atom of carbon reacts with 1 two-atom molecule of oxygen and produces 1 molecule of carbon dioxide

2. Now take turns to read and note down the following compounds and chemical reactions.

Student A:	H2CO3	P2O5	Na2O	CaCo3	H2SO4	K3Po3	HgO
Student B:	H2SO4	H3PO4	MgO	ZnSO4	NaCL	CuO	NaNO2

₂Mg+O₂ → ₂Mg0

CaO+H2O → Ca(OH)₂

2CO+O₂ → ₂CO₂

NaCl + AgNO₃ → NaNO₃ + AgCl

3. Learn the pronunciation and the meaning of the chemical elements.

Ag	[α:ʹʤentәm]	argentum	N	[ʹnaitriʤәn]	nitrogen
Al	[ˏæljuʹminjәm]	aluminium	Na	[ʹsoudjәm]	sodium
Br	[ʹbroumi:n]	bromine	Ni	[ʹnikl]	nickel
C	[ʹkα:bәn]	carbon	O	[ʹɔksiʤәn]	oxygen
Cl	[ʹklɔ:ri:n]	chlorine	P	[ʹfɔsfәrәs]	phosphorous
Co	[kәʹbɔ:lt]	cobalt	Pb	[led]	lead
Cs	[ʹsi:zjәm]	caesium	Pu	[plu:ʹtounjәm]	plutonium
Cu	[ʹkɔpә]	copper	Ra	[ʹreidjәm]	radium
H	[ʹhaidriʤәn]	hydrogen	S	[ʹsʌlfә]	sulfur
Hg	[haiʹdrα:ʤirәm] [ʹmә:kjuri]	hydrargyrum mercury	Si	[ʹsilikәn]	silicon
			Ti	[tiʹteinjәm]	titanium
I	[ʹaiәdi:n]	iodine	U	[juәʹreinjәn]	uranium
Li	[ʹliϴiәm]	lithium	Xe	[ʹzenɔn]	xenon
Mo	[mɔʹlibdinәm]	molybdenum	Zn	[ziŋk]	zinc

Unit 1. Progress Monitoring In this unit you have worked on the following vocabulary related to the topic “Environment” deforestation to do harm to sth/to damage sth ozone layer depletion to result in sth/to be affected by sth vehicle exhausts to be caused by sth/to affect sth the melting of glaciers human-made greenhouse gases renewable energy sources clean/green technologies/methods a serious issue/grave consequences natural disasters (flood/drought/hurricane) to improve air quality extinction of animals or plant species the burning of fossil fuels to save rare animals and plants to cut pollution/contamination levels to slow down global warming/climate change Tick (V) the points you are confident about and cross (X) the ones you need to revise.

Unit 2 CleanTech = GreenTech

Lead In

1. What kind of environmental problems has the computer era already brought about? Make a list of problems and discuss them with the rest of the class.

2. Look at the picture and make suggestions on what the manufacture of one PC requires. Comment on the environmental hazards of this process.

Reading

1. Read the text. Check if your predictions of the possible environmental hazards correspond to the information from the text.

5 10 15

Environmental Hazards of the Computer Revolution

Millions of high technology word processors, home computers, telephones and other electronic equipment are creeping into every office and children’s bedroom, transforming work and improving entertainment.

Increasingly, however, scientists are discovering the downside. Researchers have found that they are becoming one of the western world’s biggest environmental hazards.

Managing your learning Some prefixes carry meaning changing the meaning of the word, e.g. un-, in-, and dis- indicate a negative meaning; pre- before a verb means to do smth in advance; re- means to do again; sub- has the meaning under; over- too much, beyond; up- en- indicates a verb formed from an adjective or a noun.

As e-devices closely blend metals, glass and several types of plastic they have been described as a “recycler’s nightmare”. It is cheaper and easier to dump them in landfill sites compromising air and land quality and let future generations worry about the problem. What makes computers and other electronic equipment hazardous? There are numerous hazardous materials in computer equipment, in particular with monitors and terminals. The glass tubes in monitors and televisions, called Cathode Ray Tubes, contain between two-to-five pounds of lead. Computers also contain cadmium and lithium, usually in the batteries of computers. There are also trace elements of mercury. Laptops have fluorescent lamps that create backlight to see image. The lamps contain mercury. They also waste energy. Most PCs are only used for a fraction of the time they are switched on and up

to 40 per cent are left on overnight or at

weekends.

20 25 30 35 40

The manufacturing process uses up valuable resources such as water, and involve highly toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and phosphine, which are used

for etching silicon chips in some of Scotland’s microelectronic companies.

Hopefully, all the waste will have to end. The European Industry

Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling, which includes the large computing companies like Hewlett Packard, has been formed to draw up a set of principles for the disposal of computers.

The council’s director admits that the industry does not do enough to encourage recycling and favours incineration for energy production and insists that landfill remains valid in some cases. “We are looking for solutions that are environmentally sound and commercially realistic.” The Council is trying to encourage manufactures to redesign their products so that they use less energy, cause less pollution and can be more easily recycled. On the other hand, the companies are urged to cut down on the chemicals used in the manufacturing processes.

Environmentalists are convinced that developing more efficient manufacturing processes and standardizing the types of plastic and metal used would all help. They urge manufacturers to refurbish and reuse rather than dismantle and recycle old computers. “A lot of companies throw out computers when they are still working in order to get a more efficient or faster model. Why can’t they be adapted for use in schools and colleges, which are short of computer equipment?” asked Madeline Cobbing form the environmental group Greenpeace. She criticized the industry for suggesting incineration as an alternative. Because of the lethal combination of different metals and plastics, burning computers could release poisonous dioxins into the atmosphere.

(“Scotland on Sunday Essential Articles 3, Carel Press, Carlisle)