Vocabulary:

tiny part – крошечная часть

to pollute – загрязнять

rural area – сельский район

polluting agents – загрязняющие компоненты

global scale – глобальный масштаб

acid rains – кислотные дожди

overpopulation – перенаселение

to threaten – угрожать

to affect – воздействовать

respiratory system – дыхательная система

particulates – микрочастицы

solid particles – твердые частицы

ray of sunlight – солнечный свет

combustion – сжигание, сгорание

internal-combustion engine – двигатель внутреннего сгорания

wood smoke – сгорание древесины

by-products – побочные продукты

power plants – силовые установки

chemical compounds – химические элементы

to undergo – подвергаться воздействию

smog – смог

fog – туман

carbon monoxide – угарный газ

nitrogen oxides – окислы азота

sulfur dioxide – сернистый газ

dizzy - головокружение

odourless – без запаха

fossil fuels – органическое топливо

gasoline – бензин

to emit – испускать, выбрасывать

disastrous consequences – гибельные последствия

greenhouse effect – парниковый эффект

to breathe – дышать, вдыхать

chemical fertilizers – удобрения

pesticide – пестицид

plant – растение

insect – насекомое

extinct – исчезнуть, вымирать

to persuade enterprises – убедить предпринимателей

wastes – отходы

Questions:

1. When did the problem of pollution become dangerous?

2. What problems threaten human lives on the Earth?

3. Why is air pollution harmful?

4. Is it dangerous to breathe polluted air?

5. What does the burning of fuel and fossil fuels produce?

6. What are the most dangerous pollutants?

7. What is the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains or our planet?

8. can we solve the problem of environmental protection?

Complete the following sentences:

1. People always polluted their…

2. Today our planet is in serious…

3. Billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around…

4. Factories emit tons of harmful…

5. Our forests are disappearing because they…

6. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able…

7. And even greater threats are nuclear…

8. Fortunately, it’s not too late to solve…

Translate into English:

1. Наша планета Земля является только крошечной частью Вселенной.

2. Люди жили в сельских районах и не производили такого количества загрязняющих компонентов.

3. Кислотные дожди, глобальное потепление, загрязнение воздуха и воды, перенаселенность – проблемы, которые угрожают человеческой жизни на Земле.

4. Среди наиболее опасных для нашего здоровья находится угарный газ, оксиды азота, сернистый газ и озон, или активный кислород.

5. Эти выбросы имеют гибельные последствия для нашей планеты.

6. Моря также находятся в опасности.

7. Каждые десять минут на нашей планете вымирает один вид животных, растений или насекомых.

8. Еще большая угроза – атомные электростанции.

Text 3. Ecological problems

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man’s interference in nature began to increase.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises apper all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

The pollution of air and the world’s ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man’s careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crises.

The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18 percent of the territory of Byelarus were also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people’s health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Byelarussian and other nations.

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. As many as 159 countries – members of the UNO – have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl. An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lace Baikal. The international organization Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment.

But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generations.