Comprehension Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. How many experiments on animals are carried out annually in Britain?

2. Why are some laboratory animals deliberately injured?

3. Is animal testing a profitable business?

4. What do animal rights groups do to stop animal testing?

5. How do scientists assess the intelligence level of dolphins and whales?

6. What animals are factory-farmed?

7. What did the local council decide to do with the snakes in the area?

8. Why do people buy cardboard caskets for their animals?

9. What did the Englishman want to prevent the cats doing?

10. Why had the car swerved before hitting a bus queue?

11. What are the arguments for banning fox-hunting?

12. Why did the Londoner pay for daily injections?

Discussion Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. What is your reaction to each of the situations?

2. Do you think it is necessary to experiment on animals to test cosmetics and drugs? What could you do to fight animal testing?

3. How would you assess your attitude to animals?

4. Do animals matter? Should we worry about what happens to them?

5. Have you ever kept a pet? When? What kind of? Why?

Problems and how to solve them The greatest killer

Air Crashes... Fires... Traffic accidents... Poison... Falls... The death statistics are frightening. Accidents kill more people than the six deadliest diseases combined.

The greatest killer is the car. Every year, more than 300,000 people are killed in car crashes throughout the world. Millions are seriously injured. Many are crippled for life.

Every ten minutes, on the average, there is a traffic death. While you are reading this page, cars are crashing into each other and people are dying.

Most of those who lose their lives on the roads are young people. According to statistics, young drivers are responsible for about two-thirds of all accidents.

Why do young drivers crash? They are healthier than older drivers, have bet­ter eyesight and quicker reflexes... They have recently got their licences, and they should know the latest traffic regulations. Unfortunately, their lack of experience — and in some cases, lack of good judgment — often out­weighs these advantages.

Very often crashes are the result of making wrong turns, driving in the wrong lane, and following other cars too closely.

Speeding is another seri­ous problem. It greatly increases the risk of death or injury in accidents. It is espe­cially dangerous if the road is wet or icy, or if the visibility is poor.

More accidents than usual happen at night. There is a risk of falling asleep or losing concentration. Distances are more difficult to judge, and road hazards are harder to see.

About 40 per cent of traffic deaths are the result of drunk­en driving. Alcohol slows a driver's reflexes, reduces concentration, impairs vision, and clouds judgment.

Of course, we are making some progress. The cars have become safer, the roads have become better. We double the number of cars and do not double the number of accidents. But the progress is not a satisfying one. When so many people die unnecessar­ily, something is wrong.

Notes

to cripple	калечить
lack of good judgment	неумение принять правильное решение
to outweigh	перевешивать
wrong turn	неправильный поворот
lane	ряд
poor visibility	плохая видимость
road hazard	опасная ситуация на дороге
to impair	ухудшать

Comprehension

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. What is the greatest killer?

2. How many people are killed in car accidents every year?

3. Why are young drivers responsible for about two-thirds of all accidents?

4. What are the most frequent causes of car crashes?

5. Under what circumstances is speeding especially dangerous?

6. What hazards do drivers face at night?

7. How does alcohol affect a driver?

Discussion

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. Do you agree with the article? Why? Why not?

2. Do you think the statistics is the same or different in our country? What is the general situation on our roads?

3. What could we or the government do to reduce the number of accidents?

4. Do you drive / would you like to drive a car? What are the advantages of driving?

5. Can you name any other problems caused by cars?

Hot, hot, hot

Even optimistic people cannot hide from the fact that the planet is warming up. One of the signs of this greenhouse effect is an increase in the number of natural disasters: hurricanes and tornadoes, snowstorms and extremely heavy rain, and, everywhere you go, record temperatures. The cost of such disasters, both economically and in terms of human lives, is already enormous.

Some scientists predict the end of the world and say that humankind has done permanent damage to the ozone layer. Others claim that periods of global warming also took place in very ancient times and were the result of changes in the activity of sunspots.

Disagreements of this kind cannot be avoided. We simply do not understand enough about our climate to predict accurately what will happen next. But if countries cannot agree, we may be foolish enough to miss the opportunity to do something about it now. The gods of nature may not be happy to wait for us to make a decision.

However, even if the politicians do not know which advice to follow, there is much that ordinary people can do. Although we cannot solve the problem, we can try to make sure that we do not make it worse. Simply, we must be greener.

Nowadays, we should all know what this means. We should all be aware of the benefits of recycling. Avoid wasting natural resources. If driving isn’t totally necessary, don’t take the car. It’s the little things that matter. When you learn that six per cent of the pollution in Los Angeles is caused by cigarettes and barbecue smoke, you may decide to change your habits.

Equally important is reducing global warming by changing our environment. Where there are trees and water in a city the temperature may be 25C lower than on rooftops or on roads on a hot day in broad sunlight.

There may also be positive side-effects to a lowering of temperatures. High temperatures change the way we behave. When the temperature rises, the FBI expect more causes of murder and other crimes than in cooler months. One boiling moth in New York, the number of murders went up 75 per cent. It appears that the cooler we are, the calmer we are.

There are more accidents, too, when temperatures are high. People drink more, crash their cars more often, and drivers are more aggressive when they are hot. All in all, it would seem that there are very strong reasons for turning down the heat.

Whichever way you look at it, it is clear that we cannot sit back and do nothing. Even if the future of our planet is not at risk, it is important that we all play a part. We may not understand all of what is taking place, but we know enough!

Notes

greenhouse effect	парниковый эффект
in terms of	(зд) в отношении
ozone layer	озоновый слой
to claim	заявлять, утверждать
sunspot	пятно на солнце
recycling	вторичное использование, переработка
pollution	загрязнение
side-effects	побочные эффекты

Comprehension

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. What is global warming?

2. What are the obvious signs of the greenhouse effect?

3. What views do scientists hold on this problem?

4. What should people do if they do not want to worsen the problem?

5. How do high temperatures affect people and the environment?

Discussion

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. Do you think there is a connection between the environment and people’s health and behaviour? Why? Why not?

2. What do you personally do to protect our environment?

3. Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Why?

Ex.2 Comment on the following statement: 'Let nature be your teacher' (William Wordsworth, 1770-1850, English poet).

Ex.3 Read the statements and complete the gaps. Are you worried about any of the problems mentioned?

• It’s raining less and less but we are using more and more _____.

• More and more ____ are destroyed every year, but we are cutting down more and more trees.

• The ___ we eat is genetically modified but governments do little to control ____ engineering.

• They should stop ___ the rivers.

• They should educate the public about the dangers to the ___.

• The world’s governments should all ____ testing dangerous weapons (nuclear bombs, chemical weapons etc.) completely.

• ____ is the worst environmental problem in the world today. Parts of many cities are in a sorry state with so much ___ on the streets.

• Governments should help to ___ animals, birds, plants and insects in their own country.