Enviro-Myths You Can Stop Believing
ANN ARBOR, Michigan - We recently participated in an environmental festival at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, the largest indoor shopping center in America. After speaking with thousands of parents, children and teachers, we were appalled at the public's wealth of environmental misunderstanding. Here are some examples.'
One: Recycling is the key.
Actually, recycling is one of the least important things we can do, if our real objective is to conserve resources.
Remember the phrase "reduce, reuse and recycle"? Reduce comes first for a good reason: It's better not to create waste than to have to figure out what to do with it. And recycling, like any other form of manufacturing, uses energy and other resources while creating pollution and greenhouse gases.
Rather, we need to make products more durable, lighter, more energy efficient and easier to repair rather than to replace. Finally, we need to reduce and reuse packaging.
Two: Garbage will overwhelm us.
The original garbage crisis occurred when people first settled down to farm and could no longer leave their campsites after their garbage grew too deep. Since then, every society has had to figure out what to do with discards. That something was usually unhealthy and ugly - throwing garbage in the streets, piling it up just outside of town, incorporating it into structures or simply setting it on fire. Today we can design history's and the world's safest recycling facilities, landfills and incinerators.
The problem is political. No one wants to spend money on just getting rid of garbage or to have a garbage site in the backyard. The obvious solution is to stop generating so much garbage in the first place. Doing so requires both the knowledge and the self-discipline to conserve energy and do more with less stuff.
Three: Industry is to blame.
No, it's all people's fault. Certainly industry has played a significant role in destroying habitats, generating pollution and depleting resources. But we are the ones who signal to businesses that what they are doing is acceptable -every time we open our wallets.
And don't just blame industrial societies. In his recent book "Earth Politics," Ernst Ulrich von Weizsacker wrote that "perhaps 90 percent of the extinction of species, soil erosion, forest and wilderness destruction and also desertification are taking place in developing countries". Thus, even non-industrialized, subsistence economies are creating environmental havoc.
Four. The earth is in peril. Frankly, the earth doesn't need to be saved. Nature doesn't give a hoot if human beings are here or not. The planet has survived cataclysmic changes for millions upon millions of years. Over that time, it is widely believed, 99 percent of all species have come and gone while the planet has remained.
Saving the environment is really about saving our environment - making it safe for ourselves, our children and the world as we know it. If more people saw the issue as one of saving themselves, we would probably see increased motivation and commitment to actually doing so.
(R.M. Lilienfeld, W.L. Rathje"Six Enviro-Myths You
Can Stop Believing" the New York Times, May 1996)
Post-Reading
Translating
E
x
7.
Translate
into Russian paying attention to nouns in the function of
attributes:
1. No coal fires are allowed in London. 2. Cigarette smoke is a major factor in air pollution. 3. Oil pollution causes great damage to beaches and wildlife. 4. Air and water contamination result in serious health problems. 5. Acid rains are known to damage forests both in Europe and North America. 6. Waste disposal is a major problem in modern industry. 7. Risk factors for different types of environmental pollution are calculated. 8. Environmental situation has become a subject of separate and joint research efforts of ecopsychologist, biologists, chemists and biochemists.
Ex 8. Translate into English:
1. Загрязнение питьевой воды приводит к болезням. 2. Сигаретный дым отравляет воздух в общественных местах. 3. Новые автомобильные дороги часто портят сельскую местность, принося туда шум и загрязнение. 4. Проблемы защиты окружающей среды приобретают все большую важность. 5. Человечество стоит перед острыми экологическими проблемами. 6. Уровень загрязнения окружающей среды можно измерить при помощи специальных приборов.
Ex 9. First listen and tick. Then, listen and repeat.
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/t/ |
/d/ |
/id/ |
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/t/ |
/d/ |
/id/ |
folded |
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stayed |
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lived |
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looked |
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cooked |
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painted |
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Ex 10. Look at the table, then listen to a radio interview with an ecologist and tick () the solutions mentioned. Listen again and discuss the solutions adding any ideas of your own. Use words like: I think, I believe, I agree, also, as well as, in addition, moreover, besides, etc.
e.g. A: I think we should give financial support to the poorer countries where
people are destroying the countryside.
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Destruction of habitat |
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Pollution |
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Illegal hunting |
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Ex 11. Read the following statements about acid rain and try to guess the answers. Then, listen to the tape and underline the correct word. Listen again and say what acid rain is, what damage is caused and how the problem can be solved.
1. Acid rain is mostly found in South America/North America and Europe.
2. Harmful chemicals/poisons are released into the air atmosphere and mix with the water in clouds to produce acid rain.
3. Acid rain causes great damage to the plant and animal life in parks and zoos/lakes and streams.
4. Acid rain can slowly eat away the debris/stone on the outside walls of buildings. strength/threat of acid rain.
5. Governments are forcing power stations to reduce/increase the amounts of poisonous fumes that they release into the atmosphere.
6. We can help by using less oxygen/electricity.
7. If we used public transport more often, the atmosphere wouldn’t become so polluted/affected by car exhaust fumes.
8. If we all make an effort, we can help to decrease the strength/threat of acid rain.
Speaking
Ex 12. Agree or disagree with the statements justifying your opinion:
1. As far as the environment is concerned the trends are positive rather than negative. 2. With respect to water quality, the key measure is drinkability. By this measure the water quality is getting better rather than worse. 3. There is no factual basis for the forecast of more pollution in the future. 4. The concept of "ecological stability" is too diffuse (not precisely defined) to be measured. 5. There never have been any data showing that population growth, size or density have a negative effect upon the level of pollution. 6. The number of potential threats to the environment is infinite.
Ex 13. Comment on the following statements:
1. We need to move in our basic thinking from the “Taker” to the “Leaver” mentality. 2. We have to bring back some kind of animism. 3. Environmental problem solving must pay a lot of attention to a philosophical critique of the values of industrial capitalist society.
Ex 14. The situation of intercultural communication:
As a participant in the International Conference on Environmental Protection you’re to present the information about the pollution of environment in your/ foreign countries and the solutions of this problem.
Writing
Ex 15. The number of deaths from cancer caused by bad environment is constantly growing. Write a letter to the local mass media asking for information on the solution of the ecological problems in the region.
Lesson 6.2.3. Personal Responsibility for Ecological Safety
Pre-reading
Ex 1. a) Remember the structures with clauses of purpose:
• (in order) to-infinitive (affirmative purpose)
• so that+can/will-infinitive (affirmative purpose)
• so that+can’t/won’t-infinitive (negative purpose)
b) study the following sentences expressing affirmative/negative purpose:
• We should stop using cars to reduce air pollution.
• We should stop using cars so that we can reduce air pollution.
• We should stop using cars so that we won’t have polluted cities.
c) Now join the sentences using to or so that:
1. We should stop cutting down trees. Animals won’t lose their natural habitats.
2.We should build wildlife parks. We can protect animals from extinction.
3. We should plant more trees. We will have more oxygen.
4. We should clean up the litter in the cities. We won’t catch diseases from it.
5. We should find clean forms of energy. We can save the planet.
Ex 2. Do this exercise in writing. Giving Russian equivalents
a) put nouns as synonyms: assault, mindset, crisis, actions, harm, awareness,
damage, deeds, consciousness;
b) form Past Simple, Past/Present Participles of the verbs: wreak, conduct, refrain from, insulate, ingrain, affect, override, curb, stem from;
c) express your points of view in writing using the words given above with clauses of purpose.
Ex 3. Match the words/phrases from List A with their equivalents in List B:
List A List B
tangible resources a. основные формы
fossil fuel b. бездумное поведение
fuel-efficient c. совместные действия
limited processing d. материальные ресурсы
cumulative actions e.расхождение
nonrenewable f. опасное явление
ill-fated trend g. невосполнимый
discrepancy h. топливо-сберегающий
overriding ways i. твердое топливо
During-reading
Ex 4. Read the text, write its summary or answers to questions:
1. Do you agree that we continue to damage the environment even as we think we are protecting it? Why? Why not?
2. What does most environmental damage begin with?
3. What is the role of environmental psychologists in search of a solution to the
global crisis?
4. What kind of individuals are being examined by ecopsychologists? Why?
5. What does it mean to be environmentally aware these days?
6. How do ecologically friendly people hurt the environment every day? Name
four ways of this harm.
7. How can you construct your life to make conservation easy?
8. What is the best way of celebrating April 22, Earth Day by individuals?