Questions

1. Is the weather in England very changeable?

2. How often does it rain in England?

3. What do Englishmen often say to describe the weather of their country?

4. Englishmen often talk about weather. Do you find this topic of conversation interesting?

5. What is the worst time of the year in England?

6. When do Englishmen prefer to stay at home by the big fire?

7. How do the English spend their short English sum­mer?

8. What are London smogs?

9. What kind of weather do you like best of all?

10. Which do you like better: when it's cold or hot?

11. What is the weather like today?

12. What is the weather forecast for tomorrow?

10. What is the weather like in your town in winter (summer, autumn, spring)?

The protection of nature

Since ancient times Nature was the source of people's life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and they thought that natural riches were unlimited. The development of civilisation increased man's harmful interference in nature.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Beautiful old forests disappear forever. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of lakes and rivers dry up.

The pollution of air and destruction of the ozone layer are the results of man's attitude towards Nature.

The protection of the environment is a universal concern. We must be very active to create a serious system of ecological security.

Words

ancient — древний

source — источник

natural riches — природные богатства

to increase — увеличиваться

harmful interference — вредное воздействие

industrial enterprises — промышленные предприятия

to pollute — загрязнять

substances — вещества

suffer — мучаться

to upset — зд. нарушать

rare — редкий

to dry up — высыхать

ozone layer — озоновый слой

attitude — отношение

universal concern — всеобщая забота

Questions

1. What is the main reason of ecological problems?

2. What are the main ecological problems?

3. Why should the ecological problems should be a universal concern?

4. What steps are taken to fight ecological problems?

Acid rains

Every year more and more plants and animals disap­pear never to be seen again. Strangely, it is the most intelligent but most thoughtless animal that is causing most of the problems — man. Nature is very carefully balanced and if this balance is disturbed, animals can disappear alarmingly fast. Every day, thousands of spe­cies of animals draw closer to extinction.

In many lakes fish are dying. Fishermen are worried because every year there are fewer fish and some lakes have no fish at all. Scientists are beginning to get wor­ried too. What is killing the fish?

The problem is acid rain. Acid rain is a kind of air pollution. It is caused by factories that burn coal or oil or gas. These factories send smoke high into the air. The wind often carries the smoke far from the factories. Some of the harmful substances in the smoke may come down with the rain hundreds of miles away.

The rain in many places isn't natural and clean any more. It's full of acid chemicals. When it falls in lakes, it changes them too. The lakes become more acidic. Acid water is like vinegar or lemon juice. It hurts when it gets in your eyes. It also kills the plants and animals that usually live in lake water. That is why the fish are dying in lakes.

But dead fish may be just the beginning of the prob­lem. Scientists are finding other effects of acid rain. In some large areas trees are dying. Not just one tree here and there, but whole forests. At first scientists couldn't understand why. There were no bugs or diseases in these trees. The weather was not dry. But now they think that the rain was the cause. Acid rain is making the earth more acidic in these areas. Some kinds of trees cannot live in the soil that is very acidic.