Федеральное агентство морского и речного транспорта
Федеральное бюджетное образовательное учреждение
высшего профессионального образования
«Волжская государственная академия водного транспорта»
Кафедра иностранных языков и конвенционной подготовки
В.С. Першина
Английский язык
Федеральное агентство морского и речного транспорта
Федеральное бюджетное образовательное учреждение
высшего профессионального образования
«Волжская государственная академия водного транспорта»
Кафедра иностранных языков
и конвенционной подготовки
В.С. Першина
Английский язык
Методическое пособие по английскому языку
для студентов 1, 2 курсов очной формы обучения
специальности «Техническая эксплуатация транспортного радиооборудования»
Нижний Новгород
Издательство ФБОУ ВПО «ВГАВТ»
2012
Рецензент – ст. преподаватель Л. А. Родионова
Целью данного пособия является развитие навыков монологической и диалогической речи в пределах предложенных тематик, а также развитие лексико-грамматических навыков студентов.
Структурно пособие состоит из четырех разделов:
The Environmental Crisis – Number One International Problem
Mass Media and TV
Plans for the Future Career. Job
Science and Technology
Каждый раздел включает в себя тексты и диалоги на заданную тему, а также ряд упражнений.
Работа рекомендована к изданию кафедрой иностранных языков и конвенционной подготовки (протокол №6 от 19.04.2012 г.).
ФБОУ ВПО «ВГАВТ», 2012
The Environmental Crisis – Number One International Problem
We are in an environmental crisis because human beings have broken out the circle of life and are destroying the environment.
Ex. 1. Read the text and say what you have learnt about the environmental crisis.
What does the environmental crisis mean? To understand this we must begin at the source of life itself: the earth’s thin skin of air, water and soil, bathed by the radiant solar fire. Life appeared on the Earth several billion years ago. Living things formed a global network, where everything is directly or indirectly dependent on everything. This is the ecosphere (biosphere), the home that life has built for itself on the planet.
In nature all processes are in constant balanced interaction. The environmental crisis means that this perfect and delicate balance has begun to break down.
The environmental catastrophe continues to accelerate. The ozone layer is thinning. Acid rain is destroying huge areas of forest and tens of thousands of lakes. We pollute our rivers, lakes and oceans, and the sky, forgetting that we need water and air to live and breathe. We destroy rainforests, picturesque landscapes and kill the world’s most beautiful animals. And, worst of all, the earth is steadily warming with potentially dangerous effects. That is why the environmentalists of the world call for fundamental changes NOW!
KEY VOCABULARY
Nouns
Environment окружающая среда
Source источник
Soil почва
Network сеть
Acid кислота
Rainforest тропический лес
Interaction взаимодействие
Danger опасность
Rubbish мусор
10.Waste отходы
Verbs
Cause вызывать
Destroy
Ruin разрушать, уничтожать
Damage
Depend on зависеть от
Accelerate ускорять
Pollute загрязнять
Warm нагревать
Release освобождать(зд. выпускать)
10.Provide снабжать, обеспечивать
11.Restore восстанавливать
12.Survive выживать
Ex. 2. How do we say the following in Russian?
Everything is dependent on everything; the earth’s thin skin; perfect and delicate balance; bathed by radiant solar fire; constant balanced interaction; huge areas; dangerous effects; fundamental changes; circle of life.
Ex.3. Ask and answer.
How long ago did life appear on the planet?
What is our environment?
What does balanced interaction of all the processes mean?
What is the environmental crisis?
Can you give some examples of environmental catastrophe?
What should be done to save our blue planet?
Ex. 4. Use the words from the text to complete the sentences.
To live human beings require……………………………………………….
In nature all the processes are in…………………………………………….
The balanced interaction of all the processes on our planet denotes that…...
People who call for preservation of nature are called……………………….
Because of the Greenhouse Effect the earth is………………………………
The Green Movement calls………………………………………………….
Ex.5. Match the problems to their effects and their solutions. Then in pairs discuss as in the
example.
Problems
A. Global warning
B. Pollution
C. Hunting/Overfishing
D. Deforestation
Effects
1. destruction of the rainforest
2. many animals and fish wiped out
3. change in world’s climate – ocean levels rising – extreme weather conditions
4. very poor air quality in cities – rivers and lakes full of industrial waste
Solutions
a. Have stricter laws and punishments for illegal hunting and fishing.
b. Encourage countries to control the number of trees that are cut down.
c. Reduce gases emitted from factories. Use public transport instead of cars.
d. Reduce use of aerosols. Use alternative sources of energy.
A: What is the effect of global warning?
B: Global warning is causing a change in the world’s climate. Ocean levels are rising and we are seeing more extreme weather conditions. We need to do something before it’s too late.
A: What can we do?
B: We could reduce the use of aerosols. We could also use alternative sources of energy.
Ex.6. Match the columns to form compound nouns and explain them. Make up sentences using them.
Rubbish effect
Gas rain
Acid dump
Greenhouse layer
Ozone path
Urban mask
Cycle sprawl
Rubbish dump: a place where rubbish is left.
Ex.7. There are many things we can do to conserve our non-renewable resources. Match the following suggestions (1-6) to the correct headings below. Then make up sentences.
1. switch off the lights when we leave a room
2. wear warmer clothes in winter
3. ride a bicycle
4. insulate our houses
5. use fluorescent light bulbs
6. use public transport
A To use less petrol for transportation we can:
B To use less electricity inside our houses we can:
C To use less coal, gas, petrol and electricity to heat our homes we can:
Ex. 8. Water, water everywhere…
1 Imagine a world with no drinking water, and no water to wash or cook with. It’s hard to imagine this, because we use water every day without even thinking about it. Yet there are terrible water shortages all over the world. In parts of Africa and China, for example, many people don’t even have clean water to drink. In fact, over half of the people in the world have to live with water shortages every day. We all need water – not just for our homes and factories, but to survive. Fortunately, there are things that we can all do to save the water.
2 The solution begins at home. We can save the water from our baths and use it for the garden, instead of wasting hundreds of litres of clean water on our lawns and plants. This would help to save many litres of water everyday, especially in the summer.
3 Governments can help by passing laws to stop factories from wasting and polluting water. If factories recycled water and stopped pouring chemicals into our lakes and rivers, there would be a lot more clean water around.
4 Governments could also stop water companies from wasting millions of litres of water because of leaking pipes. Many cities have successfully saved water by repairing pipes.
5 All in all, there are many things we can do to save our planet’s disappearing water supplies. The time has come to start understanding the value of water, before a world without clean water becomes a terrible reality.
1. The writer says that in many parts of the world people…
a don’t have water at all.
b don’t have any clean water.
c have too much water.
2. The writer suggests that we should…
a use more water at home.
b stop using water at home.
c stop using so much water at home.
3. There would be more clean water around if factories…
a produced more water.
b used the same water several times.
c only used water from rivers and lakes.
4. water companies can help…
a by fixing pipes.
b by giving us more water.
c by making people pay a lot more.
Ex. 9. In pairs think of two ways that we can: save on water; create less litter; reduce air pollution. Then, ask and answer, as in the example.
-
Making Suggestions
Why don’t we…
We can…/ could also…
It would be a good idea to…
If…, then…
A: What can we do to save on water?
B: A good idea would be to take shorter showers.
A: That’s true, we could also…
Ex. 10. Fill in the correct word from the list.
beautiful, litter, park, heavy, breathe, peaceful
1 The streets are very busy and the traffic is really…………… .
2 There is plenty of space for cars to………………………….. .
3 The air is really polluted; you can hardly………………........ .
4 The streets aren’t very clean and people drop………………everywhere.
5 The streets are very quiet and……………………………….. .
6 There are lots of trees and green fields nearby; it’s a …………….. village.
Ex. 11. Fill in the correct verb from the list.
survive, look after, pass, wastes, create, cut down, cycle, pour
1 The government should ……………………..a law to ban cars.
2 Logging companies ……………. ………… too many trees.
3 We must …………… …………. Our planet before it’s too late.
4 We can’t ……………… without air and water.
5 The government wants to ………………. A park where endangered species can live safely.
6 I ……………………. to school every day.
7 Can you ……………… me a glass of orange juice, please?
8 My sister …………….. all her money on clothes she never wears.
Ex.12. Match the items in the columns, then make sentences using them.
global spills logging paper
drinking shortages leaking rain
oil water recycled pipes
water transport air companies
public warming acid pollution
Ex.13. Complete the sentences with the words from the box below. There is one extra word.
-
plant, sky, needs, acid, fur, endangered, shortages
e.g. People should plant trees to help save forests.
1 Many animals are killed to make ………………. coats.
2 Traffic fumes cause ……….. rain, which causes great damage to the environment.
3 Hunters often kill ……………………… species, even though they are protected by law.
4 If we didn’t pollute our rivers, we wouldn’t have water………………… .
5 Food and water are basic ……………. no one can survive without them.
Ex. 14. Read the text, and then invent the questions to it
Acid rain
Acid rain is caused by burning coal or oil. When either fuel is burned, it releases poisonous (ядовитый) gases which are carried up into the atmosphere and sometimes transported long distances. Over 3,000 research projects have been carried out to look into acid rain, and a decision to solve the problem has been taken in most of the western European countries. Measures have been taken in Scandinavia and in central Europe to stop the pollution before it has destroyed the environment, and a diplomatic campaign has been launched to convince other countries that the problem has to be considered as a major ecological threat.
‘Five years ago this issue was not being treated seriously,’ says one leading environmental group, ‘but now that damage has been reported in large areas of forest and Lakeland, our politicians are being forced to take action. This problem must be solved quickly: if governments do nothing, they will be faced in two or three years’ time with the accusation that they have allowed our forests to die.’
Notes:
1. launch – (зд.) начать
2. convince – убеждать, считать
3. consider – рассматривать
4. accusation – обвинение
Ex. 15. Decide on the correct verb form. Choose from the verbs in Italics and underline the correct form.