Shallow / deep / level / content / flooding / ranging / torrent / irrigate / drought / dam / amphibious

1 Many species of frogs are ……...

2 A system of canals carries water to …….. the soil in hot countries.

3 The water …….. of the River Thames gas risen in the past few days.

4 A …….. is a special wall across a stream to stop the water from flowing.

5 Parts of coastal dam collapsed, causing serious …….. in the town.

6 Be careful! The lake is quite …….. here.

7 This river is not navigable because it’s too …….. for boats.

8 After five days of heavy rain the Telle River was a ……...

9 Condensed milk is produced by removing about 50% of the water …….. of whole milk.

10 …….. is a long period of time when there is no rain and crops die.

7.5 Match the two parts of the sentences.

1 Helicopters search for people	a) water birds.
2 It is dangerous to swim in the sea here	b) the village was flooded.
3 A water lily is a beautiful plant	c) before installing the new heating system.
4 My eyes watered	d) because the current is so strong.
5 A gull, sawn, pelican, flamingo are	e) that sell books.
6 They turned off the water supply	f) who climbed trees to escape from flood waters.
7 After two days of continuous rain,	g) when I cut the onions.
8 Waterstone’s shops are large stores in Great Britain	h) that grows in water and has flat floating on the surface.

7.6 We all need water. The problem is, there’s often too much – or too little. And there are other problems, too. Let’s look at some of them.

Quantity	Too much: When it rains a lot, the level of the rivers rises. The water runs over the banks. People often drown. Their cars and houses are ruined. Animals drown, too. Many big cities in Asia, Latin America and Europe often have floods. Too little: Sometimes it doesn’t rain for a long time. Plants die. Animals die, too. People have no food. Many countries in Africa have big problems with droughts. Every year, these droughts get worse and worse.
Pollution	Industry often pollutes water with chemicals. Some farmers also use too many chemicals. These enter the rivers and lakes. They kill the plants and fish.
Increased use of water	People can live 40-50 days without food, but only 4 days without water. People today vary in how much water they consume per day; in some places each person averages 5 litres, in other places 210 litres. People are using far more water today than they did 75 years ago.
The amount of fresh water	75% of fresh water resources are frozen in the ice at the North and South Poles. Most of the rest is in or under the soil and less than 1% is actually available for human use in streams, rivers, lakes, swamps and springs.
Politics	Every country wants water for its people. So they build dams to collect it, and to produce hydroelectricity. Sometimes they divert rivers to provide more water. Different communities inside a country need water for different purposes. For example, in Spain, there are plans to build a big dam on the River Ebro to provide irrigation for farmers. But the fishermen at the mouth of the river do not want this. It will destroy the fish and affect their lives.
Global warming	The world is getting warmer, so water levels are rising. Climates are changing. Some countries are becoming hotter and drier. This affects agriculture. People want to control global warming, but they cannot agree about the best solutions.

7.7 Are these statements correct or incorrect?

1 The human body is about 65% water.

2 Fresh water lakes contain salt.

3 People can live 40 days without water.

4 Resources of river, lake and underground fresh waters are distributed unevenly on the continents.

5 The total area of lakes in Russia is larger than in Great Britain.

6 Rivers and lakes not only supply water resources, but are also used as transport systems and fisheries.

7 Dumping sewage into seas is not dangerous.

8 Today water recycling in industrial enterprises is a reality.

7.8 Read the information carefully and pay attention to the verbs in bold.

When water is heated to 100°Celsius, it boils and becomes steam. When steam touches a cold surface, it condenses and becomes water again. When water is cooled below 0°Celsius, it freezes and becomes ice. If the temperature increases, the ice melts.

► To check your good memory represent the text above without looking at it.

7.9 Study the information carefully and check your understanding after reading.

THE CASPIAN SEA

The General Information About the Caspian Sea

Paradoxically, this huge inland lake between Europe and Asia, thousands of kilometres from the World Ocean is called a sea, without an outlet, even as little as a single trickle, connecting it to any other body of water. The Caspian Sea, a unique closed water basin, plays an important role in the establishment of the climate in the region, has rich stocks of rare kinds of fish, energy-carriers and large potential for development of sea transport. The general characteristic is resulted in the table below.

General Geographical Characteristics of the Caspian Sea

Characte ristics	Area Thous. m²	Length km	Coastal Line km	Average Deep m	Water Volume km³	Annual water flow by river km³
Quantity						Volga (240) Kura+Samur+Yulak (21)

On various estimations stocks of oil in the Caspian Sea makes about 20 billion tons. About 85% sturgeon fish and 95% of black caviar are produced in the Caspian Sea area. On the Caspian pool live or pass the winter about 10 million birds.

Ecological problems. Disturbing the ecological condition of the Caspian Sea, caused by its pollution by industrial, agricultural and municipal wastes, offshore and coastal production of oil and gas, shipping company and other circumstances, have caused degradation of its biodiversity, exhaust of fish resources, have increased fluctuations of the sea level. At the moment a situation even more embittered in connection with the beginning of intensive operation of sea oil deposits.

The ecological problems of the Caspian Sea can be divided into 3 types.

1) Chemical pollution by the running rivers. The number of the rivers flowing in the Caspian Sea reaches 130. Annually these rivers bring water with volume more than 300 cubic km. Only the River Volga brings in the Caspian Sea 80% of water, and not only water, but also all ecological problems of industrially developed regions of Russia. The Volga brings about 95% of chemical pollutants including thousands tons of oil, phenol, zinc and other metals.

The Kura and Araks rivers practically have all industrial drains of the countries of Southern Caucasus (though 70% of the population use the water of the Kura as drinking) and bring them into the Caspian Sea. The Terek has about 240 mln m³, and the Kura – 522 mln m³ of water drains.

From various branches of Azerbaijan economy about 500 mln m³ polluted waters are dumped, 300 mln m³ of them are dumped after clearing.

2) Ecological problems are connected with the rise of the water level. The water level of the Caspian rose 2.5 m during 1977-1998. About 17 villages of the southern regions of the country, some industrial objects of Baku-Apsheron region were flooded. The economic damage was about $4billion.

3) Offshore oil industry. The offshore oil industry in Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea have developed since 1949. As a result of oil production and transportation the level of oil pollution of the sea exceeded an allowable norm in some sites up to 20 times. Among the most oil polluted sites of the Caspian Sea are: the Baku Bay, Apsheron Archipelago, Turkmenbashi, Mangyshlak Islands.

Due to forthcoming rough exploration of the oil industry in the Caspian Sea it is possible to expect its more serious pollution.

Since 1994 Azerbaijan and other Caspian countries have signed a lot of international contracts with foreign oil companies. The oil sector in Turkmenistan only in 1999 made investments at about $4 billion. In the Russian sector of the sea Lukoil company has also begun its activity.

► Look at the following words from the text (1-10) and match them with their definitions (a-j).

1 stocks (n)	a) to become worth
2 offshore (adj)	b) one thousand million
3 embitter (v)	c) impending, coming
4 biodiversity (n)	d) hard
5 fluctuation (n)	e) all the different types of plant and animal kingdom
6 dump (v)	f) supplies
7 billion (n)	g) changes in level
8 exceed (v)	h) put down carelessly
9 forthcoming (adj)	i) in the sea
10 rough (adj)	j) to be greater than

7.10 Fill the appropriate word(s) from the text.

1 …….. basin 6 …….. damage

2 …….. potential 7 …….. allowable sites

3 …….. caviar 8 …….. sites

4 …….. wastes 9 …….. exploration

5 …….. level 10 …….. contracts

7.11 Fill in the words from the list below:

Coastal / area / average / annual / waste / deposits / drain / clearing

1 Rich mineral …….. were discovered in the north of the country.

2 …….. student’s conference is held at Tyumen State University in April.

3 Sochi is a well-known …….. town.

4 A …….. is a system of pipes for waste water.

5 What is the …….. of your garden?

6 The river water can be used only after ……...

7 The …….. rainfall in July was not high because of hot summer.

8 A lot of house-hold …….. can be recycled.

7.12 Are these statements correct or incorrect?

1 Ecological problems of the Caspian Sea are: chemical pollution by rivers, waste waters and oil products, rising water level.

2 Two countries develop exploration of the oil industry in the Caspian Sea.

3 The main polluting components of the sea environment are petroleum products.

4 Beaches should be closed due to excessive sea water pollution.

5 Disturbing the ecological condition of the Caspian Sea causes exhaust of fish resources.

6 The Caspian is a huge inland lake between Europe and Asia, although it is called a sea.

7 Biodiversity degrades very quickly.

8 Many villages and industrial enterprises are flooded because of chemical pollutants.

7.13 Find the odd word out.

1 general geographical ecological unique

2 bird fish animal plant

3 pool river water sea

4 degradation condition development exploration

5 length depth flow volume

6 flood damage embitter invest

7.14 Find the map of the region where the Caspian Sea is located. Point all the geographical names mentioned in the text on the map.

7.15 Look at the text “The Caspian Sea” again and correspond the facts with the numbers: 7,000 / 240 / 95% / 130 / 70% / 500 mln / 2.5

7.16 Read the text “Ecological Conditions of the Black Sea” and choose the correct answer.

ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF THE BLACK SEA

The main polluting (1)…….. of the sea environment are petroleum products. A constant level of the petroleum content in the sea water is (2) …….. by the operations of industrial enterprises, ports, discharges of waste during bunkering, and by sewage discharged by municipal services into the rivers (3) …….. into the sea. Many ports of Ukraine experience a slightly increased concentration of petroleum products. Thus, water samples taken in many points around the ports show a content of petroleum products (4) …….. the permissible pollution level or even exceeding it.

In the last few years the most ecologically (5) …….. zone of Ukraine in terms of sea pollution with petroleum products has been the Sevastopol bays. In many cities the municipal (6) …….. systems are in critical condition which causes the release of large amounts of unpurified sewage into the coastal waters. (7) …….. recent years no beaches have been closed due to excessive sea water pollution by chemical agents, however, in several instances beaches have been closed in Odessa, Eupatoria because of (8) …….. contamination. In some areas the petroleum product concentration (9) …….. the maximum by two to three times, namely in the Danube estuary. The level of contamination of the sea water with cadmium, lead, zinc, brass, nickel chromium and mercury is four times as high as the maximum permissible (10) ……...

1 a) parts b) components c) ingredients

2 a) caused b) polluted c) contaminated

3 a) going b) moving c) flowing

4 a) reaching b) cleaning c) consuming

5 a) safe b) high c) dangerous

6 a) litter b) sewage c) garbage

7 a) For b) During c) In

8 a) sanitary b) epidemiological c) healthy

9 a) shows b) rises c) exceeds

10 a) level b) surface c) value

Model: 1 – b (components)

7.17 Match the two parts of the sentences.

1 The Volga-Caspian Basin ecosystem cannot resist giant industry enterprises	a) may lead to a water shortage in the nearest future.
2 Resources of river, lake and underground fresh waters	b) therefore, their rational use helps to compensate for moisture shortages.
3 A sharp increase in water consumption on the planet	c) without treating it at all.
4 Supplies of underground wastes are considerable,	d) is the greatest in Asia and South America.
5 The oceans of the world form one vast ecosystem	e) which are scattered about the river and its tributaries.
6 The underwater landscape is just as varied as that on land,	f) are distributed very unevenly on the continents.
7 The annual fresh water discharge into the ocean	g) and the most beautiful is the tropical coral reefs.
8 Many cities discharge their sewage into the sea	h) covering 70% of the planet surface.

7.18 Read the text and answer the questions after it.

During last centuries mankind has been developing very aggressively and has reached tremendous achievements in all fields. Unfortunately it has achieved great success in polluting its environment too. Currently, humanity has plenty of global environmental problems: deforestation, freshwater contamination, destruction of the ozone layer, pollution of space, etc. Desiccation of the Aral Sea is one of the items on the list. The Aral Sea is still considered to be the fourth largest lake in the world but it has been shrinking for decades. In comparison with the size of the sea in the 1960s, it has declined in size by 76%. The initial reason for the Aral’s decline is the fact that Soviet planners diverted water from the Aral’s two big feeding rivers (the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya) into cotton fields on the territory of Uzbekistan. Because of this irrigation, the sea is now seventy miles away from its former bank (in some places even more). Ninety percent of the Syr Darya’s water is diverted into canals and reservoirs.

Along the former shoreline salt has accumulated due to evaporation and solonchaks have developed. As a result of the strong NE winds in this area, the salt is picked up and transported by aeolic processes and through deflation lands on the irrigated fields in the south. In addition the north of the Amu Darya delta used to be an important ecosystem with a large variety of flora and fauna. The increasing salinity and the water shortage have led to a vast degradation of these areas.

The discharge of salt is also decreasing the agriculturally useable area, destroying pastures and creating a consequent shortage of forage for domestic animals. Deserted and sandy areas are being extended by the impact of wind. Further desertification is taking place, increasing the dust and toxicity content in the air.

► 1 How do you pronounce: useable, fauna, reservoir, desiccation, salinity?

2 What does desiccation mean?

3 Match the synonyms:

tremendous empty

currently very big

deserted nowadays

4 What syllable is stressed in canal?

5 What is the opposite to shrink?

6 What is the difference between sea, lake, reservoir?

7 How many years does decade cover?

8 Explain the difference and similarity between bank, shore and coast.

9 Does salinity mean much salt or little salt?

7.19 Read the text again and give a three sentence summary of it.

7.20 Read the text below and be ready to check your understanding.

The ocean itself plays a vital role in the earth’s water cycle. Its huge surface area allows vast quantities of water to evaporate into the atmosphere. The water then condenses to form clouds.

For thousands of years, man has harvested fish from the seas as a valuable food source. Today the global catch plays a vital part in feeding the world’s growing population.

Over-fishing by large modern fishing fleets now threatens the livelihoods of traditional fishermen throughout the world. This has caused stocks of many fish species to become dangerously low. It is now vital that we have more international cooperation to sustain fish harvests.

Some of the largest creatures of the oceans actually feed on the smallest. Baleen whales, like the Blue whale which grows up to 30m long, exist solely on a diet of zooplankton.

Dead matter sinks to the ocean floor where it is either eaten by bottom dwellers (in shallower areas), like crabs and sea anemones, or it decays, producing minerals. Some form new rock, the rest are circulated by currents and taken in by plants.

The average depth of the ocean is 3,700 m, though parts are much deeper. Even the darkest depths are not devoid of life, however – thousands of weird and wonderful creatures have adapted to life in near total darkness.

► 1 What paragraph gives the information about:

a) fishing? b) water cycles? c) ocean depths? d) the largest ocean fish?

2 Look at the first paragraph and say whether evaporate and condense are synonyms or antonyms.

3 Look at the second paragraph and say which words have the same meaning as: important, increasing.

4 Look at the third paragraph and explain the word over-fishing.

5 Look at paragraphs 4 and 5 and say whether these statements correct or incorrect.

a) Whales eat fish.

b) Whales are the largest creatures of the ocean.

c) Crabs eat everything including dead matters.

d) Sea anemones produce minerals.

6 Look at paragraph 6 and answer the question: What weird (strange) and wonderful species live in the darkest depth?

7 How often do you eat fish? They are very good for you: high in protein and low in fat. Find out what sorts are available in your area, and where they come from. Have any become rarer or more expensive?

7.21 The Ganges, in India, is a sacred river to the Hindus, but it is severely polluted. Why? Read the text and answer the question.

THE GANGES

The Ganges is one of the earth’s longest and most polluted rivers. It descends from the Himalayas and flows some 25000 km across India before it runs into the Bay of Bengal.

It poses a unique dilemma for environmentalists. Every year, Hindus dump more than 45000 bodies in the Ganges, first inserting a red-hot coal into the mouth of each corpse before casting it adrift. No sane ecologist would ever dare to prevent this. Hindus believe that the Ganges can free the dying from the cycle of rebirth, so in many river cities, such as Varanasi, Calcutta and Allahabad, ashes from the cremation pyres are sprinkled into the river. Dead babies, lepers, suicides, people killed by snakebites and sages are also given a river burial. Sometimes in Varanasi the body-burners scrimp on wood for the pyre and simply toss the half-charred remains into the river, just upstream from where thousands of Hindus bathe every day.

The main pollutants, however, are not dead bodies but the waste spewed into the Ganges from hundreds of factories, tanneries, petro-chemical plants, paper mills and sugar refineries along its banks. The Ganges provides water for more than 250 million people living in the flat, hot Gangetic plains. It irrigates their crops and quenches their spiritual thirst. At its source, in the Himalayan glaciers above Gangotri, it is a fast shining-white stream. By the time it reaches Patna, the Ganges has widened to six miles and begins to divide itself into a delta before reaching the ocean. At one time there were freshwater dolphins, giant 6-metre crocodiles, turtles and more than 265 species of fish living in the Ganges. Six years ago environmentalists calculated that 1000 million litres of waste water a day were pouring into the Ganges. If left unchecked, the sacred river would die.

(Adapted from The Independent on Sunday, 9 August 1994)

7.22 Write the review of the text below.

THE MISSISSIPPI

The Mississippi meaning “Great River” or “Father of Waters” is one of the world’s largest rivers. Its source is in the north central part of Minnesota, where it issues as a small stream from Elk Lake. It passes through Lake Itasca and a number of others and thence has a general course toward the south until it flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The entire length of the Mississippi is ca. 2,330 m, while the Missouri River has a length of 2,365 m before reaching the Mississippi; thus the combined length of the two rivers is close to 5,000 m. The whole area drained by the Mississippi system is 1,257,000 square metres. It constitutes one of the most fertile and valuable regions in the world. At Minneapolis are the Falls of St. Antony, which furnish immense water power; and here, as elsewhere, navigation is obstructed, but in many places vast improvements have been made by canals and levels, the latter being maintained to protect portions of the valley from flooding during high water. The regions subject to overflow are situated south of St. Louis, where the river becomes a vast system of rapidly moving water and carries large quantity of sediment to the Gulf. Among the principal eastern tributaries are the Wisconsin, the Illinois, the Ohio, and the Yazoo. The western confluents include the Minnesota, the Des Moines, the Missouri, the Arkansas, and the Red rivers.

At its source the Mississippi is only a few feet wide, but at the mouth of the Ohio it is 4,470 ft and at New Orleans it is 2,500 ft while the maximum volume of water per second during a flood is estimated at 1,500,000 ft. The sediment transported annually is sufficient to cove a square mile to the height of 250 ft. In the upper course the water is clear and transparent, but it gradually grows dark with silt, which it deposits. During the past ages it has carried the land surface far into the Gulf and formed a large number of bayous and islands. The government of the US has had jetties constructed to protect the channel for the passage of vessels.

The Mississippi River and its tributaries furnish about 16,090 m of navigable waters, which make possible a vast inland commerce by steamship. Numerous canals connect the various rivers and lakes near them, one of the most important being the connection of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Among the important cities on the Mississippi River are St. Paul and Minneapolis, Davenport, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans.

(Keating, Bern. The Mighty Mississippi. National Geographic Society, 1971)

7.23 Project Work. Choose some aspect of water which especially concerns the local community (pollution, waste, flood, drinking water). If you take the last point, you may discuss the following items:

● Is the drinking water clean?

● If the water is polluted, what is it caused by?

● How can pollution be prevented?

● What can people do locally?

● Are there rules or laws?

● What is each person’s responsibility?

● What should the government do?

UNIT 8 LAKE BAIKAL

INTRODUCTION

8.1 This unit is about Lake Baikal and its reserve. Can you remember:

a) where Baikal is?

b) how deep Baikal is?

c) what lakes may be compared with Baikal?

8.2 You are going to read a passage from the article “The World’s Great Lake», by Don Belt, an American journalist. The following words are in the order in which they appear in the passage. Check that you know what they mean.

Average / get thick / support / supply / flatcar / thaw / hack / furious / squall / roar / confirm / tugboat / vessel / resume / volatile / provide / controversy / effluent / band / ignite / issue / comprehensive / abolish / logging / bilious / mollify / publicize / threaten / aquatic / evolve / incredibly / thoroughly / sink / doubt / sign / discharge / distinct / purity / hardy / generosity / soul / precious

THE WORLD’S GREAT LAKE

Crown jewel of Russia’s natural inheritance, Baikal is the world’s oldest and deepest lake – an environmental battleground and a godsend in hard times.

The snows of Siberia come to Lake Baikal in early October. By November the lake itself begins to freeze. With the average winter temperature around minus 20˚C (0˚F), the ice gets thick enough – well over a metre – to support truck convoys laden with supplies for the more remote towns along Baikal’s shore. In 1904, during the Russo – Japanese War, sections of railway track were even laid across the ice to transport more than 2,000 flatcars and 65 locomotives to the battlefront.

By mid-April the ice, begins to thaw and break apart, hacked to pieces by furious squalls that roar down river valleys on winds reaching 160 kilometres an hour. Then in May, after a scout plane confirms that it is clear enough of ice, several hundred ships – tugboats, timber barges, research vessels, and fishing boats – resume their labours on the world’s great lake. So huge and volatile is Baikal that sailors here talk in spring of ‘going to sea’.

Still remarkably clean, Baikal nevertheless feels the effects of air and water pollution from various sources, including industries around Irkutsk and from the Selenga River, which provides half the water flowing into Baikal. Most controversy centres on the effluent from a cellulose plant at Baikalsk.

In 1957, when the public first heard about plans for this factory, people began to protest. Local scientists, writers, fishermen and ordinary citizens banded together, to fight the plant, igniting an environmental movement. After years of protest, the lake’s defenders were rewarded in April 1987, when the Soviet government issued a comprehensive decree protecting Lake Baikal. Among other things, it abolished logging anywhere close to the lakeshore and decreed that the cellulose plant be ‘reprofiled’ for activities harmless to the environment by 1993. Meanwhile the dumping of industrial waste into Baikal continues, and bilious smoke still rises from the plant 24 hours a day. The Baikalsk Cellulose-Paper Plant pollutes only a tiny portion of the lake, but that does mollify many Russians. Baikalsk has become a national symbol of the dangers facing our environment. Less publicized but just as threatening are coal-fired power plants which may do as much harm by causing acid rain.

Recently the Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research has been founded. Each field season brings more scientists from abroad to study what many consider the world’s most interesting lake. Baikal is indeed a living museum of aquatic plants and animals that have evolved during its life span. It is also incredibly rich in life at all depths. Unlike lakes in hot climates, Baikal mixes thoroughly; as its cold waters sink, they carry oxygen even to the deepest parts of the lake.

Samples taken from the southern end of the lake tell that the cellulose plant pollutes some 200 square kilometres. Scientists are especially alarmed by the presence of chlorinated compounds – they may one day accumulate to toxic levels in the food chain. Because of this plant some even speak of Lake Baikal in the past tense, as if its ecosystem is already dead. Other scientists disagree with that dire conclusion. But there’s no doubt that the plant pollutes the area. Its emissions make Baikalsk one of the most polluted cities in Russia, and forests of larch and pine nearby show unmistakable signs of degradation.

In 1995 the plant discharged 26,000 tons of minerals, 200 tons of suspended substances and 2,500 tons of organic by-products into Lake Baikal.

People say, “We must save Baikal for our children”. Lake Baikal is a symbol, of all the things that give Siberian life its distinct sweetness – the natural beauty, the purity of open air, the hardy generosity of people and the poetry in their collective soul. This is what Russians mean when they talk about the Motherland. And nothing is more precious to them than that.

8.3 Here are some words from the passage. First, decide what part of speech they are: noun, verb or adjective. Then match them with their meanings in the context of the passage.

To transport / huge / to centre / defender / to dump / tiny / to pollute / to face / waste / scout / harmless / span / dire

1 extremely large

2 extremely small

3 extremely terrible

4 to carry from one place to another

5 to be opposite to

6 to make dirty

7 to throw down carelessly

8 to focus

9 somebody or something that is getting information

10 someone who protects

11 unable to cause damage

12 unwanted material

13 a period of time

8.4 Complete the definitions. You may use a dictionary.

1 A sailor is a person who ……...

2 A scientist is a person who ……...

3 A writer is a person ……...

4 A fisherman is a person ……...

5 A citizen is ……...

6 A defender is ……...

8.5 Fill in the chart with the family words and translate them into Russian. If necessary, use a dictionary to help you.

noun	verb	adverb	adjective
depths
			furious
			sweet
		vertically
nature
	close
	widen
purity
			clear
		chemically
			environmental
		remarkably
generosity
		incredibly

8.6 Look at these sentences from the passage. Decide who or what the word in italics refers to.

1 … it abolished logging anywhere close to the lakeshore…

2 Its emissions make Baikal one of the most polluted cities in Russia…

3 … they may one day accumulate to toxic levels in the food chain.

4 We must save Baikal for our children.

5 This is what Russians mean when they talk about the Motherland.

6 … they carry oxygen even to the deepest parts of the lake.

7 It is also incredibly rich in life at all depths.

8.7 Which words are similar in meaning?

A B

barge emission

vessel factory

resume different

labour tugboat

volatile continue

various clear

provide boat

plant work

distinct changeable

discharge supply

8.8 Use a dictionary to find or check the answers to these questions. (They are all based on the above passage).

1 How do you pronounce: issue, aquatic, dead, precious, thoroughly?

2 What does degradation mean?

3 What part of speech is bilious?

4 What part of speech is enough?

5 Harm and purity are both nouns, but what type of noun are they?

6 What letter is silent (= not pronounced) in the words: doubt, hour, half, sign?

7 What prepositions are used after the verb talk?

8 What is the opposite of generosity?

9 What is the opposite of furious?

10 What is the difference between emission, effluent and dumping?

11 What does must mean: permission, obligation or advice?

12 What syllable is stressed in effort?

13 Homework is a compound noun. Find ten compound nouns in the passage.

14 Presence is a noun, but what is the verb with the same meaning?

8.9 Find all the words from the text connected with each of these topics:

Transport	Pollution	Lake Baikal
e.g. railway track	industries around Irkutsk	the world’s oldest and deepest lake

8.10 Read the factfile and answer the questions:

1 Which fact do you find the most surprising?

2 Which fact arouses the mostoptimism?

Factfile

Lake Baikal is the most ancient lake on the earth, it's great age is more than 25 million years. So, it is the oldest body of fresh water.

It is the deepest lake, measuring 1,635 metres from top to bottom, more than a mile.

It holds one-fifth of the planet's fresh water and 80 per cent of the former Soviet Union's – more water than all of North America's Great Lakes combined.

Baikal extends for 635 kilometres from north-east to south-west, covering the area of 30,500 square kilometres.

Baikal sits in the planet's deepest land depression. Its depression formed of hard, fixed rocks holds 23,000 cu km of chemically very pure and extraordinary clear water.

Its cold waters move vertically, carrying oxygen to the bottom, where 1,500 endemic species were spotted. Lake Tahoe has two endemic species, Lake Superior – four endemic species.

Fifty-two species of fish inhabit these waters.

Baikal owes its longevity to the tectonically active rift it occupies, which may cause it to widen by as much as 2,5 centimetres each year.

The Buryat – ethnic Mongols – settled its shores long before the 13^th century conquests of Genghis Khan. Russian fur traders arrived in the 1640s.

8.11 Read the text “On the Coast of Baikal” and answer the questions after it.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26