Environmental lessons

Вступ.

Запропоновані інструктивно-методичні матеріали розроблені відповідно до Типової програми з іноземних мов для немовних вузів та призначені для студентів ІІ курсу денної та заочної форми навчання за напрямом «Екологія та охорона навколишнього середовища».

Мета цих інструктивно-методичних матеріалів – сприяння розвитку комунікативної компетенції студентів, достатньої для здійснення спілкування англійською мовою за темою «Pollution».

Інструктивно-методичні матеріали складаються з 4 тематичних розділів (Units): а саме: вступної частини «Забруднення навколишнього середовища», в якій розглядається загальний стан екологічної ситуації в сучасному світі та 3 розділів, що містять більш детальну інформацію з вивчаємої теми - «Забруднення води», «Забруднення повітря», «Забруднення землі».

Кожний розділ містить тексти спільної тематики, завдання, спрямовані на перевірку розуміння змісту, збагачення лексичного запасу та оволодіння комунікативними навичками, а також необхідний граматичний матеріал а також вправи для його засвоєння.

Текстовий матеріал, побудований на автентичних та частково адаптованих текстах англійських і американських авторів, містить важливу інформацію за темою «Забруднення навколишнього середовища», що є необхідним у формуванні професійного тезаурусу майбутніх фахівців.

Інструктивно-методичні матеріали допоможуть розвинути у студентів навички читання літератури за фахом, збагатити лексичний запас, оволодіти практичними навичками спілкування англійською мовою на професійні теми, а також нададуть необхідні базові знання англійської граматики.

Даний збірник може бути використаний як на заняттях в аудиторії, так і для самостійної роботи студентів.

UNIT 1 POLLUTING OUR ENVIRONMENT.

Text

Read the text attentively. Try to understand all details. Use a dictionary if necessary.

ENVIRONMENTAL LESSONS

The Earth has several major parts that play a role in sustaining life. We are part of what ecologists call the biosphere – the living and dead organisms found near the earth’s surface. Virtually all life on earth exists in a thin film of air, water and rock in a zone extending from about 61 meters below the ocean surface to 6,000 meters above sea level.

The living organisms that make up the biosphere interact with one another, with energy from the sun, and with various chemicals in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. This collection of organisms interacting with one another and their nonliving environment is called the ecosphere.

Ecosystems consist of various nonliving and living components. The nonliving or abiotic components include various physical and chemical factors. Among physical factors affecting ecosystems are sunlight and shade, temperature, precipitation, wind, soil, fire, etc. Major chemical factors include: level of water and air in soil, level of nutrients, level of toxic substances, sanity of water and some others.

The organisms that make up the population of various biocommunities and ecosystems have some ability to withstand or recover from externally imposed changes and stresses. In other words, organisms have some degree of stability. Nature is remarkably resilient and can restore itself to an original condition after being exposed to an outside disturbance that is not too drastic. Plants, for example, recolonize areas devastated by volcanoes, mining, bombing, and farming, although such natural restoration usually takes a long time on a human scale.

Ecosystems are affected by a number of natural and human-caused changes. Some of these changes are gradual; say changes in climate, immigration and emigration of species, adaptation and evolution of species as a response to environmental stress, ecological succession. Others like drought, flood, fire, hurricane, disease are sudden or catastrophic.

Additionally, the changes can result from human activities such as industrialization, warfare, transportation, agriculture and many others. The species well adapted to their environment have four major ways to deal with an environmental stress: decrease in birth rate or increase in death rate, migrate to another area with less stressful environment; adapt to changed conditions through natural selection; become extinct.

Man is a biological species and only one of many millions of things living. But man at the same time belongs to human society. Nature is the objective condition of man’s existence and his life activity.

In the course of producing what they need people make and use machinery, buildings, roads, factories, mines and many other things without which there could be no industrial development. The rapid development of scientific and technological revolution, expansion of man’s activities in outer space make the interrelationship between society and nature more complicated. Sometimes man’s life activity may have a harmful effect on the biosphere of the planet, disturbs the ecological balance. In recent years, it is the growth of giant cities accompanied by industrial development on a huge scale that has begun to introduce enormous amounts of noxious wastes into the environment.

Earth’s gaseous envelope is becoming less transparent and its composition is changing. Qualitative changes in the Earth’s biosphere may bring to crisis situations. Nature’s capacity to purify itself of industrial and other wastes has been nearly exhausted.

That’s why society needs a purposeful regulation and control of the processes taking place in the system “man - society – production – nature” at each step of its progressive development.

Waste free technology is a thing of the future.

Words for the text comprehension:

sustain – підтримувати, interact - взаємодіяти, affect - впливати; діяти на, precipitation - опади; випадання опадів, withstand – протистояти, витримувати, recover - видужувати, оклигувати, external – зовнішній, gradual - поступовий, drought - посуха, in the course of – протягом.

VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

2. Find the pairs of synonyms and remember them:

Virtually, major, additional, disease, to become extinct, to take place, noxious, main, practically, huge, to disturb, supplementary, to occur, poisonous, to upset, giant, illness, to die out.

3. Find the pairs of antonyms and remember them:

Harmless, to purify, birth rate, giant, transparent, revolution, to include, increase, opaque, simple, death rate, purposeful, complicated, to contaminate, aimless, harmful, to exclude, tiny, decrease, evolution.

4. Answer the following questions to check your understanding of the text:

1. What are the components of biosphere?

2. What are major components of any ecosystem?

3. What factors affect ecosystems?

4. How do the species respond to an environmental stress?

5. What influences greatly the environment in recent years?

5. Guess the right answers:

Which of the following is not true?

a) nature has high degree of stability and resilience;

b) plants can recolonise various devastated areas very quickly;

c) the organisms have some ability to withstand externally imposed changes and stresses;

d) ecosystems are affected only by human-caused changes;

e) catastrophic natural changes include changes in climate, and adaptation of species due to environmental stress.

The word gradual means most nearly:

a) slow;

b) step by step;

c) graduated;

d) evolutional.

How would you describe human-caused changes in ecosystems?

a) catastrophic;

b) stressful;

c) hazardous;

d) killing;

e) natural;

f) dynamic.

Which of the following is not a natural change of ecosystems?

a) fire;

b) drought;

c) earthquake;

d) disease;

e) soil erosion;

f) hurricane.

What words would describe your feelings after reading the text “Environmental lessons”?

a) peaceful;

b) uncomfortable;

c) scary;

d) excited;

e) surprised;

f) confused;

g) pleasant.

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Дата добавления: 2015-10-30