Lesson 3. Protecting the environment

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

LEAD-IN

Task 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What do you know about the ecological situation in the world? What are the most polluted regions?

2. What are the most urgent ecological issues nowadays?

3. What, in your opinion, needs to be done in order to improve the situation?

DISCUSSION

Task 2. Share your ideas with your partner. You have about 10 minutes to discuss the issues.

READING

Task 3. Read this extract, ignoring the gaps, about Chinese plans to improve the ecological situation in their region.

CHINA PLAN TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

China plans to spend 1.4 trillion yuan ($175bn) over the next five years on protecting its environment.

The sum - equivalent to 1.5% of China's __1__ economic output - will be used to improve water ___2__, and cut air and land pollution and soil ___3___.

China has some of the world's most ___4___ cities and waterways. Beijing has often overlooked protecting the environment in the rush to develop its economy - but now it is paying the price, a BBC correspondent says.

A chemical spill in a river near the city of Harbin last year drew international ___5___, as water ___6___ to almost four million people had to be suspended for nearly a week.

Under the plan, sewage treatment plants will be built in 10 river ___7___ to ___8___ the harmful impact of waste water from cities. Money will also be spent on cutting ___9___ of sulphur dioxide and ___10___ in large cities.

The state-owned Xinhua news agency said money would be used to curb soil pollution, which has contaminated agricultural produce. The agency quoted Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, as saying that every year 12 million metric tonnes of ___11___ were polluted by heavy ___12___ that had found their way into the soil.

(from BBCNews.com)

Task 4. For questions 1-12, think of the word which best fits each space. Use the words given below. You may use each word only once.

a. erosion b. attention c. annual d. valleys e. quality f. reduce

g. dust h. levels i. polluted j. grain k. metals l. supplies

Task 5. Answer the following questions.

1. What sum is China going to spend on protecting its environment?

2. How exactly is China going to protect the environment?

3. Why has Beijing often overlooked protecting its environment?

4. What event drew international attention last year?

5. What is the situation with soil pollution and agriculture in China?

WRITING

Task 6. Write a summary of the above text. Try to make it even shorter than the text itself. If necessary, consult Appendix 2 Writing a Summary.

Lesson 4

GREEN TECHNOLOGY

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