Modern ecological problems

Many centuries ago people lived in harmony with nature because industry was not much developed. There was no ecological problem until people built lots of plants and factories which sent wastes into the air, water and land where they didn't disappear but lasted forever in one form or another. Nowadays people live only according to their wants and requirements, they ignore the laws of nature. That's why today the contradictions between man and nature are dramatic.

People are slowly destroying the nature environment around them. Today we are anxious about the state of the air we breathe because every year world industry throws out into atmosphere about 1 000 million tons of dust, smoke and other harmful substances and people of many cities suffer from smog.

Another reason why there is such high level of air pollution in large cities is because of car exhaust fumes from very intensive transport. A great number of plants get used to dump poisonous chemical wastes in rivers, lakes and seas that has led to polluting water and killing fish life.

At present time pollution from sinking ships and tankers with oil is increasing and there is a strong destruction of sea life.

We face the fresh water supply problem today because of the depletion of water resources and the disruption of water cycle.

Speaking about atmosphere we should mention ozone holes which are result of air pollution and their increase can lead to the destruction of the whole great chain of life of our planet. The pollution of the air, oceans, seas, rivers and lakes and the destruction of the ozone layer could lead our planet to a global catastrophe. But the most terrible catastrophe of our age is the Chernobyl disaster which has resulted not only in atomic explosion but has brought death to 300 thousands hectares of farm lands and has affected the lives of millions of people. The radiation doses have affected and will continue to affect the health of people living in contaminated areas.

The Earth is our home that's why we must take measures to fight land pollution and keep our environment clean; we must plant trees and flowers and take care of animals, we must not throw our wastes into the rivers.

In many countries environmental protection organizations such as "Green Peace", "Friend of the Earth", "World Wild Life Fund" are set up which try to put pressure upon the governments that don't care for ecology in their countries. The humankind will be able to survive only if we all realize that environmental protection is our universal concern.

Seagrasses provide many important services such as filtering sediments from the oceans, protecting coastlines against floods and storms, providing habitats for fish and other marine life, etc.

Their most important function is carbon storage. This means that seagrasses are one of our vital allies in our fight against global warming and climate change.

In the recent study (by Florida scientists) that was published in the journal Nature Geoscience researchers have emphasized the role of seagrass meadows in sinking carbon by claiming that seagrasses can store twice as much carbon as the world's forests.

In numbers this means that coastal seagrass beds sink up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, while on the other hand a typical terrestrial forest stores about 30,000 metric tons per square kilometer.

Seagrass meadows occupy less than 0.2 percent of the world's oceans, but regardless of this very small percentage they still account for more than 10 percent of all carbon buried annually in the sea, mostly in the roots and soils beneath them. The scientists were even able to discover the areas where seagrass beds have been storing carbon for thousands of years.

The bad side of this story is the fact that seagrass meadows are disappearing fast, and are among the world's most threatened ecosystems. The scientists have said that close to 30% of all historic seagrass meadows have already been destroyed over the years with the main factors behind this loss being dredging and degradation of water quality. They also say that more than 1.5 percent of Earth's seagrass meadows are lost every year.

The further destruction of seagrass meadows will result in more carbon emissions. The scientists say that the destruction of seagrass meadows can potentially emit up to 25 percent more carbon that deforestation.

The good news in this story is the fact that seagrasses can be restored, and once restored can rapidly start storing carbon and even reestablish lost carbon sinks.

Conserving and restoring seagrass meadows should therefore become a global concern because seagrasses not only provide important services to many ecosystems but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, preventing even stronger climate change impact.

Упр. 1 Вставьте частицу "to" перед инфи­нитивом, где необходимо.

1. I like... play the guitar. 2. My brother can... speak French. 3. We had... put on our overcoats because it was cold. 4. They wanted... cross the river. 5. It is high time for you... go to bed. 6. May I... use your telephone? 7. They heard the girl... cry out with joy. 8. I would rather... stay at home today. 9. He did not want... play in the yard any more. 10. Would you like... go to England? 11. You look tired. You had better... go home.

12. I wanted... speak to Nick, but could not... find his telephone number. 13. It is time... get up. 14. Let me... help you with your homework. 15. I was planning... do a lot of things yesterday. 16. I'd like... speak to you. 17. I think I shall be able... solve this problem. 18. What makes you... think you are right? 19. I shall do all I can... help you. 20. I like... dance. 21. I'd like... dance. 22. She made me... repeat my words several times. 23. I saw him... enter the room. 24. She did not let her mother... go away. 25. Do you like... listen to good music? 26. Would you like... listen to good music? 27. That funny scene made me... laugh.

Упр. 2 Переведите на русский язык, обра­щая внимание на Active Infinitive и Passive Infinitive.

1. Nature has many secrets to be discovered yet. 2. To improve your phonetics you should record yourself and analyse your speech. 3. This is the book to be read during the summer holidays. 4. To be instructed by such a good specialist was a great advantage. 5. To play chess was his greatest pleas­ure. 6. The child did not like to be washed. 7. Isn't it natural that we like to be praised and don't like to be scolded? 8. Which is more pleasant: to give or to be given presents? He is very forgetful, but he doesn't like to be reminded of his duties.

Упр. 3 Переведите на русский язык, обра­щая внимание на Perfect Infinitive.

1. I am awfully glad to have met you. 2. Sorry to have placed you in this disagreeable situation. 3. I am very happy to have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance. 4. I am sorry to have kept you waiting. 5. Clyde was awfully glad to have renewed his acquaintance with Sondra, 6. Sorry not to have noticed you. 7.1 am sorry to have added some more trouble by what I have told you. 8. When Clyde looked at the girl closely, he remembered to have seen her in Sondra's company. 9. I remembered to have been moved¹ by the scene I witnessed. 10. The child was happy to have been brought home. 11. Jane remembered to have been told a lot about Mr. Rochester. 12. The children were delighted to have been brought to the circus. 13. I am sorry to have spoilt your mood. 14. Maggie was very sorry to have forgotten to feed the rabbits.

Упр. 4 Раскройте скобки, употребляя тре­бующуюся форму инфинитива.

1. Не seems (to read) a lot. 2. Не seems (to read) now. 3. He seems (to read) since morning. 4. He seems (to read) all the books in the library. 5. I want (to take) you to the concert. 6.1 want (to take) to the concert by my father. 7. She hoped (to help) her Mends. 6. She hoped (to help) by her friends. 9. I hope (to see) you soon. 10. We expect (to be) back in two days. 11. He expected (to help) by the teacher. 12. The children seem (to play) since morning. 13. I am glad (to do) all the homework yesterday. 14. She seems (to work) at this problem ever since she came here. 15 I am sorry (to break) your pen.

Упр. 5 Закончите предложения, употреб­ляя сложное дополнение.

E.g. "Bring me a book," said my brother to me. My brother wanted me to bring him a book,

1. "Wait for me after school," said Ann to me. — Ann wanted... 2. "Fix the shelf in the kitchen," my father said to me. — My father wanted... 3. "It will be very good if you study English," said my mother to me. — My mother wanted... 4. "Bring me some water from the river, children," said our grandmother. — Our grandmother want­ed...

5. "Come to my birthday party," said Kate to her classmates — Kate wanted... 6. The biology teacher said to us: "Collect some insects in summer." — The biology teacher wanted... 7. "Don't eat ice-cream before dinner," said our mother to us. Our mother did not want... 8. The teacher said to the pupils: "Learn the rule." — The teacher wanted... 9. "Be careful, or else you will spill the milk," said my mother to me. — My mother did not want... 10. "My daughter will go to a ballet school," said the woman. — The woman wanted... 11. The man said: "My son will study mathemat­ics." — The man wanted... 12. "Oh, father, buy me this toy, please," said the little boy. — The little boy wanted...

Упр.6 Перефразируйте следующие пред­ложения, употребляя сложное дополнение с инфинивом.

E.g. He dropped his bag. I saw it. I saw him drop his bag.

1. He slipped and fell. I saw it. 2. I heard that she suddenly cried out loudly. 3. She bent and picked up something from the floor. The police­man saw it. 4. I saw that he opened the door and left the room. 5. She dropped the cup on the floor and broke it. I saw it. 6. They turned the corner and disappeared. We watched them, 7. The doctor touched the boy's leg. The boy felt it. 8. Peter bought some flowers. His friends saw it. 9. The wounded hunter felt that the bear touched him, but he did not move. 10. Shall we hoar it if the telephone rings? 11. Tamara saw that the waves carried the boat away. 12. The ship sailed away from the shore. They saw it. 13. Have you heard how he sings the part of Herman in Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades"? 14. The boy noticed a bird. It flew on to the bush near the window. 15. Jane saw her neigh­bour. He opened the door of his flat and went in. 16. I saw him. He pointed to a picture on the wall. 17. I heard him. He shut the door of the study. 18. We saw that the children climbed to the tops of the trees. 19. I noticed that Henry went up and spoke to the stranger.

---

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16