Task 2. Answer the questions according to the reading passage.
Homeless people
The sad situation of the homeless remains a problem. It is difficult to estimate how many people are homeless because the number depends on how the homeless are defined. There are street people – those who sleep in bus stations, parks, and other areas. Many of these people are youthful runaways. There are the so-called sheltered homeless – those who sleep in government supported or privately funded shelters. Many of these individuals used to live with their families or friends. While street people are almost always single, the sheltered homeless include numerous families with children. Conservatives argue that many homeless are alcoholics, drug users, or mentally ill. In contrast, many liberals argue that homelessness is caused by a reduction in welfare benefits and by excessively priced housing. They want more shelters to be built for the homeless.
1. We can understand from the reading that the number of homeless people…
a) is not so great as many people think;
b) is on the increase in many countries;
c) is counted annually;
d) is difficult to know;
e) has been decreasing for the past decade.
2. According to the passage, liberals…
a) think that the problem of homelessness cannot be solved;
b) want more shelters for the homeless;
c) are of the opinion that most homeless people are mentally ill;
d) want the government to ban sleeping on park benches;
e) believe that it is not possible to cure the problem of homelessness even with a consistent government policy.
3. It is clearly stated in the reading that the sheltered homeless…
a) are mostly youthful runaways;
b) sleep in parks or in bus stations;
c) can have families with children;
d) are generally drug users and alcoholics;
e) are in worse conditions than street people.
Task 3. Look at the text below. In some lines, there are some extra words included and other lines are correct. If you think a line is correct, write "√" in the box for that line number. If there is an extra word, write the extra word in the box for that line number.
MODULE 6. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND NATURE PRESERVATION
PART 1. PRACTICE YOUR READING
AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Text 1
Exercise 1. Read and translate the text using a dictionary if needed.
Africa is on the front line of climate change
Thirty men and 22 women sit beneath a great mugamba tree on the edge of Chikani village in southern Zambia. "This is what happened", says Julius Njame, standing and speaking formally. "We prepared our fields for planting seeds in the November rains. We waited but the first drop didn't fall till December 20. After a day, the rains stopped. Three weeks later, it started to rain again. But then it stopped again after a few days. Since then, we have had no rain". The crowd murmurs its assent and one by one, people stand to tell how their own crops wilted and how little they have harvested this year. Anderson says he got five bags of the staple maize crop, Lovewell eight, Jennifer two, Felice three and Jonah seven. Some say they have lost almost everything and will be eating wild foods within weeks. Most say they will be able to hang on only until next month. The people of Chikani are experiencing a climatic phenomenon taking place around the world. But the effect of global warming on a village of central African subsistence farmers is different and far more serious than on America or Europe. Some northerners bask in the idea that global warming promises delightful summers and longer growing seasons. But rising sea levels and future climatic extremes, causing even a small change in rainfall patterns or temperatures, is perilous now for vast areas of Africa. Where the rich northern city or farmer can adapt, the families of millions of poor Zambian, Congolese or Malawian farmers go hungry for months; urban water supplies are interrupted and wells run dry. Africa is in the frontline of climate change, and for the people of Chikani it makes the difference between food and hunger, migration and stability, sufficiency and destitution – even life and death. Droughts, floods, unseasonal rains, extreme weather and natural disasters have long been common in southern Africa, but new studies are finding a pattern of increasing climatic variability and unpredictability. According to UN agencies and national meteorologists, severe dry and wet periods have become more frequent in the past two to three decades. Old Jonah in Chikani, who has 24 children from three wives, doesn't need academics to tell him the climate is changing. "These are the worst rains ever", he says. "The pattern of rainfall is definitely changing. I remember many bad years but this is the first time the river Musaya has ever dried up. This is the first time that we have only had one place to find water". Crop failure this year extends across swathes of southern Zambia, northern Zimbabawe and Malawi. According to the UN's food organisation, 20 countries in Africa are this month facing food emergencies following droughts or "adverse" weather.
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