The Environment: Problems and Solutions
Problems. Pollution damage to the air, sea, rivers or land caused by chemicals, waste and harmful gases. The biggest polluter today is the car. Exhaust fumes are the main cause of bad air quality, which can make people feel ill and have difficulty breathing. This problem is especially bad in big cities where, on days when there is not much wind, a brown layer of smog hangs in the air. The number of cars is increasing every year and this causes serious congestion. Governments build new roads trying, to improve the situation, but this means that they cut down trees and destroy more of the countryside.
The greenhouse effect is caused by harmful gases known as greenhouse gases. These gases are produced when we burn fuels, especially coal burned in power stations to make electricity. The gases go up into the Earth's atmosphere and stop heat from leaving the Earth. As the heat cannot escape, the temperature on the Earth is panning up. This is known as global warming. Global warming may result in the melting of the ice at the Poles and rising of sea levels, leading to serious flooding and other disasters in many parts of the world. In other places the temperature will rise and there will be less rain, turning more of the land into desert.
Holes in the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a layer of gases that protects us from ultraviolet light coming from the sun, which can have a harmful effect on animals and causes skin cancer in humans.
Acid rain is a rain harmful to the environment because it contains acid from factory smoke. Acid rains cause damage to trees, rivers and buildings.
Species extinction is a natural feature of the evolution of life on earth, the best-known example is the disappearance of the dinosaurs. In the last 400 years, however, human activities have been responsible for the loss of most of the animals and plants that have disappeared.
Deforestation is the term used to describe the disappearance of forests from large parts of the world's surface. Deforestation has been occurring steadily since the XX-th century.
Solutions. Alternative forms of transport. One of the main problems with cars is that they cause a lot of pollution and often carry only one person. Public transport is more environmentally friendly because buses and trains can carry large number of people at the same time. Even cleaner solutions are electric cars and bicycles.
Alternative energy sources such as wind, wave and solar power do not pollute the environment. They are much cleaner than oil and coal, but it's more difficult to get them regularly.
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Recycling is another solution: instead of throwing away glass, paper, cans can be taken to special "banks" and recycled there.
Protesting. Many people try to protect the environment by joining environmental groups that inform people about ecological problems and try to persuade governments to take more care of the environment, especially by organizing problems.
5. Which word in each line is the odd one out? Why?
| car | bicycle | plane | space rocket |
| to pollute | to harm | to litter | to recycle |
| ultraviolet light | acid rain | smog | the greenhouse effect |
| rain | flooding | melting | air pollution |
| recycling | burying rubbish | planting trees | ecological education |
6. Fill in the correct word derived from the word in brackets.
The Environment: Our Responsibility.
These days it is ... (possible) to open a newspaper without reading about the damage we are doing to the environment. The earth is being ... (threat) and the future looks ... (horror). What can each of us do?
We cannot clean up our... (pollute) rivers and seas overnight. Nor can we stop the ... (appear) of plants and animals. But we can stop adding to the problem while ... (science) search for answers and laws are passed in nature's ... (defend). It may not be so easy to change your lifestyle and habits ... (complete) but some steps are easy to take: cut down the amount of... (drive) you do or use as little plastic as possible. It is also easy to save energy, which also reduces ... (house) bills.
We must all make a personal ... (decide) to work for the future of our planet if we want to ... (sure) a better world for our grandchildren.
7. Answer the questions on the text.
a) Why is the car the biggest polluter? What are other polluters?
b) Why can the greenhouse effect be dangerous?
c) What do you know about holes in the ozone layer?
d) What are the alternative forms of transport? Can they really solve the problem of air pollution?
e) What is recycling?
f) Do you think the protests organized by the "greens" are really effective?
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8. Points for discussion.
1. Observe environmental problems and solutions to them.
2. Think of some consequences of the environmental problems. Use the 1-st and 2-nd Conditionals and don't forget about modal verbs.
Ex.: If the average temperature increases it might lead to flooding. If there were no ozone layer we would die of skin cancer.
3. Do you think that the condition of the environment depends only on industry or on ordinary people too?
4. We often hear the words "harmful effects of civilization on nature". What do they mean? Illustrate the results of harmful and helpful influences of human contacts with nature.
9. Points for discussion.
1. Observe environmental problems and solutions to them.
2. Think of some consequences of the environmental problems. Use the 1-st and 2-nd Conditionals and don't forget about modal verbs.
Ex.: If the average temperature increases it might lead to flooding. If there were no ozone layer we would die of skin cancer.
3. Do you think that the condition of the environment depends only on industry or on ordinary people too?
4. We often hear the words "harmful effects of civilization on nature". What do they mean? Illustrate the results of harmful and helpful influences of human contacts with nature.
Ecological Problems of a Big City. London
It was in Britain that the word "smog" was first used (to describe mixture of smoke and fog). As the world's first industrialized country, its cities were the first to suffer this atmospheric condition. In the XlX-th century London's "pea soupers" (thick smogs) became famous through descriptions of them in the works of Charles Dickens and in the Sherlock Holmes stories. The situation in London reached its worst point in 1952. At the end of that year a particularly bad smog, which lasted for several days, was estimated to have caused between 4000 and 8000 deaths.
Water pollution was also a problem. In the XlX-th century it was once suggested that the Houses of Parliament should be wrapped in enormous wet sheets to protect those inside from the awful smell of the River Thames. In the middle years of this century, the first thing that happened to people who fell into the Thames was that they were rushed to hospital to have their stomachs pumped out!
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Then, during the 1960s and 1970s, laws were passed which forbade the heating of homes with open coal fires in city areas and which stopped much of the pollution from factories. At one time, a scene of fog in Hollywood films was all that was necessary to symbolize London. This image is now out of date, and by the end of the 1970s it was said to be possible to catch fish in the Thames outside Parliament.
However, as in the rest of western Europe, the great increase in the use of the motor car in the last quarter of the XX-th century has caused an increase in a new kind of air pollution. This problem has become so serious that the television weather forecast now regularly issues warnings of "poor air quality". On some occasions it is bad enough to prompt official advice that certain people (such as asthma sufferers) should not even leave their houses, and that nobody should take any exercise, such as jogging, out of doors.
10. Open the brackets and use the verb in the required tense-form; fill in the blanks using a word from the following list.
a) weather d) recycling g) environmental
b) exhaust e) fuel h) atmosphere
c) greenhouse effect f) resources i) energy
In recent years, the number of 1)... problems (to increase) dangerously. One of the most serious problems is changes to the 2) ... which (to lead) to the "3) ... "; this (to make) most climates warmer. It already (to affect) several areas of the world with unusual 4)... causing droughts or heavy storms. Cutting down on 5).., fumes from vehicles (to help) solve the problem. Natural 6)... such as oil and coal are not endless, so using the other forms of 7) ... such as wind, sun, wave and even sea waves (to help) preserve our planet. Very soon we (to be able) to drive cars in cities that run on electricity — a much cleaner 8) ... than petrol. And we can also help to preserve finite resources by 9) ... things made of glass, aluminium, plastic and paper.
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11. Multiple choice.
The Baltic is a small sea, A ... it becomes В ... very easily. Its water changes slowly through the shallow straits. 150 rivers run С ... the Baltic. There are hundreds of factories D ... these rivers and millions of people live among them. Seven industrial countries E ... the Baltic. F ... a lot of big cities lie on its G ... All of this combined with active navigation of the sea naturally H ... the state of the sea water and the shoreline flora and fauna.
Once we I ... a sea it's very difficult to J ... it. Fortunately all the countries in the Baltic area have realized the problem. They co-operate actively К ... solving ecological problems of the Baltic basin. L ... international law and the national laws of the coastal states M ... the regime of environmental protection of the Baltic Sea. The N ... of the agreements among these states is to О ... oil pollution of the sea, to organize rational fishing and the preservation of sea life.
| 1) | 2) | 3) | 4) | |
| A | as | because | so that | so |
| В | muddy | dusty | dirty | greasy |
| С | into | out of | through | across |
| D | at | on | in | above |
| Б | gather around | encircle | surround | round up |
| F | quite | rather | pretty | very |
| G | beach | coast | shore | banks |
| H | reflects | effects | forces | affects |
| I | had polluted | pollute | have polluted | polluted |
| J | brush | Clean | polish | scour |
| К | in | over | within | for |
| L | either | neither | and | both |
| M | deprive | define | decline | defile |
| N | target | point | objective | aim |
| 0 | prevent | protect | preserve | pretend |
UNIT 7
OIL AND GAS
OIL EXTRACTION
Oil extraction = oil production is a process of oil recovery from a well.
Vocabulary
Extract - remove or take out, especially by effort or force
establish (v)- set up on a firm or permanent basis
refinery- an industrial installation where a substance is refined
reverse-retain for future use
pump-a mechanical device using suction or pressure to raise or move liquids, compress gases, or force air into inflatable objects such as tyres
substance- the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists and which has a tangible, solid presence
viable- capable of working successfully; feasible
1. Translate the following sentences into Russian/Kazakh:
1) Mining refers to ore extraction.
2) Mining is the industrial process of removing a mineral-bearing substance from the place of its natural occurrence in the Earth’s crust.
3) The term” mining” includes the recovery of oil and gas from wells.
4) The mode of occurrence of the sought-for-metallic substance governs to a large degree the type of mining that is practiced.
5) Depending on their function mine workings are described as exploratory, if they are driven with a view to finding or proving mineral and as productive if they are used for the immediate extraction of useful mineral.
2. Match the science with the description of what it studies:
| 1.Palaeontology | A. combines all the information from different fields of geological science and makes maps. |
| 2.Classical geology | B. is concerned with the study of Earth’s geological history on the basis of research of sedimentary rocks. |
| 3.Geology | C. deals with observations and classification of the remains in the rocks and thus constructs their evolution. |
| 4. Regional geology | D. studies the Earth history and uses technology to decode the records of rocks. |
| 5. Stratigraphy | E. deals with practical application of geological knowledge. |
| 6. Applied geology | F. seeks to interpret the past events in terms of the processes which are at work at present. |
3. Choose the correct variant.
1. The surface of the Earth is formed by
A. endogenous forces B. exogenous forces C. both
2. Geological maps
A. show all geological information B. geological information from particular areas C. essential bases of all kinds of mining
3. In the present days, views on the Earth evolution and development of a man
A. have changed B. are not complete C. have not been determined
4. Geologists
A. input different geological events B. establish history of the Earth C. both
5. Applied geology deals with
A. practical application of geological science B. present day processes
C. geological maps of different areas
4. Discuss and comment on the following questions:
1. What does the word “geology” mean?
2. What does geology deal with?
3. What is classical geology aimed at?
4. What forces affect the Earth’s crust?
5. How do endogenous forces affect the crust?
6. What are the obvious effects of the exogenous forces?
7. What does stratigraphy deal with?
8. What is regional geology aimed at?
9. What does applied geology deal with?
5.Make your own sentences using the following expressions:
1) refer to
2) to include
3) in other words
4) the tendency
5) to contribute
6) to depend on
7) development
6. Read the text and fulfill the exercises.
MINING
Mining refers to ore extraction. Mining is the industrial process of removing a mineral-bearing substance from the place of its natural occurrence in the Earth’s crust. The term” mining” includes the recovery of oil and gas from wells; metal, non-metallic minerals, coal, peat, oil shale and other hydrocarbons from the earth.
Mining can be done either as a surface operation (quarries, opencasts or open pits) or by an underground method. The mode of occurrence of the sought-for metallic substance governs to a large degree the type of mining that is practiced. The problem of depth also affects the mining method. If the rock containing the metallic substance is at a shallow site and is massive, it may be economically excavated by a pit or quarry-like opening on the surface. If the metal-bearing mass is tabular, as a bed or vein, and goes to a great distance beneath the surface, then it will be worked by some method of underground mining. Working or exploiting the deposit means the extraction of mineral. Mine workings vary in shape, dimensions, location and function.
Depending on their function mine workings are described as exploratory to find or prove mineral and productive when used for the immediate extraction of useful mineral. Productive mining can be divided into capital investment work, development work, and face or production work. Investment work aims at ensuring access to the deposit from the surface. Development work prepares for the face work, and mineral is extracted (or produced) in bulk.
7. Agree or disagree with the following statements:
1) The term “mining” includes the recovery of oil and gas from wells as coal, iron ores and other useful minerals from the earth.
2) There are only two mining methods.
3) The problem of depth also affects the mining method.
UNIT 8
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