6. Write down a composition about holidays and traditions in Russia (15-20 sentences). Topic: Environmental problems

1. Answer the questions.

1. What environmental problems do you know?

2. How can we protect nature?

3. What can we do to make our planet cleaner?

2. Read the text and fill in the chart.

	What are the problems?	What do they damage?
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T here are a lot of problems facing people on the planet Earth nowadays. The most urgent problem is an ecological one.

Interrelations between man and the biosphere are complex. Man like any other living organism depends for his life on what the biosphere provides: water, oxygen, food, shelter. On the other hand all sorts of human activity make the environment unhealthy. The main problems are: air pollution, water pollution, acid rains, safety of nuclear and hydraulic power stations, radioactive and other poisonous materials, disposal of waste and others. Let’s consider some of them.

Car engines burn gasoline, factories burn fuels. All these gases pollute the air. The biggest problem is ozone, formed from hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Ozone can age our lungs, making us more susceptible to dangerous diseases, including cancer. Some factories produce liquid wastes and dump them into ri­vers and lakes. This problem includes oil pollution which causes great damage to coasts and wild life.

Acid rains damage forests, poison rivers and lakes, make them lifeless.

Safety of nuclear and hydraulic power stations is another acute problem. Public anxiety has grown particularly after the Chernobyl disaster. Radioactive and other poisonous materials present health and safety problems.

As the population of large cities continues to grow, the pro­blem of Industrial and communal waste disposal has become urgent. In more than a hundred towns and cities the concentration of harmful substances in the air and water is over 10 times the admissible level.

In recent years people have become more sensitive towards the environment. Still more public organizations and unofficial movements have been established. In 1987 a "Green Peace"' public commission was set up. Its main goal is to combine the pe­ople's efforts in the struggle for peace and nature conservation.

Russia is cooperating in this field with the USA, Canada, Finland, and Norway. The other way out of ecological problems is to turn te­chnology to the construction of healthy environment. We must leave our planet better for future generations than it is now.

3. What should/shouldn’t we do to protect environment?

4. What environmental movements do you know?

5. Read the text about environmental protection and answer the questions. Environmental protection

T he scientific and technological progress of the twentieth century resulted in widespread mechanization, automated lines computerized management, spaceships, atomic power stations, pipelines, new roads and highways.

But it cannot be denied that the price for rapid industrial development is very high: natural resources are exhausted, the ecological balance of the planet is disturbed; some species of flora and fauna disappear; city and industry waters, chemicals and fertilizers are endangering lakes, rivers and ponds. Big cities have a problem with air pollution: the "Killer Smog" caused some 3500-4000 deaths in London in December 1952. Progress can be blamed for all these environmental problems.

I n recent years the pollution problems have received great publicity. The Environmental movement associated with no political party has gained widespread trust and support. Environmental activists stress that the problem is caused by industrial pollution and the automobile. Long-established envi­ronmental groups warn that acid rains threaten many forests. The media's begun to campaign against the ugliness of bill­boards, tin cans and trash. Many people started to realize that to keep air and water clean, strict pollution control is necessary.

The protection of natural resources and wildlife is be­coming a political program in every country. Numerous anti-pollution acts passed in different countries led to considerable improvements in environment. In many countries purifying sys­tems for treatment of industrial waters have been installed, measures have been taken to protect rivers and seas from oil waters.

Wildlife reservation models of undisturbed nature are being developed in some parts of the world.

But the environmental problems have grown beyond the concern of a single country. Their solution requires the cooperation of all nations.

Questions:

1. What are advantages of industrial development?

2. What are disadvantages of industrial development?

3. What do Environmental activists do?

4. What has been done in many countries to improve the environment?

5. Why do the environmental problems require the cooperation of all nations?