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Text 2. English around the world

Active vocabulary to remember

a foreign language

the national language

a mother tongue

mass entertainment

science

scientific

technology

important

necessary

  • иностранный язык

  • государственный язык

  • родной язык

  • массовая культура ( развлечения )

  • наука

  • научный

  • техника

  • важный

  • необходимый

"Do you speak English?" – this question is most frequently heard when people from different countries gather. Although there are almost three thousand languages, English is the most universal. It is the official language in over forty countries and the most used language in international business, science and medicine. Some people believe that English should be the international language, they think things would run more smoothly if everyone spoke the same language.

It is important to learn English to feel confident. English is everywhere. It is in signs, clothing, soft drinks and household products around the world. The names of pop groups, computer software and magazines are often presented in English. English words are also used as an element of magic to be included on T-shirts, sweat shirts, caps etc. Some think English is chic, English is stylish, even when the English on these designed items makes no sense. Sometimes we use English words for effect rather than as a language, for example adding "O.K!" or "No problem" to the end of our talk. I don't think whether it is good or not. It's our reality, and we live in it.

Learning English is important for you if you want to know what is going on in the world. With recent advances in science and technology, the world is changing rapidly in many fields, such as business, arts and medicine. These changes will affect you soon and it is important for you to read and keep up with these changes and time. In fact, learning English is the answer to a lot of things that you need and want.

Practice:

  1. Give the English equivalents for the following phrases. Consult the text.

идти в ногу со временем, официальный язык, наиболее часто используемый язык, международный бизнес, последние достижения науки, программное обеспечение, чувствовать себя уверенно.

  1. Answer the following questions:

  1. Why is English considered to be the most universal one?

  2. Why do some people believe that English should be the international language?

  3. Is it important to learn English to feel confident? Why?

  4. What way do we sometimes use English words for effect rather than as a language?

  5. Why is learning English important for you if you want to know what is going on in the world?

  1. Identify the key-words concerning the functions of the English language and write them out.

  1. Find the key sentence in each paragraph of the text “English Around the world” and suggest a headline to each paragraph.

  2. Make up the plan of the text ‘English Around the world’. Retell the text according to your plan.

Unit 5. Ecological problems. Text 1. The problem of environmental protection

Active vocabulary to remember

environmental protection

humanity

firmly established

hardly

majority

soil

toxic wastes chemicals

to contaminate

drought

to be concerned about

drastic devastating

to be rare occurrence

the greenhouse effect

to create

carbon dioxide

industrial facilities

to be of vital importance

to cut down

the release of gases

to contribute to

fairly

deterioration

to tell on

to solve

to raise safety standards

to adequately process by-products of industry

to monitor

an international centre for emergency environment assistance

to prevent

  • охрана (зашита) окружающей среды человечество

  • укорениться

  • вряд ли, едва ли

  • большинство

  • почва

  • токсичные отходы

  • заражать, инфицировать (в том числе отравляющими и радиоактивными веществами)

  • засуха

  • беспокоиться

  • радикальный, глубокий; резкий

  • происходить редко

  • парниковый эффект

  • создавать

  • двуокись углерода

  • промышленные предприятия

  • быть необычайно важным

  • сокращать

  • выброс газов

  • содействовать, способствовать

  • довольно

  • ухудшение

  • сказываться на

  • решать

  • поднимать требования к технике безопасности

  • хорошо перерабатывать промышленные

  • отходы

  • контролировать

  • международный центр по оказанию срочной экологической помощи

  • защищать, предохранять

Environmental protection is the main problem facing humanity nowadays. The image of a sick planet has become firmly established in the public mind lately. Ten years ago the word “ecology” hardly meant anything for the majority of people, but today we can't help bearing it in our minds. It has happened because of the growing effect of the rapid industrial development of the natural world which has negative features of its own. As a matter of fact the state of environment has greatly worsened of late.

There is no doubt that soil, water and air are contaminated with toxic wastes. Over the past few years we have been constantly speaking about ozone holes, droughts, high level of radiation, about food contaminated with chem­icals. Scientists in many countries are very much concerned about drastic changes in weather patterns. The worst drought, the mildest winter and the most devastating hurricanes have become typical in those parts of the world where they used to be a rare occurrence. Weather patterns have been chang­ing recently due to the global warming-up process and its major reason – the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is created by carbon dioxide emis­sions, released by industrial facilities and a constantly increasing number of cars. Thus it is of vital importance that the world should start cutting down the release of gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. What is the reason for people getting so much worried about the state of environment? The answer to this question is fairly simple. The thing is the deterioration of the environment is telling heavily on people. They are paying for this with their health. And it is obvious what all people need is a healthy environment.

To solve this burning problem it is necessary for people to combine ef­forts, to raise safety standards at all industrial facilities, to adequately process by-products of industry, to set up an international space laboratory to monitor the state of environment and set up an international centre for emergency environmental assistance. All these measures will help us in solving these important problems and prevent us from dangerous illnesses and diseases.