ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ АГЕНТСТВО ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ РФ
ВОРОНЕЖСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ
WORLD AROUND US
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Учебное пособие по английскому языку по специальности:
Геоэкология 020802 (013400)
ОПД 020802
ВОРОНЕЖ 2006
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Утверждено научно-методическим советом факультета романо-
германской филологии протокол №1 от 23 января 2006 г.
Составители: Высочина О. В.
Черникова С.Н.
Пособие подготовлено на кафедре английского языка факультета романо-
германской филологии Воронежского государственного университета
Рекомендуется для студентов первого курса факультета географии и
геоэкологии
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Данное учебное пособие подготовлено на кафедре английского языка
факультета романо-германской филологии Воронежского государственно-
го университета. Оно предназначено для студентов первого курса дневного
отделения факультета географии и геоэкологии, обучающихся по специ-
альности геоэкология.
Цель пособия – развитие умения говорения на основе чтения текстов
по специальности. Данная цель достигается в процессе решения следую-
щих задач: совершенствование умений читать иноязычный спецтекст, ис-
пользуя различные стратегии чтения (просмотровое, поисковое, детальное);
развитие лексических навыков; развитие навыков диалогической речи и
профессионально-ориентированных умений монологической речи на мате-
риале текстов по профессиональной тематике.
Пособие состоит из восьми разделов. Семь разделов имеют одинако-
вую структуру, каждый из них состоит из следующих частей: предтексто-
вые упражнения; тексты по профессиональной тематике; упражнения, вы-
полняемые в процессе чтения; послетекстовые упражнения, направленные
на проверку понимания прочитанного; блок лексических упражнений, на-
правленных на овладение профессиональной терминологией; а также блок
упражнений на обсуждение информации, полученной из текста. Восьмой
раздел представляет собой ряд упражнений, направленных на повторение и
закрепление пройденного материала.
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UNIT I POLLUTION: A LIFE AND DEATH ISSUE
Text
Question Time
Quiz: What do you know about pollution? Answer the following
questions choosing a, b, c or d. Then count your score and see the results of
the quiz.
1) Which of the following 4) Many detergents and laundry
chemicals are not contained in an powders contain phosphates - why
ordinary computer and monitor? are environmentalists trying to get
a) lead; these phased out?
b) mercury; a) they may create antibiotic
c) arsenic; resistance;
d) dioxins. b) they can over-stimulate plant
2) The use of chlorine to bleach growth;
paper has been criticised as being c) they can cause the salinisation
highly polluting - but what envi- of farm land;
ronmental drawback does "totally d) they are poisonous to bird and
chlorine-free" paper have? plant life
a) it uses different chemicals - 5) Leaded petrol is one of the
but they create similar levels world's major sources of urban air
of pollution; pollution. What does lead poison-
b) it takes twice as much water ing cause?
to make it; it can't be made a) brain damage;
using recycled paper; b) liver damage;
d) it can’t be made using recy- c) hearing loss;
cled paper; d) all of the above.
3) Gold jewellery remains popular 6) a pesticide once widely used
- but which of these harmful on US lawns and gardens is cur-
chemicals is not a pollutant rently being phased out - to which
commonly associated with mining type of chemical weapon is it
the precious metal? chemically similar?
a) mercury; a) blister agents such as mustard
b) benzene; gas;
c) sulphuric acid; b) nerve agents such as sarin;
d) cyanide. c) blood agents such as hydrogen
cyanide;
d) none - no pesticides are similar
to chemical weapons.
Count your score and see the results of the quiz.
You got 5-6 right!
Well done - you must be an eco-saint, a chemistry expert, or both.
You got 3-4 right!
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Not bad - your tank's only half full, but at least it's unleaded.
You got 0-2 right!
Poor - but lets face it, not a lot of people know this stuff.
Time for Reading
Read the text and complete the table below.
Environmental Problem
# Date/ Place Causes Consequences
1
2
etc
Can you add some other facts besides mentioned in the text?
POLLUTION HOTSPOTS
(i) Pollution is a worldwide problem which does not respect national
boundaries and is likely to intensify as the spread of industrial development con-
tinues. BBC News looks at some of the places around the world which are hard-
est hit by pollution.
(ii) The Arctic has a severe problem with persistent organic pollutants
(POPs). POPs are chemical substances which accumulate in the food chain,
threatening both human and animal health as well as the environment. Accord-
ing to researchers, dangerous levels of POPs have been found in the Arctic's air,
snow, water and wildlife.
(iii) It is thought that POPs, like the pesticide
DDT, are carried on air currents from the mid-
latitudes of North America, Europe and Asia.
Once they reach the Arctic, the harsh climate
causes them to freeze into the snow and ice,
where they accumulate and concentrate up the
food chain. These pollutants can harm many
animals, especially those higher up the food chain. According to some research-
ers, they may be weakening the immune function of mammals like polar bears
as well as causing reproductive problems.
(iv) The Prestige oil tanker sank near northern Spain on 19 November
2002, polluting about 3,000 km of coastline. The spill is estimated to have killed
300,000 seabirds, making it one of Europe's worst wildlife disasters. The eco-
nomic cost of the accident to fishing and tourism has been put at about 5 billion
euros (£3.4 billion). The polluting effects of the Prestige oil spill could still be
an issue today. Although a clean-up operation has removed most of the oil on
coastal land, there are concerns about the large quantity which sank to the sea
bed. WWF says it may release contaminants which could enter the food chain,
including into commercially caught species such as sea bass, octopus, shrimps
and crabs.
(v) A huge dead zone of deoxygenated water spreads across the Gulf of
Mexico every summer because of severe nitrate pollution. This dead zone is
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completely uninhabitable for most marine animals, and in the Gulf of Mexico it
can cover an area of about 15,000 sq km. The Gulf of Mexico's dead zone has
been an annual problem for the last 30 years, because farmers in the Mississippi
watershed are using large quantities of nitrate-based fertilisers. These cause an
algal bloom in the water, which guzzles oxygen, suffocating other forms of
marine life. At the moment little is being done to solve the problem, and
according to conservationists, some locals actually welcome the dead zone's
arrival because crabs and lobsters are easy prey as they flee the deoxygenated
water.
(vi) The world's worst nuclear accident occurred