It to suffer from some major pollution problems. At the moment about two-

thirds of the country's power comes from coal and coal products - the cheapest

and dirtiest forms of energy. According to the World Bank, air pollution costs

the Chinese economy $25bn a year in health expenditure and lost labour produc-

tivity - largely because of the use of coal. Official figures say 400,000 Chinese

citizens die a year from diseases related to air pollution, and, according to the

World Bank, 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China.

(xi) According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, over 100,000

tonnes of old and unused toxic pesticides have been abandoned in sites around

Africa and the Middle East. These chemical leftovers - including the DDT,

which is banned in many countries - can harm the environment as well as human

health. The scope of the problem is dramatically illustrated in Ethiopia, where

some 3,400 tonnes of obsolete pesticides - some of which are over 20 years old -

are stored at 1,000 sites throughout the country. In the western Ethiopian village

over five tonnes of DDT have been found. The residents had long complained of

nausea, respiratory ailments and headaches.

Did You Get It?

I. Which paragraph contains information about

A a vision of environmental apocalypse?

B a place where old and unused toxic pesticides are stored?

C consequences of economic growth and energy demand?

D locals who make profits out of natural disaster?

II. Answer the following questions.

1) Why is pollution a worldwide problem?

2) How do POPs get to the Arctic?

3) Where do POPs accumulate?

4) What are the possible dangers of persistent organic pollutants?

5) The main damage of the Prestige oil spill was to the wildlife, wasn’t

it?

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6) Why could the polluting effects of the Prestige oil spill still be an issue

today?

7) How big is the dead zone water in the Gulf of Mexico?

8) Who is to blame for the dead zone?

9) Why is little being done to solve the problem of the dead zone?

10) When and where did the world's worst nuclear accident occur?

11) How did the volume of the Aral Sea change over times?

12) What threat do dioxins pose to humans and to the environment?

13) What was one of the world's worst industrial accidents?

14) What is the main environmental problem in China?

15) What disorders do people living close to the sites of toxic pesticides

storage suffer from?

III. What is the significance of the following numbers and statistics?

a) 100,000 b) 30

c) 90,000 d) 172

e) 110 f) 1/5

IV. Say if the following statements true or false. Correct false state-

ments.

1) The Arctic has a severe problem with DDT.

2) Persistent organic pollutants threaten humans, animals and the envi-

ronment.

3) POPs are carried from the low-latitudes of North America, Europe and

Asia.

4) The economic benefit of the oil spill near Spain to fishing and tourism

is about 5bn euros.

5) The large quantity of oil sank to the sea bed.

6) At the moment a lot is being done to solve the problem of the dead

zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

7) The radioactive cloud spread over Ukraine.

8) The volume of the Aral Sea is about 1,000 cubic km.

9) The water in the Aral Sea is being severely polluted by pesticides and

fertilisers.

10) Dioxins are found in low concentrations in whale and dolphin meat

sold in Japan.

11) The atmosphere in Bhopal was declared free of the gas after few days.

12) Coal and coal products are the cheapest and dirtiest forms of energy.

13) 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.

14) Africa and the Middle East are used as places for storage of the old

and unused toxic pesticides.

Words, Words, Words...

I. Match up the words to make collocations and explain the meaning.

• pollution • chain

• dangerous • rain

• food • apocalypses

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• oil • pesticides

• dead • cloud

• nuclear • accident

• radioactive • hotspots

• contaminated • demand

• environmental • leak

• gas • zone

• energy • level

• toxic • spill

II. Find in the text the following.

a) a noun meaning “an area where there is some form of trouble” (para

i);

b) an adjective meaning “lifeless” (para v);

c) a noun meaning “illness” (para xi);

d) a noun meaning “a place, location” (para xi);

e) a noun meaning “implication” (para ix);

f) a verb meaning “to contract” (para vii);

g) an adjective meaning “unsuitable for living” (para v);

h) a noun meaning “a small amount of something that remains after

most of it has disappeared” (para vii);

i) an adjective meaning “no longer needed” (para xi).

III. Match up the words (column A) with their definitions (column B)

A B

1) to pose a) to cause something to happen, to provoke;

2) side-effect b) parts of a city that are farthest away from its center;

3) to flee c) to move away from something or someone, to with-

draw;

4) outskirts d) a substance that pollutes the environment;

5) to trigger e) to present;

6) to retreat f) to escape, especially because of danger or fear;

7) contaminant g) some amount of substance that remains after you

have finished using it;

8) leftovers h) the unplanned things that happen in addition to the

main results.

IV. Put these words and phrases in the correct order to form sen-

tences.

a. of; is dramatically illustrated; the scope; the problem; in Ethiopia.

b. the city; escaped from; the pesticide plant; a dense cloud; of; lethal

gas; on the outskirts; of.

c. chemicals; dioxins; extremely; in several parts; are; toxic; which; an

issue are; of the world.

d. levels; researchers; and wildlife; dangerous; of POPs; have been

found; air, snow, water; ; in the Arctic's; according to.

V. Choose the correct word.

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1) Greenpeace is going to release a (n) ..............on water pollution.

A edition B issue C publicity D report

2) The tropical.............of Africa need to be protected from destruction.

A regions B states C places D sites

3) To improve the...............of the water, use a water purification tablet.

A standard B amount C quantity D quality

4) Acid rain has caused a lot of............ to Europe’s trees.

A wreck B ruin C damage D disaster

5) The ............. levels in this city are the highest in Europe.

A contamination B pollution C dirty D infection

VI. Choose the correct word to fit into each sentence. Make necessary

changes.

1. to pollute, pollution

1) The water _________ here. You cannot swim.

2) This factory ________ the air.

3) Fish die because of water _______.

2. to protect, protection

1) You can _________ animals if you send money to the World Wildlife.

2) The _________ of animals is the aim of the World Wildlife.

VII. Put the remarks of the dialogue in the correct order. The first two

have been done for you.

Leila Markham is an environmentalist. She is being interviewed on the

radio by Tony Hunt, a journalist.

Tony: One of the most important issues faced by the people is the ques-

tion of pollution. So tell me, Leila, what exactly is pollution?

Leila: Well, I would say that pollution is the accumulation, to a level in-

tolerable to the ecosystem, of undesirable elements in any one of the diverse as-

pects of the physical environment. Pollution becomes especially important when

it significantly alters the natural environment or when it threatens normal growth

and reproduction or the normal functioning of all life forms, including human

beings.

Tony: In conclusion I would like to say that the problem of pollution con-

cerns all people living on the Earth. Ask not for whom the bell tolls - it tolls for

thee, and for me. Thank you, Leila, and good luck in your campaign.

Leila: Actually, the scientists distinguish between natural pollution and

man-made one. Natural pollution is for instance lime, iron, or sulphur in water

supplies, smoke from forest fires, or dust from the eruption of volcanoes.

Tony: Those are terrifying figures. It looks like developing countries are

suffering from the pollution more than developed countries.

Leila: Man-made pollution includes those wastes in the water, air, or

other aspects of the environment for which humans are responsible. I have got

some statistics which I would like to share with you.

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Tony: Well, chemicals seem to be a frequent pollutant. When we think of

chemical contamination it is often images of events like Bhopal that come to

mind.

Leila: It is true. For example, developing countries are sometimes used

for dumping pesticides. But on the other hand, the developed countries are also

paying the price. For example, contaminated land is a problem in industrialised

countries, where former factories and power stations can leave waste like heavy

metals in the soil. Agriculture can pollute land with pesticides, nitrate-rich fertil-

isers. And when the contamination reaches rivers it damages life there, and can

even create dead zones off the coast, as in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tony: The pesticide DDT, for example, does great damage to wildlife and

can affect the human nervous system, but can also be effective against malaria.

Where do you think, Leila, the priority lies?

Leila: Oh, yes. That was a horrible disaster. But the problem is wide-

spread. One study says 7-20% of cancers are attributable to poor air and pollu-

tion in homes and workplaces. Some man-made chemicals are blamed for affect-

ing some animals. And the chemicals climb the food chain, from fish to mam-

mals - and to us. About 70,000 chemicals are on the market but at least 30,000

are thought never to have been tested for their possible risks to people. The snag

is that modern society demands many of them, and some are essential for sur-

vival.

Tony: I see. Are there any classifications of pollution?

Leila: I am convinced it is up to us, the public, to solve the problem. As

far as the problem of pollution is concerned “there is no such place as “away” -

and there is no such person as the “other”. You can start by taking your un-

wanted waste to a recycling center, instead of just throwing it away. A good way

to influence big companies is to boycott any products which are harmful to the

environment. This forces the companies to change their method of production.

Also, try to use unleaded petrol because the exhaust fumes given off are less

harmful to the environment. If you are traveling in the city, don’t use the car, but

take public transport instead.

Tony: And man-made?

Leila: According to the World Health Organization 3 million people are

killed worldwide by outdoor air pollution annually. Most are in poor countries.

Diseases carried in water are responsible for 80% of illnesses and deaths in de-