WHAT IS AGRICULTURE?
1. Study the words. Подберите перевод к английским словам.
Acid soils
Agronomy
Application
Branches of agriculture
Cattle breeding
Cotton
Crop growing
Crop rotation
Equilibrium
Feed
Flax
Food crops
Foodstuff
Grain crops
Herbicide
Industrial crops
Intensification
Liming
Mechanization
Mineral fertilizers
Nutrient substances
Organic fertilizers
Pig growing
Plant protection
Poultry breeding
Protein
Raw materials
Soil
To breed
To cultivate
To disturb
To irrigate
Utilization of fertilizers
Yield
кислые почвы
агрономия
применение
Отрасли сельского хозяйства
Скотоводство
хлопок
Растениеводство
севооборот
равновесие
подача
лен
Продовольственные культуры
пищевой продукт
Зерновые культуры
гербицид
технические культуры
интенсификация
Известкование
механизация
Минеральные удобрения
Питательные вещества
Органические удобрения
Свиноводство
Средства защиты растений
Птицеводство
белок
сырье
почвы
разводить
развивать
беспокоить
орошать
Использование удобрений
Уступать
2. Guess the meaning of the following international words and word combinations:
activity, materials, Latin, cultivation, intensification, climate, hybrid, mechanization, herbicides, biological, equilibrium, sector, economy, industry, factor, system, agronomy, technical, tractor, combine, machinery, electricity, chemical, material, chemization, mineral, organic, biological.
3. Find the correct word on the right opposite in meaning to the one on the left.
vital vague
increase inefficient
achievement worse
sufficient drawback
better narrow
improvement unneeded
effective deterioration
clear reduction
extensive unnecessary
valuable inadequate
4. Match the words on the right (A) with their definition on the left (B).
A B
1) to breed a) produce by cultivation
2) field b) supply (land) with water
3) agriculture c) soil management and crop production
4)economy d) subdivisions of agriculture
5) branches of agriculture e) a piece of ground especially for pasture or
tillage or playing games
6)soil f ) cultivation ofthe soil and rearing of animals
7) yield g) upper layer of earth, in which plants grow
8) agronomy h) produce or return as fruit, profit or result
9) to irrigate i) management of concerns and resources of
state or business or household
10) to grow g) raise (cattle etc.)
5. What are these words derived from? Notice the different suffixes, indicating different parts of speech.
Activity, cultivation, growing, meaning, breeding, achievement, developed, agronomical, rotation, various, considerably, chemical, improvement, deliveries, intensification, comprehensive, mechanization, utilization, liming, protection, development, valuable, raising, equipment, enlargement, combination.
6. Give Russian equivalents for:
crop growing, livestock breeding, sufficient good soil, to produce high yields, crop rotation, chemical fertilizers, comprehensive mechanization, plant breeding, poultry-breeding, pig-growing, nutrient substances.
7. Draw lines to show which words go together.
e.g. animals food produce breed
1) protection country’s plant achievements
2) application of rotation fertilizers crop
3) utilization of production natural resources agricultural
4) liming of yields high acid soils
5)agronomical zones measures climatic
6) mechanization use of full herbicides
8. Read the text and say why agriculture is a vital sector of economy.
Agriculture is a human activity in which people use areas of land to produce food, clothing and other necessary materials.
The word ager is a Latin word. It means a field. The word agriculture means the cultivation of fields and growing crops. But this is the old meaning of this word. Now it also means the use of land to breed animals.
Agriculture is the vita1 sector of the economy. Its condition and development largely determine the country’s achievements, the supply of the population with foodstuffs and many industries with raw materials.
At present there are two main branches of agriculture. They are crop growing and livestock breeding.
We do not know when people began to grow crops. It was many thousand years ago. Now crop growing is a highly developed branch of agriculture.
The soil is the basis of agriculture. Enough food for all the people can be grown if there is sufficient good soil for crops to produce high yields. So an increase in the yield of grain and other crops is ensured by a number of factors. First comes the system of agronomical measures. All farms have to introduce better crop rotation systems. Rotation systems naturally differ in various areas and under various conditions. Second goes the technical equipment of farms. Tractors, combines, lorries and other machinery will considerably reduce the time required for agricultural work. Field work has already been mechanized to a very high degree. Power stations provide farms with electricity. Third, an increase in the deliveries of chemical fertilizers and the improvement of their quality.
The enlargement of the material and technical basis of agriculture and its intensification through chemization, the comprehensive mechanization of crop and animal farming and improvement are the key conditions for increasing agricultural production.
Depending upon the soil and climatic zones effective methods should be introduced for the utilization of mineral fertilizers in combination with organic fertilizers along with the liming of acid soils. The production and use of chemical and biological means of plant protection should be increased. But all intensification factors, such as full mechanization, high application of fertilizers and extensive use of herbicides must be used in such a way as not to disturb the biological equilibrium of the soil.
Depending upon the field of application crops can be subdivided into food crops, feed crops, industrial crops and vegetables. Potatoes and other vegetables are major food crops. Vegetables are grown everywhere where the climate is most favourable for these crops.
Industrial crops are also widely cultivated by the farmers. Perhaps the most important industrial crop for textile industry is cotton. Cotton is generally grown on the irrigated lands. Flax is another important crop. Cotton and flax oils are both edible and valuable.
Livestock breeding comprises cattle-breeding, pig-growing, poultry-breeding, etc. One of the principle problems cattle-breeding faces is that of fodder or feeds. To choose the necessary feeds, rich enough in protein and other nutrient substances is not an easy thing. Increasing the production of meat, milk and wool can be achieved by raising productivity and also by increasing the heads of livestock and the amount of poultry.
9. Find information in the text to answer the following questions.
1. What is agriculture?
2. What are the key conditions for increasing agricultural production?
3. What branches of agriculture do you know?
4. How many groups are crops subdivided into?
5. What does livestock breeding comprise?
6. What problem does cattle-breeding face?
7. How can the production of meat and milk be increased?
10. Divide the text into several parts. Find the key sentences in each part. Sum up the content of the text.
11. Refer to the text again and prove that an increase in the yield of grain and other crops can be ensured by:
- the system of agronomical measures
- the technical equipment of farms
- an increase in the deliveries of chemical fertilizers and -- an improvement of their quality
FROM THE HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
1. Pronounce the following words and phrases
doctor architect bookcase take care
September accept weekday stop talking
October collect football sit down
2. Pronounce the following words and phrases
curtain sudden couldn't good morning
kitten modern needn't right now
student admit didn't get married
3. Pronounce the following words and phrases
black plan clock greatly simple comfortable little blue plate clean lately table article middle
4. Pronounce the following words and phrases.
sixth ninth thirteenth on the left at the side of the bed seventh tenth fourteenth on the right at the top of the class eighth eleventh fifteenth on the corner at the end of the term
5. Pronounce the following words and word combinations.
twice quickly language laboratory
twist quietly bad weather
twelve quarter sweep the floor
6. Изучите материал по словообразованию и выполните упражнения.
Word-Building
Существительные с суффиксами -age, -ment обычно образуются от глаголов. Суффикс -age также встречается в словах французского происхождения.
to pass (проходить) - passage (проход) to drain (осушать) - drainage (осушение) to develop (развиваться) - development (развитие) to govern (управлять) - government (правительство)
А. Read and translate the words with the suffix -age.
Package, marriage, shortage,message, voyage, courage, postage, storage, damage, manage, coverage, herbage, silage, hermitage
Б. Fill in the blanks with nouns. Form the nouns from the verbs in brackets adding the suffix -ment.
Tourist... (entertain), efficient... (manage), industrial... (develop), international... (agree), newly elected... (govern), permanent... (settle), farm... (equip), further... (improve), necessary... (treat), standard... (pay), official... (state).
7. Study the Vocabulary
to be employed - быть занятым (на какой-л. работе. How many people are employed in your company?
fibre – волокно The fibres in cheaper woollen fabrics are shorter.
ornamental - декоративный The house was surrounded with a beautiful ornamental garden.
nourishment - питание, питательные вещества syn. nutrition
A baby gets all the nourishment it needs from its mother's milk.
diet - рацион, питание Rice is the main food in the diet of most people in Japan.
variety - 1) разнообразие, множество; 2) вид, сорт He plays a variety of sport games. Scientists develop new varieties of crops.
to make up – составлять The book is made up of ten different articles.
to remain – оставаться The nature of this phenomenon still remains unknown.
fabric – ткань This dress is made of cotton fabric.
yarn – пряжа The sweater is made of brown woollen yarn.
to reduce - уменьшать The plane reduced its speed as it approached the airport.
demand (for) - спрос Good specialists are always in great demand.
raw materials – сырье The demand for raw materials in this region is really great.
(to) tame - приручать, ручной It's hard to tame a tiger.
Tame rabbits are good as children's pets.
to spread (spread, spread) - распространять(ся) The fire spread very quickly because of the strong wind.
to replace - заменять The factory replaced most of its workers with (by) robots. device - устройство, приспособление This device was invented long ago.
to aid - помогать, способствовать This project is designed to aid developing countries.
to inherit - передаваться по наследству, получать в наследство
Who will inherit the house when she dies?
advance - продвижение, успех, прогресс Nothing could stop the advance of the flood waters.
excessive - избыточный, чрезмерный, излишний Excessive exercise can sometimes cause health problems.
to prohibit - запрещать Smoking is prohibited on public transport.
8. Translate into Russian.
1. To be highly productive, milk cows need good nourishment. 2. The ration of the livestock must include vitamins. 3. This new variety of potatoes is disease-resistant. 4. Wheat, barley, oats and some other crops make up the group called cereal grains. 5. The lambs had to be fed by hand when their mother died. 6. The wool of this sheep breed is processed into the high quality yarn. 7. Cattle breeding is widespread in many countries of the world. 8. Chemicals are used to aid plant cultivation.
9. Study the agricultural terms before reading the text "Agriculture In General".
alfalfa - люцерна
clover - клевер
game - дичь
hog - свинья
poultry - домашняя птица
cereal grains - зерновые культуры
millet - просо
sorghum - сорго
root crops - корнеплоды
beets - свекла
pulses - бобовые культуры
beans - бобы
peas - горох
oil-bearing crops - масличные культуры
soybeans - соя
sugarcane - сахарный тростник
coconuts - кокосовые орехи
cocoa beans - какао-бобы
turkey - индейка
trout - форель
shellfish - устричные
mussel - мидия
oyster устрица
flax - лен
silkworms - шелковичные черви
natural rubber - каучук
hide - шкура
castor oil - касторовое масло
linseed oil - льняное масло
shrub кустарник
mink - норка
10. Read the text and do the exercises that follow it.
Agriculture in General
Agriculture is the world's most important industry. It provides us with almost all our food. It also supplies materials for two other basic human needs - clothing and shelter. In addition, agriculture provides materials used in making many industrial products, such as paints and medicines. About half the world's workers are employed in agriculture - far more than in any other industry.
Food is the most important farm product. But farms also provide many other products, from natural fibres to ornamental flowers and trees. Some crops are used only to feed livestock. These forage crops include alfalfa, clover and many grasses. Forage crops are important because they make commercial livestock production possible.
Farms provide almost all the world's food, including some fish and game. Most food products come from crops. The rest come from animals, especially cattle, hogs, poultry, sheep and other livestock.
The world's farmers grow about 85 major food crops. They can be divided into eight groups. The main group is cereal grains. Grain is grown on half the world's cropland and supplies much of the nourishment in the human diet. The chief grains are barley, corn, millet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum and wheat.
Various root crops make up the second most important group of food crops. Cereal grains, root crops are grown throughout the world and are a basic food for many people. The leading root crops are potatoes, beets and sweet potatoes.
The six remaining groups of major food crops are: (1) pulses, which consist mainly of beans and peas; (2) fruits and vegetables; (3) oil-bearing crops, such as soybeans and coconuts; (4) sugar-bearing crops, especially sugar cane and sugar beets; (5) nuts; and (6) cocoa beans, coffee, and tea.
Cattle, chickens, goats, hogs, sheep, turkeys and other livestock are the main animals raised for food. Livestock are raised in every country and supply nearly all the world's meat, eggs and milk. Farmers also raise other animals for food. For example, many farmers keep bees for honey. Farmers on fish farms raise freshwater food fish, such as carp and trout, and saltwater shellfish, such as mussels and oysters.
Natural fibres come from a variety of plants and animals raised on farms. Factories use the fibres to make fabrics, yarn and other textile products. Cotton and flax together with some tropical plants are the chief plant fibres. Wool, the principal animal fibrs, comes mainly from sheep but also from such animals as goats and members of the camel family. Silk fibres are obtained from the cocoons of silkworms. However the development of synthetic fibres has reduced the demand for natural fibres in some countries.
Many farms provide other raw materials for industry besides fibres. These materials include natural rubber, animal hides which are used to make leather and such vegetable oils as castor oil and linseed oil. These oils are used in a variety of products, from paints to medicines. Many farmers grow tobacco. Others grow ornamental flowers, trees and shrubs. A few farmers raise such animals as foxes and minks for their fur.
11. Translate into English.
Наиболее важные сельскохозяйственные продукты; натуральные волокна; декоративные растения; на корм скоту; кормовые культуры; коммерческое животноводство; пищевые культуры; могут быть подразделены на группы; основные зерновые культуры; выращиваются во всем мире; множество различных растений и животных; использовать волокна для изготовления тканей и пряжи.
12. Define whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones.
Basic human needs include clothing, shelter and entertainment.
Forage crops are ornamental plants grown to decorate houses and gardens.
Most food products are of animal origin.
Millet and sorghum don't belong to pulses.
Chickens, turkeys and hogs make up the group of livestock called poultry.
Mussels and oysters are not fish, but they are raised on fish farms.
The production of natural fibres is growing in the world.
Foxes and minks are raised for their fur.
13. Find the synonyms to the following words and expressions.
A pig, a breed, to raise (2), to have a job, to get, principal (3), to form, almost, artificial, a ration.
14. Insert prepositions.
1. Various food products come... crops and animals.
2. All major food crops are divided... several groups.
3. Grain crops are the basic food... most people.
4. The group of pulses consists mainly... beans and peas.
5. Nowadays the demand... natural fibres is reduced.
6. Vegetable oils are used... various products.
7. Animals are raised mainly... food.
8. Yarn is obtained... wool.
15. Answer the questions to the text.
1. What does agriculture provide people with?
2. What are the farm products besides food?
3. What are the main groups of food crops?
4. What kinds of animals are raised for food?
5. How are natural fibres obtained?
6. Why has the demand for natural fibres reduced?
7. What are the raw materials besides fibres?
8. Where are they used?
THE HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
1. Before you read the passage, talk about these questions.
1 When did farming first begin in your country?
2 What did farmers first grow in your country?
2. Read the text The Development of Agriculture
Agriculture began in the area known as the Fertile Crescent. The area is a hot, dry desert. But it has two of the requirements for farming: good soil and a water supply. Many early farmers used the Nile River as a water supply. The Nile River floods at the same time every year. Farmers planted crops before the floods. This helped their plants to survive in the desert. Later, farmers created irrigation ditches. They moved water from the Nile River to their fields. They could cultivate crops any time of the year and harvest extra food. Producing extra food was important. Later, farmers fed animals with it. These domesticated animals became another important part of
agriculture.
3. Read the textbook passage. Then, mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).
1_ Crops cannot grow in deserts.
2 _ The Nile River floods every year.
3 _ Farmers raised animals before plants.
4. Match the words (1-6) with the definitions (A-F).
1 _ agriculture
2 _ crop
3 _ cultivate
4 _ produce
5 _ domesticate
6 _ plant
A a large group of cultivated plants
B to put seeds in soil
C growing plants and raising animals
D to make something
E to raise a crop from seeding to harvest
F to tame an animal
5. Read the sentence pair. Choose where the words best fit the blanks.
1 water supply / irrigation
A The river is the farmer's ____ _
B _________ helps farmers grow crops in areas with little rainfall.
2 harvesting / farming
A __________ includes raising animals and crops.
B Far mers ai until crops are mature to start _______
6. Read the text book passage again. Then. say three things you have learn from the text.
7. Read the conversation between a student and teacher in a history class.
Choose the correct answers.
Student: Excuse me, Mrs. Anderson. I have a question about the first farmers.
Teacher: Great. What is it?
Student: Well, they were in a desert. How did they irrigate their crops?
Teacher: Oh, with ditches. They connected their fields and the Nile River.
Student: Okay. So, water moved through the ditches to the fields.
Teacher: Exactly.
Student: Then, I have another question. How did they control the water?
Teacher: The ditches had gates. They opened and water flowed through.
What is the conversation mainly about?
A a way to predict floods
B an early irrigation method
C the number of early farmers
D the most common early crops
2 How did farmers control water?
A They put gates in ditches.
B They filled ditches with dirt.
C They carried water in buckets.
D They planted far from the river
8. Complete the conversation.
Student: 1, ___________ Mrs. Anderson. I have a question about the first farmers.
Teacher: Great. What is it?
Student: Well, they were in a desert. How did they irrigate their 2 __________?
Teacher: Oh, with 3 _________. They connected their fields and the Nile River.
Student: Okay. So, 4 __________ moved through the ditches to the fields.
Teacher: Exactly.
Student: Then, I have another question. How did they 5 _______ the water?
Teacher: The ditches had 6 ______. They opened and water flowed through.
9. With a partner, act out the roles below based on Task 7. Then, switch roles.
USE LANGUAGE SUCH AS:
Excuse me.
How did early farmers...
They connected...
Student A: You are a student learning about early agriculture. Ask Student B about:
• water supply
• watering fields
• controlling water
Student B: You are a History teacher. Answer Student A's questions.
10. Use the conversation from Task 8 to fill out the student's notes.
Name __________ Date ________________
Group ____________
Subject ________________
Farmers got water from __________________
Water came to the fields in ________________
The controlled water by __________________
11. Study the words
1) a hoe - мотыга; 2) a plough (a plow) - плуг;
3) tillage - вспашка; 4) machinery - техника
(машины);
5) animal power - тягловая сила животных; 6) steam - пар;
7) a chaff-cutter - соломорезка; 8) a root-cutter - корнерезка;
9) a corn-mill - зерновая мельница; 10) a source - источник;
11) available - доступный; 12) to grind - молоть, тонко
измельчать;
13) a self-binder - сноповязка; 14) a churn - маслобойка;
15) to shear - стричь.
12. Read and translate the text
From the early ages man tried to cultivate soil using the most elementary method of modifying soil conditions. He broke up the surface and prepared a seed-bed with the most primitive cultivating device, a digging implement - a hoe.
The greatest mechanical advance in the early days of agriculture was the evolution of the plough from the primitive hoe. The use of the plough replaced manual labour by labour of animal power. This is one of the landmarks of agricultural process. It began, thousands years ago, with simple devices for harnessing the power of man himself; then progressed with the construction of implements and machines designed to make use of the greater power of domesticated animals, mostly horses and oxen.
The plough still rests to be the most important tillage tool. It has been changed and improved during the centuries. In the 18th century there was an attempt to improve agricultural implements. New methods and inventions were applied to farming operations. By the 19th century a variety of agricultural implements appeared, which were now called “agricultural machinery”. In agriculture, the use of water-power and then of steam greatly stimulated the invention of machinery, replacing manual labour.
A threshing machine was invented in the second half of seventeen hundreds, and productively used in the 19th century. It was driven by water and wind, sometimes by horse labour, and later by steam.
Later on, in 1860, the internal-combustion engine was invented. It was used to drive stationary machines, as chaff-cutters, root-cutters and corn-mills in the barn. Steam engines, though widely used on the road, suffered the disadvantage in the use on the land. Then the internal-combustion engine was perfected, and agricultural tractors appeared.
But a still newer source of power on the farm is electricity. It was firstly used for lighting. When it became available at low cost, it came into use on the farm.
Agricultural implements are now very numerous. They are subdivided into six groups:
÷ machinery and equipment movers, i.e. engines of all kinds, tractors, etc.;
÷ cultivating machinery: ploughs of all sorts, harrows, rollers, cultivators, etc.;
÷ harvesting machinery, such as mowers, self-binders, threshing machines, combines, elevators, potato-diggers, etc.;
÷ field supplementary equipment: manure and fertilizer distributers, sprinkling installations, sprayers and many others.
÷ stationary (or barn) equipment, including such food-preparing machines as chaff-cutters, grinding-mills, root-cutters, manure-scrappers, distributing belts, etc.;
÷ dairy- machinery, including milking machines, separators, churns, sterilizing machines, etc.
In addition, there is a number of other machines and devices that find intensive use in agricultural production, and sheep-shearing units, rearing chambers, grain conveyers, farm repair shop mechanized equipment, lifting and loading machines being among them.
A) Guess the meaning of the terms and word-combinations underlined in the text, through analysis of their position and the context they appear in;
B) now, look them up in a dictionary;
C) find out the logic behind their use in the given situations;
D) provide as many their synonyms, as you can think of;
E) make your own sentences with them.
13. Read the text one more time. Translate it, so that to generalize periods of the
history of agricultural implements’ development. Present agricultural progress
time-line, following the given table-pattern:
| Date of Invention or Introduction | The Implement’s Name | The Implement’s Designed Purpose |
From the History of Agriculture
1. Study the agricultural terms before reading the text "From The History of Agriculture".
seed [si:d] - семя, зерно
domestication - одомашнивание, приручение
irrigation [lrl'geljn] - орошение
crop rotation - севооборот
selective breeding - селекционное разведение
milking machine - доильный аппарат
pump - насос
feeding trough [trofj - кормушка insect pest - насекомое-вредитель wood ash - древесная зола manure [ma'njua] - навоз
2. Read the text and do the exercises that follow it.
For hundreds of thousands of years, prehistoric people lived by hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants. Then about 8000 B.C. (before Christ - до нашей эры), people took the first steps toward agriculture. Some tribes discovered that plants could be grown from seeds. They also learned that certain animals could be tamed and then raised in captivity. These two discoveries marked the beginning of the domestication of plants and animals. Scholars believe that domestication began in the Middle East and then spread to surrounding areas.
The Romans had developed some farming methods, e.g. systems of crop rotation. The selective breeding of plants and livestock began in Europe during Roman times, too.
Since the 1800s, science and technology have helped make agriculture more and more productive in three main ways. They have provided farmers with labor-saving technologies, produced improved plant varieties and breeds of livestock and developed new agricultural chemicals.
Labor-saving technologies. Steam-powered tractors were developed in the mid-1800s, but they were expensive and difficult to operate. The first all-purpose gasoline-powered tractors appeared in the 1920s. They gradually replaced work animals and steam-powered machines on almost all farms. In Japan and several European countries most farms had electric power service by the mid-1930s. Today farmers use electric motors to run milking machines, irrigation pumps, and many other farm machines. Farmers also use electric power to operate electronic and automated equipment. This equipment includes devices that fill feeding troughs or collect and grade eggs automatically.
Many farmers use computers to aid in farm operations. Using the Internet, farmers may make use of data provided by agricultural colleges or other information centers.
Plant and livestock breeding. During the mid-1800s an Austrian botanist and monk named Gregor Mendel discovered the principles of heredity. Mendel thus laid the groundwork for genetics - the science that explains how characteristics are inherited. The development of genetics has made it possible to breed plants and animals scientifically.
Since the early 1900s, plant breeders have developed a great number of hybrid crops that produced unusually high yields. The new varieties were intended mainly to help various poor nations, such as India and Mexico, increase their food supply. This effort proved so successful that it has been called the Green Revolution.
Livestock breeders have introduced many improved lines since the early 1900s. Nutrition specialists have developed better livestock feeds, and veterinarians have improved methods of health care. All these advances continue to make livestock more and more productive.
Agricultural chemicals. Almost since the beginning of agriculture, farmers have used various substances to enrich the soil and to kill insect pests. For example, they have used wood ash and manure as fertilizers since prehistoric times. Since the beginning of modern chemistry in the late 1700s, scientists have produced many kinds of synthetic chemicals for use in agriculture. These chemicals include fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides or weedkillers and chemicals to control plant and animal diseases. All these chemicals have helped increase farm production greatly. However, improper or excessive use of these chemicals can be dangerous and cause damage to the environment. In many countries state laws limit such practices and prohibit the use of chemicals that have been proved harmful.
3. Define which verb goes with which noun.
| develop | soil |
| inherit | methods |
| enrich | data |
| provide | diseases |
| control | troughs |
| fill | production |
| improve | groundwork |
| run | hybrids |
| lay | machines |
| increase | damage |
| operate | characteristics |
| cause | equipment |
4. Define whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones.
1. In the 20th century gasoline-powered tractors replaced steam-powered tractors.
2. Most farms in Europe had electric power service by the early 1920s.
3. Today electric motors are widely used on the farms.
4. Gregor Mendel invented the first automatic milking machine.
5. Geneticists work on breeding new crops and animals.
6. The Green Revolution was the exploration of new farming areas in India and Mexico.
7. Veterinarians are the specialists who develop livestock feeds.
8. Today there are various types of chemicals used on the farms.
9. There is no limit in using all kinds of agricultural chemicals, as they are friendly to the environment.
5. Prove that:
• agriculture is the world's most important industry
• farms provide almost all the world's food
• farms supply many industries with raw materials
6. Talk in pairs (in groups) about the history of agriculture. Discuss the following:
• domestication of plants and animals
• labour-saving technologies
• plant and livestock breeding
• agricultural chemicals
Unit 16