All things around us are parts of our environment. Plants, animals and people need clean land, clean water and clean air.
The poisoning of the world’s land, water and air is the most dangerous fast spreading disease of our civilization.
Every year world industry pollutes the air with millions of tons of harmful substances.
Acid rains is one of the most typical forms of air pollution. Industrial boiler-houses, large plants, numerous automobiles are the main sources of these acid rains. Tons of toxic chemicals are released into the atmosphere. This mixture returns to the earth in the form of acid rains. It does a great damage to forests, lakes and rivers.
Greenhouse effect, destruction of the ozone layer are the sad reality of our time. Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from ultraviolet radiation, but if there are holes in the ozone layer the radiation can get to the earth and cause skin cancer.
People and animals need clean air with plenty of oxygen in it. Oxygen is added to the air by plants. Large forests are cut or burnt in fire. Their disappearance changes the oxygen balance. Some animals, birds and plants are on the brink of extinction. Protecting all the forests is only one of the possible ways of our survival.
To make air clean we need good filters at nuclear power stations, at factories and plants and also in cars and buses.
There is no ocean or sea which is not used for dumping industrial and nuclear waste. This poisons and kills fish and sea animals. Human poisoning and illness are often associated with eating contaminated fish.
Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too. Factories and plants use clean water. After the water is used it becomes poison which goes back into rivers, lakes and seas.
We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl atomic power station explosion are. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests, people’s health in the Ukraine, Russia, Belarus.
Another problem of land pollution is making large piles of trash. Trash is made of boxes, bags, paper, cans, plastics, bottles. There will not be as much trash if we learn to use things over and over again. One way to do this is by changing some old thing into a new one.
Man is beginning to understand that his environment is not just his own town or country, but the whole earth. That’s why people all over the world think and speak so much about ecology. The international organization Greenpeace is doing much to preserve the environment. 160 countries – members of the United Nations Organization have set up environmental protection agencies.
Man needs protection and care as much as animals do. People’s habitats – their homes, towns and cities – must be kept ecologically clean. In the places where people drink poisoned water, eat bad food and breathe polluted air they suffer from serious diseases and die early; their children are born weak. No medicines prescribed by the doctors can help them. This problem becomes more and more serious with every passing day. The modern way of life when people have little physical activity, use cars instead of walking, watch television for many hours and work on computers is turning them into legless creatures.
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1 Word-box
1. land – земля
2. poisoning – отравление; to poison – отравлять; are poisoned - отравлены
3. dangerous – опасный
4. to spread – распространяться; spreading - распространяющийся
5. disease – заболевание
6. to pollute – загрязнять; pollution – загрязнение; polluted – загрязненный
7. harmful - вредный
8. substance – вещество
9. acid rain – кислотный дождь
10. a boiler-house – котельная
11. a source – источник
12. toxic chemicals – отравляющие химические вещества
13. are released – выпускается
14. to return – возвращаться
15. to do a great damage to – наносить большой вред
16. greenhouse effect – парниковый эффект
17. destruction – разрушение
18. ozone layer – озоновый слой
19. sad – печальный
20. a hole – дыра
21. to cause – вызывать
22. are cut or burnt – вырубаются или сжигаются
23. to disappear – исчезать; disappearance – исчезновение
24. to change – изменять
25. on the brink of extinction – на грани вымирания
26. survival – выживание
27. nuclear waste – ядерные отходы
28. are associated – ассоциируются, связаны
29. contaminated – зараженный, загрязненный
30. is used – использована
31. consequences – последствия
32. an explosion – взрыв
33. piles of trash – кучи отбросов
34. to preserve – cохранить
35. the United Nations Organization – ООН
36. to set up – основывать, учреждать
37. habitat – естественная среда
38. must be kept – должна содержаться
39. to suffer – страдать
40. to breathe – дышать
41. weak – слабый
42. medicine – лекарство
43. to prescribe – назначать, выписывать
44. legless – безногий
45. a creature – создание, живое существо
46. to dump – сваливать в кучу
47. illness – болезнь
Упр. 1. Догадайтесь о значении следующих слов:
Reality, normally, problem, ozone layer, atmosphere, modern way of life, to protect, protecting, radiation, ultraviolet, cancer, oxygen, balance, ecologically, physical, activity, mixture, filter, nuclear power station, to kill, international organization, protection agencies, industry, typical, civilization, automobiles, ton, toxic, chemicals, industrial, human, tragic, agriculture, plastics, to preserve, the United Nations Organization.
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Упр. 2. Ответьте на вопросы.
1. What is the most dangerous disease of our civilization?
2. Does world industry pollute the air with millions of tons of harmful substances every year?
3. What is one of the most typical forms of air pollution?
4. What are the main sources of acid rains?
5. What is released into the atmosphere?
6. In what form does this mixture return to the earth?
7. Does it do a great damage to forests, lakes and rivers?
8. What is the sad reality of our time?
9. What does the ozone layer in the atmosphere do?
10. Why are holes in the ozone layer dangerous?
11. What changes the oxygen balance?
12. What is one of the possible ways of our survival?
13. What do we need to make air clean?
14. Are oceans and seas used for dumping industrial and nuclear waste?
15. What are human poisoning and illness often associated with?
16. How do factories and plants pollute water?
17. Are many rivers and lakes poisoned?
18. What is the problem of land pollution?
19. What is trash made of?
20. What is the way to solve this problem?
21. Why do people all over the world think and speak much about ecology?
22. Where do people suffer from serious diseases?
23. Do medicines help them?
24. Is the modern way of life a good thing?
25. What is turning people into legless creatures?
Упр. 3.Простушайте текст. Отметьте правильные ответы.