It takes a lot — sometimes even sharks won't do the trick — to keep an Australian out of the water. But these days Australia's golden beaches are in danger from a far more sinister menace: during the summer months now ending the beaches around Sydney have been particularly hard hit by a tide of industrial waste, partially treated sewage, used pharmaceuticals and other forms of man-made garbage. At Bondi Beach, local merchants reported a 25 per cent drop in business because of pollution; lifeguards there threatened a walkout to protest the health hazard. In a rally organized by POOO (People Opposed to Ocean Outfalls), some 5,000 irate beachgoers marched along Sydney's Manly Beach. They carried placards that read "Cut the Crap" and 'Taste the Waste", chanted "Stop the Pool" and demanded that state authorities clean up the mess.
Cyanide spills: Pollution did not invade Australian shores overnight. Sydney, the country's largest city, has been dumping waste into the Pacific Ocean for the past century. Today, an estimated 3 billion gallons of the city's sewage go into the sea each day. Sydney's spectacular harbour is itself routinely polluted by raw sewage from commercial vessels, cruise boats and floating restaurants. On two recent occasions illegal dumplings of cyanide killed thousands of fish in a stream leading into Sydney's Botany Bay.
But in recent months, amid growing fears about the environment, Australians have turned pollution into a hot political issue. Freakish weather played a supporting role. During the summer, persistent southeasterly winds prevented natural flushing action from taking place along Sydney's beaches, with the resulting that sewage flowing into the sea simply swept around nearby headlands and back onto the beaches. Unseasonal rains overburdened the city's drainage system, depositing still more rubbish on beaches. The Australian media made pollution a top story, filling papers and television newscasts with graphic details about filthy beaches — and with allegations of official incompetence in managing Sydney's waste disposal.
The media spotlight on Sydney's beaches raised troubling questions about environmental sewage elsewhere in the country. Scientists already fear that rapid resort development, together with unregulated dumping of effluents into the sea, could kill off large areas of coral on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The destruction of forests, rising salinity in (the soil and erosion of farmhinds are seen as further threats. The food of stories has alarmed the Australian tourists industry, which fears the publicity may turn away foreign tourists, some 2 million of whom now visit the country annually.
The government of New South Wales, the state in which Sydney is located, has gone on the offensive. It has banned commercial fishing in the vicinity of Sydney's sewage outlets, has promised a crackdown on industrial polluters and has begun studying better ways of dealing with waste treatment But the problem will not go away quickly or easily. Twice in the past month a Sydney sewage plant spewed thousands of gallons of illegally dumped paint and turpentine into the sea. The spills took days to dissipate, and left behind a foul legacy of dead fish and paint-splattered sand-stone cliffs.
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(From "Newsweek")
Задание 2.
Составьте реферирование текста Задания 1. Используйте Приложение 1 (Фразы для аннотирования статьи на английском языке)
Задание 3.
Прочитайте текст. Составьте свою биографию.
My name is Mary Stuart. I was born and raised in the heart of Siberia. My native town is Irkutsk. I was born on the 5th of September in 1980. So, now I am 32 years old.
My parents are lawyers. And they wanted to see me in this profession as well. My mother’s name is Tatiana. She is 57. My father’s name is George. He is 59. I am an only child in the family.
I studied in a local linguistic school. I was an excellent pupil. And I loved my teachers very much. They made learning fun. May be because of the example of my teachers I decided to become one of them. But I got older, and goals changed and I didn’t pursue that path. After finishing school I entered the linguistic university. There I studied well and many times I was sent abroad to improve my skills in foreign languages.
So, I became an interpreter and a writer. I worked in a local English paper. I had to write notes about the development of the languages, the latest news in this field, everything what is interesting about English. The part I loved most about my job was communication. Every day I met different people. They helped me know more about other life, learnt something.
I was still active in travelling abroad. In one of this journey I met my future husband. So, we got married in 2004. I became a daycare provider. Now we have a son. He is 4 years old. My husband is a doctor. He works much. I enjoyed being home with my son. But at one time I wanted to have an opportunity to work and use my knowledge again. My husband has got a better place in another city – in Moscow. So, we have to move. I was happy. Now we live on the outskirts of the city. I have found a job in the University. So, I have fulfilled the dream of my childhood.
Приложение 1