Environmentally Unfriendly Energy Sources

10 Tuning In _____________________________ ■-------------- '

1. What do you know about the environmental problems? Which
of them worry you most? Why?

2. Why do young people show much interest in the environmental

matters?

3. What in your view are 4 major industrially created dangers
facing the environment? Chose from the list bellow. Rank them in
accordance with their importance. Try to justify your choice.

- nuclear reactors

- industrial emissions

- destruction of the rain forest (deforestation)

- industrial wastes

- nuclear wastes

- carbon monoxide fumes from vehicles

- marine oil spills

- chemical effluence

- greenhouse effect

- consumption of non-renewable energy

- use of non-biodegradable materials

- stock pile of chemical weapons

4. In what way public concern about green issues help (to) save
environment? Have you ever heard about Greenpeace, World Wide
Fund for Nature (WWF) and other organisations of the kind (If so,
in what connection was it?) What are eco-wamors? Is it a new

word?

5. Are people still largely unaware of the scale of the environmental

problems?

6. Could we say that public ecological awareness is greater now

than it used to be?

7. Is it true that what is good for business must always be bad
for the nature? In other words, are the commercial gain and ecological
balance incompatible?

8. What can you say about the environmental problems in your

city (country)?

9. What problems can be considered as the most acute?

Unit! ________________

Population

And the Environment

Getting Started

According to the United Nations predictions there will be a huge
expansion of the global population 3 centuries from now to more
than one hundred and thirty trillion people. The world's population
is likely to be significantly older with the median age rising from
twenty six as it is now to fifty in three hundred years' time.

In small groups of 3-4 consider the following questions and
then share your ideas with the whole class.

1. What is the world population now?

2. What are the most heavily populated countries in the world?

3. What countries are characterized by high rate of birth?

4. What economist was the first to put forward the theory of the
overcrowded world? In what century did he live?

5. How do you assess the implications of dramatic changes in
the world's population?

Text1

Population and the Environment

1. As the century begins, natural resources are under increasing
pressure, constituting a threat to public health and development.
Water shortages, soil exhaustion, loss of forests, air and water
pollution, and degradation of coastlines afflict many areas. Most
developed countries currently consume more resources, than they
can regenerate. At the same time most developing countries with
rapid population growth face the urgent need to improve their
standards of living.

The link between population growth and the environmental
impact seems obvious at first glance: more people consume more

Unit 1

Population and the Environment

resources, damage more of the earth and generate more waste. This
simple reasoning is true as far as it goes, but the larger picture of the
link is more complex. A very small proportion of the population
consumes the majority of the world's resources. The richest fifth
consumes 86% of all goods and services. An average American's
environmental impact is 30 to 50 times that of the average citizen of
a developing country such as India. Per capita consumption in all
industrialized countries is permanently growing.

2. Human action has transformed between one-third and one-half
on the entire land surface on the earth. We have lost more than one-
quarter of the planet's birds and two-thirds of major fisheries are fully
exploited, over-exploited or depleted. We live in the period of the
greatest extinction of plant and animal species since the extinction of
the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Two of every three species
are estimated to be in decline. In contrast to the previous extinctions
which were due to the change in climate and sea level, the last one has
begun because of humanity's gross misuse of the earth's resources.

3. It should be mentioned that worldwide about three-quaters of
all current population growth is urban. As cities grow ever larger, their
impact on the environment grows exponentially. Millions people move
from country side to the city to seek a better place to live, but they
often find that their lives become more difficult. In many cities 25% to
30%o of the urban population live in poor shanty towns or squatter
settlements or they live on the streets. Of Rio de Janeiro's 10.6 million
residents, for example, 4 mln live in squatter settlements and shanty
towns. Nevertheless, cities in the developing countries continue to
attract more and more people. Cities occupy only 2% of the world's
land surface, but city populations have a disproportional impact on
the environment. For example, London requires roughly 60 times its
land area to supply its 9 mln residents with food and forest products.
Because commerce and trade have spread dramatically in recent years,
city residents consume resources not just from the surrounding areas
but, increasingly, from around the world. Urban areas also export then-
wastes and pollutants, affecting environmental and health conditions
far from the cities themselves. The UN coined the term megacities in
the 1970s to describe cities with 10 million or more residents. Currently,
there are 19 megacities, of which 15 are in developing countries. By
2015 the number of megacities will grow to 23.

4. Technological advances can mitigate some of the population
growth and market mechanisms raise prices for some diminishing
resources, triggering substitution, conservation, recycling and
technical innovations so as to prevent depletion. If natural resources
were valued in the same way that manufactured assets are valued, it
might help economists learn to use them more effectively and to
conserve them in order to assure continued use in future. But market
systems often subsidise industries such as logging, mining and
grazing without tallying environmental costs. There is no doubt that
unchecked consumption and rapid population growth are likely to
overwhelm technological improvements in affecting the environment.

5. It is necessary to balance the requirements of growing
population with the necessity of conserving earth's natural assets.
Improving living standards without destroying the environment is
a global challenge. While the population growth has slowed, the
absolute number of people continues to increase - by about 1 billion
every 13 years. As population and demand for natural resources
continue to grow environmental limits will become increasingly
apparent. Slowing population growth would help improve living
standards and would provide time to solve sustainability problems.
Without practicing sustainable development humanity faces a
deteriorating environment and may even invite ecological disaster.

Comprehension

1. What is the link between the population growth and the
environmental impact?

2. What can you say about the level of consumption in the
different countries of the world? Is it possible to say that it is
almost the same?

3. What are the causes behind the essential decline in the
biodiversity?

4. What part of all current population on the earth is urban?

5. Can technological advances overwhelm growing consumption
and rapid population growth in affecting the environment?

6. What basic requirements should be met to provide sustainable
development?

Unit 1

Word Study

Ex. 1. In the paragraph indicated by the number in parenthesis find the
word or phrase that best fits the meaning given. Which word(s) mean(s)...

1. deficit (1)

2. changing into worse condition (1)

3. being extremely tired, exhausted, without energy (1)

4. the useless materials, substances, or parts that are left after you
use something (1)

5. the situation when an animal (plant) no longer exist (2)

6. reduction in the amount (2)

7. use something in the wrong way (3)

8. an area where very poor people live in badly built houses made
from sheets of wood, metal, or other thin materials (3)

9. settlements where people live without permission and without
paying for it (3)

10. reduce harmful effect of something (4)

11. cutting down trees for wood (4)

12. the process of getting coal or metal ores from underground (4)

13. a kind of animal husbandry in which animals are grazed on
specially aimed for that land (4)

14. make something happen (4)

15. replacing of something (4)

16. matching (4)

17. decline in the amount of something or the number of things (4)

18. defeat (4)

19. state how much something worth (4)

20. difficult task (5)

21. prevent something to be destroyed (5)

22. deal with (5)

23. becoming worse (5)

Ex. 2. Give a definition, synonym, or description of each of the words
or phrases below. This exercise can be done orally or in writing.

1. urgent need (1)

2. at first glance (1)

3. to be due to (2)

4. misuse of the earth's resources (2)

5. a disproportional impact on the environment (3)

6. coin the term (3)

7. technological advances (4)

8. there is no doubt (4)

----------------------------------------------- Population and the Environment

9. earth's natural assets (5)

10. unchecked consumption (5)

11. sustainability (5)

Learn and revise:

pressure, impact, generate (generated), soil, consume (consumed),
exhaustion, currently, obvious, damage, growth, urgent need, living
standards, impact, average, deplete (depleted), natural assets,
extinction, misuse, spread (spread), urban areas, waste, pollutant,
conserve (conserved), deteriorate (deteriorated), value (valued),
challenge, disaster

Paragraph Reading

Select the statement that best expresses the main idea of the
paragraph.

Paragraph 1

1. The world could support only 2 billion people if the entire world
consumed at the rate Americans and Western Europeans do.

2. Although at first glance it seems that more people consume
more resources, but on the other hand one should take into
consideration the inequality in the access to goods and services
in the different parts of the world.

3. There is obvious link between population growth and the
environmental impact.

4. A very small proportion of population growth consumes the
majority of the world's resources.

Paragraph 2

1. Human action has transformed between one-third and one-
half on the entire land surface.

2. We live in the period of greatest extinction of plant and animal
species.

3. The extinction of plant and animal species has been caused by
humanity's gross misuse of the earth's resources.

4. Two of every three species are estimated to be in decline.

Paragraph 3

1. About three-quaters of all current population growth is urban.

2. By 2015 the number of megacities will grow to 23.

16 17

Unit 1

3. As cities grow ever larger, their impact on the environment
grows exponentially.

4. The larger the city the greater its impact on the environment.

Paragraph 4

1. Technological advances can mitigate some of the impact of
population growth.

2. There is no chance that the impact of unchecked consumption and rapid growth of population on the environment will be
overwhelmed by technological improvements.

3. If natural resources were valued in the same way that manufactured assets are valued, it might help to save the environment.

4. The role of market system in protection of the environment is
very controversial: on the one hand market mechanisms raise
prices for some diminishing resources, trigging substitution, recycling and technical innovations, on the other subsidise
industries causing apparent damage to the environment not
taking into account environmental costs.

Paragraph 5

1. As population and demand for natural resources continue to
grow environmental limits are getting increasingly apparent.

2. It is necessary to balance the requirements of growing
population with the necessity of conserving earth's resources.

3. Slowing population growth would provide time to solve
sustainability problems.

4. As the population grows, improving living standards without destroying the environment is a global challenge.

Vocabulary Review

Ex. 1. Which word (words combination) is different? Why?

at first glance	at first sight	in the first place
deficit	shortage	excess
average	usual	uncommon
change	conserve	transform
exploit	misuse	use
impact	access	effect
roughly	exactly	approximately
provide	restrict	supply
transfer	face	deal with

--------------------------------------------------------------- Population and the Environment

decrease increase deplete

tally (with) match deviate

per head per annul per capita

Ex. 2. Word partners. Match a word from list A to a word from list B.

A	В
misuse	advances
urgent	conditions
average	areas
technological	growth
water	level
population	shortage
sea	citizen
urban	resources
living	need

Ex. 3. Fill in the gaps using words from the box.
extinction population urban sustainability improve

1. In the past decade in every environmental sector, conditions have either failed to..., or they are worsening.

2. The... has been growing faster than food supplies.

3. Human activities are pushing many thousands of plant and animal species into....

4. Growing human numbers,... expansion, and resource exploitation do not bode well for the future.

5. Less population growth will provide time to solve... problems.

Critical Reading and Discussion

1. Why is the environment getting worse as the population
grows? What ecological problems are connected to the
population growth?

2. Why does the world need to do a better job of forecasting
the possible outcomes of current human activities, including
population trends, per capita resource use, and the wealth
distribution?

3. What can be done to reduce the impact of large cities on the
environment?

Unit 2

"A Double-edged Sword"
of Chemistry and
Environmental Problems

Getting Started

In small groups discuss the following questions.

1. What people are called technocrats and what are called
technophobes?

2. What are the implications of technical progress for the environment?

3. What are moving forces behind development of science and
engineering?

4. Don't you think that the most of our world's problems today
result from the fact that it is controlled by huge corporations?

5. How do you see the part of science in saving the environment?
Give your reasons.

Text 2

"A Double-edged Sword" of Chemistry
and Environmental Problems

1. Chemistry is important - there is no doubt about that. It lies at
the heart of our efforts to produce new materials that make our lives
safer and easier, to produce new sources of energy that are abundant
and nonpolluting and to understand and control the many diseases
that threaten us and our food supplies. Although a strong case can
be made that the use of chemistry has greatly enriched all of our
lives, there is also a dark side of the story. Our society has used its
knowledge of chemistry to kill and destroy. It is important to
understand that the principles of chemistry are inherently neither
good nor bad - it's what we do with knowledge that really matters.

2. Although humans are clever, resourceful, and concerned about
others, they also can be greedy, selfish, and ignorant. In addition

--------- "A Double-edged Sword" of Chemistry and Environmental Problems

we tend to be shortsighted, we concentrate too much on the present
and do not think enough about a long-range implication of our
actions. This type of thinking has already caused us a great deal of
trouble - severe environmental damage has occurred on many fronts.
However, it is less important to lay blame than to figure out how to
solve these problems.

3. The environment excites growing public concern due to
realizing that at present time human activity has become varied and
complex that it effects not only at local and national level, but the
whole world. Ways of producing energy, using natural resources
and build up of waste threaten to destroy Nature irreversibly. To
preserve the environment of our planet development and growth in
the world must be sustainable. Sustainable means not sacrificing
tomorrow's prospects for a largely illusory gain today.

4. Solution to environmental problems cannot be found without
their scientific understanding. An important part of the answer
must rely on chemistry. One of the hottest fields in the chemical
sciences is environmental chemistry - an area that involves
studying our environmental ills and discovering creative ways to
address them.

Comprehension

1. How do you understand the title of the text?

2. What other titles could you suggest?

3. What is a main reason to think that Nature is certainly under
threat?

4. In what way has our view on Nature changed as compared
with the view of previous generations?

5. What makes the main difference in perception of the world
nowadays and in the past?

6. What kinds of human activities threaten to change fundamentally
the balance of our global environment?

7. What is sustainable development?

8. Why does scientific knowledge play an important part in
searching solutions to environmental problems?

9. What is the field of environmental chemistry?

Unit 2

"A Double-edged Sword" of Chemistry and Environmental Problems

Word Study

Ex. 1. In the paragraph indicated by the number in parenthesis find
the word or phrase that best fits the meaning given.
Which word(s) means (mean)...

1. at the core (1)

2. freer (more protected) from harm or danger (1)

3. ecologically friendly (1)

4. are likely to harm (1)

5. a strong evidence can be given (1)

6. illiterate (2)

7. consequence, impact (2)

8. harm (2)

9. take place (2)

10. a feeling of worry (3)

11. influence (3)

12. accumulation (3)

13. include (4)

14. difficulties or problems (4)

Ex. 2. Give a definition, synonym or description of each of the words
or phrases below. This exercise can be done orally or in writing.

1. abundant (1)

2. disease (1)

3. to enrich (1)

4. there is a dark side of the story (1)

5. inherently (1)

6. don't think about long range implications (2)

7. to be short-sighted (2)

8. a great deal of trouble (2)

9. to figure out (2)

10. growing public concern (3)

11. to destroy Nature irreversibly (3)

12. to preserve the environment (3)

13. sustainable (3)

14. environmental ills (4)

15. creative ways (4)

Learn and revise:

sustainable, abundant, cause (caused), occur (occurred), life (plural
lives), human activity, vary (varied), public concern, nonpolluting,
threaten (threatened) natural resources, waste, irreversibly,
solution, be due to, due to, a great deal, inherently, neither... nor,
destroy (destroyed), matter (mattered), preserve (preserved)

Paragraph Reading

Select the statement that best expresses the main idea of the
paragraph.

Paragraph 1

1. Chemistry is one of the fundamental sciences.

2. Chemistry has greatly enriched our lives.

3. The principles of chemistry are neither good nor bad it's what
we do with this knowledge that really matters.

4. Knowledge of chemistry may be used for the benefit of
mankind as well as for destroying the life on the Earth.

Paragraph 2

1. Mankind has always been capable of great good and great
evil.

2. We should avoid activities, which secure benefits in the short
term at expense of dangerous implications for the environment
and human health in the future.

3. It's more important to find out solutions to ecological problems
than to figure out who are responsible for environmental damage.

4. Racing for short-term benefits without thinking about long-
range consequences gave rise to serious environmental
problems, to solve them is a task of vital importance.

Paragraph 3

1. The ways in which human activities affect the environment
are complex and can cause damage to Nature.

2. To preserve the environment of our planet development and
growth in the world must be sustainable.

3. The impact of human activity on the environment has changed
greatly and can threaten the live on the Earth.

4. The environment excites growing public concern.

Unit 2 ______________________________________________________

Paragraph 4

1. Environmental chemistry can help to find the answers for
many environmental problems.

2. Environmental chemistry is one of the "hottest" fields in the
chemical sciences.

3. Finding solutions to environmental problems is based on their
scientific understanding, environmental chemistry playing an
important part in the process.

Vocabulary Review

Ex. 1. Which word is different? Why?

at the heart	at the core	at the edge
accuse	lay blame	praise
ecologically friendly	polluting	non-polluting
matter	be of importance	be of little significance
damage	advantage	harm
dark side	background	disadvantage
implication	consequence	action
ills	utility	problems
disease	illness	health
occur	take place	miss
include	involve	exclude

Ex. 2. Find word collocations. The words from the list A should be
combined with the words from list B.

A	В
sustainable	problems
public	development
human	concern
solve	materials
produce	resources
nonpolluting	activity
preserve	environment
natural	sources of energy

--------- "A Double-edged Sword" of Chemistry and Environmental Problems

Ex. 3. Place the appropriate word from the list in each of the blanks
below. Do not use word more than once.

damage environment cause threat effort problems

1. The world's ecological... are the aggregate of local and regional
pressures on the environment.

2. The... to Nature can only be overcome if all nations work together.

3. Greenpeace is an international organization that aims to protect
the... by spreading information and trying to make governments
change their policy.

4. Experience has taught us that actions and processes can... the
environment in the way no one could foresee.

5. Actions taken to protect one aspect of the environment can
sometimes themselves... other damage elsewhere.

6. There needs to be a major and growing scientific... to understand
the effect of human activities on the environment and our health.

Critical Reading and Discussion

1. Where do you stand on green issues?

2. Most of our world's problems today result from the fact that
the world is controlled by huge corporations. Could people
driven by need to make profits for their companies think about
long-running consequences of their activities?

Is there a sound economic reason for business to worry about

environment?

Is it possible to integrate economic growth and environmental

good sense?

Could business ever be green?

3. In solving what environmental problems is the role of
chemistry especially important? What do you think are the
most promising lines of research in environmental chemistry?

4. In what case can the threat to Nature be overcome?

Unit3

Acid Rain

Getting Started

Work with a partner to do the following task.

1. Describe the picture below.

2. What contradiction can you see in the picture? What natural
phenomena are involved in formation of sulphuric acid from
sulphur dioxide?

3. Identify the causes that lead to acid rain.

4. Is it possible to assume now that rain is the purest natural
water? Was it possible 40-50 years earlier? What factors have
contributed to these changes?

Text 3

Acid Rain

1. The emissions, which
cause acid rain, come
chiefly from power stations
and road traffic. Acid rain
damages buildings as well
as plant and animal life. It
comes from sulphur con-
taining in coal and oil. When
fossil fuel is burnt, sulphur
dioxide (S0₂) is formed.
Then it is oxidized by
reaction with oxygen to
produce S0₃ gas, which

Fig. 3.1

combines with water in the air to produce droplets of sulphuric acid
(H SO), a major component of acid rain. Nitrogen monoxide from

exhaust fumes of cars and industrial emissions is also oxidized in the
air and mixes with water to form nitric acid. Sulphic and nitric acids are
carried long distances with air currents and fall as acid rain. Acid rain
can travel thousands of miles, so pollution in one country can become
acid rain for another country. In Sweden, for example the timber and
fishing industries have suffered badly because of acid rain originating
in British factories and power stations.

2. Emissions of S0₂can be declined significantly by using special
equipment to remove sulphur from flue gases. An alternative approach
is to switch some power generation from coal to gas. Oil, natural gas
and hard, black coal (anthracite) produce much less sulphur dioxide
than soft, brown coal (lignite). But brown coal is cheap and plentiful
in many developing countries. Sulphur based smog is a major source
of air pollution in newly-industrializing countries such as India and
China. However, the famous London's fogs are now the thing of the
past since in the 1950s clean air zones have been introduced and
factories and houses are no more allowed to burn coal and instead of
it must use smokeless fuel. Sulphur dioxide is, incidentally, also emitted
from volcanoes when they erupt; this "natural" sulphur dioxide can
cause the same environmental problems as industrial emissions.
Fortunately, they do not happen frequently.

3. As already mentioned, acid rain has a number of adverse
effects. For centuries, acid from air pollution has contributed to
deterioration of buildings and monuments particularly in urban
areas. Many buildings, some of great historic and artistic
importance are under threat of destroying due to effect of acid
rain. Acid gases in high concentration can be a hazard for people
with bronchial and asmatic conditions. The very high levels of air
pollution in parts of Eastern Europe are known to have caused
serious health problems. Acid rain can impoverish wild life habitats.
Damage to one part of food chain can have effects higher up. For
example, changes in number of insect larvae in streams can affect
the population of insect-eating birds. This has already been seen
to have effect on rare species. Acid rain places addition stress on
trees, which are close to their survival limit, and extreme levels of
acidic air pollution undoubtedly damage and kill trees. By increasing
the acidity of surface waters, acid rain can kill fish and other fresh
water life. Besides mineral acids rainwater can contain other

Unit 3

dangerous substances. Information on substances that can be
present in rainwater according to the data reported by Greenpeace
is given in table 3.1.

Tab. 3.1

Substances that can be found in rainwater according
to the data reported by Greenpeace

1 group, exclusively dangerous substances	plumbum, chromium, benzpyren, mercury, cadmium
2 group, highly dangerous substances	hydrogen sulphide, sulphuric acid, benzene, fluorine-containing compounds, ethane dichloride, phenol, copper, formaldehyde, methylmercaptan, manganese, nickel, chlorine, arsenic

4. The effects of acid rain vary enormously according to the type
of soil on which it falls. Alkaline soils based on limestone can neutralize
large amounts of acid, whereas peat or granite soils have very little
ability to do so. The ability of certain chemicals within the rock (such
as calcium carbonate) to reduce the acidity of the water is called
natural buffering. But if the lake lies on an insoluble or acidic rock
such as granite, no natural buffering will occur and the acidity of the
water will remain high. The problem first came to light in Scandinavia
because its geology makes it especially sensitive to the effect of acid
rain. In those places where the soil does not contain enough of alkalis,
which are needed to neutralize the acid, the fish in many lakes and
rivers are poisoned by high acid concentrations. Scientists have tried
to reduce the acidity of lakes artificially by adding chemicals to the
water, but this intended remedy sometimes upsets the ecological
balance even further.

Comprehension

1. What are the main sources of acid rain?

2. In what way can acid rain affect fish, plant and animal life?

3. Why does acid rain problem cross national boundaries?

Acid Rain

4. Why acid rain is threat to human health?

5. Does the effect of acid rain depend on the type of soil on
which it falls?

6. Which type of soils can neutralize large amounts of acid and
what soils have very little ability to do so?

7. What is natural buffering?

Word Study

Ex. 1. In the paragraph indicated by the number in parenthesis, find
the word or phrase that best fits the meaning given.
Which word(s) means (mean)...

1. exhaust fumes (1)

2. make(l)

3. have been badly affected by something (1)

4. very small quantity of liquid (1)

5. reduce (2)

6. worsening (3)

7. danger, risk (3)

8. unfavourable (3)

9. becorne more unacceptable or severe (3)

10. surface layer of the land in which plants grow (4)

11. change (4)

12. vulnerable (4)

Ex. 2. Give a definition, synonym or description of the words or
word combinations below.

1. acid rain (1)

2. chiefly (1)

3. exhaust fumes (1)

4. air currents (1)

5. alternative approach (2)

6. sulphur-based smog (2)

7. bring about (3)

8. adverse (3)

9. health problems (3)

10. alkaline soils (4)

11. rare species (4)

12. habitats (4)

Unit 3

Acid Rain

Learn and revise:

fossil fuel, insoluble, exhaust (exhausted), fumes, timber, air
current, remedy, cause (caused), damage (occurred), artificially,
upset, reduce (reduced), acidity, soil, neutralize (neutralized), alkali
(plural British English - alkalis, but American - alkalies)

Paragraph Reading

Select the statement that best expresses the main idea of the
paragraph.

Paragraph 1

1. Acid rain is caused by burning of fossil fuel in industry and
in transport.

2. Acid rain comes from sulphur in coal and oil.

3. When burnt fossil fuel produces sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
monoxide, these oxides, mix with water to form sulphuric and
nitric acids, accordingly.

Paragraph 2

1. The main approaches to decline emissions of sulphur dioxide
are using of special equipment for removing sulphur from
flue gases, utilizing gas instead of coal to generate power.

2. Sulphur dioxide is emitted from volcanoes when they erupt.

3. Sulphur based smog is a major source of pollution in newly-
industrializing countries.

Paragraph 3

1. Acid rain has a number of adverse effects.

2. Acid rain can impoverish wild life.

3. By increasing the acidity of surface waters, acid rain can kill
fish and other fresh water life.

Paragraph 4

Write sentence that express the main idea of the paragraph.

Vocabulary Review

Ex. 1. Which word is odd? Why?

emissions	absorption	exhaust fumes
hazard	damage	benefit
abundant	scarce	plentiful
worsen	impoverish	improve
mainly	partly	chiefly
stay the same	vary	change
enormously	in a small part	extremely
due to	because of	in spite of
indifference	effect	impact

Ex. 2. Words partners. Match a word from list A with the word in list B.

A	В
food	areas
historic	fuel
alkaline	approach
urban	current
fossil	chain
alternative	source
air	gases
rain	soil
acid	importance
major	water

Ex. 3. Place the appropriate word from the list in each of the blanks below.

vary

adverse

rare

acidity habitats

1. The effects of acid rain... enormously according to the type of
soil on which it falls.

2. Acid rain has a number of... effects.

3. Acid rain can impoverish wild life....

4. Acid rain has already been seen to have effect on... species.

5. The ability of certain chemicals within the rock to reduce the...
is called natural buffering.

шиз

Critical Reading and Discussion

1. Why is acid rain an environmental problem of international
importance?

2. Pollution of the environment may be divided into water
pollution, air pollution, soil pollution. In what sort of pollution
does acid rain play especially serious part and have most
adverse impact on the environment?

Give your reasons.

3. What approaches to the problem can you suggest? Give
arguments to support your option. Choose from a list below
or think of your own proposal.

- using the renewable forms of energy such as wind power,
wave power, and solar power;

- using special filtering equipment to remove sulphur from
flue gases;

- switching from coal to gas;

- searching for new sources of energy to substitute fossil
fuels;

- harsher penalties for eco-crimes and stiffer fines for major
pollution offences.

Unit 4

Traffic and Air Pollution

Getting Started

Working in groups of three or four, consider the questions below.
After you have reached some conclusions, share your ideas with
the whole class.

1. What are the main sources of air pollution?

2. What substances are major air pollutants? Which of them are
the most dangerous?

3. In what connection would you put bad health problems and
poor air quality?

4. What diseases can be trigged by air pollution? What age
group of population is especially vulnerable to air pollution?

Text 4

Traffic and Air Pollution

1. Cars are wonderful, aren't they? They free us from here and
now, they open up escape routes into holiday weekends, and they
turn the difficulties of a journey into the pleasures of a trip. Sure, they
have their downside - pollution, noise, the odd pile-up - but no
amount of environmental damage can ever take the sweetness out of
a ride down a country lane, with wind in your hair and power at your
feet. However, a continuous increase in the number of cars leads to
serious congestion and escalate pollution caused by cars.
Governments build new roads trying to improve the situation but this
means that they cut down trees and destroy more of the countryside.

2. The car is one of the biggest polluters today. Exhaust fumes
from cars are the main cause of bad air quality, which can make people
feel ill and have difficulty breathing. The problem is especially bad in

2 Степанова Н.А.

Unit 4

Traffic and Air Pollution

some cities, where on days, when there is not much wind; a brown
layer smog (mixture of fog and smoke) hangs in the air. The relatively
inefficient combustion of fuel in a car engine cause many hydrocarbon
fragments to be left unburned. These fragments (mainly methane and
other alkynes) help to form smog and are believed to be carcinogenic.
The incomplete combustion of fuel produces also carbon
monoxide (CO). It is poisonous and at moderate concentrations can
cause drowsiness and impair mental and physical alertness. Carbon
monoxide emissions largely come from cars exhaust. Nitrogen oxides
(NO_x) are formed within the cylinders of an engine during fuel
combustion. They are major components of smog and it is particularly
difficult to deal with them in the engine. If more air is introduced into
the cylinder to burn the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons efficiently,
the temperature is raised and more nitrogen oxides are formed.

3. Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in vehicle exhausts combine
with one another in sunlight to produce ozone. The ground level ozone
is a major air pollutant. The photochemical smog is worst in traffic-
congested cities on hot, dry summer days, whereas sulphur based
smog occurs on cold, damp winter days. Photochemical smog is especially
common when the vehicle engines are old and poorly maintained, as
often occurs in developing countries. In some overpopulated cities
such as Mexico-City and San Paulo almost all children suffer from
coughs and wheezing, different forms of allergies. This is mainly due to
the effects of ozone and other motor vehicle pollutants.

Poor air quality can have a damaging effect on the lungs of
children. High level of air pollution increases the risk of retarded
lung development determining their breathing capacity and health
for the rest of their life.

4. Air in large cities contains a great deal of dust - suspended in
air minute solid particles. Some of them are toxic and can contain
lead. Lead comes from petrol in which lead compounds are added to
raise its octane number and hence also the performance of the
engine. The lead is emitted in tiny particles, which take a long time
to settle and, if breathed in, can accumulate in the body and cause
lead poisoning. Human being cannot excrete lead, so it accumulates
lead in the body. Even in tiny concentrations (25 milligrams per
litre), it can cause headaches, abdominal pains, and general tiredness.
Today more and more cars are made to run on unleaded gasoline.

5. The toxic emissions from car exhausts can be reduced
considerably by installing catalytic converters on the engines. Other
strategy to solve the problem involved the use of electric cars
powered by storage batteries. However, the storage batteries
currently available and on the near horizon have very limited capacity
and require frequent charging. One inherent difficulty with a storage
battery is that the supply of reactant is limited. When these reactants
are consumed, the battery must be recharged. A different kind of
battery, called a fuel cell, is one in which the reactants are
continuously supplied from an external source. The best-known
fuel cell is the H₂|0₂ unit used by NASA to provide electric power
for the space shuttle. In this fuel cell, electric current is produced as
electrons flow from H₂ (the reducing agent) to 0₂ (the oxidizing
agent). Application of this unit to motor cars encounters a lot of the
difficulties in storing hydrogen. New research, however, indicates
that gasoline might serve as a good source of H₂ in an H₂|0₂ fuel cell
for cars. The new developments make H₂|0₂ fuel cells for automobiles
much more likely in the 21st century. Experimental models have
already been produced in Germany. Their use seems to have
considerable promise, and it is growing up gradually.

Comprehension

1. What dangerous substances do car exhausts contain?

2. What process is CO produced by?

3. What part do car emissions play in formation of ground level
ozone?

4. What can be done to reduce air pollution caused by cars?

Word Study

Ex. 1. In the paragraph indicated by the number in parenthesis find
the word or the phrase that best fits the meaning given.
Which word(s) means (mean)...

1. disadvantage (1)

2. the condition of being so crowded with traffic that normal
movement in area is impossible (1)

3. road accident in which a lot of cars hit each other (1)

4. carriage for moving goods or passengers (1)

5. not to be able to breath easily (2)

Unit 4

Traffic and A ir Pollution

6. burning (2)

7. causing cancer (2)

8. stress (2)

9. an illness that you have when you eat, smell or touch a substance,
which does or normally make people ill (2)

10. plumbum compounds (4)

11. gases discharged from the engine of motor vehicles (3)

12. existing as natural and permanent quality of something or
somebody (5)

13. to be charged again (5)

Ex. 2. Give a definition, synonym or description of each of the words
or word combinations.

1. to accelerate (1)

2. congestion (1)

3. inefficient (2)

4. exhaust (2)

5. accumulated (4)

6. unleaded (4)

7. to reduce (5)

8. space shuttle (5)

9. fuel cell (5)

10. catalytic converters (5)

Learn and revise:

exhaust fumes, escalate, combustion, efficiently, hydrocarbons,
especially, sulphur, hence, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, vehicle,
allergy, performance, ozone, accumulate (accumulated), emit
(emitted), install (installed), application, source

Paragraph Reading

Select the statement that best expressed the main idea of the
paragraph.

Paragraph 1

1. The car is the biggest polluter.

2. The number of cars is increasing every year and this leads to
increasing air pollution.

3. Exhaust fumes are the main cause of bad health problems.

Paragraph 2

1. Many dangerous substances, CO, NO_x, lead are contained
in car emissions; ground level ozone can be produced in
sunlight from their components.

2. The action of sunlight on a mixture of NO_x and volatile organic
compounds is bad due to the formation of ground level ozone.

3. Photochemical smog is a complex chemical mixture but its
most important component is ground level ozone.

Paragraph 3

Write sentence that will best reflect the main idea of the paragraph.