Energy saving in the home

Have you ever stopped to think about how much damage your own home may be doing to the ___________________ (1 – environment / ecology / surroundings)? In the UK people’s homes are responsible for an alarming twenty-five percent of all carbon dioxide ___________ (2 – fumes / emissions / smoke). But there are a lot of simple steps that can be taken to put things right and help reduce our CO2 ___________ (3 – production / produce / output).

For the start, get into the habit of clicking off the light switch when you leave a room, and swap regular light bulbs for energy-saving versions. And when you go off to bed, don’t just turn off your TV, video/DVD recorder or hi-fi system with the ____________ (4 – remote / distant / distance) control: in standby mode they still use up a lot of energy, so switch them off at the plug socket instead. Washing machines and dishwashers are also hideously _____________ (5 – extravagant / wasteful / careless) in terms of water, electricity and money when you run them with less than a full load.

Never overfill the kettle if all you want is a single mug of tea; don’t use large saucepans when you only want to cook small ___________ (6 – number / amounts / quantity) of food, as they will take longer to heat up. And when it starts to turn milder in the early spring, you can turn down the central heating by several degrees and ____________ (7 – turn / run / operate) it for fewer hours every day. Summertime air-conditioning in the home may be ______________ (8 – modern / fashionable / sophisticated), especially for hi-spec city apartments, but it’s an unnecessary luxury when all you need to do to let a breeze blow through is open a window or door.

b) Answer the teacher’s questions.

HOME ACTIVITIES (1)

A) Go through the texts in exercises 2 – 4 and find the English for

естественная среда обитания; белый медведь; голубой кит; уменьшаться в размере; потепление климата; уровень моря; деятельность человека; вечная мерзлота; наносить серьезный ущерб; трубопровод; атомная электростанция; Кольский полуостров; Северный морской путь; районы рыбных промыслов; на протяжении всей истории человечества; газовое месторождение; запасы газа; коренное население; как только он начинает таять; бессмертный (вечный) символ знаний и культуры; легендарная островная цивилизация; окутанный тайной; раскапывать древний город; керамика; выбросы углекислого газа; энергосберегающий; дистанционное управление; страшно (ужасно) расточительный, неэкономный; нагреваться.

b) Illustrate the word combinations with sentences from the texts. 4

6. Retell any of the three texts (see exercises 2-4)