Put four types of questions

1. Ecological problems are among the acutest facing the world today.

2. The Precarpathians is the land of an unspeakable beauty.

 

7 Discussion Points. Do you agree or disagree to the following statements? Specify your answer and give your reasons.

1) The advantages and disadvantages of the nuclear power usage.

2) The consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

3) Work out a set of measures to prevent such disasters in the future.

Translate the text orally:

 

Pollution and What We Can Do About It

A lot of people feel that pollution has become one of the biggest problems in the world today. But when we talk about pollution, what do we really mean? When you pollute something, you make it dirty or dangerous for other people or animals. For example, if you put engine oil in water, you pollute it; nobody will be able to drink it or wash in it.

The main reason for pollution is waste — something, which is no longer, needed. Waste can be many things: yesterday's newspaper, an old car, your dirty bath water or smoke from a factory chimney. Some waste is dangerous because it contains poisons. This kind of waste is called toxic waste.

All living things, especially people, make waste. All over the world, there are people polluting the land, the sea and the air. There are six billion people in the world. They all need to eat, dress and travel. Most of them need to heat their homes as well. People buy things, they use them and they throw their old things away. Today, we live in a "throw-away" world. Everyone adds to the problem of waste just by being there.

Some rich countries dispose of their waste in other coun­tries — they use poor countries as rubbish dumps. That is not really an answer, it is just another problem. The only way out is conserva­tion and recycling.

Recycling waste is something more expensive than dumping it. But if we do not do something soon, our waste will poison our world.

Conservation means conserving things — saving things, or us­ing them carefully. When you turn off the light in the daytime, you are conserving energy. When you write notes on the back of an old letter, you are conserving materials. You are also conserving your money.

Recycling means conserving materials and energy by using things again instead of throwing them away. It is important for three reasons. It reduces pollution. It conserves energy and materials. And it saves money, which can then be spent on other things. For example, tyres can be recycled to make pipes and floor covering. Paper can be re­cycled into packing materials, toilet paper, egg boxes, writing paper and paper bags. Metal can be melted and used again and again. Even old Cola cans are flattened into small metal bricks and then melted to produce new cans.

After you have reused and recycled your metal, glass, paper, plastics and fabric, there is still a lot of waste to dispose of. Most of it is ordinary household waste, which is usually dumped in landfill sites. But it is possible to burn rubbish to produce energy. In Den­mark, Japan and Switzerland, more than half of ordinary household waste is now burned to produce electricity.

Well, now what can you do to recycle materials and conserve en­ergy? Because it is true that you cannot melt plastic into a sweater or melt down your old refrigerator. But you can use everything sensi­bly and carefully. For example, you can say "No" to plastic bags in shops, and take your own shopping bag. You can give things away and not throw them away. You may write notes on the backs of old let­ters and Christmas cards. Finally, try to buy and use recycled products.

Learn the vocabulary by heart:

Vocabulary

1) pollution — забруднення

2) dirty— брудний

3) dangerous — небезпечний

4) engine oil -машинне масло

5) waste — сміття, відходи

6) a factory chimney — фабрична труба

7) to contain — містити у собі

8) poison — отруйна речовина

9) toxic —— токсичний

10) to heat— обігрівати

11) to throw away — викидати

12) to dispose of sb/sth — позбавитись (від чогось)

13) todispose — розміщувати

14) rubbish-відходи

15) a dump —смітник

16) conservation — зберігання

17) recycling— переробка відходів

18)to save — mym: заощаджувати

19) back — зворотній бік

20) to reduce — зменшувати

21) a tyre—шина

22) a pipe — труба

23) a floor covering — покриття підлоги

24) packing materials — пакувальні матеріали

25) to melt — розплавляти

26) to flatten — розплющувати, mym: переробляти

27) to produce — продукувати, виробляти, створювати

28) to reuse — використовувати ще раз

29) fabric — тканина

30) household waste — побутове сміття

31) landfill sites — смітники (місця, де сміття закопується в землю)

32) to burn — спалювати, палити

33) a refrigerator — холодильник

34) sensibly — розумно

35) carefully — дбайливо, обережно

36) a plastic bag — поліетиленовий пакет

1 Checking comprehension.

1. How many people are there in the world?

2. What happens if you put engine oil in water?

3. Why do Europe and the USA send a lot of waste to other countries?

4. Can glass be melted and reused?

5. What is recycling?

6. How do you understand the word "conservation"?

7. Why is waste so dangerous to our world?

8. What can be done from old Cola cans?

9. How can rubbish be used?

10. What can ordinary people do to reduce pollution?

2 Find the English equivalents to the following words and phrases in the text:

a) містити отруйні речовини ______________________

b) небезпечне сміття _____________________________

c) викидати токсичні відходи ______________________

d) спалювати побутове сміття ______________________

e) розплавляти скло ______________________________

f) продукувати труби _____________________________

3 Use one of the following words: but/because/ where/ then/ to j оin two sentences into one.

1. You cannot see or smell radiation. It is very dangerous.

3. Recycling plastic is more difficult than reusing it. There are

many different kinds of plastic.

4. The Greens family have a small garden. They grow fruit and vegeta­bles.

5. We pack things in plastic. We throw away the packing materials.

 

 

4 Think of some interesting ways of recycling each of these:

a) an old newspaper;

b) an old plastic bottle;

c) an old sweater.

5 Comment on the following words by Professor Gerald Darrell of the University of California. Do you agree with these words? Justify your answer.

"We all know people who have attics or cupboards filled with an astonishing assortment of things, preserved because "they might come in useful". Well, the world is our attic, and we should preserve everything in it, for we do not know when it will "come in useful».

Pre-reading Task