What are the current environmental problems?

2 What transformations in the world influence global environment?

3 What does the term “security“ mean nowadays?

4 What can you say about the politics of scarcity?

5 What environment threats do people face nowadays?

6 What are the controversial perspectives of cornucopians and neo-Malthusians?

7 How is sustainable development perceived now?

8 What did the Brundtland Commission conclude?

9 What are the most important landmarks in the process of environment protection?

10 What issues stay atop the 21^st century global agenda?

2 Give Russian equivalents for the following word-combinations:

pristine planet, relentless fury, doorstep of humankind, recurrent and irrefutable images, consumption patterns, exercise of power, representative sample, nonrenewable resources, common properties, to permeate all dimensions of resource issues, scientific evidence, fear of nuclear holocaust, to haunt the world, to encompass actions, to degrade the quality of life, nongovernmental entity, politics of scarcity, overt challenge, unconventional viewpoint, transboundary character, ozone depletion, marine habitats, to undercut economic well-being, to redefine security moves, competing perspectives, adjustment mechanism, social welfare, infinite supply, sustainable development, to enjoy widespread support, economic expansion, energy efficiency, to embody a political commitment, to galvanize a simultaneous treatment of issues, interrelatedness of issues, global remedy.

3 Give English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations:

навязывать политические границы, дыры в озоновом щите, исчезающие леса, главные преступники, глубокие изменения, пересечение экологии и политики, широкий спектр, быть приравненным к «национальной безопасности», недостаток ресурсов, ограниченный доступ к пище, расширить определение, глобальное потепление, чрезмерная эксплуатация, истощать ресурсы, свободные поводья, поиск замены, отложить на неопределенное будущее, неограниченный рост, удовлетворить нужды и устремления населения.

4 Make up nouns from the following verbs and adjectives using suffixes:

to improve, to protect, to defend, to grow, to refute, to consume, to respond, to explore, to prescribe, to perceive, to cover, to include, to emerge, to sustain, to secure, to equate, to connote, to require, to urge, to constitute, to suggest, to degrade, to inhabit, to predict, to restrict, to continue, to redefine, to preserve, to recognize, to deplete, to interpret, to engage, to compete, to correct, to adjust, to produce, to fail, to exploit, to intervene, to revise, to dispose, to fluctuate, to substitute, to aspire, to adopt, to expand, to reject, to emphasize, to convene, to embody, to commit, to treat, to separate, to accept, to propose, to affirm, to analyze, to destine;

free, scarce, popular, liberal, prior, frequent, interrelated, violent, responsible, available.

 

5 Make up adjectives using suffixes:

comfort, cloud, atmosphere, fury, environment, wealth, power, science, type, centre, controversy, excess, trace, equity, efficiency;

to refute, to represent, to renew, to use, to dominate, to sustain.

 

6 Give as many synonyms as possible to the following words:

 

to view, to protect, to vanish, to widen, to explore, to seek, to emerge, to permeate, to evaluate, to constitute, to encompass, to degrade, to predict, to cooperate, to postpone, to reject, to regard;

fury, pattern, impact, force, freedom, risk, holocaust, threat, inhabitant, scarcity, concept, well-being, cost, landmark, range, goal, opponent;

pristine, violent, massive, profound, limited, powerful, important, infinite, traceable, different, basic, serious.

 

7 Give antonyms adding negative affixes if necessary:

to improve, to cover, to include, to reject;

opponent, scarcity, balance, failure, equity, efficiency;

pristine, comfortable, convenient, clear, refutable, human, limited, renewable, available, governmental, conventional, useful, popular, correct, definite, known, important, formal.

 

8 Explain the meaning of the following adverbs and make up sentences with them:

clearly, typically, likely, fundamentally, particularly, radically, formally, frequently.

 

9 Insert prepositions where necessary:

1 Security was equated … “national security“, which typically connoted freedom... the fear, risk and danger posed … the threat … war.

2 There is no consensus … how states ought to respond … rapid environmental change, how they should deal … profound transformations.

3 Focusing … the transboundary character … challenges … preserving the global environment, it recognizes that threats … global life systems are as important … the future … humankind as the threat … nuclear catastrophe.

4 When American austronauts first viewed the earth … the Apollo spacecraft they remarked … millions … listeners … the “blue planet“ they saw … their small windows and how the clouds and continents flowed … one another … regard … the political boundaries humans had imposed … a pristine planet.

5 A second milestone … the challenge … the dominant social paradigm is the Earth Summit, which took place … Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, … 1992 – the 20^th anniversary … the Stockholm conference … the environment.

6 The improvement … space technology has enabled us to see … afar uncomfortable images – … atmospheric poisons, … violent storms, … massive holes … the ozone shield, that protects humans … ultraviolet rays.

7 Is the growth … world population … this century responsible … recurrent and irrefutable images … a global environment … stress?

8 A program … action agreed … … Rio embodies a political commitment … a broad range … environmental and development goals.

9 Recognition … the interrelatedness … global welfare issues continued … the 1994 Cairo International Conference … Population and Development, where population and development were again placed … the same track.

10 It required the development … national strategies … coping … the struggle … power central … realist thinking.

10 Translate from Russian into English:

1 С помощью развития технологий стало очевидным, что нашей планете угрожают такие явления, как дыры в озоновом слое, который защищает людей от вредных ультрафиолетовых лучей, исчезновение лесов, загрязнение атмосферы и многое другое.

2 Сталкиваясь с широким спектром экологических проблем, люди пытаются разрешить вопросы, связанные с влиянием человеческой деятельности на окружающую среду, вопросы природных ресурсов и глубоких трансформаций в природе и обществе.

3 В наше время под словом «безопасность» подразумевается не только свобода от риска, страха, опасности ядерной войны, но и безопасность на государственном и глобальном уровне.

4 По мнению ученых, глобальное потепление, разрушение озонового слоя, недостаток ресурсов, потеря лесов являются не менее важными проблемами, чем угроза ядерной катастрофы.

5 Поскольку человечество поняло, что по одиночке невозможно решить экологические проблемы, в 1972 году Генеральная Ассамблея ООН созвала первую Конференцию ООН по проблемам окружающей среды.

6 Второй вехой в процессе разрешения экологических проблем была встреча на высшем уровне в 1992 году в Бразилии, собравшая представителей более, чем 150 государств, после которой проблемы окружающей среды и экономического развития стали рассматриваться как взаимосвязанные и взаимозависимые.

11 Questions for discussions:

1 Factors influencing environment deterioration.

2 The urgent problems of environment and the ways to cope with them.

3 The ecological situation in Russia.