Text 1. Help Wild Animals

I think it is necessary to help wild animals. Many of them are in danger now. For example, pandas which live in the jungle and white bears which live in the Arctic.

White bears eat fish. If people pollute rivers and seas, animals die.

All woods are home to animals and birds. It is important to take care of them. If trees are damaged and flowers and grass are cut, birds and animals can become instinct.

Each of us can do something to help nature. We must not frighten animals and birds. We must never break plants or baby trees.

There are a lot of ways to help our planet. We must take care of it.

Text 2. Climatic Changes

Words:

1. carbon dioxide — углекислый газ

2. oxygen — кислород

3. heat – тепло

4. to get in — пропускать

5. to get out — выпускать

Climate is a weather a certain place has over a long period of time. Climate has a very important influence on plants, animals and humans and is different in different parts of the world.

But recently the climate has changed a lot, especially in Europe. Scientists think that the reason is greenhouse effect. It is caused by carbon dioxide (углекислый газ). Carbon dioxide is produced when we burn things. Also people and animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. As you know, trees take this gas from air and produce oxygen. But in the last few years people have cut down and burn big areas of rainforest. This means that there are fewer trees and more carbon dioxide.

This gas in the atmosphere works like glass in a greenhouse. It lets heat get in, but it doesn’t let much heat get out. So the atmosphere becomes warmer.

Greenhouse effect is sometimes called global warming.

Text 3. Environmental problems (for pre-intermediate)

Words:

1. severely polluted — сильно загрязнены

2. harmful substances — вредные вещества

We are the caretakers of the earth. We know that polluted air, water and land are harmful to plants, animals and people. In Russia there a lot of regions which are severely polluted. It is plants that pollute our atmosphere with tons of harmful substances. These are very dangerous wastes. They go into the air and are carried by winds for great distances.

60% of the air pollution is caused by different means of transport: cars, trucks, buses.

Then we must remember that when we use aerosol sprays, we destroy the ozone layer which protects the Earth from the dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun.

The list of serious environmental problems can be continued …..

Text 4. Green Peace

Green Peace is an international environmental organization which fights against the pollution of the environment. It was founded in 1969 by a group of Canadian environmentalists. Members of Green Peace appear in the places where the environment is endangered. They always act fast.

The world knows about the Green Peace action to stop hunting whales or killing baby seals. They block the way to the ships that try to dump waste, and work hard to create a nuclear-free world.

The activity of Green Peace often annoys governments, companies and people who don’t care about the future of the world.

Green Peace has offices in many countries, including Russia. People, who can’t take part in Green Peace actions directly support this organization with money.

Green Peace members are often called “greens”. The “greens” are group of people whose aim is protection of natural things, e.g. plants and animals.

Text 5. Green Fuel

Words:

1. fuel — топливо

2. biotechnology [ˌbaɪəutek’nɔləʤɪ] – биотехнология

3. environmentally friendly — экологически чистый

4. to derive from– получать, извлекать

5. emission – выделение

6. to penetrate — завоевывать, проникать

7. finite – ограниченный, исчерпаемый

8. fossil – ископаемое

A new low-cost fuel is being developed by a biotechnology company. It is called biobutanol and is expected to be the best environmentally friendly fuel for transport.

Butanol is derived from waste plant material (biomass) and is an attractive replacement for petrol.

It reduces not only CO₂ emissions but also our dependence on finite fossil fuels.

The UK’s Minister for Science said: “The development of biofuels is expected to play a major part in reducing transport emissions. Climate change is a huge global problem. We believe the UK must put its best efforts towards developing the new technologies. ”

Text 6. Ecological Problems

Ecology is a science which studies the relationship between all forms of life on our planet and the environment.

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, giving him everything he needs: air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, wood for building and fuel for heating his home. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with the environment and it seemed to them that the resources of Nature had no end or limit.

With the industrial revolution our negative influence on Nature began to increase. Large cities with thousands of polluting plants and factories can be found nowadays all over the world. They pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the fields where our crops are grown. Big cities suffer from smog. Cars with their engines have become the main source of polluting in industrial countries.

Vast forests are cut down everywhere for the needs of industries. As a result many kinds of animals, birds, fish and plants are disappearing nowadays.

The pollution of the air and the world’s oceans and the thinning the ozone layer are the other problems arising from men’s careless attitude to ecology.

Active measures should be taken to save the life on our planet. There is an international organization called Greenpeace which is doing much to preserve the environment.

Questions to the text on ecological problems:

1. Why are the wild animals in danger?

2. What climatic changes are the most threatening?

3. Is there any way to make our air cleaner

4. What is Green Peace?

5. What are the main ecological problems?