Make 8-10 questions (of all types) of your own

Give annotation of the text.

 

Air Pollution

Air Pollution is contamination of the atmosphere by gaseous, liquid, or solid wastes or by-products that can endanger human health and the health and welfare of plants and animals, or can attack materials, reduce visibility, or produce undesirable odours. Among air pollutants emitted by natural sources, only the radioactive gas radon is recognised as a major health threat. A by-product of the radioactive decay of uranium minerals in certain kinds of rock, radon seeps into the basements of homes built on these rocks. According to recent estimates by the U.S. government, 20 percent of the homes in the U.S. harbour radon concentrations that are high enough to pose a risk of lung cancer.

Each year industrially developed countries generate billions of tons of pollutants. Many come from directly identifiable sources; sulphur dioxide, for example, comes from electric power plants burning coal or oil. Others are formed through the action of sunlight on previously emitted reactive materials (called precursors). For example, ozone, a dangerous pollutant in smog, is produced by the interaction of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides under the influence of sunlight. Ozone has also caused serious crop damage. On the other hand, the discovery in the 1980s that air pollutants such as fluorocarbons are causing a loss of ozone from the earth's protective ozone layer has caused the phasing out of these materials.

 

1. Answer the questions:

1. What is Air Pollution?

2. Which of air pollutants emitted by natural sources is recognised as a major health threat?

3. Where does sulphur dioxide come from?

4. What kind of damage can ozone cause?

5. How is ozone produced?

 

2. Insert proper words:

 

1. Air Pollution is … of the atmosphere by gaseous, liquid, or solid wastes or by-products that can endanger human health.

2. Among air pollutants … by natural sources, only the radioactive gas radon is recognised as a major health threat.

3. Each year industrially developed countries generate billions of tons of ….

4. Other pollutants are formed through the action of sunlight on … materials.

5. Ozone has also caused serious crop ….

 

Put 6-10 questions to the text. Mind all question types.

Give annotation of the text.

 

Methods in ecology

Because ecologists work with living systems possessing numerous variables, the techniques used by physicists and chemists, mathematicians and engineers, require modification; they are not easily applied nor are the results as precise as those obtained in other sciences. It is relatively simple, for example, for a physicist to measure gain and loss of heat from metals or other inanimate objects, which possess certain constants of conductivity, expansion, surface features, and the like. To determine the heat exchange between an animal and its environment, however, a physiological ecologist is confronted with an array of almost unquantifiable variables and has the formidable task of both gathering the numerous data and analysing them. Ecological measurements probably never will be as precise or as subject to the same ease of analysis as measurements in physics, chemistry, or certain quantifiable areas of biology. In spite of these problems, various aspects of the environment can be determined by physical and chemical means, ranging from simple chemical identifications and physical measurements to the use of sophisticated mechanical apparatus. The development of biostatistics and proper experimental design, and the improvements in methods of sampling, permit a quantified statistical approach to the study of ecology. Because of the extreme difficulties of controlling environmental variables in the field, studies involving the use of experimental design are largely confined to the laboratory and to controlled field experiments designed to test the effects of only one variable or several variables. The use of statistical procedures, and the application of computer science to mathematical models based on data obtained from the field, are providing new insights into population interactions and ecosystem function. Mathematical programming is becoming increasingly important in applied ecology, especially in the management of natural resources and agricultural problems having an ecological basis. Controlled environmental chambers enable experimenters to maintain plants and animals under known conditions of light, temperature, humidity, and daylength so that the effects of each variable (or combination of variables) on the organism can be studied. Biotelemetry and other electronic tracking equipment, products of the space age, permit the rapid and nondestructive sampling of plant and animal populations. Such tools enable ecologists to follow from a distance the movements and behaviour of a free-ranging animal by radio signals beamed from a sender attached to the organism. Radioisotopes are used for tracing the pathways of nutrients through ecosystems, for determining the time and extent of transfer of energy and nutrients through the different components of the ecosystem, and for the determination of food chains. The use of laboratory microcosms - aquatic and soil micro-ecosystems, consisting of biotic and nonbiotic material from natural ecosystems, held under conditions similar to those found in the field - are useful in determining rates of nutrient cycling, ecosystem development, and other functional aspects of ecosystems. Microcosms enable the ecologist to duplicate experiments and to perform experimental manipulation on them.

 

1. Replace the words in brackets with the corresponding English equivalents:

1. It is relatively simple, for example, for a physicist to measure (теплообмен) from metals or other inanimate objects, which possess certain constants of conductivity, expansion, surface features, and the like.

2. Ecological (измерения) probably never will be as precise or as subject to the same ease of analysis as (измерения) in physics, chemistry, or certain quantifiable areas of biology.

3. The development of biostatistics and proper experimental design, and the improvements in methods of sampling, permit a (количественный статистический подход) to the study of ecology.

4. The use of statistical procedures, and the application of computer science to mathematical models based on data obtained from the field, are providing new insights into (взаимодействия внутри популяции) and ecosystem function.

5. Such tools (дают возможность экологам) to follow from a distance the movements and behaviour of a free-ranging animal by radio signals beamed from a sender attached to the organism.

6. The use of laboratory microcosms - aquatic and soil micro-ecosystems, consisting of (живые и неживые материалы, заимствованные из естественных экосистем), held under conditions similar to those found in the field - are useful in determining rates of nutrient cycling, ecosystem development, and other functional aspects of ecosystems.

 

2. Put questions:

 

1. Because ecologists work with living systems possessing numerous variables, the techniques used by physicists and chemists, mathematicians and engineers, require modification.

2. To determine the heat exchange between an animal and its environment, a physiological ecologist is confronted with an array of variables and has the formidable task of both gathering the numerous data and analysing them.

3. Various aspects of the environment can be determined by physical and chemical means.

4. The use of statistical procedures is providing new insights into population interactions and ecosystem function.

5. Such tools enable ecologists to follow from a distance the movements and behaviour of a free-ranging animal by radio signals beamed from a sender attached to the organism.

6. Microcosms enable the ecologist to duplicate experiments and to perform experimental manipulation on them.