Population and the environment

MAN AND ENVIRONMENT

GRAMMAR: Passive Voice.

1. a) Translate the following words and word combinations into Russian:

natural resources, to face smth., standards of living, to damage, per capita consumption, to take into account, extinction, species, to mitigate, to be likely, to overwhelm, to solve problems, to deteriorate, disaster, challenge.

b) Put the words in the correct order to form sentences.

1. biggest, car, The, is, polluter, the.

2. release, Factories, into, poisonous, cars, and, chemicals, the air.

3. The, on, has, a harmful, polluted, effect, human, rain, health.

4. is, world, less, in, There, wilderness, and less, the.

5. covered, area, The, sea ice, is, by, decreasing.

6. number, has, hurricanes, The, increased, of, considerably.

7. air quality, on, have, Poor, effect, a, damaging, can, the lungs, children, of.

2. Open the brackets using active or passive form of the verb.

1. Water (to cover) about two-thirds of the Earth’s surface.

2. The amount of water in the world (to limit).

3. Sea animals, fish and birds (to kill) by oil spills.

4. Two of every three species (to estimate) to be in decline.

5. The global warming (to lead) to the climate change.

6. Water in sea, rivers and lakes (to pollute) by wastes and toxic chemicals.

7. Finding solutions to environmental problems (to base) on their scientific understanding.

8. Acid rain (to damage) building as well as plant and animal life.

Text A

3. Read the text and translate it using a dictionary.

As the century begins, natural resources are under increasing pressure, constituting a threat to public health and development. Water shortages, soil exhaustion, loss of forests, air and water pollution, and degradation of coastlines afflict many areas. Most developed countries currently consume more resources, than they can regenerate. At the same time most developing countries with rapid population growth face the urgent need to improve their standards of living.

The link between population growth and the environmental impact seems obvious at first glance: more people consume more resources, damage more of earth and generate more waste. A very small proportion of the population consumes the majority of the world′s resources. The richest fifth consumes 86 % of all goods and services. An average American′s environmental impact is 30 to 50 times that of the average citizen of a developing country such as India. Per capita consumption in all industrial countries is permanently growing.

Man has interfered in nature and tries to change it, without taking into account possible negative effects of his activity. We live in the period of the greatest extinction of plant and animal species since the extinction of dinosaurs some about 65 million years ago. The last one has begun because of humanity′s gross misuse of the earth′s resources. Two of every three species are estimated to be in decline.

Technological advances can mitigate some of the population growth and market mechanisms raise prices for some diminishing resources, conservation, recycling and technical innovations so as to prevent depletion. But market systems often subsidise industries such as logging, mining and grazing without tallying environmental costs. There is no doubt that unchecked consumption and rapid consumption growth are likely to overwhelm technological improvements in affecting the environment.

It is necessary to balance the requirements of growing population with the necessity of conserving earth′s natural assets. Improving living standards without destroying the environment is a global challenge. As population and demand for natural resources continue to grow environmental limits will become increasingly apparent. Slowing population growth would help to improve living standards and would provide time to solve the problems. Without practicing sustainable development humanity faces a deteriorating environment and may even invite ecological disaster.

4. Answer the questions:

1. What is the link between the population growth and the environmental impact?

2. What can you say about the level of consumption in the different countries of the world? Is it possible to say that it is almost the same?

3. What is the main reason of the greatest extinction of plant and animal species nowadays?

4. What industries do market systems subsidize?

5. What can technological improvements overwhelm in affec-ting the environment?

6. What can some of the population growth mitigate?

7. Why is it necessary to balance the requirements of growing population with the necessity of conserving earth′s natural asset?

8. What does humanity face without practicing sustainable development?

5. Complete the following sentences using some active words and word combinations (see below):

1. Natural resources are under increasing pressure, constituting a threat to ………...

2. Most developing countries with rapid population growth face the urgent need to ……..

3. A very small proportion of the population consumes…….

4. Man has interfered in nature, without taking into account…..

5. Market systems often subsidise industries such as …..

6. Improving living standards without destroying the environment is…….

possible negative effects of his activity; a global challenge; improve their standards of living; the majority of the world′s resources; logging, mining and grazing; public health and development

6. Retell the text using the following scheme:

1. The headline of the text is…

2. The text informs on (deals with, dwells upon)…

3. At the beginning the author makes close study of

(considers)…

4. Then much attention is given to…

5. The text also tells about…

6. To sum up it should be noted…

Дата добавления: 2014-10-17