Unit 2. Environment. 2.1. Local environment

Unit 2. Environment.
2.1. Local environment
1a
1 I live in the city it’s an urban area with a lot of huge buildings and many cars and transports. In our city there are also some factories. The life in the city is full of interesting things. For example, people always run somewhere to work, to do sports or to entertain.
2 I like the place where I live. One of the advantages of living in a city is that everything is close to home: shops and supermarkets, schools and hospitals and other facilities. Besides, life in the city is more comfortable. There are more opportunities to find a good, well-paid job and make a successful career or it is easier to open a company. On the other hand, living in the city has also disadvantages. The air in the cities is polluted. There is heavy traffic and it is difficult to find a parking place, especially in the centre. Another point is that shops, streets and public transport are overcrowded.
2a (2b ударные слова выделены жирным шрифтом)
1. open spaces
2. noise pollution
3. cosmopolitain atmosphere
4. crime rate
5. detached house
6. rush hour
7. stunning views
8. apartment block
9. abandoned cars
10. transport connections
11. mindless vandalism
12. traffic congestion
3a, b
1. Noise from neighbours (especially at night when it’s impossible to fall asleep)
2. Noise from traffic (all day long, it is unbearable)
3. Dog mess (when you don’t hear your friend talking to you)
4. Litter / rubbish (it’s awful to see so much rubbish and litter in the streets)
5. Young people / children misbehaving (there are some young people that don’t know how to behave in the streets for example with elder people)
6. People drinking in the street (sometimes I see such people in the streets and don’t know what to wait from them)
7. Abandoned vehicles (in the yards and everywhere there are cars so they leave no place to children where to play)
8. Graffiti (in our streets there is no graffiti, but maybe I just haven’t see it)
9. Vandalism (fortunately in our city vandalism is not present)
I can also add
 abandoned dogs and cats (they are walking everywhere and dogs are dangerous because they can bite people)
 mud after the rain (that is a great problem, but unfortunately no way to solve it)
 cars parked everywhere (sometimes they are left everywhere and it is difficult to walk or to cross the streets safely)
4
1. more than 2000
2. residents who were already dissatisfied with their home, residents in medium- or high-rise flats
3. a) two in five; b) one in four
4. because people are able to develop “immunity” to it. They consider it part of the environment.
5a
1. findings
2. poll
3. issues
4. scale
5. develop “immunity” (in commas because it’s usually associated with desease)
6. synonymous
7. lack of consideration
8. priority
5b
1. The government-commissioned survey, The study – carried out for
2. Designed to measure
3. was a problem of similar scale, ranked much more highly
4. according to a new survey, the survey also established, the survey finds
6
1. As for my local area, the main issue in the place where I live is pollution. My city suffers from different pollution: rubbish in the streets, cars polluting the air and a lot of waste which is dumped into the rivers.
2. Why doesn’t the government take care of the city environment?
In what way can people help to solve the main issues of the city?
Who must be in response of the ecological situation?
3. In my opinion, the government can do a lot to improve the ecological situation if they become more active. They can start different local ecological projects. For example, they can plant trees and clean parks, forests and river banks. They have to control atmospheric and water pollution, to study man’s influence on the climate. The introduction of energy-efficient technologies at all levels, from private households to large industrial enterprises, is a priority task that must be solved in the coming years.
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2.2. Changing environment
1
1. Polar bears live in Arctic regions and spend much of their time on the ice, for hunting, hibernating, mating, giving birth and traveling. Early melting ice or thin ice makes it difficult or impossible for polar bears to hunt the ringed seals that are their principle prey, leading to malnourished and starving bears.
2. Kangaroos live only in Australia. The increase of temperature and drought from lack of rain are the consequences of climate change that face this country. The kangaroos and other species of the family are at great risk of extinction. Whales are continuing threat either by blows that ship or receive traffic and marketing. The melting in Antarctica also be the cause of extinction of penguins.
2a
Banks, fat (n), mammals, marine, seals, species, thrive, fast (n), cubs, prey
2b
1. fast
2. species
3. prey
4. cubs
5. mammals
6. marine
3 (в скобках указан абзац, в котором встретилось слово)
Fast (n) (1)
Species (1)
Banks (2)
Prey (2)
Thrive (5)
Fat (7)
Cubs (9)
Seals (11)
Marine (11)
Mammals (11)
4
1. for 20 years and they are still rising (more rapidly)
2. for 30 years and it’s still shrinking
3. They’ve had no significant success
5
1. climate change
2. find food
3. spotting / seeing a polar bear
4. Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS)
5. more susceptible to disease
6. sea ice
6a
1. b
2. e
3. c
4. f
5. a
6. d
6b
1. scientific journal
2. climate change
3. satellite images
4. global warming
5. significant effects
6. false impression
7
a) 1 present perfect continuous
b) 2 present perfect simple
c) present perfect simple
8
1. has been disappearing
2. has been shrinking
3. has already vanished
4. We’ve been waiting
5. has sent
6. has been trying
9 (PPS – present perfect simple, PPC – present perfect continuous)
Since we were born, we have been changing (PPC) our natural environment in one way or another. The environment has suffered (PPS) for many years due to human activities. The change, however, has been (PPS) both positive and negative. The climate has changed (PPS) to the warmer one, there are much more garbage in the streets, and less fresh air in the cities. Our planet is overpopulated, that’s why we are using up our natural resources but they are not endless. So the scientists have started looking (PPC) for some alternate forms of energy such as water, wind and sunlight. One of the main problems in the cities has become (PPS) the pollution of water, air and soil from factories. Every day, they release a huge amount of harmful chemicals that enter the air, water and soil, and then into a human body. It is interesting to note that attempts to change the weather processes over wide areas have not had (PPS) much success. There are many ecological problems. The most serious ecological problems are: noise from cars and buses; destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty; shortage of natural resources; etc. Water is everywhere, but there is no ocean or sea which is not used as a dump. So every person has to understand how important it is to solve these problems, which endanger people's life.
2.3. Extreme environment
1
1. True
2. True
3. False (Pacific Ocean)
4. True
5. False
6. True
7. True
8. False
9. True
10. True
3
1. Can I ask what the biggest volcano in the world is?
2. Do you know whether people can go inside volcanoes?
3. Could you tell me if Vesuvius is an active volcano?
4. I’d like to know why volcanoes stop erupting.
4
Direct questions are less formal and indirect questions are more polite.
5
1. True
2. True
3. False (we use the question words in a question Do you know…?)
4. False (except where the indirect question begins with Do you know…?)
5. False (we use a question mark only when the introductory sentence itself is a question)
6a
1. Can you tell me how high Mauna Loa is?
2. I’d like to know how many volcanoes erupt each year.
3. Could you tell me how many eruptions were reported between 1975 and 1985?
4. I’d like to know if you can go inside an erupting volcano.
5. Do you know what causes a volcano to erupt?
6. Can you tell me which the biggest volcano in the USA is?
7. I’d like to know which volcano has been showing a lot of activity recently.
8. Do you know when Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii?
9. Can you tell me when Vesuvius last erupted?
10. Could you tell me whether a lot of people live near Vesuvius?
7
1. It means that Yellowstone Park is a beautiful place, but is also very dangerous because of the volcanic activity
2. It’s about 72 kilometers across from one side to the other and about 13 kilometers thick
3. Because the explosion would be enormous but nobody can predict exactly how bad it would be
4. No, because nobody was there the previous time it exploded, so they don’t know what the warning signs are
5. Because there are already all the usual warming signs (earthquakes, etc.) but nothing has happened yet
6. Because more than 3 million people visit it each year, the roads are narrow which slows traffic down, and it can take half a day to drive across the park.
8
Deliberately – intentionally
Relatively – comparatively
Normally – generally
Perhaps – possibly
Mainly – mostly
Slowly and pensively – thoughtfully
9a, 9b
1. Firstly, it’s interesting to mention that there are around 1,300 active volcanoes in the world today, but only 20 or 30 erupt each year.
2. It’s incredible, but an erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows and rockfalls. Volcano eruptions can be one of the most horrible disasters ever. There are several famous eruptions in the world which killed many people.
3. The danger area around a volcano covers about a 20-mile radius. So it’d better to stay far away from it’s epicenter.
4. Modern Humans have never seen a supervolcano eruption. The most recent supervolcano eruption happened in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago.
5. Eight new islands have formed across our planet since 2010 due to underwater volcanoes eruptions and glacial retreats. Populations of many wild animals, including insects, birds, rats, and even monitor lizards have now settled on them.
2.4. Scenario
1
1. Facts and figures: 80 turbines, 60 metres tall, turbine of 35 metres diameter, an area of several kilometers
2. commercially viable
3. sources of energy and their advantages (A) and disadvantages (D) mentioned in the text:
Fossil fuels (D – none mentioned, D – being used up, emit carbon dioxide)
Nuclear power (A – none mentioned, D – doubts about safety)
Solar (A – renewable, D – none given)
Wave (A – renewable, D – none given)
Wind power (A – renewable, D – spoil the landscape, not reliable)
3a
1. that’s one way of looking at it, but (disagreeing)
2. You’re absolutely right, because (agreeing)
3. I’d like to know (polite question)
4. You have a point, but don’t you think (disagreeing)
5. I’m interested in knowing (polite question)
6. That’s very true, because (agreeing)
7. I’d go along with you there because (agreeing)
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2.5. Study and writing skills
1. The last questionnaire I’ve answered was about the clothes I bought in a shop.
2. There are many organizations that gather information with the help of questionnaires, for example different public institutions (police, administration, schools, universities etc.) as well as private agencies in different areas (shops and services).
2c
Opened questions permit to answer as people wish in order to get more information. But it takes a long time to analyse the results.