Introduction. In pairs choose the best answer to each question.

1. What is the key difference between exhaustible and inexhaustible resources?

a. All exhaustible resources pollute the environment; inexhaustible resources don't.

b. Exhaustible resources need to be refined before humans can use them; inexhaustible resources don't.

c. Exhaustible resources exist in unlimited quantities; inexhaustible resources don't.

d. Inexhaustible resources exist in unlimited quantities; exhaustible resources don't.

2. Solar energy is considered a sustainable energy source. What does "sustainable" mean?

a. Capable of being continued long-term

b. Available to everyone

c. Related to light and heat

d. Related to the sun

3. Coal, petroleum, natural gas are fossil fuels. They are called so because …

a. they are burned to release energy and they cause air pollution

b. they were formed from the remains of plants and tiny animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago

c. they are exhaustible and will run out

d. they are mixed with fossils to provide energy

2. Vocabulary. Translate the words without using a dictionary.

resources, factor, services, minerals, energy, kerosene, petroleum, basic, electrical, thermal, chemical, kinetic, potential, nature, characteristics, to conserve, to recycle.

 

3. Vocabulary. Explain the principles of forming the following words. What parts of speech are they?

Inexhaustible, wildlife, isolated, unevaluated, costly, overhunting, rising, disadvantage, recycle.

4. Vocabulary. Translate word combinations using a dictionary.

to meet basic needs, in the same way, to supply (somebody or something) with goods and services, to find it possible, to gain value, to replace some resources, to seek substitutes.

 

5. Vocabulary. Match words close in meaning (synonyms) from a) and b).

  a) to affect, isolated, to apply, to view, to convert, advantage, to seek, to satisfy needs;

b) to regard, to influence, to meet needs, advance, to look for, to change into, to use, desolate.

 

6. Vocabulary.  Give synonyms for the following words (more than one if possible): to occur, to regard, to produce, costly, to seek, to replace, demand, cheap, wildlife, desolate, to gain. 

 

7. Vocabulary. Give antonyms for the following words: costly, exhaustible, renewable, cheap, advantage, desolate, useful, different, scarce.

Reading.

                              

Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions:

1. What natural resources do you know?

2. How do people use natural resources?

3. What natural resources do you use in your life?

 

Words and phrases to remember

 

natural resources	goods and services	to seek
to contain	to exist	to look for
to make use of something	source	to supply
to satisfy (to meet) needs	to gain value	to regard
to occur	to conserve	substitute (n) for
exhaustible	nuclear energy	scarcity
whether	to convert/ to change into	costly
uranium ores	to affect	to replace

 

Read the text and complete the tasks in Comprehension check below the text.

The Earth’s Resources

  On the Earth there are a lot of natural resources which help people satisfy their needs and wants. Natural resources –naturally occurring materials that can be used to produce goods and services – exist as a part of the environment and are an important part of an area’s characteristics. The natural resources are divided into exhaustible and inexhaustible. The difference between exhaustible and inexhaustible is extremely important. If an exhaustible resource is not conserved, it ultimately disappears.

  Among the resources there are not only minerals, soil, water, forests, and wildlife, but also air and the energy of the sun which people know how to make use of. People convert them into useful machines, tools and foods. Even the most desolate and isolated areas of the world contain at least some resources or materials that people use to meet basic needs.

  Not all people in the world use natural resources in the same way. There are some factors that affect the use of natural resources: cultural differences, technological change, economic factors, and others. People in different times and places may have different ideas about whether something supplied by nature can be used as a natural resource. Technological changes make it possible to use previously unevaluated natural resources. In the 1700’s people did not use uranium ores and did not find them to be useful resources. Uranium gained value only after modern advances which were able to show its advantage as a source of nuclear energy.

Besides, there are economic factors that influence the way people use natural resources. Scarcity and rising prices have always led people to seek substitutes for costly resources. In colonial days, for example, people burned whale oil for lighting. As demand for whale oil rose, more and more whales were hunted. Eventually overhunting made whales harder to find and prices rose. As a result, people looked for cheaper substitutes. In time they found a way to make kerosene from petroleum. Because kerosene cost less than whale oil, it quickly replaced whale oil as a lighting fuel.

 

Comprehension check

A. Answer the questions.

a) Why are natural resources important?

b) What is the difference between exhaustible and inexhaustible resources?

c) What factors affect the value and use of natural resources?

d) How do technological advances and economic factors change the way people meet their needs?

e) What happens if a resource becomes rare and expensive?

B. What is the main idea of each paragraph of the text? Think of a title for each paragraph.

C.Put at least one question to every paragraph of the text.

D. Translate the text.

 

9. Vocabulary. Make nouns from the following verbs:

to concentrate, to exist, to deposit, to change, to demand, to locate, to use, to expect, to discover, to resist, to forecast.

10. Vocabulary. Match the verbs from a) with the nouns (or phrases) from b) to make word combinations.

a) to meet, to produce, to convert, to gain, to have demand for, to find, to replace, to look for, to affect, to regard, to use;

b) natural resources, materials into tools and food, whale oil, value, the use of resources, goods and services, fuel, a substitute, in the same way, a way, needs.

 

11. Vocabulary. Pay attention to the prefix over in the words below. What does it mean? Translate the words.

Overuse, Overconsumption, overpopulation, overexploitation, oversimplifying, overfertilizing.  

 

12. Vocabulary. Fill in the gaps with necessary propositions.

1) A natural resource’s value is based … the amount of the material available and the demand … it.

2) Developed nations are those which are less dependent … natural resources … their wealth, due … their greater reliance … production.

3) Both extraction … the basic resource and refining it … a purer, usable form are considered natural-resource activities.

4) Resources can be classified … basis … their origin as biotic and abiotic.

5) Fossil fuels, … example, take millions … years to form and so are not considered renewable.

6) Many environmentalists proposed to tax … consumption … non-renewable resources. 

7) High prices have always caused people seek substitutes …. costly resources.

 

13. Vocabulary. Translate the word combinations into English:

удовлетворять потребности, экономические факторы, искать заместители, производить товары и услуги, приобретать ценность, рассматривать как, неисчерпаемые ресурсы.

14. Vocabulary. Try to explain the following words and word combinations in English.

natural resources, exhaustible resources, to recycle resources, economic factors, advantage of some material, find substitutes for a resource, overuse.                                 

 

15. Vocabulary. Put the words given below into the gaps.

Man is the most highly evolved animal that has always been dependent on …. The development enabled him to identify materials of nature and … them for his comfort. He converted most of the natural … for his own interest. This was possible later, when development and technological ….  allowed to transform these natural sources into ….  goods. Thus, natural resources can be defined as ….  of the nature, that can be used by human beings for their development, comfort and to meet their ….. At present, total global production is nearly enough to satisfy the human … for energy and materials. Now the boundaries of  ….  are from polar ice to equatorial mountain tops and from deep ocean to ionosphere of sky. Everything which is … in this environment is …  as natural resource.

Words to put into the gaps: materials, environment, valuable, regarded, nature, resources, needs, demand, available, advance, to use.

 

16. Skills development. Give a summary of the text about natural resources (Ex. 8) using the following word combinations.

  to satisfy needs and wants, naturally occurring materials, exhaustible resources, to convert into useful things, to affect the use of, to regard the area, unevaluated resources, to gain value, economic factors, to seek substitutes (for), costly resources. 

17. Grammar: ways to translate THERE IS (ARE). Translate the sentences.

1) There is a growing concern over the protection of species habitat and biodiversity.

2) There have been many reports about deforestation which is destroying large areas of tropical rain forests.

3) There was no mistaking the pride with which he spoke about the success of their project.

4) There have been no experiments done in the marine environment that are equivalent to those done in the Mediterranean.

5) There would be problems if there were more rain.

6) There seems to be a lot of sense in his suggestion.

7) There is no possibility to stop the progress in industry.

8) There are no problems of pollution associated with solar energy use, except those related to the devices that may be used to capture or transport this energy.

9) On occasion in borders of parks there can be land areas of other users and also proprietors.

10) Since the heat and energy is collected during the warm seasons and used during the cold seasons, there must be a way to collect that energy efficiently and sustainably.

18. Grammar: THERE IS (ARE). Translate the sentences into English.

1) Существует постоянный поток энергии на поверхность и с поверхности Земли.

2) Есть несколько видов ископаемого топлива, которые являются исчерпаемыми источниками энергии. Это означает, что, когда они израсходуются, их невозможно будет заменить.

3) Наблюдается чрезмерное потребление энергии, воды и сырья, что в результате приведет к загрязнению воздуха.

4) Происходит выделение неразлагающихся продуктов, которое добавляет загрязнение в атмосферу.

5) Есть и другие ресурсы, которые рассматриваются как неисчерпаемые, например, солнечная энергия.

6) Во всем мире ведутся обсуждения по поводу распределения природных ресурсов, и это особенно важно в период растущего дефицита (scarcity).

 

19. Skills development. Ways to explain complicated concepts. Make full sentences.

 

Sustainable development means	as it is stable and available in plenty.
Solar energy is considered	that people meet their needs without destroying the environment.
Solar energy is referred to as sustainable energy source	as a renewable resource. People replant trees.
Forests are regarded	a sustainable energy source.

 

Talk about wind energy as an inexhaustible energy source. 

Talk about oil and coal as an exhaustible fossil fuels.

Unit 5