Text 2. The Environmental Problems of the World

Task 7. Read and translate the text. Comment on the environment problems of the world.

There are so many problems that face the world today. Many of these problems are attributed to the environment. Environment is defined as the surrounding that has an influence either externally or internally on the organism. An organism therefore can be affected positively or negatively by the environmental situation. Scientists argue that as globalization continues and the local problems are transformed into national, international and the problems of the society. Indeed it’s only a few societies that are untouched by the major environmental problems.

One of the main environmental problems that are evident in today’s world is pollution. There are several forms of pollution that occur in the environment and therefore they pose a very big threat to the existence of the organisms.

One form of pollution is air pollution. Air pollution includes all contaminants that are found in the atmosphere and can either be in form of particles or gases. These substances are considered harmful to an organism because they can cause poisoning or even kill. Sources of air pollution can be human or natural. In today’s world however, human beings have dominated in producing increasing amounts of pollution.

In addition to the problem of air pollution, another environmental problem facing the world today is the dumping of wastes in the environment. Human beings often damp wastes which is very dangerous and hazardous to the organisms. Due to the continued growth of industries the levels of dangerous wastes continue to grow.

Dumping of wastes simply starts when an individual throws out goods without realizing that they can be harmful to the environment.

Apart from the above problems, the environment today is facing very serious problem in the destruction of the rainforests. As compared to other problems in the environment, this issue has been in the media and public attention. Despite the many outcries of cutting down of trees, the problem still persists.

Global warming also referred to as the greenhouse effect is another environmental problem that is facing the world. This issue has received international attention in today’s world. Several bodies like the government, the scientists and the environmentalist concern about the issue because its one of the biggest threats of human beings and organisms.

Global warming occurs when the gases get together above the earth surface and make the earth to be like the greenhouse. These gases further trap heat near the surface of the earth threatening the environment. Global warming today is very dangerous because in the near future the temperatures might rise to higher degrees and may pose a greater problem in the environment. The hurricanes, droughts and floods are some of the possible causes of global warming and these problems will worsen our environment.

Recycling is an important issue nowadays. Unfortunately, people have always polluted their surroundings. The development of big industrial cities has led to the concentration of huge amounts of waste into small areas. When rubbish is burnt, this pollutes the atmosphere. When it is buried in landfill sites, it can cause pollution of water supplies. So the obvious solution of this problem is recycling

Many people think that they can’t solve the world’s environmental problems on their own and that the government and big companies must care about these problems. However, others say that individuals can do much to help the environment.

Some people say that we should invest money in ecology projects, while others believe that nature is doing well by itself.

Word Check

Task 8. Memorize the key terms, concepts, expressions and their meaning.

1.	attribute	относиться, быть характерным
2.	environment	окружающая среда
3.	externally or internally	внешне и внутренне
4.	affect	воздействовать
5.	pollution	загрязнение окружающей среды
6.	occur	случаться, иметь место
7.	pose	позиционировать
8.	contaminant	загрязнение, заражение
9.	dumping of wastes	сброс отходов
10.	dangerous and hazardous	опасный и рискованный
11.	destruction of the rainforest	разрушение тропического леса
12.	persist	продолжать существовать
13.	droughts [драут]	засуха
14.	flood	наводнение, половодье
15.	recycling	переработка

Task 9. Answer the following questions, solve the problems, do the tasks.

 

1. Comment on the title of the text.

2. What is environment? Support your answer.

3. What main environmental problems exist in the world?

4. What forms of pollution occur in the environment?

5. Are substances considered to be harmful to an organism?

6. What other environmental problems face the world to day?

7. Explain the concept “damping of wastes”?

8. Exchange information about the destruction of the rainforests?

9. Explain causes of global warming.

10. What is recycling and is it an important issue nowadays?

 

Task 10. Explain the meaning of the following words and word combinations:

Environment; pollution; dumping of wastes; destruction of the rainforest; global warming; recycling; droughts; flood.

 

Task 11. Make up the list of key words and word combinations from Text 2 (7-10 units).

 

Task 12. Make up the list of key sentences from Text 2 (7-10 units).

Task 13. Compose your own plan of Text 2 in the form of questions, sentences or statements (5-7 units).

 

Task 14. Retell the basic contents of Text 2 according to the plan, using the tasks: 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 (100-150 words).

 

Task 15. Do the test.