Unit 4. The population of the world

TASK 1. Read the text paying attention to the words in bold type. Look up their meaning in the Glossary:

People have lived on earth for at least 2 million years. For most of that time, population size remained steady, because the number of people born roughly equaled the number that died. Disease and famine ensured that the size of the population did not overtake supplies of food and other resources. However, as farming methods became more efficient and medical knowledge improved, population size rapidly began to increase. It now stands in excess of 6 billion people, with more than one million babies born every four days. In many parts of the world, rapid population growth has created serious problems, such as food shortages and overcrowding in cities.

People are not evenly distributed among the world’s continents. The fact that a continent is large, such as North America, does not necessarily mean that it has a large population. Some regions cannot support more than a few people, while others, with fertile soils and good communications, can support many. The average number of people who live in a square mile, or kilometer, in each country is called population density.

Before the 19th century, cities with more than a million people were rare. In the last 100 years, however, the number of large cities has grown dramatically.

Today, several cities, such as Tokyo, already have populations of more than 20 million. This means that some cities have more people than some entire countries do, such as New Zealand or Sweden. Large cities often suffer from pollution, caused by car exhausts, factory emissions, and domestic waste. At the start of the 20th century, only one in ten people lived in a city. The vast majority lived in rural areas and worked on the land. Today, about half the world’s population consists of city dwellers. There are various reasons for this growth. For example, in South America people have been pushed out of the countryside by poverty and loss of land and are drawn to the cities in search of work. By 2020, if the growth continues, almost half of all people will live in a city.

TASK 2. Read the text and choose an appropriate title for each part of it:

a) Where People Live

b) Super Cities

c) Population Growth

 

TASK 3. Answer the questions in writing:

1. For how many years have people lived on earth?

2. Why did the population size remain steady for most of that time?

3. What did disease and famine ensure?

4. Why did population size rapidly begin to increase?

5. How many babies are born every four days in the present world?

6. What serious problems has rapid population growth created in many parts of the world?

7. Are people evenly distributed among the world’s continents?

8. Does a large continent have a large population?

9. What is called population density?

10. What do large cities often suffer from?

 

TASK 4. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following words and word combinations and write them down:

1. Размер населения

2. Начал быстро расти

3. Превышает

4. Создал проблемы

5. Недостаток продовольствия

6. Равномерно распределяются

7. Среднее количество

8. Плотность населения

9. Страдают от загрязнения

10. В поисках работы

 

TASK 5. Match the columns:

1. Population 2. Disease 3. Increase 4. Shortage 5. Poverty

a) become or make greater in size, amount, intensity, or degree b) all the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country c) the state of being extremely poor d) a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, esp. one that produces specific signs or symptoms e) a state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts

TASK 6: Retell the text in short using the new words. Begin your sentences with one of the given phrases:

1. First it is stated that …

2. Then the author goes on to the description of …

3. It is interesting to note that …

4. The fact is that …

5. It should be emphasized that …

6. In the end it is concluded that …

7. In my opinion …