Find English equivalents in the text for the following words:

1 prevent air arriving at nose and mouth by use of a soft object

2 rapid multiplication, reproduction

3 too rapid using up of food, energy, materials, etc

4 existing as a natural and permanent part or quality of

5 factories

6 supersonic transport

7 risky

8 secondary or indirect effect

9 quick, imperfect view 

10 enlarged view of sth

11 marked to show what something is, where it is to go, etc

12 exact, free from error

13 not valid, not sound, not well-based

14 of new fashion (generally pejorative)

15 reaching an opinion about a possibility beyond the strict evidence of facts, events

16 research team

17 inconsistent, opposed in character, unable to exist in harmony

18 extreme scarcity of food for a group of people

19 prospering, well and active

20 showing sound judgement and common sense, astute

21 twelfth sign of the Zodiac, Latin for 'Fish'

22 assess, evaluate

23 prominent article in a newspaper or magazine

24 buying and selling of stocks and shares

25 looking forward a long way in the future

26 programme or timetable

27 look closely, as if unable to see well

28 complex and refined

29 instruments

30 statistics of births, deaths, diseases, etc

31 range of action or observation

32 person who predicts the future

33 unsystematic, unplanned

34 prevent from happening

35 far away

36 a place of temporary suffering, after death, in the Christian faith

37 trap, unsuspected snare or danger

38 firmly established, of a plant

39 support

 

15. Read and translate Text 4:

DEMOCRACY VS. THE ATOM

TECHNOLOGICAL EUPHORIA

Formerly, rulers were blamed by their subjects for endless wars, ex­ploitation and cruelty. But the rulers of today's industrial democracies are suspected of sins no less grave: levity, irresponsibility, even reck­lessness. They have, their subjects fear, fallen prey to technological euphoria. Parliaments either do not decide these matters or do not know what they are talking about; posterity, to whom we will be­queath the poisonous, carcino­genic, perhaps mutagenic gar­bage of our nuclear civilization, is not represented in the councils of state; the level of acceptable risk is decided for our societies by techno­cratic fiat rather than by decisions democratically arrived at. Admittedly, the nuclear issue is complex. At a recent international conference, this baffling com­plexity led to the somewhat helpless summary: 'For every expert who says mankind cannot live with nu­clear energy, there is at least one more who says mankind cannot live without it.' Primordial fears of the atom, a democratic horror of inscrutable decision making pro­cesses and, perhaps, the lure of yet another cause worth demon­strating, protesting and fighting about - these make up a potent mixture. And the whole issue un­deniably poses a serious challenge to democracy. How do we define tech­nological problems in a democratic system? How do we clear up mis­understandings, disperse doubts, handle the manifestations of objec­tors? How can we harness the planners and make them respons­ible, or at least responsive, to the people? These questions must be answered lest democracy be tram­pled underfoot as technology marches on.(Newsweek)

 

16. Find English equivalents in the text for the following words:

1 lack of seriousness

2 rashness, action taken without thinking of the consequences

3 become the victims of

4 unreal sense of well-being

5 leave (money, etc) to a person when one dies

6 causing cancer

7 causing change in the structure of genes

8 waste matter, Br more usu rubbish

9 order or decree

10 puzzling; too difficult to understand

11 existing since the beginning of life on earth

12 that cannot be understood or known

13 temptation, attraction, enticement

14 powerful

15 eliminate

16 control, make positive use of

17 in order that.....not

18 crushed under the feet

17. Discussion:

1. From these articles, does it seem to you that mankind is coming towards his own destruction? Are they much too pessimistic?

2. Nuclear energy can, and has already been, used for destructive purposes. Why do you think most countries want to possess nuclear weapons, even when they know that if they used ebon they could precipitate a conflict that might destroy the world?

3. What methods can we use for controlling the population? Should these methods be imposed on people by the Government of each country?

4. What do you think of the idea that population control proposals are a racist plot by the rich countries to keep the developing nations weak and powerless?

5. What factors account for the present imbalance in the distribution of the world's food resources? Should countries who have enough food share it with those who have less? Practically, how could they do this?

6. What is the use of being able to predict the future? What are the advantages and disadvantages of predictions which are very pessimistic?

18. Translate into English:

Глобальное потепление — процесс постепенного увеличения среднегодовой температуры атмосферы Земли и Мирового океана. Научное мнение, выраженное Межгосударственной группой экспертов по изменению климата ООН, и непосредственно поддержанное национальными академиями наук стран «Большой восьмёрки», заключается в том, что средняя температура по Земле поднялась на 0,7 °C со времени начала промышленной революции (со второй половины XVIII века), и что «бо́льшая доля потепления, наблюдавшегося в последние 50 лет, вызвана деятельностью человека», в первую очередь выбросом газов, вызывающих парниковый эффект, таких как углекислый газ и метан.

Оценки, полученные по климатическим моделям, на которые ссылается МГЭИК, говорят, что в XXI веке средняя температура поверхности Земли может повыситься на величину от 1,1 до 6,4 °C. В отдельных регионах температура может немного понизиться. Как ожидается, потепление и подъём уровня Мирового океана будут продолжаться на протяжении тысячелетий, даже в случае стабилизации уровня парниковых газов в атмосфере. Этот эффект объясняется большой теплоёмкостью океанов.

Помимо повышения уровня Мирового океана повышение глобальной температуры также приведёт к изменениям в количестве и распределении атмосферных осадков. В результате могут участиться природные катаклизмы, такие как наводнения, засухи, ураганы и другие, понизится урожай сельскохозяйственных культур и исчезнут многие биологические виды. Потепление должно, по всей вероятности, увеличивать частоту и масштаб таких явлений.

Некоторые исследователи считают, что глобальное потепление — это миф, часть учёных отвергает возможность влияния человека на этот процесс. Есть те, кто не отрицает факт потепления и допускает его антропогенный характер, но не соглашается с тем, что наиболее опасными из воздействий на климат являются промышленные выбросы парниковых газов.

 

19. Group work and essays:

1. Discuss the ways o make your University greener.

2. Making personal lifestyle changes will never stop global warming. Do you agree or disagree?

3. Discuss the impact of different means of transport on the environment. Should we use vehicles less, fly less? What are the environmentally-friendly means of transport?

4. What is your attitude to recycling? How can it be made more effective?

5. Give talks on different kinds of pollution.

UNIT 7

THE BRITISH LAW SYSTEM

1. Read and translate Text 1:

The police and the public

There was a time when a supposedly typical British policeman could be found in every tourist brochure for Britain. His strange-looking helmet and the fact that he did not carry a gun made him a unique symbol for tourists. The image of the friendly British 'bobby', with his fatherly manner, was also well-known within the country. This positive image was not a complete myth. The system of policing was based on each police officer having his own 'beat', a particular neighbourhood which it was his duty to patrol. He usually did this on foot or sometimes by bicycle. The local bobby was a familiar figure on the streets, a reassur­ing presence that people felt they could trust absolutely.

In the 1960s the situation began to change in two ways. First, in response to an increasingly motorized society, and therefore increas­ingly motorized crime, the police themselves started patrolling in cars. As a result, individual police officers became remote figures and stopped being the familiar faces that they once were. At the same time, the police found themselves having to deal increasingly with public demonstrations and with the activities of a generation who had no experience of war and therefore no obvious enemy-figure on which to focus their youthful feelings of rebellion. These young people started to see the police as the symbol of everything they disliked about society. Police officers were no longer known as 'bobbies' but became the 'fuzz' or the 'cops' or the 'pigs'.

Since the middle years of the twentieth century, the police in Britain have lost much of their positive image. A child who is lost is still advised to find a police officer, but the sight of one no longer creates a general feeling of reassurance. In the 1980s there were a large number of cases in which it was found that police officers had lied and cheated in order to get people convicted of crimes. As a result, trust in the honesty and incorruptibility of the police has declined.

Nevertheless, there is still a great deal of public sympathy for the police. It is felt that they are doing an increasingly difficult job under difficult circumstances. The assumption that their role is to serve the public rather than to be agents of the government persists. Police officers often still address members of the public as 'sir' or 'madam'. Senior officers think it is important for the police to establish a rela­tionship with local people, and the phrase 'community policing' is now fashionable. Some police have even started to patrol on foot again. Generally speaking, the relationship between police and public in Britain compares quite favourably with that in some other European countries. British police still do not carry guns in the course of normal duty (although all police stations have a store of weapons).

2. Answer the following questions:

1. Why was a typical British policeman a unique symbol for tourists previously?

2. In what two ways did the situation begin to change in the 1960s?

3. How did the nicknames for policemen change?

4. What led to the policemen losing their positive image?

5. Why do public still feel sympathy for the police?

3. Find English equivalents to the following:

Носить оружие; отцовская манера; патрулировать участок; в ответ на; общественные демонстрации; опыт войны; фигура врага; осудить за преступление; вера в честность и неподкупность полиции; служить обществу; устанавливать взаимоотношения.

4. Find the words in the text according to the definitions:

1. very special, unusual, existing in one place;

2. an opinion that people have about someone or something;

3. an area that a police officer has responsibility for and must walk around regularly;

4. to be confident that someone is honest, fair and reliable;

5. well known or easily recognized;

6. to take action to do something, especially to solve a problem;

7. a group of people in society who are born and live around the same time;

8. an attempt to remove a government or leader by force;

9. the act of feeling less worried about something;

10. to behave dishonestly or not obey rules;

11. to become less or worse;

12. the facts or conditions that affect a situation.

5. Fill in the gaps in this paragraph:

Spate         juvenile                committed tackle/combat

Breaking  fight                      stealing     offenders      

Police are concerned about the growing number of offences that are being 1….. by young people in our town. They say that increasing numbers of youngsters are 2….. into people’s houses or 3….. their cars. Indeed, police claim that it is probably young 4….. who are to blame for the recent 5….. of burglaries in our town. Police are proposing a special campaign to 6…. The problem and are asking for the public’s support in this 7….. against 8….. crime.

6. Translate into English:

В Британии не существует национальной полиции. Все служащие полиции работают в одном из примерно сорока отдельных подразделений, каждое из которых отвечает за определенную географическую территорию. Первоначально, эти подразделения организовывались по-отдельности на местном уровне. И лишь позднее центральное правительство получило над ними определенный контроль. Представители центрального правительства инспектируют подразделения и назначают руководство. Взамен, подразделения получают примерно половину средств для своего финансирования. Вторая половина поступает из фондов органов местного самоуправления.

Исключение составляет Полицейское Управление Лондона (the Metropolitan Police Force), которое отвечает за охрану правопорядка в Центральном Лондоне. Данное подразделение находится под прямым контролем центрального правительства. На него возложены централизованные функции регистрации преступлений и преступников в Англии и Уэльсе, а также составления регистра пропавших без вести граждан. Штаб-квартирой отдела уголовных расследований (Criminal Investigation Department (CID) является Новый Скотланд Ярд (New Scotland Yard). 

7. Read and translate Text 2: