Trees - the rings of our life 


Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!



ЗНАЕТЕ ЛИ ВЫ?

Trees - the rings of our life



 

From ancient times to the present day humanity has been closely linked with the forests. Our ancestors knew about the significance of trees as early as 2000 years ago. They occupied a special place in popular beliefs, for instance, in the Celtic Druid culture in ancient Ireland and Brittany. The Druids used to withdraw from the world for 20 years in a forest. They believed that forest was a “sacred grave” for them and they had spent their time there in meditation. Pliny the Elder, the Roman writer believed that he could invoke the past, foresee the future and determine happy and fatal days of the calendar. He related in his books that Druids had likened people and their characters to trees, an analogy which they had taken very seriously. They maintained that every human being like every tree had characteristic features, merits and drawbacks.

A tree is a philosophy. Take a tree stump and look at it attentively. Like the famous Japanese stone gardens the tree also makes you think.

Today the forest is viewed as a source of raw materials for various branches of the economy. It is sad to have to admit that man has to protect nature primarily from himself. On the other hand there is a growing trend towards preserving and renewing the forest as one of the chief nature – transforming factors in the Earth's ecological system. If used rationally, the forest will not diminish. Unlike mineral resources it permanently renews itself.

General understanding

Read the text attentively and answer the following questions.

1. When did our ancestors know about the significance of trees?

2. How did Druids treat the forest?

3. What did they do in the forest?

4. Were the Druids astrologists?

5. What could they invoke?

6. What did Druids liken people and their characters to?

7. Is a tree a philosophy? Why?

8. How is forest viewed today?

9. What does man have to protect nature from?

10. What is the trend today?

 

 

Vocabulary

 

Exercise 1. Match the English words in A with their Russian equivalents in B.

 

A. B.

1. link 1. недостатки

2. significance 2. пень

3. feature 3. связывать

4. drawbacks 4. особенность, черта

5. stump 5. преобразовывать

6. protect 6. защищать

7. preserve 7. сохранять

8. transform 8. значение, важность

9. diminish 9. уменьшать, убавлять

 

Exercise 2. Find the English equivalents to the following Russian.

 

древний; тесно; уходить; проводить время; предвидеть; определять; сравнивать; человек; достоинства; заставлять; источник; рассматривать; признавать; в первую очередь; с другой стороны; в отличие от; постоянно.

 

Exercise 3. Choose the words from the text which have the similar meaning.

 

primitive; importance; connect; for example; go away; predict; compare; shortcomings; consider; in the first place; main; constantly.

 

Exercise 4. Fill in the blanks with the words from the box.

 

 

 

1. People have used wood for construction purposes since ________ times. 2.

The ________of wood as indispensable raw material ________ with every year. 3. Druids drew analogy between people and _________ and composed horoscopes. 4.Each species has its _______ and ________. 5. The sound ________ of western red cedar can stay in the forest for several centuries. 6. Looking at the stump left after the tree had been felled you may _________ the age of this tree. 7. Timber is a ________ material, as it can restore itself without man’s help. 8. Wood is indispensable ________ for various ________ of our economy. 9. Our aim is to _________ forests from their enemies.

 

Grammar

Exercise 1. Find 4 sentences in the text where the "Sequence of Tenses" is observed.

 

Exercise 2. Put the verb of the principal sentence into the Past Indefinite Tense and make the necessary changes as in model.

 

Model: Hob says his friend is a woodman.

Hob said that his friend was a woodman.

 

1. The students wonder what people were the first to use wood. 2. The speaker stresses that the best way to preserve timber is to keep it dry. 3. Scientists come to the conclusion that the strength properties of wood depend on its structure. 4. The investigations show that wood was one of the earliest materials used for construction. 5. Students want to know if there is a more important raw material than wood. 6. The professor asks the students where they will work after graduation from the University. 7. The students want to know if wood is a homogeneous or heterogeneous material. 8. Specialists wonder how the parts of a tree apart from a stem can be used. 9. The archeologists tell us that things made of wood were used 3500 years ago. 10. The students are told that this species workability is very high.

 

Exercise 3. Open the brackets and choose the correct form of the verb.

 

1. I was sure that I (should pass; passed; will pass) the exam in wood science with a good mark.

2. He was sure that the work offered to him by the company (was; has been; is) interesting.

3. Egon Gleisinger from London pointed out in the 50-ies that the yield of sawn wood (represents; represented; had represented) only 50% of the weight of the original tree. He considered that branchwood, slabs, off-cuts (had to be turned;

 

4. must be turned, were turned) into many useful products.

5. The speaker stressed that tropical forests, the main oxygen producers (are shrinking; had shrinked; were shrinking) by 1 per cent a year.

6. The International Union for the Protection of Nature reported that forests (had disappeared; were disappearing; will disappear) at a rate of 20 hectares a minute.

7. Forestry Commission of Great Britain recognized that substancial areas of new forests (are established; must be established; had to be established) on sites where there (are; were; had been) no trees for generations.

Exercise 4. Read short texts, pay attention to the sentences where sequence of tenses is observed and answer the questions.

 

a) Roentgen found that radiation from a cathode-ray tube was able to penetrate thin matter like wood but was stopped by thicker objects such as pieces of metal and bones. Three years later in 1898 Marie and Pierre Curie discovered that radium sent out rays consisting of particles smaller than the atom. After these two discoveries physicists saw that the whole traditional concept of the structure of matter had to be completely revised. In 1905 Albert Einstein declared that matter could be converted into energy – very little matter into very great energy. And at last Rutherford and Niels Bohr developed their revolutionary theory and declared what the atom was really like.

 

 

1. What contributed to the revision of traditional concept of the structure of matter?

 

b) It is interesting to know that Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, was known for the invention of dynamite. Everything that he invented served military purposes. He understood how terrible his inventions were, but he easily forgot about them saying: ”The things which we develop are terrible indeed, but they are so interesting and so perfect technically that it makes them more attractive”.

But one morning, while looking through a French newspaper Nobel read about…his own death. The paper described his inventions as “terrible means of destruction” and he was named “a dynamite king” and “a merchant of death”. The thought that his name would always be connected with dynamite and death shook Nobel. He felt he could never be happy again. He decided to use all his money (about 2.000.000 pounds) for some noble purpose.

According to his will, prizes for the “most outstanding achievements” in physics, chemistry, medicine, physiology, literature and fight for peace are awarded every year. Nobel prizes have become the highest international scientific awards. Perhaps it's an irony of life that some of Nobel prize winners

helped to make the atom bomb.

 

1. What is the origin of the Nobel prize?

 

Speaking

Speak about:

1. The place of trees in the life of our ancestors.

2. The present trend in relation to forests.

 

Unit 7

 
 
Conditional Sentences


Grammar:

 

On Forests and Wood

 

Throughout the whole history of mankind wood has been one of man’s most valuable natural resources. Being an easily available material wood has been used in a wide variety of applications.

Even in the rapidly changing world of today, wood and wood products continue to serve mankind in thousands of ways. Of all our natural resources wood is the only one which is capable of reproducing itself in a relatively short time period – a condition which makes wood one of our most valuable materials. All of those who deal with wood must have a good knowledge of this material and the ways in which it can serve the man.

If forests, trees and wood disappeared suddenly, life would change greatly. Having a great number of artificial materials at our disposal we still depend on forests and forest products. How would our houses be furnished without lumber and veneer? If there were no forests, millions of people would never enjoy a good rest in the shadow of trees. If wood suddenly disappeared, we should not receive newspapers, our most important source of political, cultural and scientific information.

But for the forests the economy would be changed considerably. The forests and forest industry provide jobs directly or indirectly to millions of people. Many of the products we produce today cannot be duplicated by any other material and those which can be duplicated often lack the best qualities of wood.

Why is wood such an important material? The answer lies in the structure and composition of wood. The cellular structure gives wood high strength and makes wood very adaptable for cutting and shaping.

There are hundreds of species among softwoods and hardwoods. The wood of different species possesses numerous valuable properties such as high durability, attractive colour and pleasant odour. With proper management and utilization our forests can provide us with wood for a very long period of time. Wood will

always hold an important position in the life of people of all the countries.

 

General understanding

 

Read the text attentively and answer the following questions:

1. Why has wood been used in a wide variety of applications?

2. What makes wood one of the most valuable materials?

3. Why is it necessary to know well this material?

4. What might happen if wood disappeared suddenly?

5. Why do we still depend on wood?

6. What do forests and forest industry provide to millions of people?

7. Can all wood products be duplicated by other materials?

8. What makes wood such an important material?

9. Is wood easily worked?

10. What properties does wood of different species posses?

 

Vocabulary

 

Exercise 1. Match the English words in A with their Russian equivalents in B.

 

A 1. wide 2. variety 3. rapidly 4. capable 5. reproduce 6. deal with 7. depend on 8. furnish 9. cellular 10. shaping B 1. быстро 2. воспроизводить 3. разнообразие 4. клеточный 5. меблирование 6. способный 7. широкий 8. зависеть от 9. иметь дело с 10. придавать форму

Exercise 2. Find the English equivalents in the text to the following Russian.

 

легкодоступный; применение; путь (способ); сравнительно; условие; ценный; исчезать; значительно; целый ряд; искусственный; шпон; обеспечивать; прямо; косвенно; состав; прочность (2); использование.

 

Exercise 3. Choose the words from the text which have the similar meaning.

 

for the space of; accessible; usage; quickly; go on with serving; expertise; man-made; get; news; give; manufacture; grade; durability; supply; place.

Exercise 4. Fill in the blanks with the words from the box.

 

 

1. The transition zone from sapwood to heartwood contains living _______. 2. Strength ________ wood ________ and thickness of boards. 3. The most important property for timber in fencing is ________. 4. Furniture designs have re-flected fashion of every era and a _______ of old and new styles. 5. For gluing

________ we use resins containing minimum harmful agents. 6. Density is ________ related to the mechanical properties of wood. 7.The basis for safeguarding nature and wood lands in particular should be through good ________. 8. Fullsized ________ are often dried in a steam drier at the temperature to 320˚F and pressure to 35 psi. 9. ________ is the resultant of physical and chemical characteristics possessed by a tree. 10. Wood remains the nation’s most important renewable ________ for construction and furniture production.

 

Grammar

 

Exercise 1. Identify the type of the conditional sentences and translate them into Russian.

 

1. Wood burns well unless it is wet. 2. If the timber were dried carefully, it wouldn’t check and spit. 3. Had the conditions been unfavourable for wood-destroying fungi, the wood wouldn’t have decayed. 4. If dry wood is placed in a humid atmosphere, it absorbs water and swells. 5. The logs wouldn’t have been attacked by fungi and insects, if they had been taken from the woods and sawed into lumber at once. 6. But for the preservatives, the appearance of wood would be spoiled by different fungi. 7. Wood will serve for a long time, provided it is kept dry.

 

Exercise 2. Complete the conversation using the second conditional.

 

A: What (you / do) would you do if you (have) had a lot of money?

B: You mean, what (I / do)... if I (win)... the lottery or something?

A: Yes, how (you / spend)... it?

B: If I (win)... more than 10 000, I (save)... it.

A: But if you (not / win)... very much, say, if it (be)... only 1 000?

B: I (go)... on holiday or buy a music system. What (you / do)...?

A: I (not / waste)... money on a holiday.

I (buy)... the latest computer.

B: (you / give)... any of it to charity?

A: Yes, I... some of it.

 

Exercise 3. Fill in the correct form of the verb in the conditional sentences.

 

1. The trees would be attacked by many insects unless they (to protect) by bark. 2. If the temperature in the kiln had not been so high, the boards (to split). 3. There are special rules of drying lumber in piles. If these rules are followed, the attack of fungi and insects (to be) less probable. 4. If wood (to use) without preliminary drying, shrinkage would occur. 5. But for the sun, the trees (not grow). 6. If our sawn goods didn’t have such high quality, they (not be) in such a great demand abroad. 7. Providing no seeds (to fall) to the ground, not a single seedling would have appeared in spring. 8. Were they experienced loggers, they (to know) how to assess the quality of the logs.

Exercise 4. Finish the sentences.

 

1. If I have money, I shall buy...

2. If I had a library at home, I should collect...

3. Provided I went to London, I might see...

4. If I heard of his marriage, I should...

5. Provided the weather is bad, we shall...

6. If I were the Minister of Finance, I’d reduce...

7. If you had told me about your difficulties, I should have...

8. Unless I had taken a doctor’s advice, I could have...

 

Exercise 5. Study the interview given below and then try to answer the questions in the interview yourselves.

 



Поделиться:


Последнее изменение этой страницы: 2016-07-16; просмотров: 402; Нарушение авторского права страницы; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!

infopedia.su Все материалы представленные на сайте исключительно с целью ознакомления читателями и не преследуют коммерческих целей или нарушение авторских прав. Обратная связь - 18.207.104.87 (0.038 с.)