Nature pollutionFor thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment. Nature has served Man, and it seemed that natural riches were unlimited. We have upset nature’s sensitive equilibrium releasing harmful substances into the air, polluting rivers and oceans with industrial waste and tearing up the countryside to accommodate rubbish. Pollution covers many things which can happen to the land, in towns and the country, because of our activities. Rubbish tips, dumped poisonous chemicals, broken cars, thrown away bottles and dropped sweet papers are types of land pollution. Some types of land pollution except they are just unpleasant to look at, can be dangerous to people and to animals. Faun animals injure themselves on old tins and bottles. Young children are sometimes hurt while playing in broken – down cars. Small animals crawl into bottles and die because they cannot get out. Poisoned soil can make animals and people very ill. There are many consequences of damaging the environment: acid rain, water shortage resulting from abuse of arable lands in agriculture, damage to wild-life. According to the International Union for the Protection of Nature 76 species of animals and some hundred species of plants have disappeared from the planet in the course of the last 60 years. 132 mammal and 26 bird species face extinction not so much due to hunting as due to the pollution of the biosphere. In the 20th century with the rapid growth of science and technology human achievements in conquering nature became so great that man’s economic activities began to produce an increasingly negative effect on the biosphere. In 1952 many people died in London as a result of air pollution. This pollution came from coal fires in fire-places and from power stations. It combined with the winter fog to form poisonous smog. Vast forests are cut and burnt in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result a number of rivers and lakes dry up. By now the pollution and poisoning of the soil, water and air have reached a critical level. Environmental pollution has become a significant obstacle to economic growth. The discharge of dust and gas into the atmosphere returns to the Earth in the form of “acid rains” and affects crop, the quality of forests, the amount of fish. To this can be added the rise of chemicals, radioactivity, noise and other types of pollution. Our duty is to help to prevent it. Grammar study: Participle II в функции определения (см. пункт 2 Section II, Part I) и Gerund (см. пункт 2, Grammar Study, Part I, Introduction.). Exercise 2 . Translate Participle II in the word combinations: dumped chemicals, broken cars, thrown away bottles, dropped papers, poisoned soils, damaged nature, conquered space, cut forest, upset balance, discharged harmful substance. Exercise 3. Define the form of the –ing words in the text: releasing, polluting, tearing up, damaging, resulting from, conquering.
Exercise 4 . Insert the proper words into the sentences: 1. Nature has served man and people lived in harmony with (окружающая среда). 2. A lot of broken and thrown away things can (загрязнять) land. 3. Both animals and people (получать повреждения) meeting old tins and broken bottles. 4. There are many (последствия) of damaging (окружающая среда). 5. For last several years (вымирание) of many (породы) of animals took place. 6. The products of burning combined with the winter fog form (ядовитый смог). 7. (Загрязнение окружающей среды) has become a significant (препятствие) to economic growth. 8. (Выброс вредных газов) into the atmosphere badly effects the nature and people’s health. 9. Our duty is to (предотвратить) (загрязнение) of nature.
Exercise 5 . Translate into English: 1. Люди нарушают равновесие в природе, выбрасывая вредные вещества в воздух, воду и почву. 2. Бытовые и промышленные отходы наносят вред природе. 3. В результате деятельности человека происходит загрязнение окружающей среды. 4. Различные типы загрязнения не только неприятны на вид, но и опасны. 5. Люди и животные, подвергающиеся воздействию загрязнителей, могут болеть и даже умирать. 6. Из-за загрязнения биосферы многие виды животных и птиц исчезли. 7. Бурная деятельность человека нанесла непоправимый ущерб природе. 8. В результате обширной вырубки лесов нарушился кислородный баланс. 9. Отравление почвы, воды, воздуха стало значительным препятствием экономического роста. 10. Следует предотвратить загрязнение окружающей среды вредными газами, химикатами и радиоактивными веществами. Exercise 6. Read the additional text with the help of the words:
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