ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF BIG CITIES

There are over 150 super cities in the world with population from one to 15 million and more. Tokyo, New York, London, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Moscow are just a few of the cities which have become super cities.

People in the super cities suffer from polluted environment: bad water, bad air and noise. A new term, urban climate, is used now for such cities. It means high temperature, oppressive atmosphere and intensive smog. Smog can make people feel ill and have difficulty in breathing. In Mexico City just breathing the air is life threatening. It is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same situation is in 600 cities of the former Soviet Union.

Air is polluted by the release of harmful substances, smoke from chimneys and exhaust fumes from cars. The problem is especially bad in some cities where there is no much wind and a brown layer of smog hangs in the air.

Some experts consider that it is practically impossible to protect the big cities from pollution. The World Health Organization (WHO) was studying air pollution around the world for over eight years. It measured two things: the level of sulphur dioxide (S02) in the air and the level of smoke. Sulphur dioxide and smoke pollute water and have serious effect on forest, buildings and health of people.

In the WHO report it is shown that the cities with the most considerable level of S02 in the air are Milan, Teheran, Prague, Santiago and Sao Paulo. However, the atmosphere in some cities with clean air gets worse in winter. Helsinki, for example, becomes one of the cities with the largest proportion of S02 in the air in winter. This must be connected with the heating of houses. One can also mention Glasgow and Warsaw which suffer in the same way.

7. Прочитайте текст ещё раз и письменно ответьте на вопрос:

Why does the atmosphere in some cities with clean air become worse in winter?

Перепишите и переведите предложения. Помните, что перевод сложных форм инфинитива и инфинитивных оборотов соответствуют придаточным предложениям.

1. The hardware capabilities can be extended.

2. I know the operator to have returned.

3. We heard the computer work.

Перепишите и переведите предложения. Обратите внимание на перевод зависимого и независимого причастных оборотов.

1. Working on a computer, don’t put a lamp shining into your eyes.

2. If said, they will use the computer resources.

3. The programme being useless, we stopped this work.

Перепишите и переведите предложения. Обратите внимание на перевод условных предложений.

1. If you read the article, you will know more about hard disks.

2. If I used the Internet, I would find necessary information more easily.

3. If they had installed a more powerful central processing unit, they wouldn’t have had the problems in storing a lot of information.

Прочитайте и постарайтесь понять содержание текста. Переведите 1-й и 4-й абзацы.

COMPUTERS IN OUR LIFE

The computer is known to be a very important invention of the 20th century. The first electronic computer appeared to have the size of a large house, it being limited in power and unreliable. But computers developed quickly. Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions times more capable than the early ones. They being portable, we can carry them in a little bag.

Computers changed the world a lot. Almost anything you know is run or made by computers. We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. Computers give access to a lot of information. With a computer we can do a lot of things, for example: write, read newspapers, paint, count and do other things. They are used in hospitals, schools, aeroplanes, trains, at home - everywhere.

There are some disadvantages, of course. Computers can get viruses. Computers becoming out-of-date very quickly, they need to be replaced. The main disadvantage of computers is that staring at a screen for long periods of time can be damaging to the eyes, and sitting on a chair for hours is certainly not healthy. Also, people can be inclined to become antisocial.

However, the advantages of computers are numerous. Let us take their educational benefits. School subjects become more interesting when presented on a computer screen. In addition, computers are valuable to any business, saving time by being capable of storing and retrieving vast amounts of information at the touch of the button. If there had been no computers, modern technological process would have been impossible.

12. Прочитайте текст ещё раз и письменно ответьте на вопрос:

What problems can computers cause?

ВАРИАНТ V

Перепишите предложения. Выпишите из них глаголы-сказуемые, определите их видовременные формы, залог и укажите инфинитив. Переведитепредложения.

1. The forests in Amazonia, South-East Asia and West and Central Africa are being destroyed at a rate of 42 million acres per year.

2. The 5^th of June is proclaimed the World Environmental Day by the United Nations Organization and is celebrated every year.

3. Lake Baikal and its shores have been declared a specially protected zone of our country.

4. Environmental activists stressed that the problem of air pollution was caused by industrial pollution.

Перепишите предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на разные значения слов it, that, one.

1. It is generally agreed that the destruction of the tropical forest has a major impact on the world climate.

2. Deforestation can cause one forth of all species on the Earth to die out in the next 25 years.

3. About 66 per cent of all people are served by a water system that uses surface water.

4. One of the climatic effects of air pollution is acid rain.

Перепишите предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на разные значения глаголов tobe, tohave, todo.

1. Scientists project that between now and the year of 2030 we will have the increase in the average temperature between 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius.

2. The tropical forest is a natural protector for our planet.

3. We are to save our planet from destroying.

4. Does every country have a political programme to protect natural resources?

Перепишите предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на бессоюзное подчинение.

1. Industrial enterprises pollute the water we drink.

2. The cars we use cause air pollution.

Перепишите предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на функцию инфинитива.

1. To fine (штрафовать) polluting companies is the task of our government.

2. We are to remove factories and plants from cities.

3. Environmental protection agencies hold conferences discussing ecological problems to avoid an ecological catastrophe.

4. Nowadays most city centres are simply too noisy to live in.

Прочитайте и постарайтесь понять содержание текста. Переведите 2-й и 3-й абзацы.

WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT

Environmental books have mostly focused on men’s roles, and generally women’s involvement with nature has been ignored. So, the result is that women’s role in environmental struggles and debates about nature has been hidden from history. However, we can see women of every social class, nation, or color raise their concerns about the environment more openly. Women want to prove to the world that they can be a powerful force for positive changes in the environment and the world around them.

Women are called the main responsible actors in environmental contexts. Technological rationalization has produced environmental problems such as heaps of packaging waste, nondegradable plastics, poisoned grounds and water, allergies through use of chemicals in cosmetics, food, detergents. The “ecologically responsible housewife”, thus, is a good economical manager. She economizes energy. She is to be an expert in waste reduction, in cultivating her own vegetables and fruits, of course without using pesticides.

Women in their roles as nurses, purchasers, houseworkers are especially confronted with environmental problems and communal politics. They have to overcome a lot of difficulties: bad connections with public transport services, no buses in evening and night hours.

Women want to be involved in planning processes and be taken seriously as experts with practical experience, not only at home and at their places of work but also in politics, administration, science and in the economy.

Men also consume. And men produce waste too, - frequently toxic waste such as paint, photo chemicals, car waste. Thus, men have to attend environmental education classes as well. They must also consider their environmental responsibility.

7. Прочитайтетекстещёразиписьменноответьтенавопрос:

Whatistheroleofwomeninenvironmentalcontext?