Pollution from its ealiest stages

ШЕХТМАН Н. Г., ВАСИЛЕНКО О.И.

ecology

basics

УДК 372.881.111.1 (075)

ББК Ш 143.21-923.8

Ш 54

Рецензенты:

Б. А. Ускова, к.п.н., доцент, зав. кафедрой германской филологии РГППУ

В. П. Пылайкина, к.ф.н., доцент кафедры АЯМиП УрГПУ

Шехтман Н. Г., Василенко О. И.

    Ecology Basics=основы экологии: методическое пособие для студентов высших учебных заведений, обучающихся по специальности: 44.03.01 — Педагогическое образование. Профиль: иностранный язык (английский); Урал. гос. пед. ун-т — Екатеринбург, 2016. — 99 с.

Методическое пособие включает тексты и задания по устной речи (тема «Экология») для студентов IV курса очного и заочного отделения. Материалы могут быть использованы на аудиторных занятиях и при самостоятельной работе по данному аспекту.

УДК 372.881.111.1 (075)

ББК Ш 143.21-923.8

Учебное издание

Шехтман Наталия Георгиевна

Василенко Ольга Ивановна

Ecology Basics

Основы экологии

Методическое пособие

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E-mail: uspu@uspu.ru

© ФГБОУ ВПО «Уральский государственный

педагогический университет», 2016

© Шехтман Н. Г., Василенко О. И. 2016

Пояснительная записка

Пособие по дисциплине “Практический курс иностранного языка” для студентов 4 курса английского отделения содержит дополнительный материал по теме “Экология” и призвано продолжать формировать лингвистическую и коммуникативную компетенцию будущих учителей английского языка.

Первый раздел данного пособия посвящен описанию различных видов экологических загрязнений, а также содержат материал о глобальном потеплении климата. Четыре других раздела затрагивают такие вопросы, как переработка и утилизация отходов, клонирование и генно-модифицированные организмы, вымирающие виды, а также экологически чистые города.  

Пособие рассчитано на 30 часов занятий в VIII семестре. Каждый раздел состоит из ряда текстов и заданий, направленных на более глубокое понимание содержания, работу над лексикой, обсуждение различных аспектов рассматриваемых проблем. Разделы завершаются заданием «Rendering» - интерпретацией русскоязычных статей на английском языке, предполагающим обобщение усвоенного материала, а также ролевой игрой или заданием на написание эссе.

Интерпретация на английском языке материала из раздела «Rendering» не обязательно должна являться итогом изучения того или иного раздела. Этот материал может быть использован по усмотрению преподавателя тогда, когда это представляется наиболее целесообразным, например, после первичного усвоения студентами вокабуляра из текстов какого-либо подраздела пособия. В этом случае на итоговом этапе изучения раздела можно дополнительно предложить студентам самим подобрать русские статьи для интерпретации на английском языке.

В разделе “Final projects” на выбор преподавателя и студентов предлагаются возможные сценарии проведения итогового занятия по теме «Экология».

Завершающей частью пособия являются три приложения: Word Bank – активный лексический минимум по всем разделам, Progress Tests – контрольные работы на проверку усвоения пройденного материала, и раздел Extra Ideas – дополнительный материал для аудиторной или самостоятельной работы.

CONTENTS

LESSON 1. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Discussion

1. What ecological issues trouble you personally?

2. How can you define the terms 'ecology’(the scientific analysis and study of interactions among organisms and their environment) and ‘environment ( the physical and biological factors that affect an organism or a group of organisms)’? Discuss your definition with your groupmates. Consult dictionaries. Describe the role of ecology in modern global society.

3. Is the place you live in affected by industry? Describe the ecological problems of your region.

4. Comment on the following quotations:

a) “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. All economic activity is dependent upon that environment with its underlying resource base.” (US Senator Gaylord Nelson on first Earth Day, 1970)

b) “We aren’t passengers on Spaceship Earth; we’re the crew. We aren’t residents of this planet; we’re citizens. The difference in both cases is responsibility.” (Astronaut Rusty Schweikart)

c) “What’s the use of a house if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on?” (Henry David Thoreau)

Text 1. ENVIROMENTAL POLLUTION

1. What forms of environmental pollution do you know? Team up with your groupmate and make a list of as many forms as you can think of.

2. Transcribe the following words and translate them into Russian.

Ecosystem (экосистема), oxide |’ɒksʌɪd| (окись), monoxide (монооксид), dioxide |dʌɪ’ɒksʌɪd| (диоксид), ozone |’əʊzəʊn| (озон), respiratory |rɪ’spɪrət(ə)ri| (дыхательный), oxygen (кислород), nitrogen |’nʌɪtrədʒ(ə)n| (азот), chlorine |’klɔ:rin| (хлор), chlorofluorocarbons [ˌklɔː.rəʊˌflɔː.rəˈkɑː.bən] (галогеноалканы), sulfur (сера), lead (свинец), sewerage (канализация), to combat (бороться) (e.g. to combat global warming), incinerator (мусоросжигатель, печь для сжигания отходов), anthropogenic |anθrəpə’dʒɛnɪk| (антропогенный), refuse (n) (мусор, отбросы, отходы), herbicide |’hə:bɪsʌɪd| (гербициды для уничтожения растительности), pesticide (пестициды для борьбы с болезнями растений, бактериями), habitat (среда обитания), cesspool |’sɛspu:l| (выгребная яма), lethal |’li:θ(ə)l| (смертельный), debris (строительный мусор, обломки), species (виды растений/животных), defect (v; n) (изъян, дефект; (из)менять), inalienable (неотъмлемый), cardiovascular |’kɑ:dɪəʊ’vaskjʊlə| (сердечно-сосудистый), dilution |dʌɪ’lu:ʃn| (раствор, ражижение, разбавление).

3. Read the first part of the text about environmental pollution and give it a title.

Part 1

Pollution from its ealiest stages

Environmental pollution had been a fact of life for many centuries. Pollution started from prehistoric times when man created the first fires. Soot found on ceilings of prehistoric caves provides ample (обильный, достаточный) evidence of the high levels of pollution that was associated with inadequate ventilation of open fires. Core samples of glaciers in Greenland indicate increases in pollution associated with Greek, Roman and Chinese metal production, but at that time the pollution was comparatively small and could be handled by nature.

The burning of coal and wood, and the presence of many horses in concentrated areas made the cities the cesspools (выгребная яма, сточный колодец, an underground container for the temporary storage of liquid waste and sewage) of pollution. The Industrial Revolution brought an infusion (слив) of untreated chemicals (необработанные химикаты) and wastes into local streams that served as the water supply (водоснабжение). King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke became a problem.

It was the industrial revolution that gave birth to environmental pollution as we know it today. London also recorded one of the earlier extreme cases of water quality problems with the Great Stink on the Thames of 1858, which led to construction of the London sewerage system (система канализации, facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage) soon afterward.  

The emergence of great factories and consumption of immense quantities of coal gave rise to unprecedented air pollution and the large volume of industrial chemical discharges (промышленные химические выбросы) added to the growing load of untreated human waste. Pollution became a major issue in the United States in the early twentieth century, as progressive reformers took issue with (не соглашаться с, оспаривать) air pollution caused by coal burning, water pollution caused by bad sanitation (антисанитария, poor conditions relating to public health, especially the provision of clean drinking water and adequate sewage disposal), and street pollution caused by the 3 million horses who worked in American cities in 1900. The generation that first saw automobiles replacing the horses saw cars as "miracles of cleanliness." By the 1940s, however, automobile-caused smog was a major issue in Los Angeles.

Awareness of atmospheric pollution spread widely after World War II, with fears triggered (спускать курок, срабатывать) by reports of radioactive fallout (радиоактивные осадки) from atomic warfare and testing. Then a non-nuclear event, The Great Smog of 1952 in London, killed at least 4000 people. This prompted some of the first major modern environmental legislation (эколонгическое законодательство), The Clean Air Act of 1956.

The development of nuclear science introduced radioactive contamination (радиоактивное загрязнение), which can remain lethally (causing death) radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Lake Karachay, named by the Worldwatch Institute as the "most polluted spot" on earth, served as a disposal site (мусорные свалки, a location where Hazardous Materials are treated or disposed of) for the Soviet Union throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Second place may go to the area of Chelyabinsk Russian as the "Most polluted place on the planet".

A recently discovered problem is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Тихоокеанский мусорный остров), a huge concentration of plastics, chemical sludge (химический осадок, mud or a similar viscous mixture of liquid and solid components, especially the product of an industrial or refining process) and other debris (scattered fragments, typically of something wrecked or destroyed) which has been collected into a large area of the Pacific Ocean by the North Pacific Gyre (вихрь, круговращение). This is a less well known pollution problem than the others described above, but nonetheless has multiple and serious consequences such as increasing wildlife mortality (вымирание дикой природы), the spread of invasive species (интроцудированный вид, species that are not typial of a certain area, they may be brought to an area on purpose or accidantally) and human ingestion of toxic chemicals (переработка человеком химических веществ) .

4. Paraphrase the underlined word-combinations and translate them into Russian.

5. Answer the following questions to Part 1.

1) When did environmental pollution begin? - Pollution started from prehistoric times when man created the first fires. Soot found on ceilings of prehistoric caves.

2) What were the main sources of pollution in the Middle Ages? - The burning of coal and wood, and the presence of many horses in concentrated areas made the cities the cesspools of pollution.

3) In what way did the industrial revolution change pollution? - The Industrial Revolution brought an infusion of untreated chemicals and wastes into local streams that served as the water supply.

4) Why did awareness of atmospheric pollution spread widely after World War II? – It was triggered by reports of radioactive fallout from atomic warfare and testing.

5) What danger does the development of nuclear science pose for the environment? - The development of nuclear science introduced radioactive contamination, which can remain lethally radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.

6) What are the environmental consequences of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? – It is a huge concentration of plastics, chemical sludge and other debris which has been collected.

Part 2

FORMS OF POLLUTION

The major forms of pollution are listed below along with the particular contaminant (загрязнитель) relevant to each of them:

· Air pollution: the release of chemicals and particulates (твердые частицы) into the atmosphere. Common gaseous pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles. Another contributor is particulate matter (твердые частицы), or fine dust (мелкая пыль).

· Light pollution: includes light trespass (злоупотребление светом), over-illumination and astronomical interference (астрономическое вмешательство).

· Littering: the criminal throwing of inappropriate man-made objects, unremoved, onto public and private properties.

· Noise pollution: which encompasses roadway noise, aircraft noise as well as industrial noise?

· Soil contamination occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground leakage (полземная утечка). Among the most significant soil contaminants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals (such as lead found in rechargeable batteries (переаряжаемые батарейки)), herbicides and pesticides. Ordinary municipal landfills (свалки) are the source of many chemical substances entering the soil environment (and often groundwater), emanating from (происходязий из) the wide variety of refuse accepted.

· Radioactive contamination, resulting from 20th century activities in atomic physics, such as nuclear power generation (производство ядерной энергии) and nuclear weapons research (исследование ядерного оружия), manufacture and deployment.

· Thermal pollution (тепловое загрязнение), is a temperature change in natural water bodies caused by human influence, such as use of water as coolant in a power plant (электростанция).

· Visual pollution, which can refer to the presence of overhead power lines (линии электропередач), motorway billboards (рекламные щиты), scarred landforms (as from strip mining (открытая добвча угля)), open storage of trash, municipal solid waste or space debris (космический мусор).

· Water pollution, by the discharge of wastewater from commercial and industrial waste (intentionally or through spills (слитие, выброс)) into surface waters (поверхностные воды); discharges of untreated domestic sewage, and chemical contaminants, such as chlorine, from treated sewage (очищенные сточные воды); waste disposal (удаление мусора, отходов) and littering.

· Plastic pollution: involves the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely (неблагоприятно) affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans.

6. Provide contexts for the following words and word-combinations, paraphrase them and translate them into Russian.

Carbon monoxide (угарный газ), chlorofluorocarbons (хлорфторуглероды) (CFCs), particulate matter (твердые частицы), littering (загрязнение, выброс мусора), soil contamination (загрязнение почвы), spill (n.) (слив, выброс), leakage (утечка), lead (metal) (свинец), rechargeable (перезаряжаемый), herbicides (гербициды), pesticides (пестициды), landfill (свалка), emanate (происходить из, проистекать), refuse (n) (отброс), nuclear power (ядерная энергия), coolant (охлаждающая жидкость), billboard (рекламный щит), storage of trash (хранение мусора), municipal solid waste (твердые бытовые отходы), chlorine (хлор), adversely affect (пагубный эффект, пабуно влиять), habitat (среда обитания).

Part 3

SOURCES AND CAUSES

Air pollution comes from both natural and human-made (anthropogenic) sources. However, globally human-made pollutants from combustion, construction, mining, agriculture and warfare are increasingly significant in the air pollution equation.

Motor vehicle emissions are one of the leading causes of air pollution. Principal stationary pollution sources include chemical plants, coal-fired power plants, oil refineries, nuclear waste disposal activity (деятельность по удалению ядерных отходов), incinerators, large livestock farms (dairy cows, pigs, poultry (домашняя птица), etc.), plastics factories, and other heavy industry. Agricultural air pollution comes from contemporary practices which include clear felling and burning of natural vegetation as well as spraying of pesticides and herbicides.

In February 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing the work of 2,500 scientists from more than 120 countries, said that humans have been the primary cause of global warming since 1950. Humans have ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the consequences of global warming, a major climate report concluded. But to change the climate, the transition from fossil fuels like coal and oil needs to occur within decades.

 Pollution can also be the consequence of a natural disaster. For example, hurricanes often involve (включать в себя, вовлекать) water contamination from sewage, and petrochemical spills (нефтехимические сливы) from ruptured boats or automobiles. Larger scale and environmental damage is not uncommon when coastal oil refineries are involved. Some sources of pollution, such as nuclear power plants or oil tankers (нефтяные цистерны), can produce widespread and potentially hazardous releases when accidents occur.

In the case of noise pollution the dominant source class is the motor vehicle, producing about ninety percent of all unwanted noise worldwide.

7. Provide English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations. Use them in sentences of your own.

Вызванный деятельностью человека (humanmade (anthropogenic) sources), горение (combustion), строительство (construction), горная промышленность (mining), военные действия (warfare), автомобильные выхлопы (motor vehicle emissions), электростанция (power plant), мусоросжигательная печь (incinerator), скотоводческая ферма (livestock farm), сплошная рубка леса (clear felling), глобальное потепление (global warming), выбросы парниковых газов (greenhouse gas emissions), ископаемое топливо (fossil fuel), нефтеочистительный завод (oil refinery).

SENTENCES:

1. The anthropogenic sources of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) also produce a greenhouse effect.

2. In Brussels there are no large combustion plants.

3. Vehicle construction has a hazardous effect on the environment.

4. Surface mining may disturb or destroy natural habitats.

5. Warfare is one of numerous human-made pollutants.

6. Health hazards caused by motor vehicle emissions are increasing.

7. The power plant comprises one or several gyroturbines.

8. The waste is incinerated in a large furnace.

9. During the last century, livestock farming has become less profitable.

10. Extensive deforestation due to clear-felling resulted in poor  conditions for wildlife.

11. We cannot be sure whether our best efforts can stopglobal warming.

12. Malaysia hoped that developed countries would strengthen their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

13. Fossil fuel burning is the largest source of atmospheric pollution.

14. There has been a lot of discussion about wastes of oil refinery and petrochemical industry.

8. Answer the following questions to Part 3.

1) What are the natural sources of pollution according to the text? Can you add your own examples to this list? - Pollution can also be the consequence of a natural disaster. For example, hurricanes often water contamination from sewage.

2) What are some of the anthropogenic sources of pollution? Which of them do you consider the most dangerous ones? - Human-made pollutants are combustion, construction, mining, agriculture, warfare, motor vehicle emissions.

Part 4

EFFECTS

Adverse air quality can kill many organisms including humans. Ozone (озон,a form of oxygen with a peculiar odor suggesting that of weak chlorine) pollution can cause respiratory disease (дыхательные болезни, lungs problems), cardiovascular disease (сердечно-сосудистые болезни, heart problems),throat inflammation (воспаление горла) and chest pain. Water pollution causes approximately 14,000 deaths per day, mostly due to contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage in developing countries.  

Oil spills can cause skin irritations and rashes. Noise pollution induces (вызывать) hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, and sleep disturbance (нарушение сна). Chemical and radioactive substances can cause cancer and as well as birth defects (врожденные дефекты, being born with some defects).

Perspectives

"The solution to pollution is dilution (разбавление, the action of making a liquid more dilute) ", is a dictum (изречение) which summarizes a traditional approach to pollution management whereby sufficiently diluted pollution is not harmful. However, such simple treatment is no longer an option. It’s widely recognised that we are hugely overspending our current budget of natural resources – at the existing rates of its exploitation, there is no way for the environment to recover in good time and continue “performing” well in the future.

Perhaps we should adopt a holistic (целостный, dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part) view of nature – it is not an entity (целостность, организация) that exists separately from us; the nature is us, we are an inalienable (неотъемлемый, unable to be taken away) part of it, and we should care for it in the most appropriate manner. Only then can we possibly solve the problem of environmental pollution.

9. Provide deinitions for the underlined words and word-combinations and translate them into Russian.

10. Answer the following questions to Part 4.

1) What are the adverse effects of pollution? – It can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular, throat inflammation and chest pain.

Why is the dictum The solution to pollution is dilution no longer an option for humanity? - We are hugely overspending our current budget of natural resources. There is no way for the environment to recover in good time and continue “performing” well in the future.

2) What view of nature may help us solve the problem of environmental pollution?  - We should adopt a holistic view of nature – it is not an entity that exists separately from us.

11. Read the whole text again and pick out from it words containing the Latin suffix –cide. What is the meaning of this suffix? Search a dictionary and find more words with this suffix, give definitions of the words you have found and translate them into Russian. – Herbicide, Pesticide – the suffix referring to killing (other ecxaples: ecocide, feticide , genocide)

12. Point out similarities and differences in the usage of the verbs emanate (from), discharge (of), emit (sth), give off (sth), release(sth) in the meaning «испускать, выделять». Find sentences containing these verbs in Text 1. Use a dictionary and provide more examples to illustrate the usage of each verb.

13. Comment on the following quotations:

1) “I am, therefore I pollute.” That applies to any process. (from: Marquita K. Hill. Understanding Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press, 2004)

2) “Our world civilization and its global economy are based on beliefs incompatible with enduring habitation of the earth: that everything has been put on earth for our use, that resources not used to meet our needs are wasted and that resources are unlimited.” (from: Marquita K. Hill. Understanding Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press, 2004)

3) “The more the population grows, the more the rights of the common will impinge on the rights of the individual.” (from: Marquita K. Hill. Understanding Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press, 2004)

4) “For change, we need three factors: leadership from above, pressure from below, or some exemplary catastrophe.” (Crispin Tickell, Oxford University)

5) “The air and water grow heavier with the debris of our spectacular civilization.” (Former US President, Lyndon B. Johnson)

6) “The dose makes the poison.” (Paracelsus)

14. The list below suggests some of the ways in which you can reduce your exposure to pesticides (подвергание пестицидам). Which three of these steps do you think are the most important? Why? Which of them do you take now or plan to take?