Man have always wanted to make his life easier. He invented machines and mechanisms which have been working – and polluting the world we live in. Economists have long thought of the environment as of the unlimited source of resources only.
In fact, the economy and the environment are closely related. The environment supplies the economy with water, timber, minerals, oil, etc. It has to absorb all the waste products, too.
Nevertheless, some economists have always argued that pollution damages the resources. There are many consequences of damaging the environment. One of them is acid rain. Pumping waste gases from a power station does not get rid of them. Waste gases cause acid rain, this leads to forest damage and reduces the resources of forestry industry.
Another one is water shortage. It comes from abuse of lands in agriculture. The third one is destroying the ozone layer of the Earth through pollution from factories and plants. The fourth one is damage to water and soils. The fifth one is damage to wildlife: many species of plants and animals can disappear.
The sixth one is the greenhouse effect and global warming – that is, an increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Global warming can lead to rises in sea levels, and extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, and global climate change. Lastly, the most serious danger is the result of all these consequences.
This is the danger for the life and health of the man. The territories of the former Soviet Union are suffering many environmental problems. Many of these problems have been caused by economic activities.
Apart from the effect of the Chernobyl disaster, the worst problem is that with the Aral Sea. Cotton growing in the region has used large amounts of water, and the sea level has fallen, this destroyed fishing and led to a damage in soils, crops, and wildlife. Many forests in the Far East and
in the north of European Russia are under threat.
A system of dams on the Volga damaged fish. If we cannot learn to use the environment carefully, very soon we’ll have no world to live in. In my opinion, pollution can be stopped or at least reduced by using fuels which are low in pollutants, more complete burning of solid fuels, shift to using alternative forms of power such as wind power, electricity or solar energy and banning the use of nuclear power. The first reason why I believe these ways to be most effective ones is that industry and transport are the most important sources of all chemical pollution of air, water and soil. The second one is that banning the use of nuclear power will destroy the danger of radioactive contamination.
The most important thing common people could do is to change their attitude towards the environment. We should realize that natural resources are not unlimited and destroying them may result in destroying life on Earth. The change of public attitude to the environment is important due to several reasons.
Firstly, public opinion could make governments introduce stricter anti-pollution measures. It could make governments fund scientific research facilitating development of ecologically safe materials and sources of energy. Secondly, people could behave in the way which is less damaging for the ecology of our planet. For example, they could stop leaving litter in city streets and in the country.
Thirdly, they could stop damaging forests by cutting down trees for their personal needs or causing forest fires.
Translate the following sentences into English.
1. Чтобы облегчить свою жизнь, человек изобрел машины и механизмы, которые загрязняют окружающую среду. 2. Хотя окружающая среда снабжает экономику водой, лесом, полезными ископаемыми, нефтью, она не является неисчерпаемым источником ресурсов. 3. Экономика и окружающая среда тесно связаны: окружающая среда должна поглощать все отходы, которые экономика выбрасывает в нее. 4. Экономика наносит ущерб ресурсам из-за кислотных дождей, которые приводят к повреждению лесов, из-за неправильного использования земель в сельском хозяйстве, разрушения озонового слоя, вреда, наносимого воде, почвам и природе, парникового эффекта. 5. Глобальное потепление – это увеличение средней температуры земной атмосферы и океанов, которое может привести к подъему уровня морей и экстремальным явлениям природы.
6. На территории России существует много проблем с окружающей средой, вызванных экономической деятельностью, таких как последствия Чернобыльской катастрофы и проблема Аральского моря. 7. Мы должны научиться бережно использовать окружающую среду. 8. Загрязнение окружающей среды можно остановить или, по крайней мере, уменьшить, используя топливо, содержащее низкое количество токсичных веществ, более полно сжигая твердое топливо, перейдя на использование альтернативных источников энергии и запретив использование ядерной энергии. 9. Простые люди могут изменить свое отношение к окружающей среде и заставить правительства ввести более строгие меры охраны окружающей среды и финансировать исследования, способствующие разработке экологически безопасных материалов и источников энергии. 10.
Люди могут вести себя таким образом, чтобы наносить меньший вред экологии планеты.
1. To make his life easier, man has invented machines and mechanisms, which have been polluting the environment. 2. Though the environment supplies the economy with water, timber, minerals, and oil, it is not the unlimited source of resources. 3. The economy and the environment are closely related: the environment has to absorb all the waste products the economy throws into it. 4. The economy damages the resources through acid rain leading to forest damage, an abuse of lands in agriculture, destroying the ozone layer, damage to water, soils, and wildlife, the greenhouse effect.
5. Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, which can lead to rises in sea levels, and extreme weather events. 6. The territories of Russia suffer many environmental problems, caused by economic activities, such as the effects of the Chernobyl disaster and the problem with the Aral Sea. 7. We have to learn to use the environment carefully.
8. Pollution can be stopped or at least reduced by using fuels which are low in pollution, more complete burning of solid fuels, shift to using alternative forms of power and banning the use of nuclear power. 9. Common people could change their attitude towards the environment and make governments introduce stricter anti-pollution measures and fund research facilitating development of ecologically safe materials and sources of energy. 10.
People could behave in ways which are less damaging for the ecology of the planet.
Из пособия “ЕГЭ. Английский язык. Устные темы” Занина Е. Л. (2010, 272с.) – Part one. English examination topics.
Forms 9/11.
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