Online English Programme for Prospective University Entrants Department of English Language Teaching Rajarata University of Sri Lanka BGDS Nandarathna Environment A. Reading Read the following text and answer the questions given below. The environment is the real world that has the living as well as non-living types of surroundings on the earth. It also refers to a particular geographical area. The plant, air, water, animals, human beings, and other living things exist in the environment. Atmospheric process, Geomorphic process, Hydrologic process are the major factors affecting the environment. Accordingly, an environment is a nature that nurtures our life on the earth. Everything which we feel, breathe, and eat in our life comes in the environment. Accordingly, things like land, plants, water, air, sunlight, forests, food, rivers and other natural things come within environment. The environment has a proper cycle to maintain the proper balance on the earth. A healthy environment supports in growing and nurturing the living and non-living things on the earth. The existence of our healthy life depends on the environment which maintains nature’s balance. So, it is very essential to keep our environment clean to live a healthy and peaceful life. It is important to save our environment and maintain nature’s balance for the existence of life. Human activities cause many impacts on the environment. So, we should keep the environment safe and clean as we cannot imagine the existence of our life in the future without it. Pollution is one of the major problems which occur due to the build-up of harmful substances in the air, water and ground. Water pollution occurs due to the release of unrefined industry wastes and other unsafe elements into water. The air is polluted due to the uncontrolled discharge of harmful smoke from vehicles and industries. Soil and noise pollutions also highly impact on our environment. The extreme secretion of greenhouse gases raised the surface temperature of the earth. This is the reason behind global-warming. Desertification also has become a severe problem due to the conversion of land into deserts. Usually, deforestation occurs due to cutting trees, desertion of forests, fires and pollution. The extinction of animals also has become a big issue due to the destruction of natural habitats of animals for constructions. The existence of life on earth is at stake in the future. It is not so easy to protect the environment as it takes lots of energy, time and effort. We should follow some rules to make our environment clean and safe. We can get pure air, greenery, and water with a serene atmosphere from a healthy environment. A good environment brings happiness to our life. Also, an environment plays an important role in the development of the society or an individual. The quality of the environment can be increased by making laws against environmental pollution. We should stop using polythene bags, throwing wastes on the road or public areas. We can adopt the recycling, repair and use broken things without throwing them away. We can use rechargeable batteries and fluorescent lights. We can also adopt rainwater conservation, reduce wastage of water, energy conservation, less consumption of electricity, and so forth. Spreading awareness and inspirational speeches are not enough to save the environment. We must take a strong initiative to protect the environment. Everybody should come forward and take part in the environment safety campaign. World environment day is an environment safety event celebrated on 5th June every year across the world. People and many organizations celebrate the day to know about the factors which destroy our environment. The motive behind celebrating the day is to spread awareness among people across the world. So, it is the responsibility of every human being to save the environment. So that, the next generation may enjoy the gifts of mother-nature. 01. Answer the following questions. 1. What is the environment? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. What are the three major factors affecting the environment? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 3. Why is it important maintaining nature’s balance? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 4. How does the water pollution occur according to the text? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 5. What is the reason behind global warming? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 6. How does the deforestation occur? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 7. What are the benefits that we can gain from a healthy environment? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 8. How can we increase the quality of the environment? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 9. What is the World Environment Day? When and where is it held? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 10. What is the motive behind celebrating the World Environment Day? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 02. State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”. 1. An environment is a nature that nurtures our life on the earth. (…………..) 2. It is so easy to protect the environment. (…………..) 3. Human activities do not cause any impact on nature. (…………..) 4. We should follow some rules to make our environment clean. (…………..) 5. A good environment brings happiness to our life. (…………..) 6. An environment plays an important role in the development of an individual. (…………..) 7. Environment pollution occurs due to rechargeable batteries. (…………..) 8. The inspirational speeches are not enough to save the environment. (…………..) 9. Spreading awareness helps to save the environment. (…………..) 10. It is a responsibility of the next generation to save the environment. (…………..) B. Vocabulary 01. Find similar words for the following words from the passage. 1. Specific ………………………….. 2. Jungles ………………………….. 3. Appropriate ………………………….. 4. Risk ………………………….. 5. Inspiring ………………………….. 02. Match the words with their meaning and write the correct letter in the space provided. 1. Exist a. extend over a large or increasing area 2. Process b. the action of using up a resource 3. Breathe c. a situation in which different elements are equal 4. Balance d. a series of actions taken in order to achieve a particular end 5. Substance e. live, especially under adverse conditions 6. awareness f. calm, peaceful, and untroubled 7. Serene g. enjoy an occasion 8. Consumption h. a particular kind of matter with uniform properties 9. Celebrate i. take air into the lungs and then expel it 10. Spread j. knowledge or perception of a situation or fact C. Writing 1. Write a small paragraph about “the steps we can take to protect the environment as an individual”. Use about 100 words. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. Imagine you are the president of the “Nature Club” of your university. Write a notice to be put up on notice boards about an awareness programme organized by your club with the purpose of making the university community aware of how to keep the university premises clean and tidy. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… D. Language Focus Compound Nouns A compound noun is a word made up of two or more existing words. Sometimes we write them as one word, sometimes as two words, and sometimes with a hyphen. butter + fly = butterfly well + known = well-known foot print = foot print Here are some more compound nouns. • officer-in-charge • dining table • firefly • swimming pool • fireworks • forget-me-not • river bank • grandfather • finger mark 01. Make a list of all the compound nouns appear in the passage. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 02. Use five of those compound nouns in sentences. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… E. Speaking • Get into small groups of 05 – 06 members. • Do an awareness programme of 10 - 15 minutes for the rest of the class about “Our Responsibilities towards the Environment”. • Each member of the group should speak at least 02 minutes.
