Unit 6 PLANET IN PERIL
LEAD-IN
What have the issues of demography got to do with the problem of climate
change?
In what other ways does demography affect the environment?
Demography and climate change
Jan 21st 2012
the Economist print edition
There is now little doubt
that climate change has become a
reality. Glaciers are melting all
over the world. Weather patterns
are becoming more erratic. The
IPPC forecasts increases of
global mean temperatures of up
to 5.8 degrees Celsius* this
century and sea level rises of up
to one meter. Half the world's
people live within 50 km of
seashores and their lives will be
severely affected by flooding. Up
to a million species of plants and animals could be extinct due to climate change.
The combination of growing populations and increasing levels of resource
consumption is degrading and depleting the natural resource base. The world's
population stood at 850 million at the onset of the industrial age and has grown more
than eight times to 7 billion since then. At the same time burgeoning population and
industry and the ensuing pollution have demonstrated how easily delicately balanced
ecological relationships can be disrupted.
In recent years, the depletion of natural resources has become a major focus of
governments and organizations such as the United Nations (UN). This is evident in
the UN’s Agenda 21 which outlines the necessary steps to be taken by countries to
ensure sustainability of their natural resources. Despite mounting efforts over the
past 20 years, the loss of the world's biological diversity, mainly from habitat
destruction, over-harvesting and pollution has continued. Urgent and decisive action
is needed to conserve species and ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable
management and use of biological resources.
*Celsius and Fahrenheit cause confusion because they are so different. 25o
Celsius is lovely, while 25o Fahrenheit is dreadful. 100o Fahrenheit is hot, while 100o
Celsius would kill you instantly.
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To convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit, you multiply by 9/5 and add 32.
To convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius you subtract 32 then multiply by 5/9.
Some of the figures are worth remembering:
 Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit
 Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit
 The commonly accepted average core body temperature is 37.0 C (98.6 F).
 In Russia, the commonly quoted value is 36.6 C (97.9 F)
 1 km is 0.6 mile (100kph=60mph)
 1 mile is 1.6 km (50mph=80kph)
 1 meter is 3.3 feet
 1 foot is 30.48 cm
 1 kilo is 2.2 pounds
 1 pound is 453 grams
READING 1: Global Warming vs. Global Cooling
Explain, how in your understanding global warming actually works.
What is a greenhouse effect?
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
TEXT 1
Climate Change Research
Stefan Bronnimann
Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland
…The questions of whether and how climate changes and whether and how
man influences climate have been debated by scientists at least since Theophrastus in
the 4th century B.C. His works were translated into Latin in the Renaissance period
and were influential to the thinking of scientists at that time. Two important lines of
debate in the discussion on climatic change up into the 19th century concerned the
impact of land-use changes on climate and progressive climate changes. In the early
and mid-18th century, climate change was a subject treated by the philosophers of the
enlightenment period such as Montesquieu and Hume. More scientific approaches to
climate change research started in the second half of the 18th century, in line with
efforts in agricultural, forestry and medical research and further advanced by
scientific travelling and exchange and the availability of meteorological instruments.
A milestone in the history of climate change research and its public awareness
was the theory of ice ages which had important implications for climate research in
general. It required mechanisms able to explain a large change in mean temperature.
This challenge was a trigger for many climate change theories, some of which have
influenced the discussion until today. The theory of the CO2 greenhouse effect
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originated, at least partly, in the debate on the causes of ice ages. Some scientists
speculated that lower concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide could have
caused ice ages.
The processes considered in the 19th century to cause shorter-term climate
changes were mainly solar influences and anthropogenic activity, but volcanic
forcing and the melting of ice sheets and glaciers were also discussed. Among the
anthropogenic influences on climate, the oldest topic is the effect of land-use
changes. The debate on this topic became more and more popular during the 19th
century when in many European countries deforestation and desertification became
politically relevant. Effects of anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion on weather and
climate have been considered since the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century,
the debates about climate change and anthropogenic influence on climate was not
confined to the scientific community, but also included political institutions and was
carried out in public.
TEXT 2
The Discovery of Global Warming
Spencer R.Weart The Johns Hopkins University, the Eugene Lang College and
Princeton University
February 2011
Since 2001, greatly improved computer models and an abundance of data of
many kinds strengthened the conclusion that human emissions are very likely to
cause serious climate change. Most scientists and ever larger number of individuals,
corporate entities, and government agencies at every level decided that something
had to be done. They found that effective steps could be taken right now that are not
only cheap and effective, but will actually pay for themselves. For example, coalfired power plants could be taxed in proportion to their emissions. This could be
compensated by an equal decrease in other taxes, leaving government revenue
unchanged. (A market-based "cap and trade" system of selling permits to emit
pollution can be designed to have an equivalent effect.)
The most effective way to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and
at the same time advance prosperity is to develop better technologies and practices.
One of such technologies is carbon capture and storage (CCS), (carbon capture and
sequestration), which is aimed at preventing the release of large quantities of CO2
into the atmosphere from fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries. It is
a potential means of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global
warming. The process is based on capturing carbon dioxide (CO 2) from large point
sources and storing it where it will not enter the atmosphere. But a technology does
not magically grow by itself - it can effectively be accelerated by direct government
support.
In 2007 the IPCC reported that scientists were more confident than ever that
humans were changing the climate. Although only a small fraction of the predicted
warming had happened so far, effects were already becoming visible in some regions
— more deadly heat waves, stronger floods and droughts, heat-related changes in the
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ranges and behavior of sensitive species. But the scientists had not been able to
narrow the range of possibilities. Depending on what steps people took to restrict
emissions, by the end of the century we could expect the planet’s average
temperature to rise anywhere between about 1.4 and 6°C (2.5 - 11°F).
It is now very nearly certain that global warming is upon us. It is prudent to
expect that weather patterns will continue to change and the seas will continue to rise,
in an ever worsening pattern, through our lifetimes and on into our grandchildren's.
The question has graduated from the scientific community: climate change is a major
social, economic and political issue. Nearly everyone in the world will need to adjust.
Citizens will need reliable information, the flexibility to change their personal lives,
and efficient and appropriate help from all levels of government. So it is an important
job, in some ways our top priority, to improve the communication of knowledge, and
to strengthen democratic control in governance everywhere. The spirit of factgathering, rational discussion, toleration of dissent, and negotiation of an evolving
consensus, which has characterized the climate science community, can serve well as
a model.
Find in the text words corresponding to the following definitions or synonymous
with the following words:













not even or regular in pattern or movement; unpredictable (adj)
growing or increasing rapidly; flourishing (adj)
a significant stage or event in the development of something (n)
things that are likely to happen as a result of sth. (n)
an event that is the cause of a particular action, process, or situation (n)
a very large quantity of something, plentifulness (n)
make (something bad) less severe, serious, or painful (v)
sensible and careful (adj)
adapt or become used to a new situation (v)
trustworthy (adj)
ability to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances (n)
suitable or proper in the circumstances (adj)
the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or
officially held (n)
Fill in the gaps with the words from the previous assignment according to the
context:
1. New Hampshire's commercial development activity will continue __________
to changing supply and demand forces in 2012.
2. Geothermal electricity – generated in __________ in Iceland – would be
pumped to the UK through a ‘supergrid’ of high-voltage cables laid on the
ocean floor.
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3. Six astronauts are celebrating two historic human spaceflight __________
today: the first human spaceflight and the risky first launch of NASA's space
shuttle era.
4. Northern Ireland's only Confucius Institute is to celebrate the country’s
__________ relationship with China with a week of cultural events.
5. A lawmaker on Thursday said North Korea’s rocket launch will likely have
negative __________ on the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region.
6. Spain urged its EU peers to be __________ when making comments about its
economic woes on Wednesday following criticism from France and Italy,
7. Higher temperatures, less rainfall, more __________ weather conditions:
farmers are already noticing changes in the global climate.
8. Last week skirmishes between troops and rebels tested a shaky ceasefire to end
a 13-month crackdown on __________ that has killed thousands.
9. Stronger global governance is needed to __________ human impacts on the
earth's climate and to ensure sustainable development.
10.Mitsubishi has a long and lucrative history of producing safe, __________,
affordable and fuel-efficient vehicles.
11.The Federal Reserve's ultra-easy monetary policy is __________ given high
unemployment and the headwinds facing the economy.
12.China on Tuesday urged Iran and the world powers to demonstrate
__________ and patience, saying it will help establish trust needed to resolve
the issue peacefully.
13.Subprime mortgages and the housing bubble were the __________ that led to
the financial crisis.
TEXT 3
U.N. panel says weather disasters are new norm
March 29, 2012
Associated Press
Global weirding' means nations should prepare for more extreme events
Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that
nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly natural
calamities, an internal panel of climate scientists says in a report issued yesterday.
The greatest danger from extreme weather, which some scientists are starting
to call "global weirding", is in highlу populated, poor regions of the world, but no
corner of the globe — from Mumbai to Miami — is immune. The document by a
Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists forecasts stronger tropical cyclones
and more frequent heat waves, deluges and droughts.
In the past, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, founded in 1988
bу the United Nations, has focused on the slow inexorable rise of temperatures and
oceans as part of global warming. This report is the first to look at the less common
but far more noticeable extreme weather changes, which recently have been costing
on average about $80 billion a year in damage. It blames the scale of current and
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future disasters on a combination of man-made climate change, population shifts and
poverty.
While all countries are getting hurt by increased climate extremes, the overwhelming majority of deaths are happening in poorer, less developed places. That,
combined with the fact that richer countries are generating more greenhouse gases
from the burning of fossil fuels, makes the issue of weather extremes one of fairness.
Some aspects of the climate situation are clear from earlier research. As the
planet warms, many scientists say, more energy and water vapor are entering the
atmosphere and driving weather systems. The IPCC report confirmed that a strong
body of evidence links global warming to an increase in heat waves, a rise in
episodes of heavy rainfall and other precipitation, and more frequent coastal flooding.
But, while the link between heat waves and global warming may be clear, the
evidence is much thinner regarding some types of weather extremes. Scientists
studying tornadoes are plagued by poor statistics that could be hiding significant
trends, but so far, they are not seeing any long-term increase in the most damaging
twisters. And researchers studying specific events, like the Russian heat wave of
2010, have often come to conflicting conclusions about whether to blame climate
change.
Scientists who dispute the importance of global warming have long ridiculed
any attempt to link greenhouse gases to weather extremes. They claim that the
weather is very dynamic, especially at local scales, so that extreme events of one type
or another will occur somewhere on the planet every year.
Meanwhile, mainstream scientists agree that global warming is a problem to be
taken seriously but sometimes they are in too much of a rush to attribute specific
weather events to human causes.
Some of the documented imbalances in the climate have certainly become
remarkable. United States government scientists recently reported, for instance, that
February 2012 was the 324th consecutive month in which global temperatures
exceeded their long-term average for a given month; the last month with belowaverage temperatures was February 1985. This March, the United States set nearly
6,800 high temperature records. When you start putting all these events together, it's
pretty hard to deny the fact that there's got to be some climate signal. No doubt, the
extreme weather is one of the major and important types of what we would call
'global weirding.'
Find in the text terms relating to the topic of climate change that correspond to
the following definitions:




conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources
the average temperature
the average weather for a particular region and time period
the gradual rise in the earth's temperature caused by high levels of carbon
dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere
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 a heavy colorless gas that is absorbed from the air by plants and does not
support combustion
 human activities which affect the climate
 a very large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley
 the change of forested lands to non-forest uses
 the progressive destruction or degradation of vegetative cover, especially in
arid or semi-arid regions
 a fuel that is formed in the Earth from plant or animal remains
 the release of a substance into the atmosphere
 gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that
absorb and re-emit radiation from the sun
 the introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or
poisonous effects
 the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a
reservoir
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS QUIZ
1. What is the most common cause of pollution of streams, rivers, and oceans?
a. Dumping of garbage by cities
b. Surface water running off yards, city streets, paved lots, and farm fields
c. Trash washed into the ocean from beaches, or
d. Waste dumped by factories?
2. Which of the following is a renewable resource?
a. Oil
b. Iron ore
c. Trees
d. Coal
3. Ozone forms a protective layer in the earth's upper atmosphere. What does
ozone protect us from?
a. Acid rain
b. Global warming
c. Sudden changes in temperature
d. Harmful, cancer-causing sunlight
4. Which of the following household wastes is considered hazardous waste?
a. Plastic packaging
b. Glass
c. Batteries
d. Spoiled food?
5. What is the most common reason that an animal species becomes extinct?
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a. Pesticides are killing them
b. Their habitats are being destroyed by humans
c. There is too much hunting, or
d. There are climate changes that affect them
6. Which of the following is NOT a renewable resource?
a. Ethanol
b. Natural gas
c. Hydrogen
d. Methanol
7. Which of the following accounts for the largest percentage of total waste in
developed countries?
a. Organic waste
b. Paper
c. Plastic
d. Glass
8. Approximately how much of global electricity output is produced from
renewable sources?
a. 1%
b. 5%
c. 8%
d. 20%
9. Vegetarian diets are more environmentally friendly than meat-based diets
a. True
b. False
10. 18% of all litter ends up in waterways
a. True
b. False
11. Air pollution causes 2 million premature deaths per year worldwide
a. True
b. False
12. Compared to people in many developing countries, North Americans use
a. 5 times as much energy
b. 15 times as much energy
c. 50 times as much energy
13. How many years did it take nature to make oil?
a. 2,000 years
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b. 2 million years
c. 200 million years
14. What percent of water on earth is fresh water?
a. 23%
b. 15%
c. 8%
d. 3%
15. Hazardous waste is defined as poisonous bi-products. Which of these is
NOT considered hazardous waste?
a. Batteries
b. Ethanol
c. Used computer equipment
d. All of the above
16. What percentage of the earth is covered by forests?
a. 50%
b. 12%
c. 30%
17. Earth day is observed on
a. February 16
b. April 4
c. April 22
d. September 17
18. World Wildlife Fund was founded in
a. 1961
b. 1965
c. 1969
d. 1992
SPEAKING: Use Internet sources to speak on one of the following topics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Problems arising from inefficient land use
Problems arising from land pollution and degradation
Inefficient use of resources and energy crisis
Nuclear development and nanotechnology
Causes, effects and solutions of air and water pollution
Waste recycling. Ways to deal with hazardous waste
How ‘Cap and Trade’ system works
Ways to prevent global warming
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TOPICAL VOCABULARY:
climate change
melting glaciers
mean temperatures
rising sea level
flooding
weather pattern
extinction of species (sing., pl.)
degradation and depletion of natural resources
disrupt ecological balance
sustainability of natural resources
biological diversity
habitat destruction
conservation of species
sustainable management and use of biological resources
land-use
forestry
theory of ice ages
greenhouse effect
carbon dioxide
anthropogenic activity
deforestation
desertification
fossil fuel combustion
"cap and trade" system
carbon capture and storage (CCS), (carbon capture and sequestration),
heat wave
flood
drought
global weirding'
global warming
natural calamity
tropical cyclones
deluge
heavy rainfall
precipitation
poaching
Fill in the gaps with the words from the topical vocabulary list:
1. A __________ system is a market-based approach to controlling pollution that
allows national governments to trade emissions allowances.
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2. An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of
becoming __________.
3. __________ is hardly hitting the living conditions of indigenous people who
consider forests as their primary habitats.
4. __________ is a naturally occurring process that aids in heating the Earth's
surface and atmosphere.
5. The earth supports an incredible array of __________ - from Thailand’s tiny
bumblebee bat to the ocean’s great blue whale.
6. __________ can reshape the world’s coastlines and affect some of the most
densely populated areas on Earth.
7. __________ raises serious environmental concerns, particularly from
greenhouse gas emissions.
8. The fact that there are too many people in the world consuming just a moderate
amount of resources is the most likely reason of the__________.
9. Of all the impacts that __________ can have on the environment, one of the
most complex is the effect on climate.
10.For the past 10 years, the world has witnessed some of the most devastating
__________ and man-made disasters on record.
11.Beneficial __________ is more likely through the southern Prairies during the
next couple of days before a drier __________ returns.
USE OF ENGLISH: Complete the text with the words from the box and do the
assignments that follow
Acid, biodiversity, contaminated, deforestation, ecosystems, species, emissions,
environmental, erosion, exhaust, drought, fertilizers, greenhouse, waste, pollution
The advances made by humans have made us the dominant (1) ………. on our
planet. However, several eminent scientists are concerned that we have become too
successful, that our way of life is putting an unprecedented strain on the Earth's
(2)…………… and threatening our
future as a species. We are
confronting (3) ………. problems that
are more taxing than ever before,
some of them seemingly insoluble.
Many of the Earth's crises are chronic
and inexorably linked. (4) ………. is
an obvious example of this affecting
our air, water and soil.
The air is polluted by (5)
…………… produced by cars and
industry. Through (6) ……………
rain and (7) ………. gases these same
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(8) …………… fumes can have a devastating impact on our climate. Climate change
is arguably the greatest environmental challenge facing our planet with increased
storms, floods, (9) …………… and species losses predicted. This will inevitably
have a negative impact on (10) …………… and thus our ecosystem.
The soil is (11) …………… by factories and power stations which can leave
heavy metals in the soil. Other human activities such as the overdevelopment of land
and the clearing of trees also take their toll on the quality of our soil; (12)
…………… has been shown to cause soil (13) …………… Certain farming practices
can also pollute the land though the use of chemical pesticides and (14) ……………
This contamination in turn affects our rivers and waterways and damages life there.
The chemicals enter our food chain, moving from fish to mammals to us. Our crops
are also grown on land that is far from pristine. Affected species include the polar
bear, so not even the Arctic is immune.
Reducing (15) …………… and clearing up pollution costs money. Yet it is our
quest for wealth that generates so much of the refuse. There is an urgent need to find
a way of life that is less damaging to the Earth. This is not easy, but it is vital,
because pollution is pervasive and often life-threatening.
 What do you think is the greatest environmental threat we face today?
 What can the government do to help protect the environment?
 What can we do as individuals?
Find words in the text synonymous with the following:
 unspoiled
 .......................... unparalleled
 ............................... extremely harmful
 ............................ insurmountable
 unaffected
 ..............omnipresent
 unavoidably (x2)
 .............. persistent
 challenging
Fill in the gaps using the correct form of the word in brackets. You will need to
add prepositions to the words that are underlined.
contaminate, danger, dispose, erode, pollute, recycle, risk, sustain, threat
I think our environment is (1) ………. many different things. We have allowed
too much (2) ………. to enter our ecosystem and we are (3) ………. poisoning
ourselves as a result. I think soil (4) ………. and water (5) ………. are two of the
most urgent problems that we need to deal with.
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Clearly our current lifestyle is not (6) ……….. The government should educate
people about these problems and encourage us to change our habits. They need to
show everyone that we are putting the very future of our planet (7) ……….
We can make sure we don't throw (8) ………. items into our normal waste (9)
………. bins. We can also help protect our planet by not using phosphate-based
detergents; this will help to keep (10) ………. out of our food chain.
Multiple Choice Lexical Cloze
The Future
The environmental (1)……….for the future is mixed. In spite of economic and
political changes, interest in and (2)……….about the environment remains high.
Problems of acid deposition, chlorofluorocarbons and ozone depletion still seek
solutions and concerted action. Until acid depositions (3)………., loss of aquatic life
in northern lakes and streams will continue and forest growth may be affected. Water
pollution will remain a growing problem as increasing human population puts
additional stress on the environment. To reduce environmental degradation and for
humanity to save its habitat, societies must recognise that resources are (4)..........
Environmentalists believe that, as populations and their demands increase, the idea of
continuous growth must (5)……….way to a more rational use of the environment,
but that this can only be brought (6)……….by a dramatic change in the attitude of
the human species.
1.
A
line
A
outset
A
outcome
A
outlook
2.
B
concern
B
attention
B
responsibility
B
consideration
3.
C
wane
C
diminish
C
depreciate
C
curtail
4.
D
finite
D
restricted
D
confined
D
bounded
5.
E
make
E
force
E
give
E
clear
6.
F
on
F
about
F
off
F
in
TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO ENGLISH USING YOUR
TOPICAL VOCABULARY UNITS
1. Авторы исследования уверены, что сегодня Земля страдает от истощения
природных ресурсов и сильного воздействия человека на окружающую
среду.
2. В последние век-полтора содержание некоторых парниковых газов в
атмосфере выросло очень сильно.
3. К числу приоритетных направлений организации относятся охрана живой
природы и естественной среды обитания исчезающих видов животных.
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4. Изменение климата приведет прежде всего к таянию льдов в Гренландии
и западной Антарктиде, а также к увеличению доли углекислого газа в
атмосфере.
5. Обезлесение приводит к снижению биоразнообразия, качества жизни, а
также к усилению парникового эффекта.
6. Как засухи, так и наводнения стали следствием роста средней
температуры в некоторых регионах.
7. С января 2005 года в странах Евросоюза вступила в действие внутренняя
система торговли квотами на выбросы углерода.
8. Одним из приоритетов нашей компании является применение безвредных
для окружающей среды технологий производства.
9. Новый доклад экологов свидетельствует: под угрозой полного
исчезновения находятся примерно четверть млекопитающих.
10.Охрана окружающей среды и сохранение природы должны стать одним
из приоритетов работы глав регионов.
READING 2: Read the text and word its message
Patient Earth
Thomas E. Lovejoy January 19, 2007
Even though we should know better, it is natural to regard what we grew up
with as the normal state of affairs. Indeed, every generation has a different view of
"the good old days." This is particularly troublesome with respect to the environment
and nature. Without some perspective of what might be "normal," it is hard to
understand the impact we have had on our planet and what to do about it.
At the time I turned my hand to environment and conservation, the number of
endangered species worldwide was modest. To be sure there were the first signs of
more pervasive problems heralded in Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," but they
seemed amenable to straightforward and simple fixes. Hole in the ozone layer? Find a
substitute for chlorofluorocarbons. Acid rain and acid lakes? Reduce sulfur emissions
and do it economically by creating a market for sulfur trading. An endangered
rainforest? Create a protected area.
To be truly effective in most endeavors, including environmental work, it is
important to lift one's gaze from the particular to assess periodically the overall state
of the exercise. That can determine whether and how to alter strategy as new
environmental problems emerge and understanding deepens.
Current indicators can only tell us about the moment, whereas we need to be
cognizant of shifting environmental horizons — what could well become future
baselines unless action is taken. Doing so, one can only conclude that the
environmental profession has changed from one in which simple and often local
interventions would work, to one in which we have become planet doctors. In the
oceans and on land it is impossible to find a place unaffected by human activities. We
live in a chemical soup of our own making. Even in the Arctic and Antarctica,
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animals accumulate toxic compounds in their tissues. Rainforests and virtually all
other natural habitats are in retreat. The number of endangered birds, mammals and
plants is soaring from multiple causes.
Perhaps as many as one quarter of all amphibian species are endangered
through a strange combination of factors, including a fatal fungal disease. With no
tadpoles, some streams have turned bright green from unconstrained algal growth.
The great global cycles of carbon and nitrogen are badly distorted, producing, among
other things, climate change and acidifying oceans from greenhouse gases plus
multiple dead zones in estuaries and coastal waters. The rising temperatures are
already stressing coral reefs. In some parts of Siberia, the thawed permafrost bubbles
with methane like a Yellowstone hot spring.
While there is enough on the planet's environmental horizon to make us all
want to throw up our hands, as planet doctors we know diagnosis is just prelude to
treatment.
There is a tremendous amount that can be done to right the imbalance without
wrecking the global economy. Indeed the recent Stern report on climate change,
whatever its flaws, clearly demonstrates that the implications of a deteriorating
environment are more serious for the economy than the cost of addressing it. Action
is required in all segments of society: Government needs to put the right incentives in
place to encourage, for example, the right kinds of biofuels and other alternate energy
sources. Individual human aspiration needs to be provided choices that are
environment-friendly.
Clearly, there is an enormous role for the private sector. Happily, there are
many signs that some companies view this as an opportunity. The aluminum
company Alcoa, in one of the most energy-intensive industries, is seeking to make its
Brazilian operations carbon-neutral and sustainable in other ways as well. Generators
made by Caterpillar run on methane from landfills. Time magazine has analyzed the
carbon in its product life cycle from tree harvest to disposal.
This is not the first time in our history that humanity has faced a huge and
unprecedented challenge. Environmental degradation is largely avoidable. It only
requires us to take the planetary diagnosis as seriously as our own individual annual
checkups, and rise to the challenge with all of our innate creativity.
Think about your daily routine. Make a list of five ways in which you could
help the environment by making changes to that routine
In groups draft a plan to make your region more environmentally friendly
and attractive for residents and tourists.
Think about:
rubbish removal / improved recycling
pedestrianisation / cycle path
better and cheaper public transport
tree planting and more green areas
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READING 3: ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Pre-reading:
What are the major concerns and fears associated with the issue of energy
efficiency?
TEXT 1
Energy security 'more important than climate change'
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
Guardian.co.uk
17 September 2008
Securing the country's supply of electricity is more important than tackling
climate change, a new report from energy analysts has claimed. It warned that the
UK's economy could be wrecked if there was no action to plug the energy shortfall
predicted for the next decade, with businesses going bust and hundreds of thousands
of people losing their jobs.
But the report, led by Ian Fells, a veteran energy policy analyst, has been
dismissed as "naive" by Greenpeace, and "overstated" by the energy secretary.
Environmentalists argued that the report's recommendation for new coal-fired power
stations went against the advice of scientists and that the rest of the world was forging
ahead with renewables.
The report said the government had to consider extending the lifespan of the
UK's ageing coal and nuclear power stations to meet the impending shortage.
Otherwise, Fells warned, the UK would be hit by repeated power cuts that would shut
down public transport, reduce hospital services and cause chaos in supermarkets and
offices. "Electricity is the life blood of civilisation. Without it we spiral down into
anarchy and chaos."
Fells criticised proposed renewable energy schemes as being too optimistic in
their promises and highlighted a long-term need for new nuclear power stations and
coal-fired stations that were ready to fit carbon-capture technology to maintain future
energy security in the UK.
The impending energy gap will be caused by the closure of the UK's ageing
nuclear and coal-fired power stations over the next decade. The report estimates the
UK will lose a third of electricity generating capacity in this time. Candida Whitmill,
a co-author of the report, said: "Nuclear will not be ready, renewables will not be able
to cope. Gas is getting politically and geographically dangerous to rely upon. Security
of supply must take priority over everything including climate change."
Fells said the situation was like "watching a slow-motion train crash" because
government plans to plug the energy shortfall, such as rolling out huge wind farms,
were impractical and filled with wishful thinking. Successive governments, said
Fells, had failed to come up with any solutions and criticised the current UK energy
policy as "not fit for purpose", warning that there could be severe consequences for
the economy.
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Fells who has long been a proponent of nuclear power, said that the upcoming
crisis required some "unpalatable" short-term fixes. "We will have to keep current
nuclear power stations going long past their sell-by date. We will probably have to
keep coal-fired stations that are coming to the end of their life. And that's no good for
the environment." He also advocated building new gas-fired power stations that could
be built quickly to shore up the supply and said that the controversial coal-fired plant
in Kent would also be needed, though he said this should be made ready to fit
technology to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground.
Greenpeace chief Scientist Doug Parr criticised Fells' report for its "long
standing love affair with the technologies of the 20th century, but as time goes by
[Fells'] fetish for coal and nuclear power looks increasingly naïve. All over the world
jobs are being created in the renewable energy sector, but Britain has been left behind
for too long by the negative, white flag approach to climate change that this report
represents. By proposing projects such as new coal fired power stations and the large
scale conversion of coal to liquid fuel for use in aeroplanes, Fells has finally lost the
backing of the scientific community."
Responding to the report, energy secretary John Hutton said: "Ensuring we
have enough clean and secure energy is a national priority and fundamental to our
future existence and prosperity. Ian Fells overstates the risk of the energy gap, but he
also understates what the government's already doing to secure our future supplies
and increase our energy independence - such as a tenfold increase in renewables, a
renaissance of nuclear energy in the UK, and backing clean coal technology."
He added: "That's not to underestimate the task we've got on our hands.
Securing future energy supplies for the UK is a matter of national security and so
we're not going to rule out any radical options. That's why we keep our energy
infrastructure under constant review, and will continue to take the tough decisions
needed to ensure that we have reliable energy supplies in the decades ahead."
Fells' report also suggested laying transmission lines to Norway, Germany and
Denmark and also an additional line to France. "That would mean we were properly
connected up to Europe. That would add a great deal of comfort and security,
provided there was someone there to make decisions." Greenpeace have backed a
similar North Sea grid proposal.
Over the longer term, Fells wants the UK to build more nuclear power stations
and also give the go-ahead for the Severn Barrage, a tidal generation system that
could produce up to 5% of the UK's electricity needs. He defended his point that
energy security was more important than climate change: "You can't go on doing all
the right things environmentally speaking if the whole of your system has crashed it's more important."
SPEAKING: Search the Internet to draft a short report on energy policy of a
chosen country
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TEXT 2
A blow to coal
Mar 31st
Economist print edition
New rules look set to speed the move from coal to natural gas
Presidents like to say that they have an “all of the above” energy policy. But it
is hard to see how one fuel, at least, has much of a future under the restrictions on
emissions of greenhouse gases from new power plants set out by his administration
this week. The proposed limit, of 454kg of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of
electricity generated, would in practice bar the construction of any new facilities
powered by coal.
In theory, the rules make an effort to accommodate future coal-fired plants, by
allowing them to exceed the emissions cap for the next ten years, provided that they
subsequently make up the difference by installing especially effective pollution
controls. That is a bureaucratic way of admitting that the technology needed to limit
emissions, by extracting carbon dioxide from power plants’ smokestacks and storing
it underground, is not yet commercially viable.
The problem is that carbon capture and storage (CCS), as the technology is
known, is not likely to be commercially viable in ten years’ time either. Thanks to
new techniques that have made it possible to extract natural gas relatively cheaply
from shale beds in recent years, America’s domestic gas supply has increased
dramatically and prices have slumped. Gas is also a less climate-threatening fuel than
coal: efficient new gas plants can easily meet the proposed carbon-emissions
standard. That makes the already questionable economics of CCS seem downright
implausible.
Lobbyists for the coal industry immediately declared that the current
administration was “driving up energy prices and destroying jobs”. In fact, low gas
prices, along with sluggish demand for electricity in the aftermath of the recession,
have kept power prices subdued (petrol prices are another matter). For some time
now utilities, faced with falling gas prices and the prospect of stricter environmental
regulation, have been favouring gas over coal anyway. So the new rules will only
formalise a shift that had already been under way, with little immediate economic
impact.
Yet, the White House, having determined that greenhouse gases are a threat to
“public health and welfare”, is now obliged under to follow through. In addition to
the rules about new power plants, it will soon have to produce an emissions policy for
existing facilities.
Compare energy policy of the UK with that of the US.
How similar/different are their short and long-term perspectives?
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TEXT 3
Alternative energy costly, inefficient
March 26, 2012
Thomas Ryan, Guest Columnist
Despite the pleas coming from both the left and right calling for further
government intervention in the energy industry, green and alternative energy sources
are still unable to compete with coal and natural gas. Alternative energy sources have
proven to be unsustainable, costly and detrimental to the economy, especially for
working-class families.
When it comes to most issues, liberals and conservatives seem to be at odds
with one another, but for some strange reason, they both seem to be on the same side
of the aisle when it comes to our country’s energy efficiency. But why should
politicians force taxpayers to invest more in an industry that has already cost us
billions and produces very little?
This obviously feeble industry, despite being propped up through subsidies, is
still very unattractive to profit hungry capitalists. The common misconception that oil
tycoons are just greedy and do not care about the environment is a gross example of
benightednes. In reality, any industrialist in a market economy would be more than
happy to find, own and produce a cost-efficient alternative to coal and oil. Any
energy industry entity that discovers this alternate resource would become immensely
wealthy while reducing our oil dependency and increasing our standard of living.
But wind, solar and biomass plants have proven to not be the answer, despite
their governmental free ride. Renewable Portfolio Standards, mandated in 24
different states, create quotas regarding how much production must be dedicated
toward alternative energy at production plants.
RPS increases the cost of energy production resulting in higher utility costs.
Combining that with skyrocketing gas prices, it becomes obvious that the green
movement is detrimental to lower income households. It is time for the state to get
out of the energy industry and let market forces and consumers decide how we will
power our homes and cars. The push for green energy has proven to be costly,
inefficient and harmful to a financially healthy environment.
Do you think alternative energy can be efficient? Give your examples.
The future has just begun
LEAD-IN
Calling this "our generation's Sputnik moment" and a "time to win the future,"
Obama in his second State of the Union address urged a renewed emphasis on
innovation. "Now it's our turn," Obama told a joint session of Congress. We need to
out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world."
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“…Yes, scientific innovation
offers us a chance to achieve
prosperity. It has offered us
benefits that have improved our
health and our lives —
improvements that we take too
easily for granted. But, it gives us
something more. At root, science
forces us to reckon with the truth
as best we can ascertain it. Some
truths fill us with awe, others
force us to question long-held
views. Science can’t answer
every question, and indeed it
seems at times the more we
plumb the mysteries of the physical world the more humble we must be. Science
cannot supplant our ethics, our values, our principles or our faith, but science can
inform those things, and help put those values, these moral sentiments, that faith, can
put those things to work — to feed a child, to heal the sick, to be good stewards of
this Earth. We are reminded that with each new discovery, and the new power it
brings, comes new responsibility. That the fragility, the sheer specialness of life,
requires us to move past our differences and to address our common problems, to
endure, and continue humanity’s strivings for a better world.”
Barack Obama
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2011/jan/28/predictions-future-sciencevideo?intcmp=239
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2011/feb/04/science-future-predictions
SCIENCE BASICS QUIZ
Which over-the-counter drug do doctors recommend that people take to help
prevent heart attacks?
1.
Antacids
2.
Cortisone
3.
Aspirin
According to most astronomers, which of the following is no longer considered a
planet?
1.
Neptune
2.
Pluto
3.
Saturn
4.
Mercury
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Which of the following may cause a tsunami?
1.
A very warm ocean current
2.
A large school of fish
3.
A melting glacier
4.
An earthquake under the ocean
The global positioning system, or GPS, relies on which of these to work?
1.
Satellites
2.
Stars
3.
Magnets
4.
Lasers
What gas do most scientists believe causes temperatures in the atmosphere to
rise?
1.
Hydrogen
2.
Helium
3.
Carbon dioxide
4.
Radon
How are stem cells different from other cells?
1.
They can develop into many different types of cell
2.
They are found only in bone marrow
3.
They are found only in plants
What have scientists recently discovered on Mars?
1.
Platinum
2.
Plants
3.
Mold
4.
Water
For each statement that follows, please indicate whether it is true or false.
The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of
years and will continue to move in the future:

True

False
Lasers work by focusing sound waves:

True

False
Antibiotics will kill viruses as well as bacteria:

True

False
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Electrons are smaller than atoms:

True

False
All radioactivity is man-made:

True

False
READING 1
Onwards and Upwards
Dec 17th 2009 the Economist
Why is the modern view of progress so impoverished?
In the rich world the idea of progress has become impoverished. Through
complacency and bitter experience, the scope of progress has narrowed. The popular
view is that, although technology and GDP advance, morals and society are treading
water or, depending on your choice of newspaper, sinking back into decadence and
barbarism. On the left of politics these days, “progress” comes with a pair of ironic
quotation marks attached; on the right, “progressive” is a term of abuse.
The idea of progress forms the backdrop to a society. In the extreme, without
the possibility of progress of any sort, your gain is someone else’s loss. If human
behaviour is unreformable, social policy can only ever be about trying to cage the
ape within. Society must in principle be able to move towards its ideals, such as
equality and freedom, or they are no more than cant and self-delusion. So it matters
if people lose their faith in progress. And it is worth thinking about how to restore it.
Modern science is full of examples of technologies that can be used for ill as
well as good. Think of nuclear power—and of nuclear weapons; of biotechnology—
and of biological contamination. Or think, less apocalyptically, of information
technology and of electronic surveillance. History is full of useful technologies that
have done harm, intentionally or not. Electricity is a modern wonder, but power
stations have burnt too much CO2-producing coal. The internet has spread
knowledge and understanding, but it has also spread crime and pornography. German
chemistry produced aspirin and fertiliser, but it also filled Nazi gas chambers with
Cyclon B.
The point is not that science is harmful, but that progress in science does not
map tidily onto progress for humanity. In an official British survey of public attitudes
to science in 2008, just over 80% of those asked said they were “amazed by the
achievements of science”. However, only 46% thought that “the benefits of science
are greater than any harmful effect”.
From the perspective of human progress, science needs governing. Scientific
progress needs to be hitched to what you might call “moral progress”. It can yield
untold benefits, but only if people use it wisely. They need to understand how to stop
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science from being abused. And to do that they must look outside science to the way
people behave.
SPEAKING:
Get ready to make a 4 to 5-minute speech on one of the questions below:
How have the lives of ordinary people been affected by recent scientific advances?
In what areas are scientific discoveries likely to be made in the near future?
Should scientific research be subject to tighter governmental controls?
Give your own examples proving that modern science is full of technologies that
can be used for ill as well as good
READING 2
Smarter Planet
December, 19th 2011
Steve Hamm
Every year IBM predicts the future of technology via the IBM 5 in 5 initiative–our
forecast of five innovations that will help transform aspects of modern life, making
the planet smarter, within the next five years. We assess not just the availability of a
new technology but also the likelihood of its large-scale adoption.
This year’s predictions:
· People power will come to life
· You will never need a password again
· Mind reading is no longer science fiction
· The digital divide will cease to exist
· Junk mail will become priority mail
Making this kind of prediction is difficult. (In fact, to me, sadly, the one about
eliminating the digital divide seems impossible.) So, every year, IBM researchers
stick out their necks. Which is risky. “A lot of people wait for things to happen. It’s
rare than an organization says: this is a big change, and it’s coming,” says IBM
Fellow Bernard Meyerson.
Why do they do it? In addition to the PR value, we complete this exercise annually
because it makes IBMers think hard about what’s possible and to strive to make it so.
Simply put, the process of choosing the predictions and defending them is good for
us.
Meyerson, who plays a role in the annual exercise, says the most useful thing about
the process is that it requires IBMers to think holistically about innovation. They
can’t consider science and technology in a vacuum. They also have to think deeply
about social trends, market conditions the willingness of people to pay for cuttingedge technologies. That’s the kind of thinking that can transform inventions into
high-impact innovations.
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We’ve been issuing the Next 5 in 5 predictions for the past six years. So, how are we
doing? Mindful of the difficulty, and considering the fact that for most of the
predictions less than five years have passed, we’ve done pretty well.
Two of the first year’s predictions, for instance, have pretty much come true:
We will be able to access healthcare remotely from just about anywhere in the
world. Today, through telemedicine, patients can connect with physicians or
specialists from just about anywhere via inexpensive computers and broadband
networks. Doctors can view x-rays and other diagnostic imagery from thousands of
miles away.
Technologies the size of a few atoms will address areas of environmental
importance. Nanotechnology is now used in countless fields and industries,
including agriculture, biotechnology and sensor networks, enabling us to understand
and interact with the natural environment like never before.
Predictions from other years have panned out as well. A couple of examples:
You will have a crystal ball for your health. Thanks to advances in genetic
research and high-performance computing it is now possible to affordably decipher
an individual’s entire genome. This makes it possible for physicians to alert people to
medical conditions they might fall prey to, and it clears the pathway, eventually, to
truly personal medicine.
You will talk to the Web…and the Web will talk back. Today, speech recognition
and mobile communications technologies make it possible for people to talk to the
Internet using their computers or mobile phones, be understood, and listen to
automated voices that are responsive to their needs.
The Next 5 in 5 initiative got its start in an IBM Innovation Jam in 2006. The seed
goal was to get the entire company thinking about grand challenges. “If you give
people a grand challenge you push them to really innovate,” says Meyerson. “That’s
when extraordinary things can happen.”
IBM has played a significant role in each of these breakthroughs. So, it’s working.
READING 2
Read this article and then look at the statements below. See which of them are
true. Give your reasoning by citing the text.
Computers and technology
Has the present lived up to the expectations of the past? Throughout the ages
people have tried to predict what life in the twenty-first century would be like. Many
science-fiction writers did manage to predict the influence the computer would have
on our world. Some even imagined that it would take over our lives, develop a
personality, and turn on its creators.
To some extent they were right, especially when it comes to children and cyber
addiction. One constant prediction was that, thanks to computers and machines, the
time devoted to labour would diminish. Even in 1971, in his book Future Shock,
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Alvin Toffler envisaged a society awash with 'free time'. The author noted that time
at work had been cut in half since the turn of the previous century and wrongly
speculated that it would be cut in half again by 2000.
However, our gadget-filled homes
are a tribute to the various visions of the
future: the microwave oven, internet
fridges with ice-cube dispensers,
freezers, video monitors, climate
control, dishwashers, washing machines,
personal
computers,
wireless
connections and cupboards full of
instant food. These may no longer be
considered cutting-edge but they have
matched, if not surpassed, visions of
how we would live. The domestic robot
never quite happened, but if you can
phone ahead to set the heating and use a
remote control to operate the garage door, they may as well be redundant.
The car, of course, has failed to live up to our expectations. It has been given
turbo engines, DVD players and automatic windows, but its tyres stick stubbornly to
the road. Why doesn't it take off? The past promised us a flying car in various guises.
In 1947 a prototype circled San Diego for more than an hour but later crashed in the
desert. Some 30 patents for flying cars were registered in the US patent office last
century but none of these ideas has been transformed into a commercially available
vehicle.
At least communication technology in this digital age hasn't let us down. Even
in the most remote areas people have access to some form of communication device.
The introduction of the telephone last century changed our world, but today's mobile
phones and the virtual world of the Internet have revolutionised it.
1. A modern problem proves that computers are dominating our lives in some way
2. Alan Toffler's predictions have been proven true
3. Household gadgets today have been a disappointment
4. ............................................................................ We have enough gadgets
now to make robots unnecessary in the home
5. .............................................. Today's cars have fulfilled all predictions
6. ............................................................................... The mobile phone and the
Internet have changed our world for the better
Now match the words in the text with these definitions.
1. guessed
2. be greater than expected
3. a machine invented for a specific purpose (x 2)
4. relating to computers
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5. .................................... a screen that images can be seen on
6. the first working example of a machine
7. an adjective used to describe anything related to
8. ............................. almost real
9. ............................. computers
10. ............................. very modern
Match a word from box A with a word from box В and use the compound words
to complete the sentences below
A. automatic, cyber, remote, silicon, wireless, labour
B.
chip, connection, control, pilot, space, saving,
1. The invention of the …………… made watching television an even more passive
experience.
2. In my view the dishwasher is one of the greatest …………… devices.
3. People often talk about emails and text messages being lost in …………… as if it
were a real place.
4. Even flying a plane has been automated now. The …………… is used for most of
the flight.
5. The invention of the …………… meant that computers could be much smaller.
6. I can access the Internet from anywhere in my house because my laptop has a
……………
USE OF ENGLISH:
Read the text below and think of the word that best fits each space
Predicting the world we live in
Which nineteenth-century writer predicted the world we know most
accurately? 'Jules Verne' would be a reasonable guess, but is not the (0) correct
answer. The man who foresaw most of the technological advances we take for (1)
_______ was a French writer, Albert Robida, (2) _______ novel 'The Twentieth
Century' appeared in 1882. Robida did not know nearly as (3) _______ science as
Verne but he possessed an intuitive sense of what technology would be capable of in
a hundred years' time even though he did not understand (4) _______ the advances
would be achieved.
His successful predictions make a formidable list. He not (5) _______ foresaw
radio and television but air travel and fast-food restaurants. He was also far-sighted
enough not to share his contemporaries' blind faith (6) _______ progress, realising
that technological advance might cause problems as well as (7) _______ life more
comfortable.
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In some ways, however, Robida failed to foresee (8) _______ our world would
be like and in each case the error was due to his personal prejudices. When cars came
(9) _______ fashion later in his life, he disliked them so much (10) _______ of their
noise and fumes that he refused to revise his predictions to include them. (11)
_______ did he envisage the development of computers and the extent of their
influence (12) _______ every aspect of our lives today.
But his most serious errors were sociological. He was typical (13) _______ his
age and social class in thinking that women were less intelligent than men and the
working class would always be mainly employed (14) _______ servants. Though he
foresaw many of the technological developments that have (15) _______ into being
in our time, he could not imagine the sexual and social revolutions of the twentieth
century.
WRITING: SUMMARY
The Future Is Now
By Joel Achenbach
April 13, 2008; The Washington Post
The most important things happening in the world today won't make
tomorrow's front page. They won't get mentioned by presidential candidates or Chris
Matthews or Bill O'Reilly or any of the other folks yammering and snorting on cable
television. They'll be happening in laboratories -- out of sight, inscrutable and
unhyped until the very moment when they change life as we know it.
Science and technology form a two-headed, unstoppable change agent.
Problem is, most of us are mystified and intimidated by such things as biotechnology,
or nanotechnology, or the various other-ologies that seem to be threatening to merge
into
a
single
unspeakable
and
incomprehensible
thing
called
biotechnonanogenomicology. We vaguely understand that this stuff is changing our
lives, but we feel as though it's all out of our control.
What's unnerving is the velocity at which the future sometimes arrives.
Consider the Internet. This powerful but highly disruptive technology crept out of the
lab (a Pentagon think tank, actually) and all but devoured modern civilization -- with
almost no advance warning. The first use of the word "internet" to refer to a computer
network seems to have appeared in this newspaper on Sept. 26, 1988, in the Financial
section, on page F30 -- about as deep into the paper as you can go without hitting the
bedrock of the classified ads. The scientists knew that computer networks could be
powerful. But how many knew that this Internet thing would change the way we
communicate, publish, sell, shop, conduct research, find old friends, do homework,
plan trips and on and on?
It's not just us mortals, even scientists don't always grasp the significance of
innovations. Tomorrow's revolutionary technology may be in plain sight, but
everyone's eyes, clouded by conventional thinking, just can't detect it. So where does
that leave the rest of us? In technological Palookaville.
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Science is becoming ever more specialized; technology is increasingly a series
of black boxes, impenetrable to but a few. Americans' poor science literacy means
that science and technology exist in a walled garden, a geek ghetto. We are a
technocracy in which most of us don't really understand what's happening around us.
We stagger through a world of technological and medical miracles. We're zombified
by progress.
Our ability to monkey around with life itself is a reminder that ethics, religion
and old-fashioned common sense will be needed in abundance in decades to come.
How smart and flexible and rambunctious do we want our computers to be? Let's not
mess around with that Matrix business.
Every forward-thinking person almost ritually brings up the mortality issue.
What'll happen to society if one day people can stop the aging process? Or if only
rich people can stop getting old?
It's interesting that politicians rarely address such matters. The future in general
is something of a suspect topic . . . a little goofy. Right now we're all focused on the
next primary, the summer conventions, the Olympics and their political implications,
the fall election. The political cycle enforces an emphasis on the immediate rather
than the important.
And in fact, any prediction of what the world will be like more than, say, a year
from now is a matter of hubris. The professional visionaries don't even talk about
predictions or forecasts but prefer the word "scenarios." When Sen. John McCain, for
example, declares that radical Islam is the transcendent challenge of the 21st century,
he's being sincere, but he's also being a bit of a soothsayer. Environmental problems
and resource scarcity could easily be the dominant global dilemma. Or a virus with
which we've yet to make our acquaintance. Or some other "wild card."
Some predictions are bang-on, such as sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke's
declaration in 1945 that there would someday be communications satellites orbiting
the Earth. But Clarke's satellites had to be occupied by repairmen who would
maintain the huge computers required for space communications. Even in the late
1960s, when Clarke collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the screenplay to "2001: A
Space Odyssey," he assumed that computers would, over time, get bigger. We have
built into us an idea that tomorrow is going to be pretty much like today, which is
very wrong.
The future is often viewed as an endless resource of innovation that will make
problems go away -- even though, if the past is any judge, innovations create their
own set of new problems. Climate change is at least in part a consequence of the
invention of the steam engine in the early 1700s and all the industrial advances that
followed.
Look again at the Internet. It's a fantastic tool, but it also threatens to disperse
information we'd rather keep under wraps, such as our personal medical data, or even
the instructions for making a fission bomb.
We need to keep our eyes open. The future is going to be here sooner than we
think. It'll surprise us. We'll try to figure out why we missed so many clues. And we'll
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Graduation Course+
go back and search the archives, and see that thing we should have noticed on page
F30.
Palookaville is a 1995 motion picture about a pair of trio burglars and their
dysfunctional family of origin. It is a comedy about bumbling buddies who decide to
live a life of crime. But there's a problem: the only thing they know about being
criminals is what they've seen on TV so you can imagine the problems they encounter
when planning their big score
READING 3
Fill each of the numbered blanks in the passage with one suitable word.
Life on Mars
Speculation about life on Mars began, like so much speculation, with the
ancient Greeks. For them, as for us, it formed part of a larger question: Are there
intelligent life forms elsewhere in the universe, and if (1) ………., are they anything
like us?
As (2) ………. as Christians believed that the Earth was the centre of the
universe, interest (3) ………. such matters (4) ………. out but revived in the nineteenth
century. The reason why discussion began to focus (5) ………. Mars was that Italian
astronomers claimed there were lines on the surface, which they called canali or
channels. When the word was translated (6) ………. English as 'canals', implying that
they had been artificially constructed, the stage was set for all kinds of hypotheses.
After the astronomers came the novelists, (7) ………. all the young H G Wells,
who portrayed the Martians as ruthless invaders in The War of the Worlds. The
success of Wells' novel (8) ………. Rise to a host of imitations, (9) ………. them an
early work of Edgar Rice Burroughs, later the creator of Tarzan. Burroughs' Mars
was inhabited not only by monsters (10) ………. also by beautiful princesses who
gave birth by (11) ………. eggs.
Since a spacecraft landed there in J 997, Mars has once again been in the news.
(12) ………. always, public interest is aroused by the hope that life might be found
there. So far such speculation remains wishful (13) ………. and one cannot help
wondering why it should seem important to us. The answer may be that we (14)
………. it comforting to imagine that we are not (15) ………. in the universe.
What DNA can tell us about the past
DNA is the substance from which all life as we know it is derived. But how (0)
long can it survive? Is it out of the (1) ………. to think of recreating a creature
from DNA found in the remains of one? The discovery of traces of DNA in an
animal known (2) ………. the quagga, a cross (3) ………. a horse and a zebra that
became extinct in the last century, was the starting point for a series of investigation
of this type.
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The initial excitement has (4) ………. down a little since subsequent research
has demonstrated that however well preserved a creature's remains may be, the upper
limit for the survival of DNA is about 100,000 years and using it to (5) ………. a
quagga back to life is the stuff of fantasy. Yet the discovery can be used to provide
(6) ………. to many questions about prehistory that have troubled archaeologists.
For example, as a result of extracting DNA from the remains of a Neanderthal,
scientists have (7) ………. the conclusion that it belonged to a different species and
we are not its descendants. Another problem concerns the inhabitants of Easter Island
in the South Pacific. In this case, the DNA evidence of ancient human remains does
not bear (8) ………. the theory that they came from South America but nor does it
prove that they were from South East Asia, the alternative suggestion (9) ……….
forward.
It might be imagined that these new scientific techniques would (10) ……. an
end to traditional archaeological research but this is very (11) ………. from being the
case. (12) ………. the contrary, they provide a basis (13) ………. many further
projects, if we (14) ………. into consideration the hundreds of samples of hair, bone
and tissue containing DNA in museums that can be analysed to throw (15) ……….
on the unsolved mysteries of the past.
USE OF ENGLISH PRACTICE
Gapped Sentences
1. Shell is poised to become the first oil major to sign a deal to ……………
natural gas in the Kurdish region of Iran.
Brutal interrogation methods and even executions are allegedly used by the security
services to …………… information about insurgents.
Read this …………… from an information booklet about the work of an airline cabin
crew.
2. MyTravel, the embattled tour operator, is understood to be preparing to
…………… back its retail division by shedding senior staff and closing up to 260
shops.
To …………… fish at home, start to …………… from tail to head with the back of a
table knife.
There is now a consensus among politicians of all parties that it is time to face up to
the …………… of the problem in the public finances.
3. The menu will be ready as soon as you …………… up your computer
In the United States, a …………… camp is a military training camp for new recruits,
with strict discipline.
Alice was not just the smartest girl in the class; she was the best dancer, to
……………
4. Gerry was seen as a computer wizard capable of debugging convoluted
…………… in his sleep.
It was as if the speaker’s words contained a concealed ………… that only we were
picking up.
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Remember to dial the area …………… if you are phoning from outside Nottingham.
5. As with any complex project, it’s a …………… of getting the right mix of
skills.
In the brain, the cerebral cortex is a layer of grey …………… lying above each
cerebral hemisphere.
Helping him to escape had not been a minor …………… and he knew that if these
people were caught they would be punished.
6. Though she was an exacting boss at work she could never put her ……………
down in the affairs of her family.
There is a mounting dissent between the participants in the deal over who should
…………… the bill for the technology needed.
Put your best …………… forward and work on the assumption that there is an
acceptable solution to every problem you are likely to face.
Word formation
Today, of course, we face more complex challenges than
we have ever faced before: a medical system that holds the
promise of (1)…………… new cures and treatments -- attached
to a health care system that holds the potential for bankruptcy to
families and businesses; a system of energy that powers our
economy, but simultaneously (2)…………… our planet; threats
to our security that seek to exploit the very (3)............... and
openness so (4)…………… to our prosperity.
And if there was ever a day that reminded us of our shared
stake in science and research, it's today. We are closely
monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States.
And this is obviously a cause for concern and requires a
(5)…………… state of alert. But it's not a cause for alarm. The
Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public
health emergency as a (6)…………… tool to ensure that we have
the resources we need at our disposal to respond quickly and
effectively. And this is one more example of why we can't allow
our nation to fall behind.
(7)……………, that's exactly what's happened. Federal
funding in the physical sciences as a portion of our gross
domestic product has fallen by nearly half over the past quarter
century.
Our schools continue to trail other developed countries and,
in some cases, developing countries. Our students are
(8)…………… in math and science by their peers in Singapore,
Japan, England, Hong Kong, and Korea, among others. And we
have watched as scientific integrity has been undermined and
scientific research (9)…………… in an effort to advance
(10)…………… ideological agendas.
lock
danger
connect
essence
height
caution
fortune
perform
policy
determine
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Graduation Course+
Open Cloze
The Danger of Dissent
Some would argue that, in matters (1) …………… great public importance,
scientific dissent should be silenced. It can, it is true, (2) …………… harm. When
AIDS first (3) …………… its ugly head, no one knew what caused it. Gradually, the
virus responsible was isolated, identified and then attacked successfully with drugs
(4) …………… specifically to (5) …………… its reproduction. A few scientists,
though, refused to (6) …………… the evidence and some politicians used their
arguments to (7) …………… inaction.
Now this newspaper believes that global warming is a serious threat, and that
the world needs to take steps to try to (8) ……………….. it. That is the job of the
politicians. But we do not believe that climate change is a certainty. There are no
certainties in science. Prevailing theories must be constantly tested (9) …………….
evidence, and refined, and more evidence collected, and the theories tested again.
That is the job of the scientists. When they stop questioning orthodoxy, mankind will
have given up the (10) …………… for truth. The skeptics should not be silenced.
READING 4: READ and DISCUSS
The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most
commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption
using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the
laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or
improved nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been
undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very
time consuming and are often not very accurate. Genetic engineering, on the other
hand, can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great
accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought or
cold tolerance, pest or disease resistance and insert that gene into a different plant.
The new genetically-modified plant will gain these traits as well.
The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in
the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is
going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this
need.
Environmental activists, religious organizations, public interest groups,
professional associations and other scientists and government officials have all raised
concerns about GM foods, and criticized agribusiness for pursuing profit without
concern for potential hazards, and the government for failing to exercise adequate
regulatory oversight. It seems that everyone has a strong opinion about GM foods.
Most concerns about GM foods fall into three categories: environmental hazards,
human health risks, and economic concerns.
Genetically-modified foods have the potential to solve many of the world's
hunger and malnutrition problems, and to help protect and preserve the environment
by increasing yield and reducing reliance upon chemical pesticides and herbicides.
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Yet there are many challenges ahead for governments, especially in the areas of
safety testing, regulation, international policy and food labeling. Many people feel
that genetic engineering is the inevitable wave of the future and that we cannot afford
to ignore a technology that has such enormous potential benefits. However, we must
proceed with caution to avoid causing unintended harm to human health and the
environment as a result of our enthusiasm for this powerful technology.
Make up a list of arguments for and against genetic engineering
Render the text that follows in English
Человечество давно использует генную инженерию для получения
генетически модифицированной продукции. При этом более 95% продукции
получают из растений, которые являются прекрасными объектами для
изучения, особенно соя, кукуруза, хлопок, картофель и многие другие.
Сегодня получены образцы растений, в которых содержатся антигены
некоторых вирусов, что позволяет вакцинировать население от многих
заболеваний. Возможно обогащение продуктов растительного происхождения
витаминами, микроэлементами и минеральными веществами. Появились
растения, способные защитить себя от насекомых и сорняков – повышается
урожайность, качество, понижается себестоимость продукции. Существуют ГМ
овощи и фрукты способные переносить заморозки и засуху, которые в обычных
случаях уничтожили бы урожай.
Максимальное количество генетически модифицированных растений
выращиваются на территории США (соя, кукуруза, хлопок и другие), на их
долю приходится 63% мировых объемов производства «новых» растений, а
потребителями являются развивающиеся страны.
Трудно предсказать последствия использования измененных продуктов за
счет природных, глобальных факторов воздействия, а тем более отклик
человеческого организма на успехи генной инженерии. Выращивание и
употребление в пищу генетически модифицированных организмов (ГМО)
сопровождается несколькими рисками. Экологи опасаются, что генетически
измененные формы могут случайно проникнуть в дикую природу, что приведет
к катастрофическим изменениям в экосистемах.
Например, сорняки могут получить от ГМО ген устойчивости к
вредителям
и
пестицидам.
Тогда
размножение
сорняков
будет
неконтролируемым. Саморегуляция в экосистемах нарушится.
Кроме экологических рисков, связанных с проблемами выращивания
ГМО, существуют пищевые риски. Употребление трансгенных продуктов
вызывает у многих людей аллергические реакции. Сорта растений, устойчивые
к пестицидам могут накапливать вредные вещества и вызывать отравление при
употреблении в пищу. ГМ-растения подвергают риску экологический баланс в
природе и могут негативно повлиять на здоровье человека.
READING 5
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With the advent of new technology there have been many changes during the
latter part of the twentieth century. As well as new words, some words have
changed their meaning.
You Are Survivors!
(for those born some time ago)
You were born before television, before penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods,
Xerox, plastics, contact lenses, DVDs and Frisbees. You were before radar, credit
cards, split atoms, laser beams and ball point pens; before dishwashers, tumble
dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners …
and before man walked on the moon. You got
married first and then lived together (how
quaint can you be?). You thought ‘fast food’
was what you ate at Lent, a ‘Big Mac’ was an
oversized raincoat and ‘crumpet’ you had for
tea. You existed before house husbands,
computer dating, dual careers, and when
‘sheltered accommodation’ was where you
waited for a bus.
You were before day-care centers, group
homes and disposable nappies.
You never heard of FM radio, key
boards, artificial hearts, yoghurts and young
men wearing earrings. For you ‘time sharing’
meant togetherness, a ‘chip’ was a piece of
wood or a fried potato, hardware meant nuts
and bolts, and software wasn’t a word.
‘Made in Japan’ meant junk, pizzas, McDonalds and instant coffee were
unheard of. In your day, cigarette smoking was ‘fashionable’, ‘grass’ was mown,
‘coke’ was kept in a coal house, and a ‘joint’ was a piece of meat. ‘Rock music’ was
grandmother’s lullaby, ‘Eldorado’ was an ice cream, a ‘gay person’ was life and soul
of the party and nothing more, while ‘aids’ just meant beauty treatment, wooden legs
or help for someone in trouble.
You, who were born a long time ago, must be a hardy bunch when you think of
the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments you have had to make.
But … by the grace of God … you have survived!!
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