Global Warming
A
You know that the sun is the source of all energy on earth. Solar
radiation reaches the earth. The earth soaks up some of it and reflects some
back to the atmosphere. The reflected radiation is absorbed by the gases in the
atmosphere. The gases act like the glass walls of a greenhouse. They trap the
warm air in and reflect it back to earth again. Scientists call this the greenhouse
effect.
B
The cause of the greenhouse effect is the increase in carbon dioxide
which is caused by some human activities (e.g. driving cars and cutting trees)
leading to global warming. As a result, temperatures around the earth have
steadily gone up over the past 200 years. The past twenty years have seen the
biggest increase.
C
Climatic changes due to global warming happen very slowly. Some
scientists think that the warming will cause the polar ice caps to melt which
means that coastal cities could be flooded. Other scientists have a different
idea. If the air over Antarctica warms up, it can hold more moisture. This
would mean more snow. Also, there have been strong rain storms in parts of
the U.S. This has caused massive mud slides and flooding. In addition, there
has been an increase in violent storms such as tornadoes and hurricanes. They
have caused a lot of injury and property damage.
D
What can be done about global warming? Can one person make a
difference? The answer is YES! If we conserve energy we will use less fossil
fuel. Turn off appliances and lights when you're not using them. Wear a
sweater instead of turning up the thermostat in the winter. Open the windows
instead of using the air conditioner in the summer. Ride your bike instead of
driving short distances. Always recycle everything you can. If we all work
together to conserve, the earth will be a lot better off.
1- What is the main idea of the above passage?
A) The greenhouse effect is caused by gases act like glass walls trapping
the warm air and reflecting it back to earth.
B) Global warming causes problematic climatic changes and is mainly
caused by some human activities that can be changed if they work
together to conserve.
C) If you recycle everything, the earth will be better.
D) Global warning causes floods, more snow, strong rain storms in part of
U.S., tornadoes and hurricanes.
2- Match the headings below with the appropriate paragraphs above.
-------------- Greenhouse effect
-------------- The role of people to decrease global warming
-------------- The effect of global warming on the weather
-------------- The cause of global warming
3- Mark the following statements as true or false
1- ------------ The earth will have more snow because the temperature over
Antarctica is getting lower
2- ---------- The effect of global warning is clear since the past twenty years.
4- Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right.
1- ------- Pneumonia
2- ------- Floods
a. emotional conditions and feelings
b. lung disease
c. large amount of water on dry lands