Test 19 on the science of ecology

I. Прочитайте текст и выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанных фрагментов (А-E).

A. Business is often seen as the "bad guy" in environmental matters because people feel that businesses will do anything to make a profit. Unfortunately, this is too often the case. Many businesspeople, in fact, believe that they cannot make a profit and be kind to the environment at the same time. However, it does not necessarily have to be this way. Using common business strategies, companies have found ways to become environmentally friendly, or "green," and increase their profits at the same time.

B. One such strategy that businesses use is known as "product differentiation." This term means that a company advertises the fact that its product is different from other, similar products. A number of environmentally-friendly companies have done this successfully. For example, in marketing their products, organic food companies emphasize the organic aspect. That is, they highlight the fact that no chemicals have been used to grow the food, and so it is better for consumers' health and for the environment. These days, many consumers are looking for products that have no negative health or environmental effects.

C. Another "green" business strategy that has been successful is waste reduction. Many companies have considered waste and pollution as a necessary part of the production process. They have done little to prevent either waste or pollution, unless there were laws that forced them to. However, other companies have realized that there are definite advantages to reducing waste and pollution. Less waste and less pollution means a more efficient production process. The 3M Company in the United States is a good example of this. In 1975, it started a program that rewarded employees for successful ideas about how to reduce waste and prevent pollution. This program has helped the company pollute much less and save more than a half a billion dollars.

D. Some companies have taken the idea of waste prevention even further and have become "zero-waste" companies. That means they produce no waste at all because everything from the production process is used or recycled. Asahi Breweries of Japan, for example, sends the waste from its beer production to farms to be used as animal feed. The plastic and cardboard pieces left over from packaging are all recycled, too.

E. Finally, companies can become "greener" by planning for a "greener" future. For example, two energy companies, Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum, have started to invest in renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, or hydrogen energy. Shell is also working with Daimler-Chrysler, an automobile company, and the government of Iceland on a special project to make Iceland the first country with a hydrogen-based economy. Other multinational companies have also realized that global warming and climate change could hurt their business, and they have decided to cut back on the amount of harmful gases that their factories produce. Of these, Dupont is one of the leaders. It aims by 2010 to reduce harmful gases by 65 percent from the 1990 amounts. It also plans to limit its energy use to 1990 levels and to use renewable sources of energy for 10 percent of all the energy it uses.

1. Products beneficial both for your health and environment are mentioned in

A. Section A

B. Section B

C. Section C

D. Section D

2. The company that has become totally waste-free is

A. the 3M Company

B. Daimler-Chrysler

C. Dupont

D. Asahi Breweries

3. The company that facilitates and sponsors creative environmental thinking is

A. Asahi Breweries

B. Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum

C. the 3M Company

D. Dupont

4. The example of the company that looks ahead into the future is

A. Daimler-Chrysler

B. Dupont

C. Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum

D. the 3M Company

5. The companies that want to lead new developments are

A. Royal Dutch/Shell and the 3M Company

B. Dupont and Asahi Breweries

C. Dupont and the 3M Company

D. Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum

II. Прочитайте текст. Подберите соответствующий заголовок к каждому абзацу (1-6).

(1) The main advantage of the rainforest is that they are a cradle of life. They only cover 7% of the world's land area but they contain between 50 and 90 percent of all the Earth's species, plant and animal, and that's a lot! Secondly, they're home for indigenous people still in many regions of the world - the forests give them everything: food, shelter and culture. These people shouldn't be evicted from their home. Thirdly they provide a wealth of food for all of us, and that includes not only favourites like bananas and pineapples but also exotics like mangoes, jack fruits and so on. And staple items like tea, coffee and rice; they come from tropical forests, too.

(2) They're also a gene bank, that's important because a lot of our plants have been adapted and bred for plantations and farms over the years. But farm crops can be affected by diseases and we have to go back to the originals sometimes, to the wild species which are resistant to these diseases. That's the gene bank in the rainforest.

(3) Then they're a wonderful pharmacy. The people of the forest have used rainforest remedies for centuries and many medicines we know today are based on rainforest sources. In fact, over 2,000 rainforest plants contain anticancer properties.

(4) And of course, they're also a green factory and they produce things like rubber, you know, all those latex products, edible oils, gums, resins, waxes and so on, which we use to make a thousand everyday products like lubricants, glues, even lipstick.

(5) And they regulate our climate. Tropical forests are like sponges. They absorb most of the rain water which falls on them and then release it slowly into rivers and into the atmosphere. When forests are cleared, the rain runs away, there's no evaporation, no rain, so the world gets droughts. And finally, they absorb greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and they're checking it and holding back the greenhouse effect. When you burn trees, you release carbon into the air and add to the greenhouse effect, increasing the problem.

(6) To be cutting down the rainforest, it's like holding a gun at your head and firing the trigger hoping that out of the six cylinders, the bullet's not in the cylinder that you're holding at your head. And to make it even worse, we then roll the cylinder and have another go.

A. Balancing the Earth`s Climate

B. Providing Raw Materials

C. Safeguarding Crops

D. Getting Our Prize

E. Taking Chances Blindly

F. Amazing Riches

G. Trying to Save Rainforests

H. Supplying New Remedies

III. Прочитайте текст и выполните послетекстовые задания.

(1) Acid rain is a term that's really being used now for a kind of pollution which is hanging over our heads in a sense - it's the air pollution above us. It's the pollution that's coming down in rain, in mist, in snow, in hail, in many different ways and damaging our forests, our lakes and rivers, our buildings and even human health. If we are to control acid rain, we must know what is actually causing it, so now let's talk about the chemicals involved.

(2) There are really three we should look at. These are sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone. The first two of those are primary pollutants - that is they are produced directly from source. In the case of sulphur dioxide, the main problem is power station chimneys, in the case of nitrogen oxides, they come really half and half from cars and from power stations. Ozone is what's known as a secondary pollutant. It means it's formed in the atmosphere from a combination of other pollutants, other primary pollutants. Ozone is formed from a combination of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons both of which come from car exhausts. If you put sunlight onto these two chemicals, they react together and they form ozone and so the highest levels of ozone are found in a hot summer around the edges of cities where there are lots of car exhausts, lots of sunlight and then you end up with a lot of ozone.

(3) About seventy-one percent of all the sulphur dioxide emitted from Britain comes from the large coal burning power stations predominantly situated in the Midlands. In fact, Britain is Western Europe's largest emitter of sulphur dioxide. It emits some three point seven million tons a year. That's more than any other country except perhaps Poland or Russia.

(4) The problem, of course, with sulphur dioxide is that it doesn't just fall close to the factory or the power station. It gets lifted into the air and it can travel thousands of miles in the air before it falls as rain. So Britain is not just creating a problem for itself, but a problem for the rest of Europe. And that is really why the Scandinavians and the Dutch and the Belgians have become angry with the British government because it hasn't done anything about acid rain - because they are paying for the environmental damage which is caused by British pollution.

(5) British environment is dying as well and sulphur from British power stations is landing all over the United Kingdom. In Wales and in the West of Scotland, acid rain is already having quite a marked effect. Some hundreds of lakes in Wales have been affected, several have lost their fish and in the West of Scotland, twenty-seven Galloway lakes have already completely lost their fish.

(6) Luckily there are some ways to stop this environmental catastrophe. There are short-term solutions and there are long-term solutions. In the short term, people need to make immediate cuts to the emissions that are coming from our power stations and cars. In the long term, people need to change the way society is thinking.

Выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанного текста (задания 1-5).

1. Acid rain is a term that denotes

A. a kind of pollution which is hanging over the atmosphere in the form of a cloud

B. air and soil pollution that damages forests, lakes and even human health

C. a sort of air pollution that comes down in rain, mist, snow and hail.

2. To control acid rains we must

A. know chemistry well

B. be aware of the reason causing pollution

C. talk about the chemicals involved all the time

3. Primary pollutants are

A. substances which are generated directly from the source

B. sulphur oxides and nitrogen dioxide

C. products of power stations and cars

4. The highest levels of ozone are found in a hot summer around the edges of big cities as

A. there are a lot of car exhausts and plenty of sunshine

B. ozone is a reaction resulting half and half from cars and power stations

C. ozone is a combination of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons both of which come from car exhausts and factory chimneys

5. The problem with sulphur dioxide is

A. that it can easily combine with any harmful substance to produce secondary pollutants

B. that it can be carried away for thousands of miles from the place where it is produced

C. that it comes down to earth as soon as it starts raining

Определите значение указанного слова в тексте (задания 6-8).

6. emit (3)

A. to produce B. to send out C. to throw

7. predominantly (3)

A. mainly B. largely C. preferably

8. immediate (6)

A. enormous B. rapid C. instant

Выберите правильный вариант перевода в соответствии с содержанием текста (задания 9-12).

9. And that is really why the Scandinavians and the Dutch and the Belgians have become angry with the British government because it hasn’t done anything about acid rains (4).

A. И именно поэтому скандинавы, датчане и бельгийцы разозлились на британское правительство, потому что оно ничего не предпринимает по поводу кислотных дождей.

B. В связи с этим скандинавы, датчане и бельгийцы злятся на британское правительство, так как оно ничего не делает с кислотными дождями.

C. И именно поэтому скандинавы, датчане и бельгийцы недовольны политикой британского правительства, потому что оно ничего не предпринимает по поводу кислотных дождей.

10. They are paying for the environmental damage which is caused by British pollution (4).

A. Они платят за вред, приносимый окружающей среде, причиной которого является британское загрязнение.

B. Они платят за окружающий вред, источником которого является британское загрязнение.

C. Они сейчас платят за вред, приносимый окружающей среде, источником которого является британское загрязнение.

11. British environment is dying as well and sulphur is landing all over the United Kingdom (5).

A. Окружающая среда Британии также умирает, и сера приземляется по всему Соединенному королевству.

B. Окружающая среда Британии загрязняется не меньше, и сера оседает по всему Соединенному королевству.

C. Окружающая среда Британии страдает не меньше, и сера покрывает поверхность всего Соединенного королевства.

12. Some hundreds of lakes in Wales have been affected, several have lost their fish and in Galloway twenty-seven lakes have already lost their fish completely.

A. Несколько сотен озёр в Уэльсе были поражены, некоторые из них утратили рыбу, а в Галлоуэе двадцать семь озер полностью потеряли рыбу.

B. Несколько сотен озёр в Уэльсе были поражены, в некоторых исчезла рыба, а в Галлоуэе двадцать семь озер уже полностью потеряли рыбу.

C. Несколько сотен озёр в Уэльсе были поражены, в некоторых из них исчезла рыба, а в Галлоуэе рыба уже полностью исчезла из двадцати семи озер.