Vocabulary list

Deforestation – вырубкалеса

Clearance – очистка леса под пашню

Timber – древесина

Mining – горная промышленность, разработка месторождений

Species – вид

Endangered Species List – Краснаякнига

Extinction – вымирание

Rate – скорость, темп

Elimination – уничтожение

Tribe – племя

Investment – капиталовложение

Cut down – рубить (деревья)

To burn – гореть,сжигать

To release - высвобождать

To be gone – быть утраченным, исчезнуть

To lead – вести

To cover – занимать, охватывать территорию

To perish – погибать

Tribal – племенной

Comprehension task

I. Say, whether the following statements are true or false

1. We can compensate for the loss of rainforests very guickly if we plant more forests in other places.

2. If they don’t stop the destruction of rainforests, the Endangered Species List will grow much longer.

3. 3. Animals and birds from the rainforests can find other places to live

in.

4. If they liguidate ranches, the rainforests will grow there again.

5. The degradation and death of the forests of the Earth worsens the

greenhouse effect.

II. Find sentences in the text illustrating the phrases below

1. The Earth's forests are often called «the lungs of the Planet».

2. Many animals of the rainforests are candidates for Endangered Species List.

3. Rainforest destruction means the most serious environmental problem, which is the Greenhouse Effect.

4. Tropical rainforests are the richest botanical and ecological reserves of nature.

III. Translate into Russian

Deforestation, to cut down trees, to make way, to burn trees to the ground, species extinctions, elimination of tribal people, to hamburgerize.

IV. What are the follewing processes called

1. When trees are cut down for growing agricultural products.

2. When all plants or animals of a certain species pensh.

3. When all people of a tribe are gone.

4. When something is done to get future results.

5. When no trees are left where forests stood before.

6. When work is done to get minerals from earth.

V. Fill in the missing words

1. The Greenhouse Effect is the artificial … …

2. … … leads to greater need for food.

3. More people means larger areas of land used for … …

4. Extensive mining in the region of rainforests means … …

5. … … is the action needed to make way for growing agricultural

products.

VI. Write about the endangered dants in your area. Describe how people try to save them

Unit 4

Read the text and make up a plan

Animals in danger

By the year 2030, 25% of all animals, birds, fish and insects may

be extinct. Why is this happening? Well, there are three main reasons. The first is pollution. Millions of animals die every year because man has polluted their natural home or “habitat”. A habitat contains everything a living thing needs: food, water, shelter, space, light.

Pollution and destruction change the balance of nature. Each species in a habitat – wood, jungle, marsh or forest – needs and helps the rest. If one animal, bird or insect disappears, all the rest suffe, too, because some plants and animals provide food for othev animals. Forests help to regulate water supplies. We all need the help of all living things to maintain chemical balance of the atmosphere.

After pollution or destruction, habitats take many years (sometimes hundreds or even thousands) to grow again. This is what’s Rappening in the rainforests of South America, Africa and Asia. These are some of the world’s oldest habitats.

But the problem doesn’t stop there. The second reason is the environment itself. It is becoming smaller. This leaveo fener jungles, fields and forests for wildlife. In fact scientists believe that thirty British animals, fish, birds may become extinct by the beginning of the 21^stcentury.

Today, many more species are in danger not only because man hunts them. Man has always been a hunter. He still is. But many modern hunters don’t just kill for food – they kill for profit. That is why so many rare and protected animals are still dying. Hunters like these are called poachers. In 1981 there were 15000 black rhino in Africa. Today, because of illegal hunting, that number is 4500.

There is only, one way to save wild animals and wild habitat – conservation. If it doesn’t happen, many wild animals will soon have just one habitat – the zoo.