3. Tell us about:

1. what the Chernobyl disaster has changed

2. the radioactive fallout on the territory of Belarus

3. how the radioactive fallout effects the population’s health

4. Listen to the conversation “A Few Facts about the Chernobyl Accident” and answer the following questions

1. What has George Tate read in the newspaper? 2. Why does the tragic history of the Belarusian people repeat itself? 3. What is the emotional side of the Chernobyl tragedy? 4. How do scientists explain the deterioration of people’s health?

5. Read the conversation “A Few Facts about the Chernobyl Accident”

George Tate: Look here, Alex, you are from Belarus, aren’t you?

Alex Dashuk: That’s right. But why do you ask me?

George Tate: Well, yesterday I read an article in the newspaper about the

Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986 and its

consequences. Is it true that almost 70% of all radioactive

fallout fell on the Belarusian land?

Alex Dashuk: It’s sad to admit but the newspaper doesn’t lie here. A fifth of

all farmland of Belarus is extremely dangerous to human life

But what makes the situation even worse is that the

disintegration period of some of radio nuclides is about 1000

years or longer.

George Tate: It means that your children and your great-great grandchildren

are destinied to live on the contaminated land, to eat

contaminated food and to breathe contaminated air, doesn’t it?

Alex Dashuk: You are right, again. But the question is whether there will be

great-great grandchildren in our Belarusian families at all. In

fact, the genetic base of Belarus is on the edge of extinction.

The death rate is higher than the birth rate. And we still don’t

know all the truth about the accident, though sporadically the

newspapers publish information about the increase of eye

problems among the population, blood and liver diseases,

cancer and collapse of the immune system. In the Mogilev

region, for example, the number of babies born with

deformities has risen from 5 in 1985 to 50 in only three first

months of 1995.

George Tate: Actually, in the above-mentioned article a representative of the

Belarusian Parliamentary Commission dealing with the

consequences of the Chernobyl accident stated: “Fate has

caused the tragic history of the Belarusian people to repeat

itself. In World War II we lost one inhabitant in four, in the

Chernobyl accident we are losing one in four again.”

Alex Dashuk: Yes, nobody denies this fact nowadays. A year ago I was

asked to accompany a group of American scientists and

doctors to contaminated areas of the Mogilev and Gomel

regions. I shall never forget the cry of a young woman in a

hospital, “I want to live, I’m still young!” And the cry which

pierces your heart, “Our children are dying! Help us!” You cannot

help crying when you hear such words, because the sword of

Chernobyl Damocles is hanging over everyone in Belarus.

Our land, our waters, our forests are contaminated, and

radiation is spreading like an octopus. We cannot feel it or

taste it or smell it. People are forced to give their children

locally produced contaminated milk, meat and vegetables.

Scientists claim that constant low doses of inner irradiation

through the food chain as well as stress, pesticides, nitrates,

vitamins deficiency, bad hygiene account for the deterioration

of people’s health. As far as I know, both Belarus and the

Ukraine have declared the Chernobyl explosion a national

catastrophe.

Notes:

to be destinied (разг.) - иметь предназначение (судьбу)

to be on the edge of extinction - быть на грани исчезновения

babies born with deformities - дети с врожденными дефектами

the sword of Chernobyl Damocles - Дамоклoв меч Чернобыля

to claim - заявлять

hygiene - гигиена

6. Memorize and play out the conversation“A Few Facts about the Chernobyl Accident”