Guess the meaning of the words and expressions without a dictionary

1. natural resources; 2. threat; 3.closed maritime basin; 4. geosynclinal zone; 5. oil rush; 6. marsh; 7. to poison; 8. flood; 9. commercial value; 10. municipal sewage.

Choose the statement, which expresses the main idea of the text

1. to address the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea to prevent the possible ecological catastrophe;

2. to show the Caspian Sea as a unique closed maritime basin with lots of natural resources;

3. to describe the Caspian Sea to be one of the oldest oil producing regions in the world;

4. to describe the most important environmental problems of the Caspian Sea.

Complete the sentences

1. The development of recently discovered huge offshore oil and gas deposits ….

2. It is necessary to address the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea ….

3. The Caspian Sea is extremely shallow ….

4. The sea contains ….

5. The main source of water pollution is ….

6. Water sampling of the Caspian Sea shows ….

7. Since 1978 the Caspian Sea water level ….

8. Some encouraging steps have been made towards ….

Choose one of the following situations to act it out in pairs

1. You are a reporter. You are interviewing a local politician about the Caspian Sea ecological problems. Ask questions:

- ask about the most famous features of the Caspian Sea;

- ask about the negative impact of oil production;

- ask about the main source of water pollution;

- ask about other important environmental problems of the Caspian Sea and what is being done to prevent the possible ecological catastrophe.

2. You have been asked to give a talk on the Caspian Sea environmental problems to American students. Be ready to answer the questions:

- say about the most famous features of the Caspian Sea;

- tell about the negative impact on the Caspian Sea of oil production;

- tell about the main source of water pollution;

- tell about other important environmental problems of the Caspian Sea and what is being done to protect the Caspian Sea.

3. Talk to a person from the UK and compare ecological situations of the Caspian Sea and the North Sea:

- tell about the most important ecological problems of the Caspian Sea;

- ask about the main environmental problems of the North Sea;

- say about the main source of water pollution in the Caspian Sea;

- describe the Caspian Sea to be one of the oldest oil producing regions in the world and negative impact of oil production;

- ask about ways out of the ecological situation in the North Sea and explain what is being done in our country to protect the Caspian Sea

Conversation questions

1. Describe your country's landscape.

2. Which areas of your country are interesting for visitors? When is the best time to visit?

3. Which parts of the world would you like to visit? Why?

4. What examples are there of natural disasters?

5. What kind of natural disasters are common in your country?

6. Have you ever been in a natural disaster?

7. How can we protect the environment?

8. What happens when we remove forests?

9. What can we do to protect forests?

10. Can we prepare in advance to cope with disasters?

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