Impact of pollution

Pre-reading

Check the following words in a monolingual dictionary:

vulnerable (adj)

disorder (n)

tremor (n)

reveal (v)

substance (n)

disrupter (n)

enhance (v)

habitat (n)

depletion (n)

shield (v)Read the text.

Text 1

Because humans are at the top of the food chain, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of nondegradable pollutants. This was clearly illustrated in the 1960s and 1970s when residents living near Minimata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic. Over 400 people died before authorities discovered that a local industry had released mercury into Minimata Bay. This highly toxic element accumulated in the bodies of local fish and eventually in the bodies of people who consumed the fish.

More recently research has revealed that many chemical pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs, mimic sex hormones and interfere with the human body’s reproductive and developmental functions. These substances are known as endocrine disrupters. Pollution also has a dramatic effect on natural resources. Ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and rivers perform many important services for the earth’s environment. They enhance water and air quality, provide habitat for plants and animals, and provide food and medicines.

Any or all of these ecosystem functions may be impaired or destroyed by pollution. Moreover, because of the complex relationships among the many types of organisms and ecosystems, environmental contamination may have far-reaching consequences that are not immediately obvious or that are difficult to predict. For instance, scientists can only speculate on some of the potential impacts of the depletion of the ozone layer, the protective layer in the atmosphere that shields the earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

A-GROUP EXERCISES

1. Write out 24 verbs from the text and define the tenses. Give the infinitive.

Example: are – Present Simple Active Voice, plural, to be.

WORD FORMATION

1. Suffixes are used to form different parts of speech. Form nouns and adjectives with the help of suffixes. Translate the nouns and adjectives:

to illustrate

to discover

to accumulate

to consume

to interfere

to associate

to speculate

to perform

to develop

to predict.

to create

to arrange

to promote

to occur

to exist

to enhance

2. Underline the suffixes. Translate the nouns.

Environment, industry, dramatic, nondegradable emergency, brotherhood, employee, participant, independence, management, scientist, manager, nervous, manageress, contamination, performance, environmental, permission, harmful, convention, conference, mysterious, governor, relationship, understanding, immediately, activist, politician, officialdom, structure, gratefulness, internationalism, width, voluntarism, certainty, vulnerable, democracy, operator, responsibility, safeness, participant, periodicity.

Complete the rule

We can form nouns from the different parts of speech with the help of suffixes _________________________________________________

3. Form adjectives with the help of suffixes.

to practice фактичний

to desire бажаний

to abuse образливий

piece мирний

danger небезпечний

sound беззвучний

to accord відповідний

to exist існуючий

Europe європейський

Japan японський

England англійський

gold золотистий

response відповідальний

child невинний

branch гіллястий

Complete the rule.

We can form adjectives from the different parts of speech with the help of suffixes ____________________________________________

4. Translate the pairs of words. Underline the prefixes.

political – non-political possible – impossible to associate – to disassociate responsible – irresponsible practical – impracticability agreement – disagreement understanding– misunderstanding dependence – independence

regular – irregular durable – non-durable lawful – unlawful legal – illegal differently – indifferently to agree – to disagree to use – to misuse sense – nonsense

Complete the rule.

Prefixes __________________________________________turn

the words into their opposites.

Most derivative adverbs are formed by adding -ly to adjectives.

5. There are 6 adverbs with –ly at the end. Find them in the text and write out.

Note: Although the words orderly and soundly have -ly at the end they are adjectives.

6. Translate the groups of words. Mark the stress. Define the part of speech.

Earth – earthy – earthly – unearthly – unearth;

necessary – necessarity – necessitate – necessarily;

environment – environmental – environmentally – environmentalist;

harm – unharmed – harmful – harmless – harm – harmlessly;

health – healthy – unhealthy – healthily – unhealthily;

nature – naturalist – natural – supernatural – naturalize – unnaturally naturalistic;

protection – protector – protected – unprotected – protective – protect – protectively;

prevention – preventable – preventive – preventative – prevent;

substance – substantial – insubstantial – substantive – substantiate – substantially;

waste – waste – wasteful – waste – wastefully;

water – underwater – waterproof – watery – water – underwater;

7. Put the verbs from the text into the correct columns.

Present Simple	Past Simple	Present Perfect
Infinitive	Passive Voice	Modal verbs

B-GROUP EXERCISES

1. Add appropriate adjectives to the following nouns to make word combinations.

Earth

body

food

water

animals

rays

layer

elements

pollutants

relationships

air

resources

chain

people

noise

health

2. Match a line in A with a line in B.

A	B
air complex dramatic earth’s endocrine environmental food human local mysterious natural nervous nondegradable ozone potential recently reproductive sex toxic ultraviolet	body chain contamination disorders disrupters effect element environment epidemic functions hormones impacts industry layer pollutants quality rays relationships research resources

PHRASAL VERBS

3. Fill in the blanks with the correct particles.

1. Spies gave ______ top secret information during the war. (revealed)

2. I was taken ________ by his rude reply. (surprised)

3. It took her years to get ____ the death of her husband. (recover from)

4. The doctor advised her to cut ____ ______ sugar. (reduce consumption of)

5. The audience was carried _______ by the singer’s brilliant performance. (got excited)

COMPOUND NOUNS

4. Words can combine to make new words. Fill in the spaces to make word combinations and compound nouns.

а)

b)

^BODY

C-GROUP EXERCISES

1. Make sentences with the following words:

Pollutants, epidemic, to accumulate, mimic, to mimic, chemical, hormones, ecosystem, to predict, atmosphere, to shield, to destroy.

2. Change the following sentences, active to passive, passive to active.

1. This was clearly illustrated in the 1960s and 1970s.

2. People consumed the fish.

3. Ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and rivers perform many important services for the earth’s environment.

4. Any or all of these ecosystem functions may be impaired or destroyed by pollution.

5. The protective layer in the atmosphere shields the earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

6. Many chemical pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs, mimic sex hormones.

7. Residents living near Minimata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic.

8. Authorities discovered that a local industry had released mercury into Minimata Bay.

QUESTION MAKING

3. Here are the answers to some questions. Write the questions.

1. Over 400.

2. In the 1960s and 1970s.

3. Because humans are at the top of the food chain.

4. Many chemical pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs.

5. Mercury.

6. When residents living near Minimata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic.

7. Shields the earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

8. Highly toxic element.

4. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.

Total frequencies of environmental illness (to be) difficult to measure because of the reasons just described. When causes can (to identify), however, scientists (to observe) that frequencies of occurrence of a particular illness ( to vary) directly with the severity and extent of exposure. Particularly frequent in the workplace (to be) skin lesions from many different causes and pulmonary diseases related to the inhalation of various dusts, such as coal dust (black lung), cotton dust (brown lung), asbestos fibers (asbestosis), and silica dust (silicosis). Environmental agents can also (to cause) biological effects without overt clinical illness (for example, chromosome damage from irradiation). The health significance of such sub clinical changes (to be) not yet clear.

D-GROUP EXERCISES

1. Work in pairs. You have some more information, but you don`t have the same information as your partner. Ask and answer Wh-questions to complete the information.

Student A

Another major effect of pollution is (What?)___________. The global effort to control emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas produced from the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal or oil, or of other organic materials like wood, is one such example. The cost of maintaining annual national carbon dioxide emissions at 1990 levels is estimated to be (How many per cent?) _________of the gross domestic product for developed countries. Expenditures to reduce pollution (Where?)___________in 1993 totalled $109 billion, including $105.4 billion on reduction, $1.9 billion on regulation, and (How much?)_____________on research and development. Twenty-nine percent of the total cost went toward air pollution, 36 percent to water pollution, and 36 percent to solid waste management.

In addition to its effects on the economy, health, and natural resources, pollution has (What?)________. Research has shown that low-income populations and minorities do not receive the same protection from environmental contamination as do higher-income communities. Toxic waste incinerators, chemical plants, and solid waste dumps are often located (Where?)_______because of a lack of organized, informed community involvement in municipal decision-making processes.

Student B

Another major effect of pollution is the tremendous cost of pollution cleanup and prevention. The global effort to control emissions of a gas produced from (What from?)___________, or of other organic materials like wood, is one such example. The cost of maintaining annual national carbon dioxide emissions at 1990 levels is estimated to be 2 percent of the gross domestic product for (Which countries?)____________. Expenditures to reduce pollution in the United States (When?)________totalled $109 billion, including $105.4 billion on reduction, $1.9 billion on regulation, and $1.7 billion on research and development. Twenty-nine percent of the total cost went (Where?)___________, 36 percent to water pollution, and 36 percent to solid waste management. In addition to its effects on the economy, health, and natural resources, pollution has social implications. Research has shown (What?)_______. Toxic waste incinerators, chemical plants, and solid waste dumps are often located in low-income communities (Why?)_______.

2. Put all types of question to the following sentenses.

1. Most environmental pollution is caused by human activities.

2. There are two main categories of polluting materials, or pollutants.

3. Nondegradable compounds can reach dangerous levels of accumulation.

4. A small fish accumulates a high concentration of the toxin.

5. This process indiscriminately kills even beneficial microorganisms.

6. Strawberry farmers in California fumigate the soil with methyl bromide to destroy organisms that may harm young strawberry plants.

7. Awareness of environmental diseases began with the recognition of occupational illnesses.

8. More recently research has revealed that many chemical pollutants mimic sex hormones.

3. Read the text. Put the words from the box into the gaps.

Bald, bodies, chemical, compound, death, eggs, emissions, environment, immediate, pipelines, runoff, areas, smokestacks, spill

3.2 Translate the text in writing.