2. Recycling

Recycling is the processing of used objects and materials so that they can be

used again. About 50% of rubbish from homes and factories contain materials that

could be recycled. Recycling saves energy and raw materials, and also reduces

damage to the countryside.

Glass paper and aluminium cans can all be recycled very easily. Many towns

have bottle banks and can banks where people can leave their empty bottles and cans

for recycling. A lot of paper bags, writing paper and greetings cards are now

produced using recycled paper.

Recycling

… saves trees.

… saves energy.

… saves money.

… cuts pollution.

51

3. We can't stop the greenhouse effect, but we can

SLOW IT DOWN

1.

2.

3.

4.

There are several ways to do this:

Conserve Fossil Fuels - Some countries have already begun. Each person in

Japan, for example, uses only 50% as much coal, gas and oil as the average

American.

Conserve Rainforests - The Earth needs more trees, not fewer. South

American, Asian and African countries must protect their rainforests, not cut

them down.

Use Natural Energy - 20% of the world's energy already comes from the

sun, sea and wind. To slow down the Greenhouse Effect, that number must

rise to 50% in the next 20 years.

Ban CFCs - This is beginning to happen. Many companies have already

banned CFCs.

Post-reading

Pair-work

Look through the entire information in Unit 6. According to these facts

complete the dialogue.

• What do you think of the ecological situation in your place?

…

• And what does the greatest harm to …

… Do you agree with me here?

• … But I am not so pessimistic as you are.

… You just don’t think much of this problem.

• That’s true.

UNIT 7. Careers in you Technologies

Pre-reading

Make a list of the latest achievements in the field of IT. Compare your ideas

with the groupmates.

Reading

1. Read the text and decide on the best title for it.

When you are preparing for a computer career, keep one thing in mind: change,

not continuity, is the norm. Throughout the ages, mankind has always managed to

52

find the technology to achieve its goals. Whatever our personal views on the future

might be, most of what is impossible today will no doubt become commonplace at

some time in the future. New technological developments will give new

opportunities, create new kinds of jobs—and make old ones obsolete. The scientific

and technical revolution is sweeping the world.

Today, hardware and software technologies allow people to work and play

together in interactive and immersive 3-dimencional environments. Technology is

also offering us new ways of exploring both the real world and the ‘virtual’ world of

Cyberspace. Technology is reducing the need for travel and transportation, enabling

us to gather information from anywhere in the world within minutes, to cut down on

the use of material resources and allowing us to perform many activities

simultaneously. Time and space are becoming compressed as communication

networks bring us closer together and enable the formation of ‘virtual communities’

where, for instance, colleagues around the world work together via their computers in

shifts. This can result in an uninterrupted 24-hour activity.

Consider computer information systems (CIS) professionals. Twenty years

ago, they worked in a central computing facility, where they wrote programs or

designed systems. When the microcomputer came along, these professionals had to

decentralize. Nowadays instead of writing programs, CIS professionals installed

software packages, customized those packages to work best for the user, and acted as

resident computer experts for the user.