- •Unit 1 geoecology
- •Terms and Vocabulary
- •Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following words.
- •2. Read the text, fulfill the exercises.
- •7. Read the text below, use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line.
- •8. What are the subjects of the following sciences?
- •9. Here are some definitions. What are they? Complete the sentences.
- •10. Answer the questions.
- •11. 9 Listen to the interview with a senior research engineer called Dr. Michael Blomberg. Dr. Blomberg gives his opinions on future trends in science and technology.
- •12. Read the text, do the tasks after it. Science and values
- •13. Work in pairs. Discuss the following quotations about ecological problems.
- •14. Read the interesting facts about nature and tell one of them to your groupmates.
- •Wordlist
- •Unit 2 the impact of mining and oil extraction on the environment
- •Terms and Vocabulary
- •1. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following words.
- •Read the text, fulfil the exercises.
- •Match the words with their definitions.
- •9. Answer the questions.
- •10. State whether the sentences are true or false. If true, add the information you know, correct the false ones.
- •11. Read the text through and find the answers to these questions. Remember, you do not have to understand every word to answer the questions.
- •1. Are these statements True or False?
- •2. Classify the following items into four lists according to their role in environmental engineering. Then find a heading for each list.
- •3. Discuss the following points
- •12. 9 You will hear a lecture on impact of some trace elements of ore mineral on the environment. For questions 1-5, choose the best answer a, b, or c.
- •13. Read the text, tell about the impact of different stages of oil extraction on environment Environmental effect of Extracting Delivering, and Using Petroleum Products
- •14. Say in what content these figures are mentioned in the text.
- •15. Complete the sentences according to the text.
- •16. 9 You are going to hear a report about tanker disasters. Work in pairs. List possible causes of tanker disasters. Do you think that most accidents could be avoided or are some inevitable?
- •17. 9 You will hear various people talking about a tanker disaster. You will hear the people twice.
- •18. Imagine you are people from the list in Ex. 17. Act out interviews. Before you begin, decide what attitude you wish to convey by the tone of your voice and the way you speak.
- •19. Imagine you are fisherman or local hotel owners. Plan and write a letter demanding compensation for loss of trade caused by the oil spills.
- •20. Discuss the following facts and figures.
- •21. Discuss the following quotation from the standpoint of the ecological problems in mining and oil production
- •Deepwater Horizon oil spill
- •23. Write a paragraph on one of the topics, be ready to discuss it in group.
- •Wordlist
- •Unit 3 the problems of power generation
- •Terms and vocabulary
- •A) Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following words.
- •2. Read the text, fulfil the exercises.
- •3. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and set-expressions.
- •4. Match the synonyms.
- •5. Match the antonyms.
- •6. Fill in the correct word from the list below.
- •7. Fill in the necessary preposition.
- •8. Read the examples, join the sentences in every possible way.
- •Join the sentences using the words in brackets. Think of other ways of joining them.
- •Translate the sentences, mind Subjective Infinitive Construction.
- •11. Translate the sentences using Subjective Infinitive Construction
- •12. Complete the sentences according to the text.
- •Answer the questions.
- •Read the text, suggest the title to it.
- •Answer the questions.
- •18. Understanding a lecture
- •19. Read the text attentively, do the task after it. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
- •20. Working in pairs, discuss one of the energy source, its advantages and disadvantages, its perspectives:
- •21. Read the article and answer the questions below: The Truth about Chernobyl
- •22. Organize a students’ conference “The modern problems of energy generation.
- •Wordlist
- •Unit 4 the greenhouse effect
- •Terms and vocabulary
- •1. Guess the meaning of the words and remember the pronunciation.
- •2. Read the text, fulfill the exercises.
- •3. Complete the table with the appropriate word-formations.
- •5. Translate from Russian into English.
- •Fill in each gap with only one word.
- •7. Match the definitions.
- •8. Complete the following sentences:
- •9. Answer the questions.
- •10. Put the sections of the article from the New Scientist into the correct order. The first section is “ a” and the last is “g”. Looking on the Dark Side of Global Warming
- •11. 9 You will hear a lecture on global warming. For questions 1- 15 fill in the missing information.
- •Read the text without using a dictionary. Speak on the properties and practical applications of ozone
- •13. Tell about the greenhouse effect using this picture
- •14. 9 You will hear a man talking about a climatic phenomenon called El Niňo. For questions 10-14, choose the best answer (a, b, c or d) which fits best according to what you hear.
- •15. Discuss the following facts and figures.
- •16. Discuss the following problems. Find some additional information to prove your point of view.
- •Wordlist
- •Unit 5 the impact of chemical elements on human organism
- •Terms and Vocabulary
- •Read the words and remember their pronunciation.
- •Try to recognize the following words, remember their pronunciation.
- •3. Read the text, fulfil the exercises.
- •8. Fill in the necessary prepositions:
- •9. State whether each of the following sentences are true or false, if false, explain why.
- •10. Read the text again and make notes under the following headings. Find some additional information on each of the topics. Talk about the process of toxicokinetics. Use the scheme.
- •11. Read the text and answer the questions. Toxic heavy metals
- •Mechanisms of toxicity
- •Some principle processes of toxicity
- •Some other reaction of human organism to xenobiotic
- •Dose in the Exposure-Response relationships
- •Interaction of xenobiotics with each other
- •Carcinogenesis
- •More on carcinogenesis
- •Toxicity testing
- •Wordlist
- •Final tests
- •Variant 1
- •Variant 2
- •Glossary
- •Practical part
- •The result processing
- •Questions
- •Laboratory work № 2
- •Investigation of physiological characteristics of organism adaptation to low temperature
- •Theoretical introduction
- •Practical part
- •Questions
- •Laboratory work № 3 Study of calculation method of depletion time for non-renewable resources
- •Theoretical introduction
- •Practical part
- •Questions
- •Project work Types of Anthropogenic Impact in Tomsk Territory
- •References
Terms and vocabulary
Combustion |
горение |
Trace elements |
микроэлементы |
Retain |
удерживаться, сохраняться |
Residue |
остаток |
Fly ash |
зольная пыль |
Dispose |
удалять, устранять |
Elevate |
повышать, возрастать |
Effluent |
вытекающий, сточный |
Inundate |
затоплять, наводнять |
Per capita |
на душу населения |
Notoriety |
дурная слава |
Acid rain |
кислотный дождь |
A) Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following words.
Combustion [kəm′ bΛst∫(ə)n] Exposure [ıks′pəuʒə]
Notoriety [nəutə′raıətı] Residue [′rezıdju:]
b) Read the names of chemical elements, remember the pronunciation
Arsenic [a:′senık] Antimony [′æntımənı]
Plutonium [plu:′təunjəm] Mercury [′mə:kjurı]
Americium [əٰmə:∫ıəm] Thallium [′θælıəm]
Caesium [′si:zıəm] Methylated [meθı′leıtıd]
Iodine [′aıəudi:n]
2. Read the text, fulfil the exercises.
The production of energy is growing rapidly, both per capita and in total. About 90 percent of the energy we use today comes from fossil fuel, just a few percent from nuclear fuel and about 5 percent from hydro-resources. Despite the intensive utilization of oil, gas and coal, and the pessimistic forecasts, their reserves are increasing both overall and per capita.
Globally, fossil fuel (coal, oil, peat) combustion provides most of the power generated for industrial and domestic use. Burning of these fuels has achieved notoriety in recent years due to the large volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced, the consequent buildup of this gas in the atmosphere, and its possible contribution to the greenhouse effect on the Earth. In addition, combustion of high sulphur-containing fuels in some areas has resulted in production of sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide that, as in the case of smelter emissions (see the previous unit) results in acid rains.
An additional environmental consequence of the use of fossil fuels for power generation derives from the many trace elements contained in the fuels. Although fossil fuels are predominantly made up of organic matter – the combustion of the carbon in these fuels being the source of energy – they also contain variable amounts of inorganic constituents retained in the ash left after the combustion process with some emitted in fine combustion products into the atmosphere. The ash residue, called fly ash, can contain many potentially harmful elements and therefore needs to be carefully disposed of. However, some of the inorganic components are emitted during combustion and can impact the soil, water, and biosphere in the vicinity of the power plant. Many trace elements have been detected in fossil fuels. For example, in Europe oil and coal combustion contribute significantly to atmospheric deposition of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, and vanadium. Coal combustion is thought to have made a significant contribution to atmospheric lead deposition in the United Kingdom. Enhanced concentrations of uranium in many coals have resulted in enrichments of this element around coal-fired power stations. Elevated concentrations of mercury occur in some oils. Elements enriched in oil such as vanadium have also been found to be elevated in the environment in the vicinity of oil refineries.
Nuclear power generation has been utilized since the mid-1950s and accidental leakages and permitted effluent releases have impacted the environment. The nuclear industry is now strictly regulated, but in the early years this was not so and authorized discharges of radioactivity were considerably larger. Radionuclides released at that time still pose a problem. For example, radioactive elements such as americium and plutonium released from Sellafield nuclear power station in Cumbria (England) are still retained in nearby marshy areas.
Although much of the contamination released from nuclear power plants affects only the immediate environment, the catastrophic explosion at Chernobyl in April 1986 caused widespread contamination, which seriously affected the Ukraine with radioactivity spreading over much of Europe and many other parts of the world. For example, radioactive cesium from the Chernobyl accident rained out over upland areas of the UK and high concentrations were found in sheep in the area.
Anthropogenic radioactivity in the environment poses a serious threat to human health. Of particular concern is radioactive iodine, which has been found to move through the food chain rapidly. As a result of exposure to radioactive iodine, humans are prone to increased incidents of thyroid cancer.
Geothermal energy has often been assumed to be a “clean” form of power generation. However, many geothermal areas are associated with volcanic activity and many of the hot springs actively precipitate arsenic, antimony, mercury, and thallium, whereas some geothermal waters contain very high concentrations of boron.
Hydroelectric power generation has led to problems resulting from flooding of areas where soils have been inundated it has been found that fish contain elevated concentrations of mercury. The source of the mercury has been found to be the waterlogged soil where this element becomes converted to a methylated form which is bioavailable.
From Essentials of Medical Geology. Elsevier Inc., 2005.