Unfortunately, most people seem to be unaware of the fresh
water decline, of the rate of forests destruction, of the ongoing species
extinction. <...> Among many environmental
problems scientists distinguish three major ones: a growing human
population, climate change and the mass extinction of plants and animals. <...> Something is being done to make the environment a better place
but environmental degradation of planet Earth continues. <...> For the past
20 years every index of the planet's health worsened. <...> Since 1987, for
example, levels of carbon dioxide have risen by a third, the number of
species threatened with extinction has increased with a 50 per cent decline in the populations of some freshwater animals and a 30 per cent
fall among terrestrial and marine species, while human population has
increased by a third. <...> THE EARTH
EARTH AND SPACE
It is very difficult for us to imagine the enormous size of our planet, Earth. <...> It is even more difficult to imagine that the Earth is just a
tiny speck, in one tiny corner, in one tiny part of the Universe. <...> To most people, the surface of the Earth seems still and solid. <...> But
if you live near a volcano, or in an area where earthquakes happen,
you would know that our globe is far from unchanging. <...> The solid part of the Earth that we stand on is called the crust. <...> The whole Earth is more than 12,000 kilometres across. <...> But the crust
is only about 30-40 kilometres thick under the land, and 5-10 kilometres thick under the oceans. <...> Compared to the size of the whole planet,
the crust is thinner, in proportion, than the skin on an apple. <...> Underneath the crust is a layer of hot, semi-melted rocks called
the mantle. <...> The Earth's crust is not all one piece, like the shell on a coconut. <...> Answer the questions.
1) What can be said of the size of our planet?
2) What does the surface of the Earth seem to us?
3) What is the solid part of the Earth that we stand on called?
4) How thick is the crust?
5) What is the mantle?
6) What does the Earth's core contain?
7) What does the Earth's crust have in it?
4
8) In what way are lithospheric plates moving?
2. <...> A line drawn around the middle, or Equator, would measure
40,008 <...>
Английский_язык_и_экология_практикум.pdf
Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации
Федеральное агентство по образованию
Ярославский государственный университет им. П.Г. Демидова
Кафедра иностранных языков
Английский язык и экология
Практикум
Рекомендовано
Научно-методическим советом университета для студентов,
обучающихся по специальностям Биология и Экология
Ярославль 2008
Стр.1
УДК 811.111(07)
ББК Ш 143.21я73
А 64
Рекомендовано
Редакционно-издательским советом университета
в качестве учебного издания. План 2008 года
Рецензент
кафедра иностранных языков Ярославского государственного
университета им. П.Г. Демидова
Составители: Е.А. Невская, Т.П. Шилова
Английский язык и экология: практикум / сост.
А 64
Е.А. Невская, Т.П. Шилова; Яросл. гос. ун-т. – Ярославль :
ЯрГУ, 2008. – 47 с.
Практикум содержит аутентичные или переработанные
тексты на английском языке, а также упражнения к ним.
Тематика текстов в основном связана с науками о Земле и
о живых организмах.
Предназначен для студентов, обучающихся по специальностям
020801 Экология и 020201 Биология (дисциплина
«Английский язык», блок ГСЭ), очной и заочной форм
обучения.
УДК 811.111(07)
ББК Ш 143.21я73
© Ярославский государственный университет им. П.Г. Демидова,
2008
2
Стр.2
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 3
2. THE EARTH .................................................................................. 4
3. WEATHER AND CLIMATE ..................................................... 12
4. THE SEASONS ............................................................................ 19
5. PEOPLE AND PLANET EARTH .............................................. 24
6. WILDLIFE AND ITS PROTECTION ....................................... 28
7. SUPPLEMENTARY READING ................................................ 35
46
Стр.46
Английский язык
и экология
49
Стр.49