Read the text. Were you correct in answering the questions?

Laying odds on the apocalypse

Solar superstorm

“I don’t want to be alarmist ”, says Daniel n Baker, a space scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, but a solar eruption could grow large enough to knock out the power grids and communication systems over much of the world. “If that occurred today with our modern, highly electronically connected society”, Baker says, “it would undoubtedly be devastating to the most advanced countries.”

 

Runaway global warning

The ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica together contain enough water to raise global sea levels by about 12 meters, erasing coastal cities and making refugees of hundreds of millions of people. Without a change of behavior, humankind could set into motion the irreversible melting of both ice sheets by the end of this century, says Henry Pollack, an emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and author of A World without Ice (Avery, 2009). “ My particular feeling is that it’ll be touch and go as to whether we can actually achieve the avoidance of Greenland and West Antarctic ice loss”, Pollack says. “The consequences of displacing so many people - the world has never dealt with something like that”.

 

Killer Pandemic

Humankind is more vulnerable than ever to a devastating, Black Death-style pandemic, says Joseph Fair, director of global field operations for the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative. He declined to predict when one might strike, instead rating civilization as a lowly two on a 10- point preparedness scale. The next pandemic, Fair says, will likely be a pox of a virus that is either new to humans or a more deadly adaptation of a common virus.

 

Supervolcano

A supervolcano would spew at least 1,000 cubic kilometers of ash and lava, of about 1,000 times the ejecta from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helen. Such an explosion would significantly alter global weather patterns for decades, which would in turn lead to drought and famine. If a supervolcano erupted, hot ash and rock would shoot up into the air at 250 km/h. Eventually, much of the drinking water and food crops would be contaminated. Summer would turn into winter as our sunlight would be blocked and volcanic winter would cover some parts of the Earth.

 

 

Discussion (2)

1. Do you know any other disasters which are likely to seriously affect our planet?

2. Do you think scientists will one day find ways of stopping these disasters? How best could they help us?

 

Grammar (2)

 

Conditional sentences

Conditional sentences may express real and unreal condition. They are introduced by the conjunctions if, in case, provided, unless, suppose.

Look at the conditional sentences. What verb forms are used in the two parts of each sentence?

 

Types of conditional sentences

Grammar Notes

1. “ if ” is the most common. “ In case ” and “ provided ” are chiefly used in sentences of real condition:

2. In case I don’t find her at home, I will leave her a note.

В случае, если я не застану ее дома, я оставлю ей записку.

3. I’ll finish the work on time provided you send all the necessary materials.

Мы закончим работу вовремя, при условии, если вы пришлете все необходимые материалы.

4. “ Unless ” has a negative meaning:

5. I’ll come in time unless I am detained at the institute.

Я приду вовремя, если меня не задержат в институте.

6. “ Suppose ” is more common in sentences of unreal condition:

Suppose he wrote to you, would you answer?

Предположим, он написал бы вам, вы бы ответили?

 

Grammar practice (2)

 

Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct form

1. If I had this tool, I (give) it to you.

2. If he worked more slowly, he (not make) so many mistakes.

3. The car wouldn’t break so often if you (have) it serviced regularly.

4. It I (know) her better, I (introduce) you.

5. The teacher told Peter that he (not pass) the exam if he (not work) harder.

6. What (happen) if plasma (not be confined) by a magnetic field?

7. If I (go) to the next conference, I (read) a paper.

8. If the conference (be held) in our city, we (all attend).

9. We (make) all the arrangements if the group (come) next week.

 

Complete the sentence with a suitable form of the verb in brackets.

 

The Earth after humans

 

If all people on Earth a (disappear) ______________ tomorrow, nature b (begin) _____________to reclaim the planet. For a start, if people no longer c (pollute)_______________the atmosphere, the air d (soon become) _______________clean again. If there e (be) ______________no people to maintain buildings, they f (soon begin) _______________to decay, but more solid parts g (take)______________thousands of years to disappear.

In general, if the 6.5 million humans no longer h (compete)______________with other species on Earth, most species i (benefit)_______________. For example, if humans no longer j (catch)_______________fish, the numbers of fish worldwide k (eventually increase)________________. However, if humans l (vanish)______________from the Earth, endangered species of animals m (not necessarily recover) _______________ as some are already too few in number. Some endangered species n (have)_________________ greater difficulty surviving if no humans o (take)_________________the trouble to protect them from other species.

Even if we no longer p (poison)_________________the planet, several decades q (go by)__________________before all dangerous chemicals r (disappear) _________________. And even if the burning of fossil fuels s (cease) __________________tomorrow, the oceans t (not absorb) _________________all the CO2 in the atmosphere for thousands of years. In the end, though, if alien visitors u (land) ____________on the Earth in 100 000 years time, they v (find) no signs that an advanced civilization had ever lived there.

 

 

Conditional 3

Reading (3)

Conspiracy theories