Практическая работа №16 «Окружающая среда и экология, Future - in - the - Past »

Задание. Прочитайте текст и выполните следующие за текстом задания.

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase. Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on. Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances.

Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up. The pollution of air and the world's ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man's careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crises. The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18 percent of the territory of Belarus was also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people's health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and other nations. Environmental protection is a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken. Some progress has been already made in this direction. As many as 159 countries — members of the UNO — have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl. An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international organisation Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment. But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generations

.1. Translate the following sentences (use your active vocabulary): 1. Озоновый слой разрушается. 2. Исчезновение лесов нарушает кислородный баланс. 3. Чернобыльская трагедия это ужасная катастрофа. 4. Человечество должно жить в гармонии с окружающей средой. 5. Люди думают, что природные ресурсы неограниченны.

2.General understanding: 1. How did people live for thousands of years? 2. What cities appear all over the world today? 3. What pollutes the air we breathe? 4. What is the result of the pollution the atmosphere? 5. Why is environmental protection of a universal concern? 6. What are the initial steps in this direction? 6. Match the parts: Many cities suffer the forests and people's health. Environmental protection pollute the water we drink. The by-products of their activity cut and burn in fire. 7 A great damage has been done to from smog. Vast forests are is a universal concern.

Практическая работа № 17 «Человеческие ценности. Future - in - the - past»

Задание. Прочитайте текст. Дайте заголовки каждому абзацу.

Let’s look at human values as a scientist looks at the phenomenon he chose for studying. What do we mean by human values? First of all, this is something we appreciate and want to have or some aims we want to achieve.
Second, human values are an individual matter, because each person defines what is good and important and what is not. Though there are certain universal human values such as, for example, honesty, kindness, goodness, high moral principles, freedom, they don’t always mean one and the same thing to us. We often estimate differently the same things and actions.
What is good in one situation could be rather bad in some others. We all agree that people must not lie, lies are an evil thing, but we also know that the truth can sometimes kill a person. Thus, people often have to decide what to do or to say and this choice is not always easy and sometimes goes against their beliefs and principles.
Third, when we speak about human values, we usually do not include into this concept satisfaction of our physical needs. They are also important for us, often simply to be able to survive. But it would be fair to say that the concept of human values describes that part of our aims which are not immediately necessary for survival. We call these aspects of life spiritual, as opposed to the other aspects, which are referred to as physical or biological. Philosophy and religion traditionally work on the spiritual aspects of our life.