The following prefixes are concerned with water and with earth.

aqu- (water): aqueduct, aqualung, aquamarine, aquaplane, aquarium, aquatic;

hydr-(water): hydrant, hydraulic, hydroelectric, hydrofoil, hydroplane;

mar- (sea): marina, marine, mariner, maritime, submarine;

te rr- (earth): terra firma, terrace, terrain, terrestrial, territorial, territory;

geo- (earth): geocentric, geography, geology, geometry, geophysics.

 

Exercise 6. Using a dictionary to help you, complete each blank in the following sentences

with the most appropriate word from the lists above.

 

1. A long bridge carrying a road or railway is called a viaduct. A long bridge

carrying water is called a n _______________.

2. Swimming, skin-diving, sailing and water skiing are a ll_________ sports.

3. Electricity produced by the force of water is called_____________ power.

4. brakes work by using compressed fluid to supply the braking force.

5. The_____________is very mountainous, making it difficult to build roads.

6. Countries which had powerful navies were often referred to as great powers.

7. _______refers to the study of the movements of parts of the Earth.

8. A fire_____________ is a water pipe in the street from which water may be taken for public use in times o f emergencies — for example, for fighting fires or for distributing water during severe water shortages.

 

Exercise 7. Translate the following text into English.

Круговорот воды происходит на Земле под действием солнечной энергии и силы тяжести. Солнце нагревает воду в морях, океанах и на суше. Вода превращается в невидимый пар, переходит из жидкого состояния в газообразное - испаряется. Пар поднимается вверх вместе с нагретым воздухом.

Когда влажный воздух достигает более холодных слоев, он охлаждается и уже не в состоянии удерживать столько водяного пара, сколько прежде. Мельчайшие капельки (small drops) сливаются в большие, водяной пар конденсируется (вода из газообразного состояния переходит в жидкое). Так образуются облака. Постепенно капли в облаках становятся все крупнее и наконец выпадают на Землю в виде дождя или снега. Облака могут пролить дождь над океаном, а могут, гонимые ветром, принести осадки на сушу. 

Если дождь (precipitation) пролился над океаном, образуется малый круговорот воды. Солнце снова нагревает океан, вода испаряется - и так по кругу. Попав на сушу, вода собирается в маленькие ручейки, ручейки сливаются в реки, а реки несут воду в океан.

Некоторая часть воды не доходит до океана, а под воздействием солнечных лучей превращается в пар и испаряется с поверхности озер, рек, болот и почвы. Из пара на большой высоте образуются облака, из которых выпадает дождь, т. е. происходит малый круговорот воды над сушей. Часть выпавших осадков просачивается в землю и попадает в горизонты подземных вод, по которым под землей вода стекает в моря и океаны, где снова

испаряется под действием солнечных лучей.

Вода во время круговорота переносит огромное количество веществ, необходимых для жизни на Земле.

 

Unit 2 Ecology

Ecology

Ecology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with their environment. Like many of the natural sciences, however, a conceptual understanding of ecology is found in the broader range of questions, including:

• life processes explaining adaptations
• external relations and interaction among organisms
• the flux of materials and energy through living communities
• the successional development of ecosystems, and
• the abundance and distribution of biodiversity in context of the environment.

Ecology is concerned with the network of relations among organisms at different scales of organization. Ecology is also distinguished from natural history, which deals primarily with the descriptive study of organisms. Ecologists are scientists that study ecosystems. These are real places (a pond, field, forest, etc.) or they can be conceptually abstract schemes. Ecology differs from environmental studies, for example, because it is one of the few academic disciplines dedicated to holism. The environment describes all factors and scales of study that are external to an organism, including abiotic factors such as temperature, radiation, light, chemistry, climate and geology, and biotic factors, including genes, cells, organisms, members of the same species and other species that share a habitat. Ecosystems are most commonly studied at the local or community scale, such as measurements of primary production in a wetland or the analysis of predator-prey dynamics affecting amphibian biomass. Ecological relations also regulate the flux of energy, nutrients, and climate all the way up to the planetary scale. The global sum of ecosystems is known as the biosphere where ecological theory has been used to explain self emergent regulatory phenomena at the planetary scale. This is known as the Gaia hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis is an example of holism in ecology.

Exercise 1. Translate into Russian

1. Every science has its range of questions.

2. Natural history is the descriptive study of organisms.

3. Ecosystems may be real places or conceptually abstract schemes.

4. The environment describes the factors that are external to an organism both biotic and abiotic.

5. The Gaia hypothesis is the theory that explains self emergent regulatory phenomena.

Exercise 2. Translate into English

a) взаимодействие, приспособление (адаптация), внешний, сообщество, биоразнообразие, пруд, схема, температура, химия, клетка, виды, ареал, заболоченная территория, модель «хищник-жертва», феномен.

b)  1. Экология изучает распределение и численность организмов, их взаимодействие с окружающей средой. 2. Это вопросы, связанные с жизненными процессами, развитием экосистем и взаимодействием организмов. 3. Экосистемы являются объектом изучения экологов. 4. Общая сумма экосистем называется биосферой.

c) Make up your own sentences with the underlined words.

Exercise 3. Give one word for the following

- the study of the interactions among organisms and their external relations in the environment

- the description of biotic and abiotic factors

- science, dealing with the descriptive study of organisms

- the global sum of ecosystems

- the theory, explaining self emergent regulatory phenomena.

Exercise 4. Answer the questions.

1. Give the definition of the ecology as a science.

2. Name the questions ecology deals with.

3. How one can distinguish ecology from natural history?

4. How does ecology differ from environmental studies? What does environment describes?

5. What can you say about the Gaia hypothesis?

Exercise 5. Make up a plan of the text.

Exercise 6. Give the summary of the text.

Ecology and evolution

Ecology is closely connected with evolution. The two disciplines often appear together. Ecology and evolution are scientifically connected because they both study networks, relations, and kinship among genes, cells, individuals, communities, species, and the biosphere. There are no sharp boundaries between the two disciplines and they differ more in their areas of applying than in their scientific philosophies on nature. Both disciplines find emergent properties in the nature of change that requires unique explanation for processes that operate in different ways according the spatial or temporal scales being considered. Evolution is concerned primarily with the nature of change through the guiding principals of natural selection, inheritance, and differential survival. While the boundary between ecology and evolution is not always clear, it is understood that ecology studies the abiotic and biotic factors that influence the evolutionary process. Natural selection, life history, development, adaptation, populations, and inheritance all play prominent conceptual roles in ecological as well as evolutionary theory. The fundamental scale of study for both disciplines is the gene. Connections between ecology and genetics became more prominent after the publication 'Molecular Ecology' starting in 1992. Molecular ecology uses various analytical techniques to study genes in and among organisms. However there has long been an understanding of the relationship between ecology and the inheritance of acquired characters through genetic inheritance. Genetics and ecology have become partners in testing and solving ecological problems and theory.

Exercise 1. Read the words and learn their pronunciation.

/αı/ discipline, survival, primarily

/αıə/ scientifically, biosphere, require

/ɔ/ ecology, properties, prominent

/eı/ spatial, relation, nature, change, explanation, scale

/ı:/ gene, species, unique, technique