Say whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). If false, correct them according to the text.

Statement	True	False
1) Crude oil is the only hydrocarbon found in a reservoir.
2) Reservoir pressure causes problems.
3) The fluid extracted from the well usually contains oil
4) Crude oil is a natural substance whose composition is stable.

Give Russian equivalents to the given word-groups.

Underground pockets

Composition

Economically viable

Recovery factor

Production

Underwater production system

Answer the questions.

1) What team is needed to solve the problem of production?

2) Who usually estimates the quality and quantity of oil in a reservoir?

3) What is the reason of an increased recovery factor?

4) Is crude oil the only hydrocarbon found in a reservoir?

5) Does reservoir pressure cause problems?

6) Why is pumping so necessary?

7) What is the way to increase pressure?

8) Does oil in one reservoir differ from that of the other one?

9) What does oil look like?

10) What do production and transport methods depend on?

11) Where is it cheaper to drill for oil?

12) What is the only way of getting oil to the recovery? Why?

Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1) Discovering new reserves of oil is only the beginning of the story.

2) Once oil or gas have been discovered, it has to be established how much is there, how much can be recovered, what its quality is and how the oil and gas can be transported safely to a refinery or terminal.

3) Crude oil is found in underground pockets or traps.

4) This pressure is sometimes sufficient to force the oil to the surface of the well unaided and excess pressure may cause problems

8. Translate the following sentences into English.

1) Сырая нефть находится в подземных ловушках.

2) Давление необходимо, чтобы поднять нефть на поверхность буровой скважины.

3) Как только нефть извлекли, давление уменьшается.

4) Нефть добывается в местах, далеких от мест, где она используется: в пустынях, джунглях, далеко в морях

Complete the sentences.

1) Once oil or gas have been discovered _______________.

2) Crude oil is found _____________.

3) The fluid extracted from the well _____________.

4) There is no single solution to the problem of getting oil out ___________.

 

Make your own sentences using the words and word-combinations.

1) production

2) to inject

3) production facilities

4) economically viable

5) recovery factor

Complete the sentences and give a short summary of the text.

1. The text tells us about ________________.

2. The author points out _______________.

3. He believes ____________________.

4. In the second part of the text he continues _______________.

5. The author also gives the information about __________.

6. In conclusion, ________________.

Lesson IX

ECOLOGY AND GEOECOLOGY

Lead-in

What is a biosphere?

What is ecology?

What is geoecology?

Fill in the spidergram with your associations about “Ecology and Geoecology”, and then explain your associations.

Vocabulary

1) biosphere	- биосфера
2) concept	- концепция, понятие
3) to include	- содержать в себе
4) relatively	- относительно
5) life-supporting	- жизнеобеспечения
6) layer	- слой
7) to emerge	- появляться
8) influenced (in \ by)	- находящийся под влиянием
9) composition	- структура, состав
10) living organism	- живой организм
11) living matter	- живая материя
12) film	- тонкий слой
13) cycling	- круговорот;
14) biotic	- биотический, живой
15) abiotic	- абиотический, неживой
16) biota	- биота (флора и фауна района)
17) lithosphere	- литосфера
18) hydrosphere	- гидросфера
19) atmosphere	- атмосфера
20) interaction	- взаимодействие
21) environment	- окружающая среда
22) ecosystem	- экосистема
23) municipal authorities	- муниципальные учреждения
24) federal authorities	- федеральные органы власти
25) aid program	- программа финансовой помощи
26) freelance	- внештатный
27) waste disposal	- захоронение отходов; сброс (отведение) сточных вод
28) contaminated	- заражённый, загрязнённый
29) remediation	- восстановление
30) intact	- незатронутый, неповрежденный

Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following terms.

[ai] biota, biosphere, hydrosphere

[e] accept, energy, century

[i] little, living, system

Pay attention to the stress in the following words. Pronounce them.

bio´sphere	´freelance
remedi´ation	´magnitude
bi´ota	´primarily

Read the text and fulfil the exercises.

ECOLOGY AND GEOECOLOGY

The idea of biosphere appeared more than a century ago, but it was developed later by the Russian scientist V. I. Vernadsky. It is his concept of the biosphere that we accept today.

The first living cell emerged between 4 billion and 3.8 billion years ago. At present biosphere includes a vast number of plants, animals, and other life-forms of our planet. Biosphere is a relatively thin life-supporting layer around the Earth containing living organisms; this is strongly influenced in its composition, structure and energy by the living organisms. The part of the biosphere containing the highest concentration of living matter – the Earth’s thin and fragile “ film of life” – varies from a few meters in deserts and tundra to a hundred meters in a tropical forest region and oceans.

The biosphere is a complex system of energy use and material cycling. This system functions on energy flowing from the Sun and it gives off energy (primarily as heat) to space. We can divide the biosphere into two parts, living and nonliving, or biotic and abiotic. The biotic part of the biosphere consisting of fauna and flora is called biota. We can further divide the abiotic portion into three parts: the solid Earth or lithosphere, liquid water or hydrosphere, and the atmosphere.

Ecology is a branch of science which deals with the world of nature – including its human component – at certain levels of biological organization. It is the study of the living organisms’ interaction s with each other and with their environment. Particular concern of the ecologists is with the “higher” levels of life organization: from populations to biosphere. The functional unit in ecology is the ecosystem because it comprises all interactions of communities with both their living (biotic) and their nonliving (abiotic) environments. Ecology is a multidisciplinary science. Modern ecology has to deal with environmental problems caused by human activities.

Geoecology is probably best translated as “environmental sciences”. Geoecology is not a synonym for “physical geography”. Geoecologists work in the industry, for municipal, regional or federal authorities, in universities and research institutes, in foreign aid programs, and as freelance consultants or engineers. Broad education combined with high-quality specialized training allows geoecologists to work in fields such as environmental analytics, waste disposal, contaminated sites remediation as well as agriculture and forestry.

Today environment is not just modified by human action: it is radically transformed. Global satellite observations of the Earth have revealed that about 60 % of land surface is to some extent damaged by industrial, agricultural, and other human activities, whereas no more than 40 % of land remains intact. Humankind is entering a new era in its evolution characterised by a new relationship with nature. Understanding of how biosphere works, and how it reacts to the global environmental change is of fundamental importance.