Exercise 1. Match the terms in A with their equivalents in В and study them

A	В
to occur	* ground; earth;
bacteria	*coal, tin, ore, gold etc. that comes
	from under the ground;
to support	*what you are working with;
to destroy	* farming: growing crops and keeping
	animals;
runoff	*dangerous for any forms of life;
to collapse	* sol id or liquid substance used in
	chemistry;
thriving	* stuff like sand, chemical
sterile	compounds, which can be obtained
	from reaction between basic and acid;
soil	♦organisms which cause illness;
mineral	* to reduce quality of something;
	*to make something more;
material	*to try to cure an illness;
agriculture	*to happen;
toxic	*microorganism;
chemical	*to keep something or someone in
	need condition;
salt	* totally break or put an end to
disease-causing organisms	something;
	* something flow into anywhere;
to degrade	*to fall down; to break into pieces;
to enhance	*successful developing;
to treat	* too clean;

Exercise 2. Read and translate the text.

SOIL

Soil is a mixture of minerals, plants, and animal materials. It is formed during a long process that may take thousands of years. It is necessary for most plant growth and is essential for all agricultural production. Soil pollution is a build-up of toxic chemical compounds, salts, pathogens (disease-causing organisms) or radioactive materials that can affect plant and animal life.

Unhealthy soil management methods have seriously degraded soil quality, caused soil pollution, and enhanced ecological problems. Treating the soil with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides interferes with the natural processes occurring within the soil and destroys useful organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and other micro organisms. For instance, strawberry farmers in California fumigate the soil with methyl bromide to destroy organisms that may harm young strawberry plants. This process indiscriminately kills even beneficial micro organisms and leaves the soil sterile and dependent upon fertilizer to support plant growth. These results in heavy fertilizer increase polluted runoff into lakes and streams.

Improper irrigation practices in areas with poorly drained soil may result in salt deposits that inhibit plant growth and may lead to crop failure. In 2000 BC, the ancient Sumerian cities of the southern Tigris-Euphrates Valley in Mesopotamia depended on thriving agriculture. By 1500 BC, these cities had collapsed largely because of crop failure due to high soil salinity. The same soil pollution problem exists today in the Indus Valley in Pakistan, the Nile Valley in Egypt, and the Imperial Valley in California.