V. Keep a Water Diary for a week. Write down all the ways you use water. Estimate how many litres you use

VI. Translate into English:

Тисячі років Земля годувала і підтримувала нас. Але людина знищує свою планету. Люди будують електростанції і міста, вирубують ліси і вбивають тварин. Наші ріки, земля і повітря отруєні хімічними відходами. Забруднення навколишнього середовища небезпечно для людей і дикої природи. Передбачення вчених насторожують: це міжнародна катастрофа. Чому люди отруюють себе сигаретами, алкоголем, неякісною їжею? Давайте вирішувати ці проблеми разом!

VII. Tell your friend about vital environmental problems. Imagine that your friend knows very little about them. Discuss with your friend a plan for a clean-up day in your town/in your district.

VIII. Look back to the text. Find information about environmental problems. Make a presentation about those problems.

NATURAL DISASTERS

I. Read and learn the words and word-combinations used in the topic. Pay attention to the pronunciation of them:

desertification	опустелювання
drought	засуха
earthquake	землетрус
flooding	повінь
hurricane/ whirlwind-	ураган
permafrost	вічна мерзлота
reservoir	водоймище
salinity	солоність
sediment, precipitation	опади
seismic sea wave/tsunami	цунамі
volcano eruption	виверження вулкана
living organisms	живі організми
dangerous disasters	небезпечні лиха
downpour	злива
dam	дамба
storm	шторм
typhoon	тайфун
tropical cyclone	тропічний циклон
warming	потепління
avalanche	лавина, сніговий обвал
blizzard	хуртовина
forest fire	лісна пожежа
cyclone	циклон
landslide	зсув, обвал
heat wave	період сильної спеки
tornado	торнадо

II. Read the following information. Pay attention to the active vocabulary. Tell what natural disasters can occur in your country? When and where was the last one?

Natural disasters

Scientists understand a lot about the environment – but they don’t understand everything! Every year, there are big and small disasters in different parts of the world. Some of these happen very often, but some of them are a big shock. How do these natural disasters affect humans? Can we do anything about them?

Hurricanes

What are they?

- Tropical storms with strong winds. They start at sea and can travel a long distance. They have different names in different places: “hurricanes” in the Atlantic Ocean, “typhoons” in the Pacific Ocean, “tropical cyclones” in the Indian Ocean and around Australasia.

- Tornadoes, or whirlwinds, are similar, but begin over land.

Why do they happen?

- The water evaporates from the warm sea. This condenses in the atmosphere. More and more hot, wet air rises up. It becomes a strong wind.

Where do they happen?

- Over the warm parts of oceans. Tornadoes are common in parts of the USA, Australia, and Japan.

How do they affect people?

- They can affect ships, blow down houses, cause floods and disrupt traffic.

What can people do?

- Scientists can usually track hurricanes, but they cannot stop them.

Floods

What are they?

- The water in rivers, lakes or the ocean rises above its normal level and goes onto the land.

Why do they happen?

- If there is a lot of rain, or very strong winds, floods can happen.

Where do they happen?

- Some rivers in Bangladesh and India flood every year.

- People expect it, so there is no panic. When the floods go down, there are lots of minerals in the soil. They can grow good plants.

How do they affect people?

- When the floods are a surprise, many people can drown.

- Every year, people lose their houses and their furniture.

- When floods happen every year, some people are the ready for them. But many people (and governments) do not prepare properly.

What can people do?

- Dams can reduce floods – but some dams can cause them! There are often “flood warnings” on the radio.