A. Look at the titles of the extracts and the pictures try to predict what the texts will be about

b. In which extract is each of the following phrases most likely to occur?

chemical reactions degradable discarded illumination increasing traffic messy orbit smoky

c. Read the texts quickly, ignoring the gaps. Were you predictions correct?

d. Read the extract thoroughly and fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs. WHITE POLLUTION In this fast-paced world, the convenience of eating take-out and using single-use tableware 1) _______ (draw) in more and more people. The plastic bags and foam plastic food containers 2) _______ (associate) with "white pollution," because they 3) _______ (be) non-degradable. Still, packaging experts 4) _______ (say) recently it's not the products alone that are to blame for the environmental pollution. The public 5) _______ (need) to examine their own conducts and enforce strict codes in these products' production, disposal and recycling. Starting in early 1980s, cheap, sanitary and food-preserving containers 6) _______ (make) of Styrofoam, a major type of foam plastics, 7) _______ (win) favour among Chinese people. However, people's environmental awareness 8) _______ (not / keep) up with rapidly increasing production of Styrofoam packaging. It was common for people to toss the containers after using them, resulting in white disposable tableware littered everywhere, many piling up along the railways and floating in the rivers. Such unpleasant terms as "the white Great Wall" and "white blanket" 9) _______ (use) often to describe the messy scenes throughout cities. Eventually, people 10) _______ (start) to become concerned more about white pollution. In 1991, experts from the packaging industry 11) _______ (gather) for the first time to discuss strategies for recycling to alleviate the environmental hazard. Now four types of eco-friendly substitutes are available in the market, made from paperboard, rice husk, straw and starch respectively.

e. Read the extract thoroughly and select the best word to fill in each gap. LIGHTS OFF... BUT EVERYONE WILL BE HOME The push to turn 1) ____ the lights in American cities is gaining broad support from several unlikely allies – from conservationists and builders to city planners and the military. Dark-sky legislation – laws requiring such measures as shielding outdoor lighting to reduce 2) ____ pollution - has been embraced by about 300 counties, cities and towns. More than 50 state 3) ____ have been introduced in the past two years, and seven were enacted. Eighteen states have adopted dark-sky legislation. "It's a broad environmental issue and it's also a safety issue," Parks says. "It's a pure waste of energy, dollars and it contributes to 4) ____ emissions. For every watt of electricity used needlessly, somewhere a coal power plant is generating that electricity." The association, which has 5,000 members 5) ____, was founded in 1988 by an astronomer in Tucson who noticed an impact of city lights on stargazing. Local ordinances were enacted to direct lights toward the ground instead of the sky and to not light areas that don't need illumination, Parks says. Since then, evidence has mounted that nighttime lights 6) ____ animals and ecosystems. This month, findings presented at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco showed that sky glow over cities interfered with chemical reactions that naturally 7) ____ the air at night. 1 a) up b) down c) on d) off 2 a) light b) luminance c) shine d) ray 3 a) laws b) legislations c) rules d) bills 4 a) acoustic b) greenhouse c) X rays d) vehicle 5 a) annually b) global c) worldwide d) naturally 6 a) trouble b) break c) disturb d) worry 7 a) purify b) free c) clear d) clean

f. Read the extract thoroughly and fill in each gap with one suitable word. TAKE A DEEP BREATH... AIR QUALITY IS GETTING BETTER Of 1) ____ the different types of pollution affecting human health, by far the most important is air pollution. We often assume that air pollution is a modern 2) ____, and that it has got worse in recent times. However, air pollution has been a major nuisance for most of civilisation, and the air of the western 3) ____ has not been as clean as it is now for a long time. In ancient Rome, the statesman Seneca complained about "the stink, soot and heavy air" in the city. In 1257, when Henry III's wife visited Nottingham, she found the stench of smoke from coal burning so intolerable that she left for fear of her 4) ____, and in 1285 London's 5) ____ was so polluted that Edward I established the world's first air pollution commission. Shelley wrote: "Hell must be much like London, a smoky and populous city." We have data for air pollution in London 6) ____ 1585, estimated from coal imports till 1935 and adjusted to measured pollution from the 1920s till today. This shows how levels of smoke and sulphur pollution increased dramatically over the 300 years from 1585, reaching a 7) ____ in the late 19th century, only to have dropped even faster ever since, such that the levels of the 1980s and1990s were below the levels of the late 16th century. And despite increasing traffic, particulate emissions in the UK are expected to 8) ____ over the next 10 years by 30%. Smoke and particles are probably by far the most dangerous pollutant, and London's air has not been so free of them since the middle 9) ____.

g. Read the extract thoroughly and fill in the gaps with the derivatives. HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH SPACE JUNK?

If you've ever walked through a swarm of gnats at a picnic, you have some idea of what it's like to navigate the mass of debris that circles our planet in low-Earth orbit. Space planners have long warned that the growing belt of 1) _____ junk would eventually lead to 2) _____, and on Tuesday it happened, when an American satellite and a defunct Russian satellite totaled each other 500 miles above Siberia. This has sparked new worries that space is simply becoming too 3) _____ a place to travel. Things aren't nearly that severe yet — but they're getting worse all the time. The human species has a 4) _____ power to litter, but the popular belief has been that the sheer 5) _____ of space prevents humans from doing too much damage. That's true enough – or at least it would be if we traveled throughout the 6) _____ of the cosmos. But the fact is, the vast majority of our space exploration amounts to little more than wading offshore. Like popular commuter routes, orbital corridors have been growing 7) _____ crowded since the 1950s. Every time we put even a small satellite into orbit, after all, much more than just the satellite comes along for the ride. There are spent booster stages, 8) _____ adapter rings, bolts and panels and bits of insulation and even chips of paint being shed in the process.

cosmos collide danger prodigy enormous entire increase discard

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