Homework_W1

A. Reading
Passage 1: What is happening to our planet?

Sometimes humans kill animals indirectly. Few places on the planet are untouched by
humans. The ever-increasing human population needs more space. Industries use more and
more of the Earth’s natural resources. The result: in less than one hundred years, as many as
two hundred known species of birds and mammals have vanished.

How? Many natural habitats are disappearing. The Earth’s rainforests are being destroyed,
along with their inhabitants. Toxic wastes, air pollution, and radiation take terrible tolls on
wildlife “Changes in the planet’s ozone layer and in its climate threaten all animals, including
humans”.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter asked for an official study of the environment. What, he
asked, would our planet be like in the year 2000 if present trends continue? This study was
done by several U.S. government departments at the direction of Dr. Gerald Barney.
Published in 1980, the Global 2000 Report to the President provided startling warnings and
predictions about the fate of the Earth if we do not make changes in the way we treat it.

The report predicted, among other things, that “between half a million and 2 million species –
15 to 20 percent of all species on earth- could be extinguished by the year 2000.” It warned of
more hardship for the Earth’s human inhabitants as well- more starvation, for example.

This report strongly urged the government to take immediate action. It gave
recommendations for change. But by the time the study was completed, Ronald Reagan had
been elected president and his administration ignored the report.

The 1980s were not a good decade for the environment. It is likely that a global report now
would be even bleaker than the one published after the 1970s. Many environmentalists
wonder if we can stop the destruction of our planet before it is too late When, they ask, will
humans realise that they are not meant to be masters of the Earth, only one of its guests?

Exercise 1: Decide which of the following choices is closest in meaning to the bold word in
the sentence
1. The result: in less than one hundred years, as many as two hundred known species of birds
and mammals have vanished
A. changed
B. disappeared
C. decreased
2. The Earth’s rainforests are being destroyed, along with their inhabitants.
 A. animals which live in a particular place
B. animals which are being destroyed
C. animals which move to other places
3. Published in 1980, the Global 2000 Report to the President provided startling warnings
and predictions about the fate of the Earth if we do not make changes in the way we treat it.
A. shocking
B. serious
C. terrible
4. This report strongly urged the government to take immediate action
A. forced
B. supported
C. encouraged
5. It is likely that a global report now would be even bleaker than the one published after the 1970s.
A. more discouraging
B. more shocking
C. more encouraging
Exercise 2: Choose from the passage NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS to complete the
following sentences.
6. Humans kill animals indirectly because industries need more and more of the
_______________________ on the Earth.
7. The changes in the Earth’s _______________________ as well as its climate are harmful to
all animals.
8. The official study of the environment in 1977 was directed by _______________________.
9. One of the difficulties which humans were warned of by the report is
_______________________

Exercise 3: Refer to the reading passage Out of the Wild, into Our Homes and look at the
following statements. Write:
TRUE if the statement is true;
FALSE if the statement is false;
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
10. The increase of human population and the needs of industries result in the death of lots of
birds and mammals.
11. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter believed that the present trends would continue.
12. According to the report, more than 2 million species on earth would disappear by 2000.
13. Ronald Reagan was elected president after the study was completed.
14. Ronald Reagan’s administration didn’t think that the report was necessary.
15. It is possible that it will be too late when we stop the destruction of the Earth.
16. The environmentalists don’t think that humans are masters of the Earth

Passage 2: Global warming

It seems as if every time you turn on the television news, you hear one or the other of the
following catchphrases of the 1990s: global warming, greenhouse effect, climate change. As it
often is with catchphrases, hardly anyone knows what these terms really mean or how they
relate to each other.

In the past 100 years, in our effort to make the Earth a more civilized place, industrial
production has increased by fifty times. Four fifths of that growth has come since 1950. This
production – most of it based on the burning of wood, and of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and
natural gas – has greatly increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When fossil
fuels are burned, they release carbon into the air in the form of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide
allows heat that would normally escape from the Earth’s atmosphere to remain trapped, as it
would in a greenhouse – thus the greenhouse effect.

When do you burn fossil fuels? When you turn on a light, or run an air conditioner, or take a hot
shower, or make toast, you contribute to the greenhouse effect. It is a by-product of the use of
energy- electricity, gasoline, or oil.

But how can carbon dioxide be bad when human beings exhale it every time they breathe?
Plants need carbon dioxide; they use it to grow. Oceans absorb it. And forests drink it in.
Without carbon dioxide, the average surface temperature on Earth would be 0 degrees
Fahrenheit, instead of 59 degrees Fahrenheit. In nature, carbon dioxide is necessary and
harmless. Here is the problem: in our effort to make the world a more comfortable place, people
have produced far too much of it.

By drilling holes into glaciers and testing the air bubbles trapped in ancient ice, by looking at the
fossilised plant tissues, even by looking at the air sealed in old telescopes, scientists have
calculated that the atmosphere before the Industrial Revolution contained about 280 parts per
million of carbon dioxide – the highest level recorded in the past 160,000 years. The current
reading is near 360 parts per million.
In the next 140 years, the carbon dioxide level should reach at least 560 parts per million. We
have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by 25 percent in the past century. Carbon
dioxide is not exclusively responsible for the greenhouse problem, however. Other greenhouse
gases include chlorofluorocarbons, nitrogen oxides and methane.

Exercise 1: Choose the correct answer

1. When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon into the air in the form of carbon dioxide..
A. absorb
B. change
C. emit
2. Carbon dioxide allows heat that would normally escape from the Earth’s atmosphere to
remain trapped, as it would in a greenhouse – thus the greenhouse effect.
A. escape
B. caught
C. heated
3. When you turn on a light, or run an air conditioner, or take a hot shower, or make toast,
you contribute to the greenhouse effect.
A. help in bringing about
B. lead indirectly to
C. are mainly responsible for
4. But how can carbon dioxide be bad when human beings exhale it every time they breathe?
A. breathe out
B. take into
C. breathe in
5. Carbon dioxide is not exclusively responsible for the greenhouse problem, however.
A. greatly
B. usually
C. only
Exercise 2: Read the passage Global Warming and choose, according to the passage, one
phrase (A-F) from the list of phrases to complete each key point below. There are more
phrases than key points, so you will not use them all.
6. Industrial production ______
7. The burning of fossil fuels ______
8. Carbon dioxide influences ______
9. According to the scientists, ______
 A. has increased by fifty times in the past 100 years

B. is not growing as fast as it was before 1950

C. produces carbon dioxide

D. the surface temperature on Earth

E. the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere has been increasing

F. carbon dioxide belongs to harmful gases

Exercise 3: Read the passage Global Warming and look at the following statements. Write:

YES if the statement agrees with the writer;

NO if the statement does not agree with the writer:

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage.

10. People usually do not understand what catchphrases really mean.

11. Most of the growth in industrial production in the past 100 years came before 1950.
12. Carbon dioxide allows heat to be trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere.
13. People burn more fossil fuels when they take a hot shower than when they make toast.
14. People who use electricity help to produce the greenhouse effect.
15. The carbon dioxide level in the next 140 years will increase at least by two times what it
was before the Industrial Revolution.
16. Carbon dioxide causes more problems than the other greenhouse gases do.

B. Writing

Please discuss the following topic:

Global warming is one of the most serious issues that the world is facing today. What are the
causes of global warming and what measures can governments and individuals take to tackle
the issue?

Please take a look at the fowling link to get some ideas about the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4H1N_yXBiA