Англійська мова для студентів технічних ВНЗ

A: Oh, I see that it is like glass in a greenhouse. It forms a kind of “thermal blanket” around the planet.

B: Yes, that’s right. The thing is that the greenhouse effect will cause not only hotter summers and milder winters, but it may alter rainfall, affect crop yields and raise sea level.

Lesson 30. Other Ecological Problems

30. 1. Усна тема. Інші екологічні проблеми

Прочитайте деякі факти про тварин, що знаходяться на межі вими-рання.

Pandas. Fewer than 1, 000 giant pandas remain in the wild in their home-land, Western China.

Black rhinoceros. Fewer than 2, 000 of them remain in the wild. That’s a 95 percent decline since 1970. Most are killed for their horns, which are ground into powder for medical purposes in Asia.

Tigers. Only 67, 000 wild tigers remain. Tigers are hunted and killed for their body parts, which are used in oriental medicines.

Chimpanzees. Chimps and other primates are on the verge of becoming extinct, primarily due to the destruction of tropical rain forests, which are home for 90 percent of all primates.

Elephants. In the last 20 years, half the African elephants have been killed off. The Asian elephant population has shrunk even more. Elephants are killed for their ivory tusks, most of which are used for making jewelry.

Визначте, чи є вірними такі висловлювання.

1. Pandas live in India. 2. Rhinoceros are killed for their skin. 3. The horns of rhinoceros are ground into powder for medical purposes. 4. The number of wild tigers is less than 30, 000. 5. Tigers are hunted for their fur. 6. Chimpanzees live in rain forests. 7. The population of African and Asian elephants has increased in the last 20 years. 8. Ivory is a precious material for making jewelry.

30.2. Письмові завдання

Вправа 1. Перекладіть текст письмово рідною мовою.

Bees Are in Danger

Since the 1980s, beekeepers and observers of nature have been noticing that bees are disappearing, particularly in Europe and the United States. The phenomenon reached a peak during the winter of 2006-2007, when one quarter of all domesticated honey bees in the US died out, according to a report from the US Congress.

Scientific experts blame a combination of stress factors, including climate change, the use of neurotoxic insecticides, viral and fungal infections, and lack of genetic diversity among domestic bee populations.

Thanks to pollinators such as insects, birds and bats, the world’s flowering plants are able to reproduce and bear fruit. Bees are among the most active pollinators, alone responsible for as much as 70-80% of reproduction in the plant world, according to a study by the France’s national institute for agri-cultural research, INRA. Their disappearance would put the survival of wild plants and commercial crops at risk.

30.3. Читання

Прочитайте текст. Знайдіть у словнику підкреслені слова.

Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough

Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun’s power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day. The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first solar cells able to harness the sun’s invisible, infrared rays. It is a real breakthrough! The theorists predict that plastic solar cells could one day become five times more efficient than current solar cell technology.

Like paint, the composite can be sprayed onto other materials and used as portable electricity. A sweater coated by the material could power a cell phone or other wireless devices. A hydrogen-powered car painted with the film could potentially convert enough energy into electricity to continually recharge the car’s battery.

The researchers envision that one day “solar farms” consisting of the plastic material could be rolled across deserts to generate enough clean energy to supply the entire planet’s power needs.

“The sun that reaches the Earth’s surface delivers 10, 000 times more energy than we consume”, said Ted Sargent, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Toronto. Sargent is one of the inventors of the new plastic material. “If we could cover 0. 1 percent of the Earth’s surface with [very efficient] large-area solar cells”, he said, “we could in principle satisfy all of our energy needs with a source of power which is clean and renewable”.

Infrared Power

Plastic solar cells are not new. But existing materials are only able to harness the sun’s visible light. While half of the sun’s power lies in the visible spectrum, the other half lies in the infrared spectrum.

The new material is the first plastic composite that is able to