Topic: Environment

Topic: Environment I. Vocabulary in use 1. Some modern agricultural methods have been heavily criticized, with battery farming (<> free-range farming) in particular receiving a lot of condemnation. 2. If you wear a fur coat in public, you risk coming under attack from animal rights activists. 3. It is illegal to kill pandas, tigers,... or any other endangered species. (protected species) 4. If we don't do more to protect pandas, they'll soon be extinct. 5. A lot of British people are interested in unusual animals, and rare breeds parks are very popular with many. 7. In an attempt to preserve forests around the country the government's conservation programme has been very successful. 9. I don't like zoos because I think keeping animals in captivity is cruel. 12. Hunters have killed so many animals that in many countries poaching is considered more serious than drug smuggling. (poaching = hunting illegally)

Exercises 1 Replace the expressions in brackets with a word or expression which has the same meaning.

1. In Britain, building is restricted or completely banned in the (area of farming land or woods and parks which surrounds a town). 2. Many companies are developing (boxes, cartons and cans which can easily be decomposed by organisms such as bacteria, or by sunlight, sea, water, etc.) 3. The burning of some fuels creates (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, methane and other gases) which rise into the atmosphere. 4. Farmers have cleared hectares of (thick wooded land in tropical regions where the precipitation is very high.) 5. Planting trees provides some protection from the (gradual wearing away) of soil. 6. We should all try to (process waste material so that it can be used again.) 7. These potatoes are (cultivated naturally, without using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides.) 8. This bread is made from wheat which has been (altered at a molecular level so as to change certain characteristics which can be inherited.) 9. More and more cars are built to use (fuel which has been made without lead additives.) 10. (Polluted precipitation which kills trees) falls a long distance away from the source of the pollution. 11. Human beings have had a devastating effect on the (living things, both large and small,) in many parts of the world. 12. The (gases and other substances) which come from factories using oil, coal and other (fuels which are the remains of plants and animals) can cause serious damage to the environment. 13. Don't drink that water! It's been (made dirty by something being added to it.) 14. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other (people concerned with protecting the environment) are holding a forum in London next month. 15. (The heating up of the earth's atmosphere by pollution) is threatening life as we know it.

II. Collocations in use Exercises 2 Some descriptions of the landscape

A Writing about the landscape From my room I look out over the surrounding countryside. It's very different from the familiar landscape I see from the windows at home. At home it's a gentle landscape with open fields. Here it's a bleak landscape with rocky mountains in the distance. Yesterday we followed a path down to the lake. As we turned a corner, we caught a glimpse of a kingfisher standing in the water. John tried to take a picture of it but it caught sight of us and flew off. A little further on we rounded a bend and St John's Abbe, came into view. The Abbey fell into ruin about three hundred years ago. Although it lies in ruins, it is well worth seeing as it stands in a dramatic setting on a steep slope beside a fast-flowing river with mountains towering above it. The cottage is in some wonderful unspoilt countryside on the edge of a dense forest. Unfortunately the trees block the view of the snow-covered mountains. It has a little garden with a stream at the end of it. The stream winds through the forest. They wanted to build a timber factory here but the local people said that it would destroy the countryside and, fortunately, their campaign to protect the environment succeeded.

Exercises 3 Some descriptions of the more negative aspects of towns and cities Some of the inner-city areas are an urban wasteland and are somewhat dangerous for visitors. In fact some streets have become no-go areas, with high crime. Many streets are strewn with litter and there are numerous run-down buildings. There are some deprived areas round the city centre with huge social problems. The industrial zones which lie on the edge of the city are grey and polluted. Triope is a sprawling city with bumper-to-bumper traffic all day long. The exhaust fumes can be a nightmare. The volume of traffic has increased in recent years and the incessant roar of trucks and buses makes the city centre an extremely noisy place. The comfortable suburbs away from the city centre contrast sharply with the poor shanty towns one sees on the way to the airport.

III. Homework Now look at this essay and complete the gaps with one of the words or expressions you have learned. In some cases, more than one answer may be possible. You may need to change the form of some of the words.