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THE ENVIRONMENT
Ex 1: Điền từ phù hợp để hoàn thành các câu sau
1. In big cities, private cars emit a huge amount of………….into the atmosphere every day, which contributes to the increasing level of air pollution 2. …………..from steel factories around the world are polluting local water systems, threatening the lives of both animals and people who live nearby 3.Ha noi is being covered with thick smog that reduces visibility as well as causes…………..,such as asthma 4. ………affects global weather conditions and makes them more unpredictable and extreme 5. huge amounts of plastic waste in landfills is being incinerated without any proper measure to prevent CO2 and other……..from being directly emitted into the atmosphere 6. Most industries are depending on……….., however, it is widely recognized that we need to use alternative energy sources, such as solar or wind power, which are more environmentally and sustainable Ex 2: Sử dụng từ gợi ý hoàn thành câu 1. international car-free days are thought to be……………………………………………
(effective way, air pollutants)
2. Due to high volumes of traffic,…………………………………………………………….
4. The disposal of waste, especially…………………………………………………………
(industrial waste, exhaust fumes, regulate and monitor)
5, Governments could implement certain regulations on………………………………….
(the use of private vehicles, public transportation, fossil fuel combustion)
Ex 3: Reading You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on the Reading Passage below. Air Pollution Reading Answers Part One A Air pollution is increasingly becoming the focus of government and citizen concern around the globe. From Mexico City and New York, to Singapore and Tokyo, new solutions to this old problem are being proposed, Mailed and implemented with ever increasing speed. It is feared that unless pollution reduction measures are able to keep pace with the continued pressures of urban growth, air quality in many of the world’s major cities will deteriorate beyond reason. B Action is being taken along several fronts: through new legislation, improved enforcement and innovative technology. In Los Angeles, state regulations are forcing manufacturers to try to sell ever cleaner cars: their first of the cleanest, titled “Zero Emission Vehicles’, have to be available soon, since they are intended to make up 2 percent of sales in 1997. Local authorities in London are campaigning to be allowed to enforce anti-pollution laws themselves; at present only the police have the power to do so, but they tend to be busy elsewhere. In Singapore, renting out toad space to users is the way of the future. C When Britain’s Royal Automobile Club monitored the exhausts of 60,000 vehicles, it found that 12 percent of them produced more than half the total pollution. Older cars were the worst offenders; though a sizeable number of quire new cars were also identified as gross polluters, they were simply badly tuned. California has developed a scheme to get these gross polluters off the streets: they offer a flat $700 for any old, run-down vehicle driven in by its owner. The aim is to remove the heaviest-polluting, most decrepit vehicles from the roads. D As part of a European Union environmental programme, a London council is restoring an infra-red spectrometer from the University of Denver in Colorado. It gauges the pollution from a passing vehicle – more useful than the annual stationary rest that is the British standard today – by bouncing a beam through the exhaust and measuring what gets blocked. The council’s next step may be to link the system to a computerised video camera able to read number plates automatically. E The effort to clean up cars may do little to cut pollution if nothing is done about the tendency to drive them more. Los Angeles has some of the world’s cleanest cars – far better than those of Europe – but the total number of miles those cars drive continues to grow. One solution is car- pooling, an arrangement in which a number of people who share the same destination share the use of one car. However, the average number of people in a car on the freeway in Los Angeles, which is 1.0, has been falling steadily. Increasing it would be an effective way of reducing emissions as well as easing congestion. The trouble is, Los Angeles seems to like being alone in their cars. F Singapore has for a while had no scheme that forces drivers to buy a badge if they wish to visit a certain part of the city. Electronic innovations make possible increasing sophistication: rates can vary according to road conditions, time of day and so on. Singapore is advancing in this direction, with a city-wide network of transmitters to collect information and charge drivers as they pass certain points. Such road-pricing, however, can be controversial. When the local government in Cambridge, England, considered introducing Singaporean techniques, it faced vocal and ultimately successful opposition.
Part Two G The scope of the problem facing the world’s cities is immense. In 1992, the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Health Organisation (WHO) concluded that all of a sample of twenty megacities – places likely to have more than ten million inhabitants in the year 2000 – already exceeded the level the WHO deems healthy in at least one major pollutant. Two- thirds of them exceeded the guidelines for two, seven for three or more. H Of the six pollutants monitored by the WHO – carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, lead and particulate matter – it is this last category that is attracting the most attention from health researchers. PM10, a sub-category of particulate matter measuring ten- millionths of a metre across, has been implicated in thousands of deaths a year in Britain alone. Research being conducted in two counties of Southern California is reaching similarly disturbing conclusions concerning this little- understood pollutant. I A world-wide rise in allergies, particularly asthma, over the past four decades is now said to be linked with increased air pollution. The lungs and brains of children who grow up in polluted air offer further evidence of its destructive power. The old and ill, however, are the most vulnerable to the acute effects of heavily polluted stagnant air. It can actually hasten death, as it did in December 1991 when a cloud of exhaust fumes lingered over the city of London for over a week. J The United Nations has estimated that in the year 2000 there will be twenty-four mega-cities and a further eighty-five cities of more than three million people. The pressure on public officials, corporations and urban citizens to reverse established trends in air pollution is likely to grow in proportion with the growth of cities themselves. Progress is being made. The question, though, remains the same: ‘Will change happen quickly enough?’
Questions 1-5 Look at the following solutions (Questions 1-5) and locations. Match each solution with one location. Write the appropriate locations in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any location more than once. Locations Singapore Tokyo London New York Mexico City Cambridge Los Angeles Solutions 1 Manufacturers must sell cleaner cars. 2 Authorities want to have power to enforce anti-pollution laws. 3 Drivers will be charged according to the roads they use. 4 Moving vehicles will be monitored for their exhaust emissions. 5 Commuters are encouraged to share their vehicles with others. Questions 6-10 Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
6 According to British research, a mere twelve percent of vehicles tested produced over fifty per cent of total pollution produced by the sample group. 7 It is currently possible to measure the pollution coming from individual vehicles whilst they are moving. 8 Residents of Los Angeles are now tending to reduce the yearly distances they travel by car. 9 Car-pooling has steadily become more popular in Los Angeles in recent years. 10 Charging drivers for entering certain parts of the city has been successfully done in Cambridge, England.
Questions 11-13 Choose the appropriate letters, A—D and write them in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet. 11 How many pollutants currently exceed WHO guidelines in all megacities studied? A one B two C three D seven 12 Which pollutant is currently the subject of urgent research? A nitrogen dioxide B ozone C lead D particulate matter 13 Which of the following groups of people are the most severely affected by intense air pollution? A allergy sufferers B children C the old and ill D asthma sufferers Ex 4: Fill the answer with no more than two words Presenter: Now, I have with me in the studio today Mike Douglas, who has been out and about earlier this week collecting caterpillars from (1)……….., is that right? Mike: Yes that’s right. Presenter: And I understand that you aren’t collecting these caterpillars in order to (2)……… them, are you? Mike: Absolutely not. The caterpillars I’ve been collecting are from a kind of moth called the oak (3)………….. These caterpillars can cause huge amounts of damage to trees – they can strip all the leaves from an oak tree leaving it completely bare, weakening the tree considerably. Presenter: A whole oak tree? Mike: Yes, they are extremely (4)………... They can also harm humans. Touching them or their nests can give you a nasty rash, and even give you a(5)……….., or cause(6)…………. and eye problems. Presenter: They sound nasty. How come I’ve never heard of them before? Mike: Well, they’ve been in and around London since 2006. In some parts of west and south west London, unfortunately, we’ve lost the battle. The moths are here to stay and there’s nothing we can do about it. We’re working in the area around Croydon, where there’s been another outbreak, and we’re trying to contain it so it doesn’t (6)……….. any further. Presenter: So how do you spot an oak processionary moth? Mike: Well, the easiest thing to look out for is their(7)………….. These look like a grey wart on the side of a tree. Some are about the size of a golf ball, while larger ones can be up to two feet in diameter. Presenter: That’s huge! Mike: It is. You can imagine how many caterpillars you can find in a nest that big. The other thing we are doing is setting(8)……. for the moths, between July and September, to attract the adult moths. We’re doing this over a 2km area so we can(9)…….. how far the moths are spreading, and make sure they aren’t flying beyond where we would expect them to be. Presenter: Now, I understand that the oak processionary moth is not the only pest that you are worried about. Mike: No, it’s not. There are many hundreds of pests that could have a(10)………. on our wildlife if they are not monitored correctly. As more and more products are brought in from other countries, rather than being produced here in the UK, more and more (11)……., beetles, and moths are allowed to travel into new areas, while(12)………… are allowing them to(13) ……… survive and flourish where previously they were unable to. It’s believed that such pests as these are moving closer to the(14)………. …at a rate of around 3km a year. Some insects are moving even faster – at about 10km a year. The Pine processionary moth, for example, is gradually moving north through France and is now breeding close to Paris. We’ve already had outbreaks in the UK, which we’ve managed to contain. But if we don’t keep up the(15) …………., it means that we could see the decline of some of our most important tree species. Presenter: What can be done about that? Mike: It’s hard. There’s very little(16)…………. for this, so we are encouraging the public to be our eyes and ears. Presenter: How can they do that? Mike: Well, the public can help us spot these pests while they’re in their gardens, in parks, woodlands, generally out and about, and help us control the (17)…… before they become too serious a problem. It’s not the first time we’ve asked the public to do this. Not long ago, there was an outbreak of citrus longhorn beetles, which sometimes arrive on trees and shrubs from Asia, or in packing crates, and a number of these were spotted by vigilant members of the public and the threat was intercepted. Presenter: And if you’re unable to contain the oak processionary moth problem? Mike: Well, we may well face a real problem. In the 1970s Britain lost all its elm trees to Dutch elm disease, altering the(18)……… significantly. We could see the same thing happen again. Presenter: But are the general public really(19)………… enough to identify what is a tree disease, or a threat to a tree, and what is just – natural dieback? Mike: No, in most cases not, and that’s why we’ve launched a (20)……….. to train volunteers in what to look out for so that we can put together a national picture of tree health. People who are interested in becoming a volunteer can log onto our website for details of their nearest training programme. Presenter: Thanks very much indeed, Mike, for coming in to talk to us about this very worthy programme. Now it’s time for our weekly ...
5. Answer the question
1. what is the most serious environmental problem we are facing ?
2. what will happen if people do not solve this problem?
3. do you think we are doing enough to protect the environment ?/ What do you do to prevent our environment from pollution 4. Do you think pollution is a big problem nowadays?
5. Have you ever participated in any environmental events?
6. Is there education about environmental protection at school?
Describe an environmental problem or event. You should say:
What is it How did it happen What problems does it cause Explain what can we do to fix it
Today, I’d like to talk about deforestation in Thailand. In Thailand, deforestation is posing a major serious threat to the environment. What has happened is a variety of forestland has been burned down to make place for high-demand crops, particularly mushrooms. As a result of a mass destruction of trees, Thailand is beginning to experience the effects of climatic imbalance. As you might know, a nation requires at least 30% of its area covered by trees to keep the ecology in balance, but by burning the woods, Thailand is facing a serious environmental problem. I think it is not an overstatement to say that Thailand should be expecting a variety of floods, droughts, and other environmental catastrophes in the upcoming period. To prevent Thai citizens from these disastrous events, a preventive strategy should be taken as soon as possible. I think that farmers producing crops outside of the designated season by the authority should face sanctions from the state government. Another simple yet useful solution to this I can think of is planting trees around the nation.
Part 3: Câu 1: In which way do people damage our planet?
From my perspective, humans harm the Earth in numerous ways. Just look at all the factories that discharge poisonous waste into the lakes and rivers. Furthermore, the constant search for fossil fuels has resulted in extensive destruction of natural habitats. Not to mention wildlife and endangered species are severely threatened due to humans’ greed and mercilessness. Câu 2: Do you think that the environmental situation will improve in the nearest future?
Yes, that's what I'd like to think. The serious environmental problems we face today are becoming more and more well-known. I'm hoping that more people are becoming aware of this issue and we'll be able to reconnect with nature sooner or later.
Câu 3: What kinds of pollution are serious in your country?
Vietnam is currently a developing nation, after all. Everything is therefore becoming more industrialized, and given that Vietnam has a large number of companies that have been developed and established there, air and water pollution is currently the most problematic environmental issue.
Câu 4: So what can individuals do to protect our environment?
I mean, everyone has a responsibility to protect the environment, and there are a few things that people can do to try to solve this issue. First, people should avoid using single-use items such as plastic bottles, bags, rice boxes, and takeout cartons. Instead, they should purchase their own bottles, cartons, and flasks to take around, which would lessen the amount of plastic that is consumed in the nation. Second, people have to stop throwing rubbish everywhere. This can easily be enforced by the government’s regulation which states clearly the punishment towards people who are environmentally irresponsible.
Câu 5: Why is there a need to involve government in environment protection?
I think that even when every individual puts up their best effort to protect the environment, if nothing is done on a large scale, then it simply cannot be done. Government intervention, in my opinion, is unquestionably important. In order to improve quality of the environment, the government can enact several regulations, such as require recycling or limit the carbon dioxide amount an industrial factory can produce. Individuals then can gradually become more involved in eco-friendly actions.
