Проблема защиты окружающей среды
Защита окружающей среды является одной из важнейших проблем человечества наших дней. Картина больной, загрязненной Земли все яснее предстает в уме людей в последнее время.
Десять лет назад слово «экология» вряд ли что-либо значило для большей части населения однако сегодня об этом не возможно не думать. Это происходит из-за растущего воздействия стремительного промышленного прогресса. За последнее время состояние окружающей среды сильно ухудшилось.
Нет сомнений в том, что почва, вода и воздух, заражены токсичными отходами. В течение последних пяти лет мы постоянно говорили об озоновых дырах, засухах, высоком уровне радиации, еде, зараженной химическими добавками. Ученые всего мира весьма обеспокоены сильными изменениями климатических условий. Засухи стали более сильными, зимы — более теплыми, а ураганы — более разрушительными в тех частях света, где они раньше были большой редкостью.
В последнее время климатические условия сильно изменились, вследствие глобального потепления и его основной причины — парникового эффекта. Парниковый эффект обусловлен выбросами двуокиси углерода промышленными объектами и увеличением числа автомобилей. Таким образом, жизненно важной необходимостью является снижение выбросов газов, способствующих образованию парникового эффекта. Что является причиной столь сильного беспокойства об окружающей среде? Ответ на этот вопрос очень прост. Ухудшение условий окружающей среды сильно влияет на людей. Они расплачиваются за это своим здоровьем. Очевидно, что всем необходима здоровая окружающая среда.
Чтобы решить насущную проблему, люди должны объединить свои усилия. Добиться соблюдения экологических стандартов на промышленных объектах, правильно перерабатывать сырье, создать международную космическую лабораторию для наблюдения за состоянием окружающей среды, а также создать международный экстренный центр защиты и помощи окружающей среде. Эти меры помогут нам в решении важных проблем и предотвращении опасных болезней.
Vocabulary:
environmental protection — охрана (зашита) окружающей среды
humanity — человечество
firmly established — укорениться
hardly — вряд ли, едва ли
majority — большинство
soil — почва
toxic wastes — токсичные отходы
drought — засуха
to contaminate — заражать, инфицировать (в том числе отравляющими и радиоактивными веществами)
chemicals — химические вещества
to be concerned about — беспокоиться
drastic — радикальный, глубокий; резкий
devastating — опустошительный, разрушительный
to be rare occurrence — происходить редко
the greenhouse effect — парниковый эффект
to create — создавать
carbon dioxide — двуокись углерода
industrial facilities — промышленные предприятия
to be of vital importance — быть необычайно важным
to cut down — сокращать
the release of gases — выброс газов
to contribute to — содействовать, способствовать
fairly —довольно
deterioration —ухудшение
to tell on — сказываться на
to solve — решать
to raise safety standards — поднимать требования к технике безопасности
to adequately process by-products of industry — хорошо перерабатывать
промышленные отходы
to monitor — контролировать
an international centre for emergency environment assistance международный центр по оказанию срочной экологической помощи
to prevent — защищать, предохранять
Weddings
In the UK people get married either in a church or a registry office (a local government building). Inthe US people often get married in a house , a park, a hotel, or wedding chapel, as well as in achurch. The traditional wedding, called a white wedding as the bride wears a white dress, takesplace in a church.
The Main People at a Wedding
The bride is the woman who is getting married. Traditionally she wears a long white dress and aveil, and carries a bouquet of flowers. She also wears «something old, something new, somethingborrowed, and something blue» to bring her luck. The bridegroom (also called the groom) is theman who is getting married. He wears a suit, or something a tuxedo in the US, or a morning suit inthe UK.
Before the Ceremony
It is considered bad luck if the bridegroom sees the bride on the morning of the wedding. Thebridegroom arrives first at the church and waits at the altar with the best man. The best man isresponsible for bringing the wedding ring, and there are many jokes about him loosing or forgetting it. The bride arrives at the church in a car with her father. There are often jokes about the bridebeing late, and the groom being very nervous as he waits and worries that she may not come.
The Ceremony
It is traditional for the bride’s farther to give her away (to walk to the front of the church with her andformally give permission for her to marry). The bride and her farther walk slowly up to the aisle andthe bridesmaids follow. When the bride and bridegroom are together at the altar, the priest beginsthe wedding service. He or she asks if there is anyone present who knows of any legal reason whythe couple should not get married. Then the bride and groom exchange the traditional vows. It issometimes possible to change the vows or even white your own. «I, Jane Smith, take thee, DavidJones, to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better, forworse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish forsaking all others,until death do us part.»
The couple then give each other a gold ring and say, “With this ring I thee wed” (I marry you).
At the end of the ceremony, the priest says, “I pronounce you man and wife,” which means thatthey are officially married. The husband and wife then sign the register (the official record of theirmarriage).
Education in GB and USA — Образование в Великобритании и США
Education is very important for every person. It gives information and opportunities for further life.Every country has its own, unique system of education. We can note examples of many differentsystems, but I think the most developed and popular are: education system in the USA, theeducation system in Great Britain, as the most oldest, and Russian education system, the best insome qualities I think. But as many persons as many opinions, and the best way to provesomething is to compare it, I consider. Education in Great Britain. There are three main systems inBritain: the Comprehensive system, the selective and the private system. The Comprehensivesystem was introduced in Britain in 1960s. More than 90% of children who go to state schools go toschools of comprehensive system. Children go to a primary school at the age of 5. Then they go tothe upper school — usually called comprehensive — at the age of 11. Alternatively they may go tothe middle school for 3 or 4 years before going to the upper school. The selective system, whichstill exists in some areas of Britain, is old. It was introduced in 1944. Children are selectedaccording to their abilities. In Britain children then take an examination called 11-plus and who aresuccessful go to the grammar school and those who fail enter the secondary modern school. Andthe last subsystem that is developed in Great Britain is the private education. In Britain about 7% ofchildren go to private schools. There are three levels of private education: primary schools — agefrom 4 to 8, preparatory school — age from 8 to 13. At the age of 13 children take an examination.If they are successful they go on to public schools where they usually remain until the age of 18.Almost all students in Britain take examinations. The public examinations taken by Britishschoolchildren are called GCSEs (The General Certificate of Secondary Education). Pupils usuallytake their GCSEs at the age of 16. Pupils who have passed their GCSEs may remain at school foranother two years and take their advanced level exams. It’s interesting to mote that any studentwho wants to go to the university needs to pass two or three «A» level exams. Education in theUnited States. Most schools in the United States start at the kindergarten level. In addition tobilingual and bicultural programs many schools have special programs for those with learning andreading difficulties. All the education system of USA have always stressed the importance of«character» or «social skills» through extracurricular activities, including organized sports. There isusually a very broad range of such activities available. They not only give pupils a chance to betogether outside normal classes, but they also help to develop a feeling of «school spirit». And tomy mind it is the one of the most striking differences between the American education system andRussian education system. And I’m sure that it is our great loss. In my opinion the weakness of theUS education system is that students at early age have to choose subjects and they don’t receivethe beginning knowledge of all branches of sciences. The education in the USA is most providedwith new technologies. In every school there are new models of computers and almost every schoolhas a direct connect to the Internet. Internet gives an opportunity for remote education with the helpof e-mail, special forums and teleconferences. Russia is on the first stage of bringing these technologies in education. But I hope we will have them too in our school.
Education in Canada
The school system of Canada is very much like the one in the USA, but there are certaindifferences. Education in Canada is general and compulsory for children from 6 to 16 years old, andin some provinces — to 14. It is within the competence of the local authorities, and therefore it maydiffer from province to province. For example, Newfoundland has an 11-grade system. Some otherprovinces have 12-grade systems, and Ontario has even a 13-grade system. Grades 1—6 areusually elementary schools, and grades 7—12 are secondary schools. In some provinces there is akindergarten year before the first grade. Elementary education is general and basic, but in the juniorhigh school years the students can select some courses themselves. Most secondary schoolsprovide programmes for all types of students. Some of them prepare students for continuing theirstudies at the university. Vocational schools are separate institutions for those who will not continuetheir education after secondary schools. There also exist some commercial high schools. Someprovinces have private kindergartens and nursery schools for children of pre-elementary age. Therealso exist Roman Catholic schools and private schools in some provinces. In most provincesprivate schools receive some form of public support. Admission to the university in Canada is afterhigh school with specific courses. Getting a degree in law, medicine, dentistry or engineeringusually takes 3—4 years of studying. University tuition fees vary among different provinces. Allprovinces also have public non-university institutions. They are regional colleges, institutes oftechnology, institutes of applied arts, colleges of agricultural technology and others. Criteria foradmission to these institutions are less strict.