Environmental organizations in the Ukraine
On 23.03.2001 the Public Council was set up at the Ministry of environmental Protection of Ukraine. It is a decision-making body which consists of 18 Ukrainian organizations. Additionally, there are public organizations at the local level. The Ministry of Environmental Protection consults/cooperates with all the organizations during the development of new laws.
An active member of the public counsel at the Ministry is non-departmental Pro-Ukrainian ecological league. The goal of this organization is to improve the ecological situation of the country, establish new environmentally-inclined mentality, and increase the level of ecological science and culture in the citizenship.
The Pro-Ukrainian ecological league has its deliberative body - scientific counsel which consists of the following sections: education, medicine, environmental protection, environmental legislation, eco-technologies, etc.
The Pro-Ukrainian Children Union “Environmental Guard” brings together children, teenagers and youth to discuss environmental protection problems. The goal of the Union is to enhance the ecological education of youth, and increase their participation in research and nature protection activities.
Activities of the Ukrainian environmental non-governmental organization “Mama-86” are aimed at securing conditions for Ukraine’s sustainable development, in particular, development of the ecological democracy and strengthening the ecological component of sustainable development.
The National Ecological Center of Ukraine takes an active role in the working group on climate change issues.
The Ukrainian Environmental Protection Society has been established for over 10 years. It has more than 29 thousand primary organizations and 16 thousand collective members.
The Ukrainian Environmental Association “Green World” takes an active role in ecological education in Ukraine. “Green World” participates in legislative activities, holds hearings on ecological topics, and popularizes ecological knowledge among the population.
IV. Words to be learnt:
to set up – основывать
decision-making – принятие решений
additionally – дополнительно
to cooperate – сотрудничать
league – союз
mentality – интеллект, способность мышления
citizenship – гражданство
deliberative – совещательный
to enhance – увеличить
Exercises:
I. Find the Russian equivalents in the right-hand column for the following:
| 1. league | 1. управлять |
| 2. to improve | 2. кондиция |
| 3. to establish | 3. учреждать |
| 4. teenager | 4. подросток |
| 5. legislation | 5. законодательство |
| 6. to increase | 6. распространять |
| 7. to popularize | 7. молодёжь |
| 8. condition | 8. союз |
| 9. youth | 9. вопрос, проблема |
| 10. issue | 10. улучшать |
| 11. условие | |
| 12. увеличиваться |
II. Make up the beginning of the sentences:
1. The Public Council was set up … .
2. The Ministry of Environmental Protection cooperates … .
3. The goal of this organization is to improve … .
4. The goal of the Union is to increase … .
5. The Ukrainian Environmental Protection Society has been established … .
III. Answer the following questions:
1. When was the Public Council set up?
2. What is the goal of Pro-Ukrainian ecological league?
3. What does deliberative body consist of?
4. What is the goal of Children Union “Environmental Guard”?
5. What can you say about Environmental Association “Green World”?
IV. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English:
1. Существуют различные местные организации.
2. Цель данной организации – улучшение экологической ситуации в стране.
3. Молодёжь принимает активное участие в митингах.
4. Организация проводит собрания по проблемам защиты окружающей среды.
5. Во всех портах должны быть созданы приёмные сооружения.
6. Международные требования по предотвращению загрязнения поверхности воды – суровы.
7. На конференции присутствовали представители ведущих морских держав.
8. Ни одно из государств не может игнорировать проблему защиты природы.
9. Наблюдается значительное улучшение качества воды.
10. Каждое государство имеет широкий диапазон проблем: контроль за отходами, загрязнение водных и воздушных ресурсов и т.д.
V. Translate into Russian. Underline the negation:
1. No one today can explain the origin of submarine canyons.
2. No place on the continent is permanent or unchanging.
3. As polar region do not become increasingly colder, nor do equatorial regions become increasingly warmer, some mechanism exists by which warmth and cold are exchanged between latitudes and a general balance prevails.
4. There is no life in the deep interior of the earth nor in the upper portions of the atmosphere and little, if any, in the deeper parts of the oceans.
5. We know that not only does the earth revolve around the sun, but the sun also is in motion.
6. It is impossible that this substance should remain liquid at the lowest temperature.
7. They received the misinformation of the latest achievements.
8. None lives without constantly influencing its surrounding.
9. No organism is ever for even an instant independent of the requirements and advantages of the environment in which it lives.
10. But for the transport we should not have noise pollution.
11. It is impossible that this substance should remain liquid at the lowest temperature.
12. The researchers were misinformed about the present state of the laboratory equipment.
13. We must not sacrifice our future well-being for short-term gains, no pile up environmental depths which will burden our children.
14. He fails to mention about the control of marine pollution from ships.
15. Man uses plants, animals and non-living things of nature to control this environment.
VI. Define the functions of the verbs “should” and “would”. Translate the sentences:
1. For this purpose, a vessel monitoring system should be established.
2. From time to time large rock would roll down into the valley.
3. Agreements with developing countries should become stronger partnership to help in the development of the local fishing sector.
4. Mankind long believed that, whatever we did, the earth would remain much the same.
5. The researcher would work on this project for hours.
6. Should this new material be tested, they could use it in their research.
7. It is important that the scientists should send off the documents today.
8. Would you like to work at this problem?
9. Tanker owners should attend to protecting their crews, cargo and vessels by adopting appropriate combative measures.
10. People would have to stop using many useful things if they wanted to end pollution immediately.
11. They asked him several times to give them a report, but he wouldn’t.
12. But for the air, no life on earth would have developed.
13. Vessels entering a port should be required to provide details of their fishing trip and quantities of fish on board.
14. He would stay all day in his laboratory.
15. Would you continue the observations during the night?
VII. Translate from Russian into English using should and would with the infinitive:
1. Я думал, что экологическая конференция по вопросу загрязнения Чёрного моря будет отложена.
2. В жаркие летние дни мы бывало брали лодку и ехали вверх по реке.
3. Они были бы очень рады, если бы вы согласились работать в из компании.
4. Очень важно, чтобы им сообщили об этом немедленно.
5. Он настаивает на том, чтобы план был обсужден на следующей неделе.
6. Они требовали, чтобы платеж был произведен немедленно.
7. Он просил их застроховать судно как можно скорее, чтобы товары были доставлены в срок.
8. Мы получили инструкции, чтобы новое оборудование по очистке сточных вод было отправлено немедленно.
9. Вам следовало бы ещё раз поговорить с редактором перед тем, чтобы опубликовать статью о разоблачении завода, сбрасывающего нечистоты в море.
10. Они предлагают, чтобы мы назначили специальную комиссия для расследования вопроса загрязнения.
VIII. During the last 20 years environmental protection has become a vital necessity for people. What do you think has stimulated man’s interest in the problems of environment? Consider the following and expand on the points which you think especially significant:
1. The problems of environment include a wide range of burning issues: nature destruction and pollution, extermination of wildlife on global scale, endangering human health with industrial wastes, etc.
2. There are the by-products of massive industrialization confronting all great industrial countries with the most serious problem of environment mankind ever faced, that of pollution.
3. The “green belts” not only provide restful relaxation, they are regarded as important allies in the battle against air pollution.
4. Among the simple but far disappearing blessing is the smell of clean fresh air and the good taste of pure water.
5. How the problem of pollution has been and is being tackled has a great deal to do with politics and social initiative.
6. One of the great problems grappled with in the plans for economic and social development is how to harmonize industry and community, plants and people.
7. Pollution has to do with the giant enterprises which advance industries and abuse natural resources.
IX. Read the statement and expand on them. You may be of the similar or different opinion on the subject. Your comment should be followed by some appropriate speculation on the suggested point:
1. Everybody’s talking about pollution. Pollution is what happens when things we eat, the place we live in and the air around us are made dirty and unhealthy by machines and factories.
2. Men do not realize that a forest is more than a collection of trees. It is a complex community of plant and animal life. In a living forest two opposing forces are constantly at work: growth and decay. The growth of new trees balances destruction by insects, plant diseases, and occasional storms. But man's unrestricted cutting of timber disturbs this natural balance.
3. National forests and national grasslands are managed for many uses, including recreation and the continuing yield of such resources as wood, water, wildlife, honey, nuts and Christmas trees.
4. Factories pay for the water they rise, but in our homes we only pay to have water. After that we can use as much as we want. Apparently we lose every day enough water for the whole town. Finally what we have left in our rivers we make so dirty that we can't use it.
5. Some scientists believe that, if airlines operate a large number of supersonic airplanes, their engines may inject so much water vapour into the upper atmosphere that there will be many more clouds, more of the sun's heat will be prevented from reaching the earth, and the earth's temperature will drop — this might change the climate of the whole world, with very serious results.
6. Europe is such an industrialized area that it sends about 20 million tonnes of sulphur into the air every year. There is an old saying in English: "What goes up, must come down." This 20 million tonnes is picked up by the wind. Most of it is carried some distance, often to another country. Each nation in Europe produces hundreds of thousands of tonnes of poison each year, and then sends it abroad.
PART II
ORAL SPEECH PRACTICE
Water resources
There are 6 principal river basins and basins of rivers in the Crimea and near the Sea of Azov in Ukraine. The main water artery of Ukraine is the Dnieper. Control of the water resources:
· Meeting the population’s water demands and different sectors of economy that utilize water;
· Support of the necessary sanitary and hygienic conditions in the river system;
· Prevention of flooding and under-flooding of settlements, industrial and agricultural objects.
Research was carried out to identify the possibility of the Dnipro water system’s adaptation to unfavorable water content conditions.
The first of main conclusions is that in case of climate scenarios implementation considering significant water amount increase, the most effective is management of water reservoirs regime aimed at cutting extreme rain-floods through maximal use of reservoirs capacity. As the same time, basic rules of high floods pass, which are currently used, may be used in the future as well.
It is important to note that under such scenarios the principal consumers’ water requirements will be met completely.
The second conclusion is that for climate change scenarios, which indicate a considerable decrease of the Dnipro River’s water content, it is impossible to avoid a water resources shortage only by changing the control regime for Dnipro’s tandem reservoir system.
Ecological problems
Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with fee development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase.
Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.
Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rate species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.
The pollution of air and the world's ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is a result of man's careless interaction with nature, a sign of ecological crises.
Acid rain, global warming, ozone reduction, widespread desertification and species loss: we have to face them now. Now we have to face degradation of soils, water, atmosphere and forests. The Mediterranean Sea has one of the dirtiest coastlines in the world. Ten of millions of tons of oil, industrial waste, chemicals are pumped into the sea every year. It causes diseases like typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera. Many countries have no storage facilities for the spent nuclear fuel. The search for ways to dispose of radioactive waste goes on. In 1982 seventeen countries took part in the United Nations environmental program. The World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by the Prime Minister of Norway, was set up in 1983 by the United Nations. Its aim was to examine the environment and development problems on the planet and to formulate realistic proposals to solve them. Now some chemicals are banned and some must be controlled. In several countries there is frequent analysis of the water around the coasts. The time has come for the governments and their people to take responsibility for the policies that cause the environmental damage.
Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.