Discuss the following questions in pairs or in small groups. 1. What actions should be done to reduce greenhouse effect?

1. What actions should be done to reduce greenhouse effect? What do you think? Think about ways of reducing greenhouse effect as if you are a scientist / politician / environmentalist?

2. Is it possible to say that ordinary people can contribute to reduction of greenhouse effect?

3. What do you think about future of our planet and environment?

Writing a memo

1) Study the following information about ways of writing a memo

A memo (memorandum) is the primary correspondence document within an organization just as a letter is the primary correspondence document between organizations. A memo has a headingconsisting of four parts.

To: Name and position of the reader

From: Name and position of the writer

Subject: A phrase that focuses the reader's attention on the subject of the memo

Date: Date the memo is sent

Normally, the writer puts his initials next to his or her name as an official signature.

After the heading comes the bodyof the memo, the message being sent. The body of a memo will be organized according to the purpose of the memo. For instance, a progress report in memo form will usually be divided into a purpose statement, a work completed section, and a work scheduled section. An accident report will state the purpose, give a narrative and descriptive background discussion of the accident, and then discuss the investigation and findings.

Although the body is adapted to the purpose of the memo, we can still mention the overall structure of the body to any memo. Basically, the body of the memo has two parts: the purpose statement and the explanation. Because the reader of the memo is often very busy, she is not likely to read the memo closely. Therefore,the first sentence should state the whole message of the memo in one sentence. This sentence is like an abstract to a report. One should not begin a memo with background information and work gradually to the main point. Instead the main point should come first and then the background and explanation of the message in fuller detail should follow. If the purpose of the memo is to ask someone to do something, that request should be in the first sentence. If the memo's purpose is to announce something, the gist of the announcement should be in the first sentence. If the purpose is to report something, the first sentence should summarize the report and the rest of the memo should elaborate.

One is often tempted to end the memo with a "cordially yours" and a signature, but these are not necessary and are usually excluded. When the message is complete, the memo is complete. Because memos are usually short, it is seldom necessary even to write a conclusion or summary; however, if the memo happens to be more than a page long, a summary may be in order.

2) Imagine you work in a company dealing with equipment supply. Think about your typical day in the company and prepare a memo concerning one of your everyday problems. Use appendix 7 for sample of memo.

3) Compare the well-known American weather sites in terms of the information available, convenience of access, interesting data, educational resources, etc. and write a report on the efficiency of such weather sites.You may start your comparison from the following sites: http://www.wunderground.com/,http://local.msn.com/weather.aspx,

http://www.weather.com/and then follow your own algorithm if you are dissatisfied with the information available. Summarize your findings and draw a conclusion on the weather report issue in the USA.

Writing the draft

The primary criteria for good scientific writing are accuracy and clarity. And the first step toward clarity is good organization. It is a good idea to follow the standardized format of a journal article.