Insert in the prepositions to complete this text. Entitle it and give its main ideas to the rest of the group

The idea of issues that are truly global in scale is new ____ us. It emerged late _____ the twentieth century, perhaps when humans first saw images of the Earth from space - a small blue-green planet devoid of boundaries and arbitrary political divisions. The concept is still new enough to be ridiculed or resisted by individuals and institutions that see the world _____ the traditional perspective of state sovereignty.

Regardless ___ their novelty, global issues are so important that they may literally determine the future of the human species. Global issues impact all social, environmental, economic, health, and security concerns. And those concerns are, in themselves, global issues.

At this point, there seems to be only minimal agreement among nations and policymakers ______ the scope and scale of global issues. National perceptions and interests still drive most analyses of, and responses to, them. There is, in fact, no internationally agreed _____ definition of global issues, nor is there a concerted plan of action to deal with them.

We will define global issues as issues that: have significant impacts for large numbers of people, are trans-national, are persistent, or long-acting, are interconnected.

Some of the most critical global issues confronting us ____ the beginning of the 21st century: population, the rich - poor gap, food and water security, environment, health, economy, energy, peace and conflict, governance.

What is important to remember as we explore there issues is that while they may be daunting – and at times even frightening – they also provide us ____ rare opportunities. As Israeli statesman Abba Eban said, History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives. As other alternatives disappear, and as the impacts of these issues multiply, the imperative and the opportunity _____ positive change increases.

11. You will read a piece of interview with Pr. M. Bartons, but the replies are to be matched with appropriate stimuli. So, restore the dialogue and reproduce it with your partner.

- Nowadays people talk much about the problem of disappearing rain forests, stressing the global importance of this problem. What can you say about it?	- It may sound too categorical, but still, I would say rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners.
- I have heard, tropical rain forests are home to half the world's plant and animal species. It is something I can hardly imagine.	- I quite agree with them.. We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.
- Everybody knows that trees make the nature more beautiful but we often forget to stress the fact that they make the air we breath cleaner. So, rain forests turn to be of great importance from this point of view as well.	- Just think. Tropical rain forests give people food, new plant types, medicines, and climate control. The rain forest is host to 2,500 edible fruits (avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, turmeric, coffee and vanilla, nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews). In fact, 120,000 of the planet's 250,000 plant species live in the tropical rain forest. The diversity of life forms in a small area is greater in the rain forest than anywhere else.
- Professor, what are the rain forests being cut down for?	- Yes, you are right. It is high time to take our seats.
- Thank you very much, professor. The bell is ringing. Let’s join the other participants taking their seats at the meeting. I hope we shall hear a lot of interesting reports on many other environmental problems today.	- Absolutely right. I shall give you only one example. The Amazon Rainforest has been described by many ecologists as the “Lungs of our Planet” because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

Make a short report on the importance of forests and the necessity of their protection.

Give a talk on the topic: What can governments and everybody do to help the environment nowadays?

The following text will give you an opinion on life in a large city. Read it, then a) contradict to the narrator, speak in favour of living in a large city. Use the words given below; b) argue with your friend who keeps to an opposite point of you.

“Only a madman would choose to live in a large city”

Avoid the rush-hour' must be the slogan of large dries the world over. If it is, it's a slogan no one takes the least notice of. Twice a day, with predictable regularity, the pot boils over. Wherever you look it's people, people, people. The trains which leave or arrive every few minutes are packed: an endless procession of human sardine tins. The streets are so crowded there is hardly room to move on the pavements. The queues for buses reach staggering proportions. It takes ages for a bus to get to you because the traffic on the roads has virtually come to a standstill! Even whena bus does at last arrive, it's so full, it can't take any more passengers. This whole crazy system of commuting stretches man's resources to the utmost. The smallest unforeseen event can bring about conditions of utter chaos. A power-cut, for instance, an exceptionally heavy snowfall or a minor derailment must always make city-dwellers realize how precarious the balance is. The extraordinary thing is not that people put up with these conditions, but that they actually choose them in preference to anything else!

Large modern cities are too big to control. They impose their own living conditions the people who inhabit them. City-dwellers are obliged by their environment to adopt wholly unnatural way of life. They lose touch with the land and rhythm of nature. It is possible to live such an air-conditioned existence in a large city that you are barely conscious of the seasons. A few flowers in a public park (if you have the time to visit it) may remind you that it is spring or summer. A few leaves clinging to the pavement may remind you that it is autumn. Beyond that, what is going on in nature seems totally irrelevant. All the simple, good things of life like sunshine and fresh air are a premium. Tall buildings blot out the sun. Traffic fumes pollute the atmosphere. Even the distinction between day and night is lost. The flow of traffic goes on unceasingly and the noise never stops.

The funny thing about it all is that you pay dearly for the 'privilege' of living in a city. The demand for accommodation is so great that it is often impossible for ordinary people, to buy a house of their own. Exorbitant rents must be paid for tiny fiats which even country hens would disdain to live in. Accommodation apart, the cost of living is very high. Just abut everything you buy is likely to be more expensive than it would be in the country.

In addition to all this, city-dwellers live under constant threat. The crime rate in most cities is very high. Houses are burgled with alarming frequency. Cities breed crime and violence and are full of places you would be afraid to visit at night. If you think about it, they are not really fit to live in at all. Can anyone really doubt that the country is what man was born for and where he truly belongs?

Argument: key words

1. Avoid rush-hour': slogan of every large city; no one does.

2. Happens twice a day.

3. Trains packed; streets crowded; bus queues; traffic jams; buses full.

4. Commuting screeches man's resources.

5. Unforeseen events (e.g. power-cut, heavy snowfall): chaos.

6. People actually choose such conditions.

7. Large modern cities too big to control.

8. Impose their own living conditions on people.

9. City-dwellers: unnatural way of life.

10. Lose touch with land, rhythm of nature

11. Air-conditioned existence: barely-conscious of seasons: flowers: spring; leaves: autumn; nature irrelevant.