Rain, one of the nature's most effective "antipollution devices," washes dust and other pollutants from the atmosphere.. Air pollution caused by human activities is reaching dangerous co
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Tiếng anh chuyên ngành Thổ nhưỡngvà Môi trường đất NXB Đại học quốc gia Hà Nội 2007 Tr 44 – 54 Tài liệu trong Thư viện điện tử ĐH Khoa học Tự nhiên có thể được sử dụng cho mục đích học tập và nghiên cứu cá nhân Nghiêm cấm mọi hình thức sao chép, in ấn phục vụ các mục đích khác nếu không được sự chấp thuận của nhà xuất bản và tác giả Mục lục Unit 5 AIR POLLUTION 2
A READING 2
I Comprehension questions 4
II True - False sentences 5
III Increasing your vocabulary 6
B WRITING 7
I Sentence-building 7
II Sentence-transforming 8
C FURTHER PRACTICE 9
Exercise 2: Gap-filling .10
D TRANSLATION 10
I Translate into Vietnamese 10
II Translate into English 10
E VOCABULARY 11
Unit 5 AIR POLLUTION
Nguyễn Thị Minh Nguyệt
Trang 2Unit 5
AIR POLLUTION
A READING
a Warm-up Activities
- Name some causes of air pollution that you know
- How can we reduce air pollution in big cities?
-
Many pollutants
What is air pollution? It is the presence of substances that are not normally part of the atmosphere's composition There are many kinds of air pollutants: smoke, dust, ash, pollen, various gases, and other substances Many of these come from sources other than man and his activities They have always been present in the atmosphere They come from the ground, from activities of plants and animals, and even from outer space (meteoritic dust) These pollutants are seldom harmful Indeed, they are often beneficial Without atmospheric dust, for example, rain and snow would never fall
Nature easily handles her own forms of air pollution Heavier pollutants soon settle out of the air Rain, one of the nature's most effective "antipollution devices," washes dust and other pollutants from the atmosphere Finer particles and gases may remain airborne indefinitely, becoming spread far and wide through the atmosphere
Our activities threaten this natural system of checks and balances Chimneys, incinerators, factories, airplanes, and automobiles are discharging pollutants into the air at an ever-increasing rate Many scientists fear that the cycles of the earth and the atmosphere may not be able to cope with this increased pollution
Air pollution caused by human activities is reaching dangerous concentrations in many parts
of the world It already presents a very serious threat to our well-being and the survival of other life on earth
Trang 3Sources of air pollution
One of the major sources of air pollution is the internal-combustion engine This engine, used in most motor vehicles, does not burn all its fuel Thus, in addition to emitting water, carbon dioxide, and various oxides of nitrogen, it gives off a number of incompletely burned wasted products These include soot (carbon), carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and aldehydes Auto engines may also emit particles of lead, derived from the antiknock ingredients in many gasolines
In the United States the catalytic converter and other emission-control devices on automobiles constructed since 1975 have reduced the carbon monoxide emissions The mandatory use of lead-free gasoline in vehicles thus equipped has also reduced the emission of lead particles into the atmosphere
In the presence of sunlight the nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons often combine to produce irritating, smog-forming compounds Los Angeles is particularly well known for the automotive smogs that have plagued it since the 1940s But other cities around the world are suffering similar, or worse, problems as a result of human dependence on the automobile
Chemical pollutants such as chlorofluorocarbon CFC-12 (commonly known as Freon), often used in air conditioners, also pose a serious environmental threat When these pollutants reach the stratosphere, they destroy the natural ozone layer that acts as an umbrella to shield the earth from ultraviolet radiation Higher levels of ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancers, smog, and change in the earth' climatic patterns The loss of stratospheric ozone also directly increases the production in the atmosphere of hydrogen peroxide, a leading cause of acid rain Jet aircraft also release large amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere You probably have seen the long trail of black smoke left behind by a climbing jetliner Many aircraft pollutants are the same as those emitted by automobiles and trucks Some experts are particularly alarmed by the large quantities of water and carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere at high altitudes Exhausts from railroad trains and ships also pollute the atmosphere But transportation is not the only source of serious air pollution Industry and electric-power-generating plants are major
Trang 4contributors So is the burning, or incineration of solid wastes Agricultural burning, coal-waste
fires, and forest fires also befoul the atmosphere
(Taken from "Environmental Sciences" Wilson, R)
Answer the following questions
1 What is air pollution? How many kinds of air pollutants are there?
2 Where do they mainly come from? What does "these" in " many of these" refer to?
3 What is the significance of atmospheric dust?
4 What is the role of rain in the atmosphere?
5 What do the scientists fear?
6 What do chimneys, incinerators, factories, airplanes, and automobiles release into the air?
7 Which engine does not burn all its fuel? What kind of vehicles is used this engine?
8 What does the internal-combustion engine send out?
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9 What do incompletely burned wasted products consist of?
10 How important are the catalytic converter and emission control devices? Where and when are they built?
11 What are the advantages of mandatory use of lead-free gasoline in vehicles?
12 What are produced when the nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons combine?
13 What is the consequence of human dependence on the automobile?
14 What happens when chemical pollutant such as chlorofluorocarbon reach the stratosphere?
15 What is the importance of ozone layer?
16 What is the leading cause of acid rain? What are sources of serious air pollution?
Decide whether the following statements are true "T" or false "F" or there’s no information given "N" according to the text Correct the false statements
1 Air pollutants are mainly from man and his activities
Trang 62 Rain and snow would never come down without atmospheric dust
3 Rain is said to be one of the nature's most effective "anti-pollution devices"
because it can wash dust and other pollutants from the atmosphere
4 Some countries in the world are seriously polluted because of heavy pollutant
from factories
5 Human activities make the air polluted and threaten the natural system of
checks and balances
6 The number of air pollutants are steadily increasing as man develops and uses
new chemicals
7 The internal-combustion engine burns all its fuel and emits completely burned
wasted products
8 The carbon monoxide emissions have been increased since we built the
catalytic converter and other emission-control devices in Los Angeles
9 Many cities in the world as well as Los Angeles are suffering automotive
smogs because people depend on the automobile
10 Pollutants from aircraft and those from automobiles and trucks are quite
different
Synonyms: Look at the text again and find words or phrases which have the same meaning
as:
1 substances which pollute the air
2 gases enveloping the earth, any other planet
3 deal with
4 petrol without added lead compounds
5 devices which can control emission
6 system for regulating the humidity and temperature in a building
7 smogs that emit from automobiles
Trang 78 have a similarity to
9 discharge or send out heat
10 advantageous
Make necessary changes and additions to complete the following paragraph from the prompts given below:
17 Human beings / be / not / only / living things / that / harm / by / air pollution
18 Many plants / be / also / damaged
19 Carbon monoxide, hydrocacbons, sulfur compounds, metals, acids and ozone / be / serious threats / most vegetation
20 Plants / absorb / pollutants / their leaves
21 These leaves / may / develop / holes, / become / discolored / or wilt
22 Eventually, / they / may / die
23 This / may / lead / death / entire plant
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II Sentence-transforming
Finish each of the following sentences in such the same way that it means the same as the sentence printed before it
1 Many of air pollutants come from sources other than man and his activities
Many of air pollutants
2 Without atmospheric dust, rain and snow would never fall
If there
3 Rain washes dust and other pollutants from the atmosphere
Dust
4 Air pollution caused by human activities is reaching dangerous concentration in many parts
of the world
Air pollution that
5 Transportation is one of the major source of serious air pollution and so is industry
Both
6 Many aircraft pollutants are the same as those emitted by automobiles and trucks
Many aircraft pollutants are
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7 Higher levels of ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancers, smog, and change in the earth' climatic patterns
Skin cancers
Exercise 1:
Read the paragraphs below and summary which follow Complete the summary by writing the correct word in each blank Write one word only
Air pollution is a cause of ill-health in human In a lot of countries there are laws limiting the amount of smoke which factories can produce Although there isn't enough information on the effects of smoke in the atmosphere, doctors have proved that air pollution causes lung diseases The gases from the exhausts of cars have also increased air pollution in most countries The lead
in petrol produces a poisonous gas which often collects in busy streets surrounded by high buildings Children who live in areas where there is a lot of lead in the atmosphere can not think
as quickly as other children and are clumsy when they use their hands
There are other long-term effects of pollution If the gases in the atmosphere continue to increase, the Earth's climate may become warmer A lot of the ice near the Poles may melt and may cause serious floods
Air (1) can make people (2) Consequently, some countries pass (3) to control the quantity of (4) in the air (5) causes particular damage to the body by harming the (6) (7) should not be used in petrol because it is bad for children's (8) and make them clumsy in using their hands Poisonous gas from (9) collects in these parts of cities where there are tall buildings Pollution can also have an influence on the Earth's (10) The ice may melt near the South and the North Poles, resulting in very bad (11)
(Taken from "Longman Texts in context" by Heaton, J.B)
Trang 10Exercise 2: Gap-filling
Find the missing words to fill in these sentences from the given words below:
harvest misty crops intervals pollution forecast picked agriculture fog hunting poisons mountains
1 Less than 2% of the British labor force is employed on farms in (1)
2 In the autumn, at (2) time, the (3) in fields have to be gathered in and the fruit in the orchards has to be (4)
3 In the Alps, cows are kept indoors in winter and spend the summer in the (5)
4 The sport that involves chasing shooting animals is called (6)
5 (7) is caused when waste products or (8) contaminate the environment
6 According to the weather (9) , there will be sunny (10) this morning
7 In the early morning there may be thick (11) and motorists should drive slowly
8 We couldn't see very far from the top of the hill because it was slightly (12)
I Translate into Vietnamese
Air pollution is a cause of ill-health in human In a lot of countries there are laws limiting the amount of smoke which factories can produce Although there isn't enough information on the effects of smoke in the atmosphere, doctors have proved that air pollution causes lung diseases The gases from the exhausts of cars have also increased air pollution in most countries The lead
in petrol produces a poisonous gas which often collects in busy streets surrounded by high buildings Children who live in areas where there is a lot of lead in the atmosphere cannot think
as quickly as other children and are clumsy when they use their hands
(Taken from "Longman Texts in context" by Heaton, J.B)
Trang 111 Các nhà khoa học đã thiết lập mối quan hệ giữa sự ô nhiễm không khí và thời tiết Chúng có thể tác động lẫn nhau theo nhiều cách khác nhau
2 Hằng ngày, các thành phố lớn, các ngành công nghiệp và các loại xe gắn máy đã thải một số chất không thể nhìn thấy bằng mắt thường vào trong không khí Những chất này có thể không có ngay tác hại nhưng qua thời gian một vài năm thở trong không khí này có thể làm cho chúng ta bị ốm nặng và thậm chí có thể gây tử vong
3 Như chúng ta đã biết, ô nhiễm môi trường có thể làm kích thích đến mắt, họng và phổi, gây viêm họng, ho v.v Trẻ em sống ở những khu vực có mức độ ô nhiễm cao sẽ có tỉ lệ mắc bệnh hen xuyễn, chàm và các bệnh ngoài da khác cao hơn trẻ em sống ở vùng ít bị ô nhiễm
4 Môi trường nông thôn ở nước ta đang bị ô nhiễm do các điều kiện vệ sinh môi trường và cơ sở hạ tầng yếu kém Việc sử dụng không hợp lý các loại hoá chất nông nghiệp cũng đã và đang làm cho môi trường nông thôn ô nhiễm và suy thoái
1 airborne (adj) : lơ lửng trong không khí
2 antiknock (n) : chất kích nổ
3 arid (adj) : khô hanh
Trang 124 ash (n) : tro
5 automotive (adj) : thuộc về ô tô
6 catalytic (adj) : gây ra sự xúc tác
7 clay (n) : đất sét
8 composition (n) : sự kết hợp, cấu tạo
9 derive from (v) : bắt nguồn từ, phát sinh từ
10 discharge (v) : thải ra
11 emit (v) : bốc ra, thoát ra
12 finer (adj) : nhỏ hơn, mảnh hơn
13 humid (adj) : ẩm ướt
14 incinerate (v) : đốt, thiêu
15 incinerator (n) : lò đốt, lò thiêu
16 indefinitely (adv) : không xác định
17 irritate (v) : kích thích
18 lead-free (n) : không có chì
19 mandatory (adj) : có tính bắt buộc
20 meteoritic (adj) : thuộc về thiên thạch
21 outer space (n) : vũ trụ
22 particle (n) : phân tử, hạt
23 plague (n) : điều tệ hại, tai hại
24 pollen (n) : phấn hoa
25 pose (v) : gây ra
26 poisonous (adj) : độc hại
27 resemble (v) : giống
28 soot (n) : muội, bồ hóng
29 spread (v) : lan tràn, trải rộng
30 well-being (n) : sức khoẻ