The world without day

Years ago there wasn't a problem with rubbish because things like plastic and disposable nappies hadn't
been invented. There wasn't so much packaging on items you bought either. But now with everything so
over packaged, wrapped and disposable we are suffering the consequences of far too much waste. The
trouble is that not everything can be recycled or will rot away. You used to be able to get a refund on
glass bottles when you took them back to the shop. Now they are either collected from your house by
the council or you can take them to a bottle bank.
The fact that paper can be recycled and is easy to dispose is great, but remember paper is made from
trees, which are important to the environment. The rainforests have been slowly disappearing for a
while now. We need them not just because it helps with the climate. They are important as like all plants
they give us oxygen. They are also a home to many animals which rely on them for their survival.
The best waste is organic: dead leaves, carrot tops, onion skins and so on all rot down and make fertile
soil. This in turn will help the plants and vegetables giving them much needed food. So if you are able
to have a compost heap in your garden you'll be helping the environment and your garden will love you
for it.
Acid rain is another serious problem it is damaging to plants and is caused by pollutants such as sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These come from the burning of coal, oil and gas.
When rivers and seas are polluted by waste we are not only stealing their beauty but were spoiling it for
ourselves too. Our health can also suffer. Sadly accidents do occur; oil slicks sometimes happen and
wreck the environment. Animals tend to suffer the most from these incidents. We should really have in
place something that will prevent so much destruction, rather than just waiting for it to happen, then
trying to clean up the damage.
Nuclear waste has been the cause of controversy over the years. Radioactive material leaking out
would be very serious indeed, it can cause real harm. This is why it is the most worrying.
Although we are trying to stop the hole in the ozone layer getting any bigger, nuclear waste is still a
serious problem. The ozone layer protects us from harmful ultra - violet rays. Its hole has been caused
by chlorofluorocarbons (cfc's) a chemical that was found in some products. Refrigerators used to
contain them. So do we care enough about the earth we have inherited and our passing onto future
generations? Or is it now all too late to do anything? Each one of us can make a difference and each and
every one of us is responsible to the environment. It takes care of us; we should take care of it.

A. Answer the questions.

1.
The document is about ___________________________________________________________
2.
What's the purpose of the document ? _______________________________________________
3.
Quote the environmental problems that are mentioned in the text.
4.
The document concerns rather the past / the present / the future.
5.
Which parts of the world are concerned ?
6.
The first paragraph is rather negative/indfferent/positive because _______________________
7.
Whom is this message addressed to ?
B. Find in the text synonyms for the following words :
C.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Not reusable
Decompose
Depend on
Harmful
Avoid
Discussion

____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________

What or who are the following words referring to ? (underligned in the text).
ThemUsTheseTheirIt-

it
D. Match a word from column A with its definition.
bottle
bottle bank
bank
coal
coal
disposable
disposable
health
health
heap
heap
item
item
leaves
leaves
nappies
nappies
occur
occur
packaged
packaged
packaging
packaging
refund
refund
rot
rot
rubbish
rubbish
spoiling
spoiling
.
stealing
stealing
survival
survival
waste
waste
wrapped
wrapped
wreck
wreck

aacombustible
combustible
aalarge
largecontainer
containerinto
intowhich
whichthe
thepublic
publicmay
maythrow
throwglass
glassbottles
bottlesfor
forrecycling
recycling
aamass
of
material
gathered
together
in
one
place
mass of material gathered together in one place
aapiece
pieceof
ofsoft
softmaterial,
material,esp
esptowelling
towellingor
oraadisposable
disposablematerial,
material,wrapped
wrappedaround
aroundaababy
babyininorder
ordertoto
absorb
absorbits
itsurine
urineand
andexcrement.
excrement.
aasingle
singlearticle
article
aastate
stateof
ofremaining
remainingalive
alive
damaging,
damaging,destroying
destroying
designed
designedfor
forbeing
beingthrown
thrownaway
awayafter
afterbeing
beingused
used
garbage,
trash
garbage, trash
packed
packed
plural
pluralof
ofleaf
leaf
refuse;
refuse;garbage;
garbage;worthless
worthlessmaterial.
material.
the
theact,
act,process,
process,industry,
industry,art,
art,or
orstyle
styleof
ofpacking
packing
the
overall
condition
of
an
organism
the overall condition of an organism
totobecome
becomedamaged,
damaged,weakened,
weakened,or
oruseless
uselessbecause
becauseof
ofdecay
decay
totogive
money
back
when
an
article
purchased
is
unsatisfactory
give money back when an article purchased is unsatisfactory
tototake
take(the
(theproperty
propertyof
ofanother)
another)without
withoutright
rightor
orpermission
permission
tototake
place
take place
wrapped
wrappedor
orboxed
boxed

rainforest

global warming

harmful

surface
cut down
destruction

ozone layer
greenhouse effect
renewable (x2)

poisonous chemicals
recycled
oil slicks

1. Greenpeace is leading a campaign to slow down _________________.

2. Solar panels provide us with an efficient _________________ source of energy.
3. Most of the Earths _________________ is covered with water.
4. At our school everyone uses _________________ paper.
5. Oil spills are potentially _________________ to the sea species.
6. The vessel Reno containing _________________ sank in October 2011 in New Zealand.
7. Preserving the tropical _________________ is crucial for the balance of the Earth ecosystems.
8. Promoting the use of _____________ power sources can prevent the _______________ of the balance of
ecosystems.
9. Overpopulation is leading us to ____________________ trees to make room for people.
10. The ________________ is caused by gases thrown into the earths atmosphere and get trapped in there.
11. When tanks sink near the coast, ______________ always kill birds and fish and pollute beaches.
12. Aerosol use has partly destroyed the _____________ , which protects us from the sun rays.