III. Answer the following questions.

1. What features make the Earth unique in the solar system?

2. Is the characteristic "medium of life" suitable for water? Why?

3. In what physical states or phases does water exist on Earth?

4. What are the main processes due to which water circulates between different reservoirs?

5. What percent does the fresh water make up of all cycling water?

6. What part of total water cycle flow over the land is provided by the transpiration of green plants?

7. What are the major reasons for combating deforestation worldwide?

8. How would you explain the paradox: the abundance of water on Earth, on the one hand, and the shortage of water for human needs, on the other hand?

IV. Say it in English.

1. Океаны покрывают 71 % поверхности Земли. Суммарный объем воды в океанах, морях, озерах, реках и ледниках – 1.4 x 10⁹ km³ (1.4 х 10⁹ Gt).

2. Средняя температура земной поверхности равна 15 °С, поэтому вода на Земле существует в трех физических состояниях – жидком, твердом (лед) и газообразном (пар).

3. Обилие жидкой воды на Земле делает ее уникальной среди других планет Солнечной системы.

4. Первые живые существа на Земле появились в океане примерно 3,8 – 3,9 миллиарда лет назад.

5. Количество воды в тканях живых организмов составляет около 70 %.

6. В среднем молекулы воды остаются в атмосфере около десяти дней, а затем выпадают на землю в виде дождя или снега.

7. Транспирация зеленых растений обеспечивает примерно 2/3 кругооборота воды над сушей.

UNIT 6

I. Learn the vocabulary.

Vocabulary before text 6

once booming region - район с бывшей когда-то бурной деловой активностью

long term victim of industrialization – долголетняя жертва индустриализации

benefit выгода, польза, прибыль

mine рудник, шахта, прииск

to mine производить горные работы, добывать

miner горняк, шахтёр

haunt преследовать

board up заколотить

bore hole буровая скважина

drill сверлить, бурить

consequence последствие, вывод, заключение, значение

floodwater половодье, поводок

conspire устраивать, заговор, сговариваться

affront оскорбление, поругание

beleaguer осаждать

crypt потайное место, тайник, скелет, склеп

garbage отбросы, мусор

dump сбрасывать, сваливать

poisonous ядовитый

gurgle булькать, журчать

residue остаток, отходы

landfill site заполненный участок земли

organic solvent органический растворитель

pour лить, выливать

chute крутой скат

flank промывать

approximately приблизительно

abandon покидать, оставлять

plague чума, бедствие, наказание

slope наклон, склон

outcry громкий крик, протест

threat угроза

residue остаток, осадок, отстой

to find (found-found) находить, обнаруживать

leachate выщелоченная и насыщенная солями вода

II. Read and translate text 6. Text 6 This Land Was Our Land

The place: north-eastern Pennsylvania, a once-booming region that now finds itself the long-term victim of industrialization. The benefits of mining are gone, yet in many ways, the consequences still haunt the area. The mines themselves have been boarded up for years. Yet there are bore holes, initially drilled to provide fresh air for men working below.

Rain and floodwater also fill the mines conspiring to create a pool of unknown substances. The degradation of the land has set the stage for a second affront to the environment. The beleaguered earth has become ideal for establishing landfill sites crypts for garbage both from within the area and from out of site. The materials dumped into the mines (possible heavy metals and industrial organic solvents) worry the people living above; they fear for their children's health as well as their own.

The conditions also concern scientists. K. D. Donnely, a lexicologist from Texas University who visited the region, calls the mine pool a "black hole because no one has any idea what poisonous liquids have mixed with the gurgling reservoir of stagnant water."

What's known is this: approximately 20 million gallons of liquid – consisting of water, coal residue, and any substances poured into the mines, – is discharged daily through chutes. Near one chute the water changes from a dark bluish green to a brilliant orange.

Today the abandoned mines and their contents are only one of the area's plagues. Pintsize mountains flank the city. Along these slopes sit new and old landfills. The study suggested that these landfills can be as toxic as hazardous waste sites.

The former, an abandoned garbage dump, contained municipal, commercial, industrial and hazardous wastes. Other states choose Pennsylvania as their dumping ground because many years of mining there have lowered the value of the land. The outcry has been a long time in coming. For years too many remained silent.

The federal government has recognized the potential threat to those living nearby. Clashes involving industry, the city-government, and environment advocates are now common. On the leachate issue, dozens of meeting have been held and petitions circulated. The study should hold answers to many questions regarding the condition of the environment in this region. It may also lay the groundwork for analyses of other areas in north-eastern Pennsylvania.