Communication skills development

Finish the sentences:

• If I saw somebody throwing an empty packet on the street, I would ...

• If I discovered the factory I worked in was secretly polluting the environment, I would ...

• If I were minister for the Environment, I would ...

• If I had to do without perfume/deodorant, I would ...

• If I were a fish, I would ...

• If I were a fisherman, I would ...

• If I could not eat tinned tuna fish, I would ...

• If I lived on an island, I would ...

• If a nuclear bomb exploded, I would ...

• If they tried to build a nuclear power station near my house, I would ...

• If I lived in a jungle, I would ...

• If I were an endangered species, I would ...

• If I had to light my fire with either coal or wood, I would ...

• If I had to travel to work by car or by public transport, I would ...

• If I wanted to dump a box of rubbish, but I could not find a bin, I would ..

• If the local council were planning to build a dump near my house, I would ..

Group discussion

1. Does the environment belong principally to the human race?

2. Do your consumption habits destroy the habitats of other species?

3. Do you think that developers should be permitted to build big hotels and tourist complexes in the most beautiful places in your country?

4. Should the private motorist be made to pay more heavily through higher road tax, petrol prices, parking fees and motorway tolls?

5. Should cars be banned from city, town and village centres?

6. Are you for or against nuclear power?

7. Does your country need stricter laws to punish noisy neighbours or discos which play loud music late at night?

8. Are your country's seas, rivers and / or lakes clean to swim in?

9. What government and private campaigns are there in your country to

protect and improve the environment? Are these campaigns motivated by concern for the lives and habitats of species other than our own?

Brainstorming

• Do you think there are lessons to learn from nature?

• What can you do to help prevent pollution?

• What can you do to make this world a better place?

• Which is more important, increasing people's standard of living, or protecting the environment?

• Who do you think is more responsible for pollution, individual people or the government? Explain.

• What is the most important issue facing the environment today?

• If you could choose one alternative energy source to develop which one would you choose? Why?

• Are companies more or less environmentally responsible now than they were in the past? Why do you think that is?

• Should we make the development of renewable energy sources an economic priority?

• What can large cities do to improve their air quality?

• How can we protect the environment and at the same time improve people's standard of living?

TALK SHOW

Prepare a talk show on the protection of our Siberian tiger. One student will conduct the show and be a talk master. Some students are to write role cards for themselves (e.g. the role of a forest guard). The talk master is to interview all these people.

PRESENTATIONS

Make a presentation on environmental issues.

NETWORKING

Go online and find additional material about environmental problems in Russia, GB, America or any other country. Don’t forget to visit sites of any green organisations.

TRYING YOUR HAND AT TRANSLATION

Translate the following article into English using lexical units of the text.

Медведи мира.

Большинство из восьми видов медведей населяют северную умеренную зону Северной Америки, Европы и Азии.

Бурый медведь – самый распространённый подвид. Они обитают в Северной Америке, Евразии и России. Они предпочитают речные долины, горные леса, открытые луга и тундру. Их окрас может быть от светло – коричневого до тёмно – коричневого. Больше чем 70% их рациона составляет растительная пища, включающая ягоды, корни и траву. Бурый медведь ест также рыбу и мелких млекопитающих животных. Основной угрозой для бурого медведя сегодня является уничтожение и ухудшение среды обитания. Бурому медведю нужна безлюдная среда обитания, чтобы избежать встреч с человеком. Но такие места становятся всё более редкими, так как там прокладывают дороги, дающие доступ к лесоматериалам, нефти и газу. Медведю нужен ареал в 500 квадратных миль, чтобы обеспечить достаточные источники питания и поддержать популяцию. Браконьерство угрожает медведю, поэтому медведи находятся под защитой Конвенции по сохранению видов, которым угрожает истребление.

Полярный медведь живёт в суровых условиях с температурами намного ниже нуля. Их ареал распространяется на Гренландию, Норвегию, Россию, Канаду и Аляску. Полярный медведь – самый крупный из подвида. Полярные медведи – плотоядные. Они питаются тюленями и другими морскими млекопитающими. Среде обитания полярного медведя угрожает загрязнение воздуха, истощение озонового слоя и изменение климата. Полярный медведь находится под защитой международного соглашения по сохранению полярных медведей и их среды обитания.