Vocabulary 4.

Environment
Unit 1. Task 1 – Line graph

Word Part of speech Meaning

Contamination N Sự ô nhiễm

Climate change N Biến đổi khí hậu

Global warming N Hiện tượng nóng lên toàn cầu

Poaching N Săn bắn trái phép

Extinct Adj Tuyệt chủng

Endangered species N Động vật có nguy cơ tuyệt chủng

Captivity N Tình trạng bị giam cầm

Erosion N Sự xói mòn

Greenhouse gas N Hiệu ứng khí nhà kính

Emission = exhaust N Khí thải

Unleaded petrol N Xăng không chì

Biodegradable packaging N Bao bì phân hủy sinh học

Ecosystem N Hệ sinh thái

Deforestation N Sự phá rừng

Drought N Hạn hán

Hurricane N Bão

Chronic Adj Lặp đi lặp lại

Devastating Adj Tàn phá

Pervasive Adj Lan tỏa

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 Inevitable Adj Không tránh khỏi

Inexorable Adj Không lay chuyển được

Fertilizer N Phân bón

Pesticide N Thuốc trừ sâu

Carbon dioxide N Khí CO2

Practice
Exercise 1. Match the first part of each sentence in the left-hand column with its second part
in the right-hand column. Use the words in bold to help you. Check that each sentence you put
together is grammatically correct.

1. Some modern agricultural methods 1 - …. A. …in many countries poaching is

have been heavily criticized,… considered more serious than drug
smuggling.

2. If you wear a fur coat in public,… 2 - …. B. ...and rare breeds parks are very
popular with many.

3. It is illegal to kill pandas, tigers,… 3 - …. C. ...in wildlife management.

4. If we don’t do more to protect 4 - …. D. ...the government’s conservation

pandas,… programme has been very successful.

5. A lot of British people are interested 5 - …. E. ...they’ll soon be extinct.

in unusual animals,…

6. National parks in Kenya are 6 - …. F. ...with battery farming in particular

currently recruiting experts… receiving a lot of condemnation.

7. In an attempt to preserve forests 7 - …. G. ...it was fascinating to observe their

around the country…
natural behaviour.

8. We would like to carry out more 8 - …. H. ...on a successful panda breeding

specific study into rainforests… programme.

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 9. I don’t like zoos because I think… 9 - …. I. ...keeping animals in captivity is cruel.

10. I saw a fascinating documentary 10 - …. J. ...or any other endangered species.

about the way animals live in
Venezuela and thought…

11. In order to increase the birth rate, 11 - …. K. ...but it is often difficult to get people to
the Chinese government has spent a fund the research.
lot of money…

12. Hunters have killed so many 12 - …. L. ...you risk coming under attack from
animals that… animal rights activists.

Exercise 2. Replace the expressions in bold with a word or expression from the box which has
the same meaning

unleaded petrol biodegradable contaminated environmentalists global warming

packaging
genetically Green Belt recycle (things) acid rain emissions
modified
erosion greenhouse rain forest organic ecosystem

1. In Britain, building is restricted or completely banned in the area

of farming land or woods and parks which surround a town.
………………………………………

2. Many companies are developing boxes, cartons and cans which

can easily be decomposed by organisms such as bacteria, or by
………………………………………
sunlight, sea, water, etc.

3. The burning of some fuels creates carbon dioxide, carbon

monoxide, sulphur dioxide, methane and other gases which rise
………………………………………
into the atmosphere.

4. Farmers have cleared hectares of thick wooded land in tropical

regions where the precipitation is very high.
………………………………………

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5. Planting trees provides some protection from the gradual
wearing away of soil.
………………………………………

6. We should all try to process waste material so that it can be

used again.
………………………………………

7. These potatoes are cultivated naturally, without using any

chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
………………………………………

8. This bread is made from wheat which has been altered at a

molecular level so as to change certain characteristics which can
………………………………………
be inherited.

9. More and more cars are built to use fuel which has been made
without lead additives.
………………………………………

10. Polluted precipitation which kills trees falls a long distance

away from the source of the pollution.
………………………………………

11. Human beings have had a devastating effect on the living

things, both large and small, in many parts of the world.
………………………………………

12. The gases and other substances which come from factories
using oil, coal and other fuels which are the remains of plants and
………………………………………
animals can cause serious damage to the environment.

13. Don’t drink that water! It’s been made dirty by something being
added to it.
………………………………………

14. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other people concerned

with protecting the environment are holding a forum in London
………………………………………
next month.

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 15. The heating up of the earth’s atmosphere by pollution is
threatening life as we know it.
………………………………………

Exercise 3. The questions 1-4 are about the text below. They should be in the same order as
the information in the text but they have been mixed up. Put the questions in the right order.
You do not have to answer them.

1. What would happen in financial terms if more businesses took their environmental
obligations seriously?
2. Give an example of a small action that can have big consequences.
3. Give two reasons why small and medium enterprises do not always comply with
environmental guidance.
4. What language in the text suggests that it will take a long time before business understand
the benefits of following environmental guidelines?

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are responsible for up to 80 percent of

environmental crimes and more than 60 per cent of the commercial and industrial waste
produced in England and Wales, according to research by the Environment Agency. The body
says, however, that between 70 and 75 percent of SMEs are unaware of their environmental
obligations. Many SMEs also believe that environmental compliance would be too costly and
the benefit limited. Only few businesses realise how much energy spending could be reduced
by doing something simple such as switching off machines that are not in use.

While a fundamental shift in business attitudes is desired, agencies like Envirowise are aware
that profit incentives may instead be the answer. For instance, Westbury Dairies, in Wiltshire,
has introduced a system to collect and reuse condensation formed during the milk
evaporation process. This has reduced the demand for mains water by about 90 percent. Cost
savings from purchasing water alone exceed £340,000 per year. But businesses like Westbury
Dairies are still in the minority. It is estimated that UK businesses could save a further £3
billion through improved environmental performance.

Exercise 4.

a. Complete the text with words from the box

acid contaminated deforestation ecosystems emissions

environmental erosion drought greenhouse

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 biodiversity exhaust fertilizers waste

The advances made by humans have made us the dominant species on our planet. However,
several eminent scientists are concerned that we have become too successful, that our way
of life is putting an unprecedented strain on the Earth’s (1) …………………………….. and threatening
our future as a species. We are confronting (2) …………………………….. problems that are more
taxing than ever before, some of them seemingly insoluble. Many of the Earth crises are
chronic and inexorably linked. Pollution is an obvious example of this affecting our air, water
and soil.

The air is polluted (3) …………………………….. produced by cars and industry. Through (4)
…………………………….. rain and (5) …………………………….. gases these same (6) ……………………………..
fumes can have a devastating impact on our climate. Climate change is arguably the greatest
environmental challenge facing our planet with increased storms, floods, (7)
…………………………….. and species losses predicted. This will inevitably have a negative impact
on (8) …………………………….. and thus our ecosystem.

The soil is (9) …………………………….. by factories and power stations which can leave heavy metals
in the soil. Other human activities such as the overdevelopment of land and the clearing of
trees also take their toll on the quality of our soil; (10) …………………………….. has been shown to
cause soil (11) …………………………….. Certain farming practices can also pollute the land through
the use of chemical pesticides and (12) …………………………….. This contamination in turn affects
our rivers and waterways and damages life there. The chemicals enter our food chain, moving
from fish to mammals to us. Our crops are also grown on land that is far from pristine.
Affected species include the polar bear, so not even the Arctic is immune.

Reducing (13) …………………………….. and clearing up pollution costs money. Yet it is our quest for
wealth that generates so much of the refuse. There is an urgent need to find a way of life that
is less damaging to the Earth. This is not easy, but it is vital, because pollution is pervasive
and often life-threatening.

b. Match the words in bold with these synonyms

1. unspoiled …………………………………. 6. unaffected ………………………………….

2. crucial …………………………………. 7. omnipresent ………………………………….

3. unparalleled …………………………………. 8. unavoidably (x2) ………………….….. ……………………….….

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 4. extremely harmful ……………………………. 9. persistent ………………………………….

5. insurmountable …………………………………. 10. challenging ………………………………….

Exercise 5. Read the article below and do the tasks

COP 26 – the UN Climate Change Conference

Introduction

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres recently said, '2021 is a make or break
year to confront the global climate emergency.' This means that action taken now will decide
whether we succeed or fail completely. 'If this task was urgent before, it's crucial now,' said
Patricia Espinosa, a UN climate change leader. The COP26 summit is seen as a last
opportunity to limit climate change to 1.5ºC and meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

What is COP26?

This year will see the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. These events are also
known as 'COPs', which stands for 'Conference of the Parties'. The conference was due to take
place in 2020, but it was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The meeting of world
leaders will now be held from 1 to 12 November 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. The United
Kingdom and Italy are the hosts and share the presidency this year. Sir David Attenborough,
the British natural historian and much-loved TV personality, has been named the COP26
People's Advocate for climate change as part of the preparations.

The 2015 Paris Agreement

COP26 is an opportunity to get the world on track to meet the objectives of the 2015 Paris
Agreement, which was signed at COP21. The Paris Agreement represented an important
moment in the climate change process because it was the first time there was a legal
agreement bringing countries together to act. Since then, 190 countries have joined the Paris
Agreement. The goal is to keep global warming to well below 2ºC, ideally 1.5ºC. To do this,
countries need to reduce CO2 emissions as much and as fast as possible. However, time is
running out. Despite the Paris Agreement, not enough has been done to limit climate change
or to manage its impact on people and the planet.

What's the plan now?

The aim of the COP26 conference is to bring international leaders together to make faster
progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement. The UN is asking the biggest CO2-emitting

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countries to come to COP26 with ambitious plans to cut their emissions. The 2021 event has
four goals, set by its hosts, the UK and Italy:

● agreeing to more ambitious action to reduce carbon emissions

● strengthening adaptation to the effects of climate change
● making money available for climate action
● improving the way countries work together on energy change, clean road transport and
nature.

COP26 brings together country leaders, experts and environmental campaigners to work on
the biggest challenge the world faces today. It is time for people to come together to take
ambitious and fast action against the climate crisis.

Are the sentences true or false?

1. The UN wants people to understand that COP26 is just one step in a long ………………………
and slow process.
2. The COP26 conference was supposed to happen last year. ………………………
3. Sir David Attenborough has criticised the goals of COP26. ………………………
4. The 190 countries that have signed the Paris Agreement are aiming to ………………………
limit global warming to below 1.5ºC.
5. Countries need to reduce carbon emissions dramatically to meet the ………………………
goals of the Paris Agreement.
6. The four objectives for COP26 were proposed by the UK and Italy. ………………………

Exercise 6. (File 1)

a. Listen to the speakers’ opinions about these three statements and choose the words that
reflect their opinions. Write them in the appropriate columns of the table
1. We should educate the public about our environment by handing out leaflets.
2. Within a few years we will have solved all of our pollution problems.
3. Within the next ten years the only chemicals we use will be environmentally friendly ones.
Speaker A Speaker B

Statement 1 – useful / useless?

Statement 2 – possible / impossible?

Statement 3 – likely / unlikely?

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b. Listen again and write the adjectives the speakers used to express their opinion. Put the
adjectives into the correct column according to their meaning

useful useless possible impossible likely unlikely

…………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ……………………

…………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ……………………
…………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ……………………
…………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ……………………

Exercise 7. Read the passage and choose the right answer

NATURAL RESOURCES ECO TIP

Yes, you can recycle just about everything. Save your cans, bottles, and plastic in separate
containers. When the containers fill up, bag the stuff and take it to the “recycling center” in
Escazú. Take the road behind the church that leads up to Bebedero. Turn right at the
“Ferretería” sign. Go two blocks. Then go left and drive approximately 3/10 km. On the right,
is an old house with mountains of bagged recycling stuff? The owners will help you unload.
Why not start recycling today?

1. The main idea of the article refers to:

A. Reusing bottles, cans and plastic
B. Recycling bottles, cans and plastic
C. Playing with garbage
D. Throwing garbage
2. The article tells you …………….. how to go to the recycling place.
A. in general
B. vaguely
C. clearly
D. without details
3. The recycling place is ………………
A. a new house.
B. a private property.
C. public domain.
D. a hardware store.
4. According to the text, the road goes pass ……………..

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 A. mountains.
B. old house.
C. cans and bottles.
D. a hardware store and a church.

Exercise 8. Listen and fill in the blanks (File 2)

Climate scientists from the University of Sydney in Australia say tourism causes over 8
percent of (1) ………………………………………. . They also say that this figure will continue to increase
because (2) ………………………………………. is growing. Their study looked at the carbon footprint of
many different areas of tourism. It studied (3) ………………………………………. from transport, events,
hotels, restaurants and shopping. It even researched the (4) ……………………………………….. from
producing souvenirs. The researchers spent 18 months conducting the research. They
included (5) ………………………………………. of 189 countries. Researcher Dr Arunima Malik said her
team analyzed the impact on the environment of (6) ………………………………………. businesses
involved in tourism.

The researchers said domestic travel was (7) ………………………………………. of CO2 emissions than
international (8) ……………………………………….. Air travel was the largest part of tourism's footprint.
The researchers said flying would continue to increase (9) ………………………………………. as more
people in the world become richer. The countries causing the most harm were the biggest and
richest nations. The USA, China, India and Germany had the largest tourism (10)
……………………………………….. Their carbon emissions will continue to increase as more of (11)
……………………………………….. The researchers encouraged holiday-makers and travelers to try and
reduce their carbon footprint when on vacation so their travel causes (12)
………………………………………. to the planet.

Exercise 9. Choose the correct answer

Scientists have come up with a smart but simple way to deal with carbon dioxide emissions,
by turning them back into stone. Researchers in Iceland pumped 220 tons of CO2 deep
underground into volcanic rock. It reacted with minerals in the rock and over a relatively short
space of time, transformed into a chalk-like solid substance similar to limestone. The team
expressed their surprise at both the success and the speed of the CO2 conversion. Lead
scientist Juerg Matter said: "Of our 220 tons of injected CO2, 95 per cent was converted to
limestone in less than two years." He added: "It was a huge surprise to all the scientists
involved in the project, and we thought, 'Wow! This is really fast'."

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The scientists hope their experiment will be adapted on a larger, more industrial scale. It could
help to alleviate the problem of growing CO2 emissions entering the atmosphere and warming
the planet. It could also become a key technique in carbon capture and storage (CCS)
solutions. Many other CCS techniques have involved injecting and trapping CO2 underground.
However, there was always the problem of the emissions leaking their way back above ground
and into the atmosphere. Dr Matter was enthusiastic about his team's experiments. He said:
"We need to deal with rising carbon emissions and this is the ultimate permanent storage –
turn them back to stone."

1. How much carbon dioxide did 2. What is the stone that the CO2 changed
scientists pump into the ground? into similar to?

A. 2,000 tons A. coal

B. 220 tons B. quartz

C. 200 tons C. diamond

D. 212 tons D. limestone

3. What surprised the team about the 4. How long did it take 95% of the CO2 to
conversion of CO2 to stone? turn to stone?

A. the speed A. over two years

B. the smell B. around two years

C. the cost C. less than two years

D. the birds D. two years and a day

5. What kind of scale do the scientists 6. What does the abbreviation CCS mean?
hope the experiment will go to?
A. captive carbon steam
A. a larger, industrial scale B. CO2 carbon site
B. lime scale C. carbon capture storage
C. a digital scale D. coal-carbon system
D. a volcanic scale

7. What happened to CO2 in previous 8. How did Dr Matter feel about his team's
attempts at pumping it underground? experiments?

A. it leaked A. enthusiastic

B. it exploded B. disappointed

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C. it became toxic C. hopeful

D. nothing D. positive

9. What kind of storage did Dr Matter

call his procedure?

A. ulterior preeminent storage

A. timely pre-emptive storage

C. ultra-prominent storage

D. ultimate permanent storage

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