B) Work in pairs to discuss why it is important to plant trees.

A) Read the text and fill in the gaps with the word from the box.

C) Using the expressions above make up your own sentences.

B) Match the words from column A with the words from column B to make up an expression.

A B
1) purificatory a) appliances
2) less polluting b) products
3) residential c) neighbourhood
4) organic d) bulbs
5) artificial e) system
6) renewable f) equipment
7) home g) farming
8) efficient light h) operation methods
9) recycling i) energy
10) environmentally-friendly j) fertilizers
absorb give off cool hold reduce catch muffle

Urban planners who want to replace living plants with plastic ones seem to think that the city does not need to have living plants in it. Actually, plants do many useful things in a city even if they do not produce food for people. Plants improve the quality of the air by (1) ____ oxygen and woodsy-smelling compounds, such as those emitted by pine trees. Smog contains some gases that in low concentrations can be used as nutrients by plants. Thus plants (2) ____ some air pollutants. Evaporation of water from plants (3) ____ the air. Also the leaves of plants (4) ____ falling dust particles. Trees and shrubs (5) ____ the noise of street traffic and construction work. Finally, the roots of plants, even weeds, help (6) ____ earth in place and (7) ____ the number of soil particles blown into the air and washed into sewers.

14. EXAM LINK. Work in pairs to discuss the problem of pollution.

You should say:

What kinds of pollution people suffer from

What causes pollution

How pollution affects people’s life

And explain how people can reduce pollution.

Example:

I really could kick off with the point that pollutionis the most serious problem humanity has ever faced. The contamination of the environment has increased dramatically over the last twenty years affecting adversely the quality of people’s life.

The first thing I should mention is that nowadays people suffer from air, water and soil pollution. Actually, among all kinds of pollution the most harmful is air pollution. It is caused by factories and plants thatrelease a wide range of pollutantsin the air we breathe. It leads to serious health problems by reducing people’s resistance to infections, aggravating bronchitis, triggering asthma attacks and causing cancer. Besides, motor vehicles are the fastest-growing source of air pollution today, pumping out a toxic mixture of health-threatening pollutants.

Besides air pollution, another major cause for concern is water pollution which comes from both industrial and domestic wastes. Actually, it results in the poisoned water we drink. The water in rivers and lakes has become so dirty that you can hardly enjoy swimming and angling. Sometimes they give off a foul smell and might contain parasites. Also, I suppose I should say that equally worrying is soil pollution. In fact, it is caused by industrial and domestic waste which is buried or dumped in landfill sites. This is alarming because it contaminates the soil with toxic products. Besides the rubbish which is not disposed of properly, the soil pollution results from pesticides and fertilizers overused by farmers. It leads to the contamination of the food we eat.

In my view, there are a few ways to tackle the problem. Taking into account the first problem,the only way to solve it would be to impose heavy fines on plantsand factories violating environmental protection laws. Such fines might encourage companies to invest in pollution control equipment or to develop less polluting methods of operation. One way to deal with pollution in cities is to promote the use of public transport. The result of this would be fewer cars polluting the air.

As for the second problem, the most successful way to confront it could be the use of the up-to-date purificatory equipment and filters before discharging toxic wastes into the water. It would help to keep water clean.

When dealing with soil pollution, the most effective way to work it out is to improve the way we dispose of waste.Instead of burying or dumping the waste in landfill sites, it is advisable to burn it in incinerators. An effective method of combating non-biodegradable waste might be setting up recycling bins almost in every neighbourhood. Besides improving a recycling system, we need a daily rubbish collection. It is advisable that more dustmen should be employed so that they can dispose of rubbish daily. Then we wouldn’t have piles of rubbish on our streets that can easily cause the spread of disease.

Also, developing organic farming might become useful. It is much better for our health that the farmers should use compost instead of huge quantities of pesticides and fertilizers.

HOW GREEN ARE YOU?

15. a) Listen to the speaker and complete the sentences below. Write no more than two words and / or a number for each answer.(from Wilson J. IELTS Practice Tests Plus 2. / Wilson Judith, Morgan Terry – Pearson Longman, 2007. – P. 111.)

1) Canadian “Clean Air Day” will be held on ___.

2) Air pollution may be responsible for ___ deaths every year in Canada.

3) The sector most responsible for smog-producing pollutants is ___.

4) Scientists now know that even ___ of pollutants can be harmful.

b) Complete the notes below. Write no more than two words and / or a number for each answer.