Министерство сельского хозяйства
Российской Федерации
ФГБОУ ВПО «Кубанский государственный аграрный университет»
Тарасенко Н. Н.
Water is Life
Учебное пособие
Краснодар
КубГАУ
2016
УДК 811.111 (075.8)
ББК 81.2 Англ.
Т19
Рецензенты:
Т. В. Штатская – зав. кафедрой иностранных языков
Кубанского государственного технологического университета,
доцент, член Европейской Академии Естествознания,
канд. филол. наук;
М. А. Батурьян – доцент кафедры иностранных языков
Кубанского государственного аграрного университета,
канд. филол. наук
Тарасенко Н. Н.
Т19 Water is Life : учеб. пособие / Н. Н. Тарасенко. – Краснодар : КубГАУ, 2016. – 65 с.
ISBN
Учебное пособие разработано в соответствии с программой по иностранным языкам для неязыковых вузов. Включены аутентичные тексты по специальности, научно-популярные статьи из зарубежных периодических изданий, а также упражнения, направленные на развитие навыков говорения, чтения и перевода оригинальной литературы в профессиональной сфере.
Предназначено для студентов-магистрантов факультета водоснабжения и водоотведения, стремящихся расширить навыки владения английским языком.
УДК 811.111 (075.8)
ББК 81.2 Англ.
© Тарасенко Н. Н., 2016
© ФГБОУ ВПО «Кубанский
государственный аграрный университет», 2016
Unit 1
Water the Source of Life
“If you gave me several million years,
there would be nothing that did not grow in beauty,
if it were surrounded by water”.
Jan Erik Vold, What All The World Knows, 1970
Preface
Read the preface and answer the question: Why is water very important for life?
The adult human body is about 50 to 65 percent water. A child’s body is approximately 75 percent water. The human brain is about 75 percent water. While the human body can live for weeks without food, it can only survive a few days without water. 220 million urban residents in the developing world lack a source of safe drinking water near their homes. Ninety percent of urban sewage in the developing world is discharged into rivers, lakes, and coastal water ways without any treatment. Agriculture consumes 60 to 80 percent of the fresh water resources in most countries, and as much as 90 percent in others.
Access to safe water is measured by the number of people who have a reasonable means of getting an adequate amount of water that is safe for drinking, washing, and essential household activities, expressed as a percentage of the total population. It reflects the health of a country’s people and the country’s capacity to collect, clean, and distribute water to consumers.
The Earth is seen from space as a blue planet not by chance. Life arose on the Earth owing to water. Even having left ocean for land, all living beings and plants have stayed inseparably linked with water. Water still serves as a basis for everything. A grown-up person consists of water by two-thirds. The constant presence of enough water in the organism determines the health-state of each person and so his life. It is through aquatic environment that the organism delivers nutrients to the cells, eliminates toxins and harmful substances, performs the daily “cleaning and purification” of the body. Water “greases” our vessels, regulates body temperature and provides normal digestion. People never notice the tremendous role of water in the life when it is continually within reach. But if one comes to find him/herself without water at least for several hours, even moisture becomes the greatest value then. We react to the slightest changes of water content in the organism very sharply. Experts are convinced that it is essential for a healthy person to drink about two litres of water daily.
Notes:
Brain
|
мозг
|
Sewage
|
сточные воды
|
Owing to
|
благодаря
|
Nutrients
|
питательные вещества
|
Value
|
ценность
|
To grease
|
смазывать сосуд
|
To deliver
|
доставлять
|
To consume
|
потреблять
|
Cell
|
клетка
|
Eliminate
|
уничтожать
|
A resident
|
житель
|
Sharply
|
остро
|
Digestion
|
пищеварение
|
To eliminate
|
уничтожать
|
Warming up
1. Arrange the words in categories as they relate to different water connected topics to form a semantic map:
Water cycle Water treatment Water pollution
Rain, acid rain, bacteria, ice, substance, deposition, surface runoff, impurities, erosion, sewage, snow, distillation, droplets, wastewater, melting, chlorination, contamination, evaporation, sanitation, desalination, icecaps, mud, glaciers, filtration, conservation, sedimentation, respiration, precipitation, purification, turbidity, transpiration, distillation, liquid.
2. Add some more words to each semantic map.
3. Quiz: What do you know about water?
How much of the water on earth is available to drink?
95 %
26 %
1 %
How much of your body is made up of water?
75 %
95 %
6 %
How much water should you drink daily for good health?
1–2 glasses
3–4 glasses
6–8 glasses
How long could you live without water?
About one month
About seven days
One day
A hundred years ago, earth had
Much more water than there is now
A lot less water than there is now
The same amount there is now
One half of the world's fresh water lies within the borders of one nation. That country is
The USA
Canada
Russia
Drinking water sources can be contaminated by
Naturally occurring materials
Runoff from farm fields, parking lots and streets
All of the above
Water that is safe to drink is called
Potable
Piliated
Placoid
What percentage of the world's population doesn't have access to clean water?
38 %
17 %
2 %
How many litres of water are needed to grow one kilogram of chicken?
3.5 litres
3,500 litres
70,000 litres
When water freezes it contracts (gets smaller).
True
False
In a water molecule, how is the charge distributed?
Negatively on the hydrogen side and positively on the oxygen side
Neither of the above; water is nonpolar and has an evenly distributed charge.
Positively near the hydrogen atom and negatively near the oxygen atom
What percentage of the Earth's water supply is fresh water?
3 %
23 %
13 %
4. Read the following quotations and translate them into Russian.
“Water…“This has only two aspects; when mixed with anything its need and when not, it is life!
Water is its mater and matrix, mother and medium.
Water is the most extraordinary substance!
Practically all its properties are enormous, which enabled life to use it as building, material for its machinery.
Life is water dancing to the tune of solids”.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi. (1972)
“Water is the driver of Nature”.
Leonardo da Vinci.
“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless….like water…”
Bruce Lee.
5. Which quotations do you agree/disagree with?
Reading for speaking and discussing
Give the Russian equivalents to the following
words:
To provide, to include, sustaining, to abuse, to survive, sacred, precious, crucial, impart, to retain, mysterious, substance, alive, to dissolve, force, thus, to maintain, vital, to wrap, skin, vortex motion, to take for granted, to dew, stagnant, to approach, to increase, to spin, bulb, whirpool,
inherent.
2. Guess the meaning of the following international words:
Form, organism, source, basis, element, substance, harmony, energy, human, form, electrical, potency, literally, to regenerate, spiral, temperature, maximum, Celsius, characteristic, optimal, expert, to illuminate, principle, center,
concentrate.
3. Read and translate the word combinations:
To retain a harmony; to depend on water; to carry a sub tile electrical charge; to become stagnant; to expose to the air; to sustain life; glimmering threads of light; to lose absorbent ability; a whirling top; the vortex power of water.
4. Read the text and say: a) what the headline of it means; b) why the word “magic” is used in the headline of the text.
Water…“This has only two aspects;
when mixed with anything its need and when not, it is life!”
Water – the Magic Source of Life
Water is the basis for Creation of all Life. Today we know that since the beginning of life on earth all forms of life are born from water. The source and basis for life and survival for all organisms on earth is water. A sacred, cosmic element, water is our most precious and important food. Water is “blue gold,” because all living organisms depend on water. Our water quality is of crucial importance for sustaining life. The vitality and purity of water provide the foundation for the quality of health in all organisms. Water in its natural state retains a harmony and energy that is also part of the health that is imparts. This natural state and life energy retains a balance and order, which is passed to all life forms. Water sustains all forms of life, including human life.
Water is a mysterious substance yet we take it for granted. It is the most misunderstood and most abused element on Earth. Its chemical formula is H2O but that isn't all there is to it. Water is alive. It is the lifeblood of the Earth Water has its own living energy, and if water dies, our Earth dies with it.
Water makes up 60 to 70 % of our bodies. Minerals, proteins, sugars, and other substances dissolve in this water forming colloids, which carry a sub tile electrical charge. Thus water provides the electrical life force in all living things. Even dispersed into a fine mist, water continues to carry this vital life force, maintaining its potency and power. It is literally good to the last drop.
Since water is alive it continuously needs to regenerate itself by dewing in a spiral or vortex motion which we see in the shape of a tornado's funnel.
Water is the potent in its densest state at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. Above or below this magic temperature, water loses its maximum strength and absorbent ability. In its most potent form in forests or mountain streams, water is near 4 degrees Celsius but as it heats up, it becomes stagnant and powerless.
To be alive, water must be allowed, first, the freedom to flow in its characteristic spiral motion, and second, the freedom to approach its optimal cool temperature, of 4 degrees Celsius.
This rolling motion causes water to gather electrical force. As water moves across the Earth it cools itself and increases its internal power. Water stores this potential energy within itself and then gives the energy freely to all living things. Through this perpetual motion, water constantly exposes its “skin” to the air. Thus it constantly spins around upon itself like a whirling top.
Just like a spinster spinning her thread, Mother Nature attempts to twist water into a thread of life, which then becomes a sparkling strand of living electricity. We see this electricity as glimmering threads of light in swift mountain streams. Victor Schauberger an Austrian forester and expert on water, demonstrated how running water has the capacity to excite and illuminate light bulbs using this principle inherent in water.
The centripetal, inward-directed movement of water causes it to become rejuvenated and creates the sucking action evident in a whirlpool. As the water accelerates more toward the center of the vortex, the electrical potential increases to very high levels. This concentrated power within water can become the power of future technology – the vortex power of water.
Notes:
Colloids
|
коллоиды
|
Subtile
|
утонченный
|
Mist
|
туман
|
Stagnant
|
застойный
|
Spinster
|
незамужняя женщина, старая дева
|
Vortex
|
вихрь
|
5. Find the words in the above text which match these definitions:
1. A liquid without color or taste
2. A very small amount of liquid that forms a round shape
3. A small narrow river
4. All the plants, animals and things that exist in the universe that are not made by people
5. The ability to control people or things
6. The state of continuing to live or exist, often despite difficulty or danger
7. The state or quality of being pure
8. Energy and enthusiasm
6. Explain the phrases from the text in your own words:
1. To take for granted
2. To maintain potency
3. To be alive
4. To lose strength
5. To become stagnant and powerless
7. What statement expresses the main idea of the text?
1. Water sustains all forms of life, including human life.
2. The source and basis for life and survival for all organisms on earth is water.
3. The concentrated power within water can become the power of future technology – the vortex power of water.
8. What statement answers the question: What does water need?
1. Since water is alive it continuously needs to regenerate itself by dewing in a spiral or vortex motion.
2. To be alive, water needs the freedom to flow in its characteristic spiral motion.
3. Water needs the freedom to approach its optimal cool temperature of 4 degrees Celsius.
9. What statement corresponds to the content of the text?
1. Water stores the potential energy within itself which can become the power of future technology – the vortex power of water.
2. The water energy is given to all living things which retain a balance and order for sustaining life.
3. Running water has the capacity to excite and illuminate light bulbs that provide the foundation for the quality of health in all organisms.
10. Complete the statement: A sacred, cosmic element, water …
1. … becomes a sparkling strand of living electricity we see as glimmering threads of light in swift mountain streams
2. … a harmony and energy that is also part of the health that is imparts
3. … the most precious and important “blue gold” for all forms of life and lifeblood of the Earth”
11. Write the summary of the text.
12. Retell the text “Water – the Magic Source of Life”
Reading for understanding
1. Read the text and answer the question: What is “safe” water and why is it important?
Safe Water
Safe water includes treated surface water, as well as untreated but uncontaminated water from sources such as natural springs and sanitary wells. On average, a person needs about 20 liters of safe water each day to meet his or her metabolic, hygienic, and domestic needs. Without safe water, people cannot lead healthy, productive lives. For example, an estimated 900 million people suffer – and approximately 2 million die – from water-related diarrheal illnesses each year. Most, but not all, of these people live in low- and middle-income countries, and those at greatest risk are children and the elderly. Millions more people worldwide suffer from other water-related diseases, such as bilharzia, cholera, elephantiasis, and hookworm.
Improvements in water supply and sanitation tend to lead to improvements in people’s health and the quality of their lives. Throughout history, when people have had an adequate supply of safe water and have been able to practice good hygiene, they have been healthier and have had a better chance of living longer.
Access to safe water is critical to economies and ecosystems, too, and a scarcity of safe water can directly affect long-term prospects for sustainable development. Without an adequate water supply, factories that depend on water may have to close temporarily; crop yields may decline; sick workers may be unproductive; fisheries may be destroyed. The destruction of aquatic life not only cuts into the economy, but also damages the ecosystem. In addition, lack of a reliable system of piped water can prompt people to sink their own wells and deplete the fresh water supply. Air quality can also be affected by shortages of safe water. When people boil household water to kill dangerous bacteria, the fuel they burn can pollute the air. And when they use wood or charcoal as their source of fuel, forests can be destroyed causing additional environmental problems, including erosion and loss of top soil.
Aside from the fact that some regions of the world are naturally arid, the increasing, often competing demands for water are cutting into the global supply. Many rivers and watersheds are polluted by industrial, agricultural, and human waste products, while others are drying up because people are using the water faster than nature can replenish it. In areas with heavy rainfall or irrigation systems, people may waste water because it seems plentiful or cheap ignoring how much it costs to treat the water after it is used.
To get water is more difficult – and often more expensive – for the poorest people. In rural areas of developing countries, many women and children spend hours – in extreme cases up to six to eight hours each day – hauling water from rivers or wells. In cities, the poor often do not have water piped to their property; instead, they must buy or take water from other sources. People buying water from other sources may have to pay three to ten times what piped water costs in an area.
Moreover, the rapid growth of cities throughout the world can strain the capacity of governments to provide adequate sanitary facilities, leaving inhabitants, especially the poor, to live amid unhealthy open sewage ditches. Untreated sewage also tends to contaminate the water reserves closest to the cities, forcing communities to pipe water from further and further away as cities expand.
Industrial countries also are increasingly concerned about water quality and availability. Although these countries have stronger economies and greater capacity to collect, clean, and deliver water to citizens, per capita water consumption can be high as people wash cars, water lawns, and turn deserts into farmland, towns, and cities. They spend enormous amounts of money cleaning up water polluted by industrial waste, energy production, agriculture, and households.
In recent years, people, industries, farmers, and governments have begun to acknowledge that water is an economic good, not a “free” limitless resource. And as an economic good, there is a wide range in the quality and level of water delivery and sanitation services that people want and are willing to pay for.
In the end, it appears that when members of a community – households, factories, farmers, and businesses, together with scientists and policy makers – all participate in making decisions about the most feasible system of supplying safe water and sanitation, everyone tends to be more satisfied with the quality and price of these services.
Notes:
Bilharzia
|
шистосомоз
|
Elephantiasis
|
слоновость
|
Hookworm
|
нематода
|
Hygiene
|
гигиена
|
Deplete
|
истощение
|
To haul
|
тащить
|
Sewage ditch
|
сточная яма
|
Per capita
|
на душу населения
|
2. Are the statements true or false? Correct the wrong ones.
1. Without safe water, people cannot lead healthy, productive lives.
2. Most, but not all, of these people live in low and middle-income countries, and those at greatest risk are adults.
3. Throughout history, when people have had an inadequate supply of safe water and have been able to practice good hygiene, they have been healthier and have had a better chance of living longer.
4. With an adequate water supply, factories that depend on water may have to close temporarily; crop yields may decline; sick workers may be unproductive; fisheries may be
destroyed.
5. The destruction of aquatic life not only cuts into the economy, but also damages the ecosystem.
6. Many rivers and watersheds are polluted by industrial, agricultural, and human waste products, while others are drying up because people are using the water faster than nature can replenish it.
7. In rural areas of developing countries, many women and children spend some minutes each day hauling water from rivers or wells.
8. Untreated sewage also tends to contaminate the water reserves closest to the cities, forcing communities to pipe water from further and further away as cities expand.
9. Although these countries have neither economies nor greater capacity to collect, clean, and deliver water to citizens, per capita water consumption can be high as people wash cars, water lawns, and turn deserts into farmland, towns, and cities
10. In recent years, people, industries, farmers, and governments have begun to acknowledge that water is an economic good and a “free” limitless resource.
3. Find in the text the equivalents to the following words and word combinations:
Природные источники; чистые колодцы; страдать от болезней, вызванных водными бактериями; страны с низким и средним уровнем дохода; недостаток питьевой воды; разрушать экосистему; водопроводная вода; потребление воды; спрос на воду; сточные ямы; промышленные отходы; нескончаемый ресурс; политические деятели; качество доставляемой воды; принимать решения; дешевый; на душу населения; огромное количество; разрушение верхнего слоя земли; снижение урожая зерновых культур; поверхностные воды.
4. Retell the text above in Russian.
Reading for translating
Focus on grammar: Infinitive
Forms of Infinitive
|
Active
|
Passive
|
Indefinite
Continuous
Perfect
Perfect Continuous
|
To ask
To be asking
To have asked
To have been asked
|
To be asked
–
To have been asked
–
|
|
