Examples
If it continues to rain the river will overflow.
If the drought continues many more children will suffer from malnutrition.
If + past tense verb + would, could or might (simple verb)
Examples
Exercise 1
Combine the following sentences using conditional sentences:
Example:
Plastic bags last forever. They are a serious environmental problem.
If plastic bags did not last forever, they would not be such a serious environmental problem.
1). More people drive cars these days. Oil is in great demand.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2) The people voted against raising taxes. There is less money available for education.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3) Dynamite fishing destroyed the reef. There are not enough fish to feed the people living on the island.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4) The parents could not afford to send the child to school. The child did not go to school.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
5) Average temperatures of the earth may be getting warmer. Sea levels may rise.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
6) Conservations laws were inadequate. Loggers cut down millions of hectares of rain forest. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Bonus: New sources of energy need to be developed in the near future. People may continue consuming oil at an alarming rate. Oil reserves will be depleted in less than 75 years.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2 – Fill in the blanks with the appropriate vocabulary word.
vanish bulk develop
strain strive phenomenon
depletion pertinent crucial
"It took half the
world to develop England. How many worlds do you think it would require for
India to do the same?" This was Mahatma Ghandi¡¯s response when he was
asked if he would like to see India 1)_______________ like England. The
question Ghandi has raised is all the more 2)________________in the 21st
century as the world¡¯s most populated countries 3)_______________ to
find a balance between economic development and conservation of the
environment. India, in particular, faces a 4)_______________ dilemma. Since India has the world¡¯s tenth largest economy and the
second largest population, the 5)_______________ on the nation¡¯s natural
resources is dreadfully severe. If the 6)_______________ of India¡¯s one
billion people have the same aspirations of cashing in on the rapid economic
development, resources will soon 7)_______________. Consequently, the country will need to
rely on imports to account for the inability of certain industries to satisfy
the needs of a growing population. One example of how this 8)_______________
has already begun is that India is now one of the three largest importers of
palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia.
India¡¯s growing need to import forest-based products and seafood from
neighbouring nations may result in the 9)_______________ of natural
resources on an international scale and cause great harm to the global
environment
Exercise 3 – Fill in the blanks with the appropriate vocabulary word.
threaten magnify predicts
predators widespread degradation
The International Coral Reef Initiative 1)_______________ that if proper measures are not taken, 48% of South East Asia¡¯s coral reefs will be depleted within two decades. This growing international concern about the 2)________________ global degradation of coral reefs and their related ecosystems is a result of exponential increases in coastal populations that 3) ________________ the overuse and abuse of coral reefs as communities compete for marine resources. Although some natural phenomena such as earthquakes, typhoons, climate changes, coral eating 4)________________ and plagues may cause threats to marine ecosystems, human activity accounts for the majority of 5)________________ to coral reefs. Siltation, pollution, poor coastal planning and inappropriate fishing techniques are some of the ways that humans ¡©¡©6)_______________ marine estuaries and ecosystems.
Reading 2
LOGGING
From: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0807.htm Typical
logging operations are quite damaging to the rainforest ecosystem. Problems
stem from the nature of limited-term timber concessions, which encourage
short-term resource depletion, and poor forest planning and management. Corruption
is rife in many tropical timber-producing countries, making
existing forestry laws nearly unenforceable, while lack of transparency in
commercial transactions means that corrupt officials can grant concessions to
cronies without regard for the environment or consideration of local people.
The structure of the rainforest itself—where no one species dominates and
attractive timber trees are widely dispersed—means that it can simply
be more profitable to clear- cut forest. Even without clear-cutting, the
construction of logging roads to reach forest resources is destructive in its
own right and encourages settlement of previously inaccessible forest lands
by speculators, land developers, and poor farmers. Studies by the
Environmental Defense Fund show that areas that have been selectively logged
are eight times more likely to be settled and cleared by shifting cultivators
than untouched rainforests because of the access granted by logging roads.
Research has found a high correlation between the presence of logging roads
and consumption of "bushmeat"—wild animals hunted as food. Logging roads aside, selective logging itself—where only one or two valuable tree species
are harvested from an area—can take a heavy toll on primary tropical forests.
A late 2005 study conducted by scientists from the
Carnegie Institution at Stanford University determined that
"selective logging" creates twice as much damage as is detected
by satellites while resulting in 25 percent more greenhouse gas emissions
than previously believed. Selective logging—as usually practiced—is degrading to the forest
because the felling of a single large tree can bring down dozens of
surrounding trees which are connected to the target tree by vines and lianas.
The thinning of the protective canopy exposes the forest to increased
sunlight and drying winds that can kill symbiotic soil organisms essential
for decomposition and nutrient-fixing, while drying leaf litter and
increasing the forest's vulnerability to fire. Further, the use of tractors
for removing trees tears up the soil and increases erosion. Selective logging
has been found to reduce global biodiversity by destroying habitat for
primary forest species. These tropical logging operations widely fail to safeguard timber stocks for future harvests and fail to protect logged-over forest from fire, biodiversity loss, over-hunting, and subsequent conversion for agriculture or pasture. But the damage caused by clear-cutters is even worse. Operators who do not practice selective logging may instead simply burn a forest tract after valuable trees have been removed. |
Questions for Discussion
1) Why is logging damaging to rainforest ecosystems?
2) What is the difference between ¡°selective logging¡± and ¡°clear-cutting¡±?
3) What are the effects of degradation to rainforest ecosystems?
4) In addition to logging, what other factors do you think contribute to deforestation?
Things you can do to help save rainforests¡¤
Don't buy
products made from wildlife skins ¡¤
Don't buy
exotic pets that have been collected from the wild. You can ask pet stores
whether animals are "wild-caught" or "captive bred."
"Captive-bred" animals are more friendly for the environment ¡¤
Buy recycled
paper. ¡¤
Don't buy
wood products from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, or Africa unless you know
they come from eco-friendly suppliers. A good way to know if wood is
rainforest-safe is if it has a "certification label." An example of
a certification label is "FSC-certified," which means the wood
comes from sustainably managed forests. ¡¤
Learn more
about rainforests and the plants and animals that live in them. Tell others
why rainforests are important. |
Exercise 4 –Combine the sentence using adverb clauses to show cause and effect.
1). More people drive cars today. Air pollution is getting worse.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2) The global population is increasing rapidly. People need to find new ways to dispose of trash.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3) The world is running out of fossil fuels. Scientists are working diligently to develop renewable energy sources.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4) Write one sentence relating to your essay topic using a adverb clause to show cause and effect.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Expressing the Degree of Effect
Comedian: It
was so hot today¡¦
Audience:
How
hot was it?
Comedian
It
was so hot that we had to feed our chickens crushed ice to keep them from
laying hard-boiled eggs.
Although
this is just an old joke about the weather, a writer can use various phases to
signify a greater degree or lesser degree of effect.
Two
examples of these are:
1)
so + adjective + that (explanation)
The
lack of safe drinking water is so devastating to the quality of
life in many developing countries that more than 1.5 million children under the age of
five die of diarrhoeal diseases every year.
2)
such a/an + noun¡¦that (explanation)
Disposing of garbage in some large cities like
Manila has become such a crucial problem that unburied trash
burns out of control and poses eminent health problems for nearby residents.
|
A Need for Environmental Education in Schools by Brian J. English "Our task must be to free ourselves--by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." Einstein¡¯s words epitomize the spirit of environmental education that includes elements of community cooperation and trans-generational communication. As somewhat of a philosopher on education, Einstein was well aware of the need to pass on knowledge about the environment to future generations in order for them to better understand how to maintain a sustainable relationship with nature. Environmental education has grown to include more than just field studies in biology and geology. Environmental education also aims to teach critical thinking skills that involve problem solving and decision making; occupation-specific skills; and attitude development based on community morals and ethics. The major goals of environmental education programs are to raise consciousness about environmental conditions and to teach environmentally appropriate behavior. Since young people acquire environmental attitudes from the adults around them, it is imperative that environmental education be integrated into curriculum during the formative years of schooling. Environmental Education is an approach to education as a whole, rather than a subject. It is interdisciplinary and holistic in nature and application. It aims to create an environmental ethic that fosters awareness about the ecological inter-dependence of economic, social and political factors in a human community and the environment. Thus, it is important to integrate environmental education into the school curriculum because a heightened awareness of environmental issues and their implications can initiate new patterns of behavior towards the environment. Changes in values, attitudes and behavior toward the environment can ultimately result in a better quality of life. With the dawn of a new century, Environmental Education envisions a new paradigm of thinking that can meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. Environmental Education is evolving to be education for sustainable and ethical development both at a local and global level. It is Environmental Education that will prepare the next generation to plan appropriate strategies for addressing issues such as urban sprawl at a local level while still maintaining focus of the challenges that globalization presents on an international level.
Consideration of future generations, a key element in Environmental
Education, includes such concepts as trans-generational communication,
stewardship, nurturing, empowerment and emancipatory education. Knowledge about the environment is
not an end, but rather a beginning.
Knowledge about the environment promotes attitudinal and behavioral
change. Therefore, environmental
education is an agent of change and a step toward community empowerment. In the on-going dialogue of
rethinking education, perhaps it would be advantageous to further explore how
environmental education can be taught in schools. |