1 What do we need land for?

Look at the pictures and make a list

of all the types of activities you can think of.

2 Read the text and check your answers.

The quality of the land around us is very important for our well-
being. We need land to create energy, to grow fruit and vegetables
and to bury waste. We also need it for mineral resources, for
bu ilding houses, factories, schools and hospitals, for transportation,
for free time activities and much more. Land is also a vital habitat
for plants and animals. But many human activities, such as industry,
agricu lture and transportation, and the ir by-products, as well as
intentional or accidenta l pollution, can damage the soil and harm
the quality of land.
Soil is extremely important for the environment, because water and
vital substances such as vitamins, minerals and fibres are stored and
regenerated in it. It is also an essential medium for growing crops.
And it has another fundamental function: it acts as a barrier between
the atmosphere and aquatic ecosystems. However, this barrier is lost
if soil is damaged or contaminated, with the consequence that the
soil becomes a source of pollutants that can enter surface or
groundwater and even damage the quality of air and consequently
the health of plants, animals and people Toxic substances can be
dangerous for individual species and have long-term effects on
ecosystems. ,I

Match the words with their definitions .

_ .' aste a 0 something crea ec .'.~ e :;':X:_: ~5 'orocessin g another product
_ -2J· -a b 11 water OU'ld Uflce' :-5 5':--:
. 5"': - ..,C.'. ater c subs ances t-Cl :; _::::-::=-. ':-~e1t
a e :2 :-2- ·S -: :-5=' ::-:s: Je au se its va luable part has already been used
--
= -2:Aa 5-. ':--;::-: -='=::- -:: sad pl ants grow
-.:;...-

= e 5_=S:2-:= 11-:- :::~ ~.:::: .= . . : 2 !or a particu lar purpose

4 Read the text about the forms of pollution and decide which of these are represented in the pictures.

Pol lution is the release of chemica l, biological ,

physica l or radioactive substances in the
environment. Among the ma in kinds of pollution are :
• Air pollution: due to the release of chemicals and
particu lates (so lid partic les forming dust) such as
nitrogen oxides that create smog and hydrocarbons .
Other examples of air pollut ion are carbon
monoxide and sulphur dioxide.
• Water pollution: caused by industria l waste,
agricultural drainage and sewage.
• Soil contamination: the most sign ificant soil
contaminants are heavy meta ls, hydrocarbons ,
herbicides and pesticid es.
• Radioactive contamination: caused by accidents in
nuclear power stations and by the production and use of
nuclear weapons.
• Noise pollution: including roadway, aircraft and indu strial
noise and high-intensity sonars.
• Light pollution: inc luding light trespass and ove r-
illumination.
• Visual pollution: referring to the presence of
overhead power lines, motorway billboards or open
storage of junk and municipal sol id waste .

5 Read the text again and fill in the chart.

Type of pollution Examples

air po llution carbon monoxide

w ater po ll ution

so il contamination 6 Write down a list of the sources of

pollution that exist in the area where you
noise po ll ution
live and write a short essay about the
light pol lution possible solutions to these problems.

visua l po ll ution In my area there is a lot of air and water

pollution due to the chemicals th e fa rmers
rad ioactive conta m i nation use on their fields .. .

MY GLOSSARY
t:lillboard / brlb::l:d/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ to increase / tu: IIl'kri:s/ _ _ _ _ _ __
:0 bury / tg 'beri/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ junk /d3A1)k/ _ _ _ _ __
jy-pro duct j'bal ,prodgkt/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ overhead j'guyghed/
:rop / krDp/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ particulate /pg'nkjulg
:0 dam age /tg 'dcemld3/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ pollutant /pd']u:rgn
:':ainage / dremld3/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ release /rtli:s/
':':,;sr /dASt/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - sewage ISU:ld31 _
~ound wat er /graund'w::l:tgr/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ to store / [8 st::l:(r)
:0 grow /tg grgu/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ trespass / rrespds/
:2 ::arm /tg ho:m/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ waste /\\'eIS
:'::,i.lh /betS/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -