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A choice of texts in graded English on subjects concerning ecology and the environment
The texts listed below are designed as private reading resources or classroom resources
for students of English at intermediate and advanced levels. Each text has been graded
according to the CEF (Common European Framework) benchmark for language learning.
Some intermediate texts are classed "C1" - which makes them technically texts for
advanced learners. However, the C1 ranking in these cases is deceptive, being notably
due to the technical vocabulary used, the texts have quite a few long words. In actual fact
much of this vocabulary does not make the documents harder to understand for non-native
speakers, as these "complicated" technical words will often be similar if not identical to the
terms used in the learner's own language – thus making understanding of the text easier,
not harder. For example, words like filter, aerodynamics, recycling or physicist are similar
in many other languages, and will not cause any difficulty for speakers of these languages,
unless they don't understand the term in their own language... which is a different problem
altogether! As for other new long words that are not international or easily guessable, their
meanings are explained in the vocabulary guides.
Una selección de textos en inglés calificado sobre temas relacionados con la ecología y el medio
ambiente.
Los textos que se enumeran a continuación están diseñados como recursos de lectura privada o
recursos de aula para estudiantes de inglés en niveles intermedios y avanzados. Cada texto ha
sido calificado de acuerdo con el punto de referencia del CEF (Marco Europeo Común) para el
aprendizaje de idiomas
Algunos textos intermedios se clasifican como "C1", lo que los convierte en textos técnicos para
estudiantes avanzados. Sin embargo, la clasificación C1 en estos casos es engañosa, debido
sobre todo al vocabulario técnico utilizado; los textos tienen bastantes palabras largas. En
realidad, gran parte de ese vocabulario no hace que los documentos sean más difíciles de
entender para los hablantes no nativos, ya que esas palabras técnicas "complicadas" suelen ser
similares, si no idénticas, a los términos utilizados en el propio idioma del estudiante, lo que facilita
la comprensión del texto, no la dificulta. Por ejemplo, palabras como filtro, aerodinámica, reciclaje o
físico son similares en muchos otros idiomas, y no causarán ninguna dificultad para los hablantes
de estos idiomas, a menos que no entiendan el término en su propio idioma... ¡lo cual es un
problema totalmente diferente! En cuanto a otras nuevas palabras largas que no son
internacionales o fácilmente adivinables, sus significados se explican en las guías de vocabulario
America's oil - a love
affair
In September 2000, the world was hit by an "oil crisis";
the cost of crude oil reached over 35 dollars a barrel, and
gasoline (which the British call "petrol") became very
expensive. Even in America. Since then, the cost of oil has
fallen; but even in the USA, use of oil has continued to
fall
During the summer of 2000, lots of car-drivers in America were angry. The cost of gasoline
went above $2 a gallon in some states. The age of cheap gasoline was over.
Today, in 2016, gas costs at least $ 2 a gallon throughout the USA. In California, even
regular gas costs about $2.80 a gallon.
This is very cheap compared to Europe, but Americans think that it is very expensive.
The United States is the land of relatively cheap energy; America is the second biggest
producer of oil in the world, but it is also the biggest importer. In fact, the USA imports over
20% of its energy, mostly in the form of oil.
There is oil under the ground in many parts of the USA. America's first oil wells were drilled
in the year 1859, in Pennsylvania; and since then, more and more wells have been made
in other states.
Today, oil companies are "fracking", and finding lots more oil under the ground.
Working in the American oil industry
The center of America's oil industry today is the state of Texas; and America's "oil capital"
is the city of Dallas. Texas is by far the biggest producer of oil in the USA.
It was not always the case; the first Texan oil-wells were opened in 1901, when there was
already a big oil industry in other parts of the USA. But without the oil from Texas,
America's history would have been very different.
In 2001, Texans celebrated their "oil centenary".
Cheap oil and cheap gasoline helped to make modern America. They shaped America's
cities, and they were an essential part of the American lifestyle. They were also essential
in the great empty states of the West, where people often have to travel long distances.
Today, Americans consume about 25% of the world's energy.... far more than people in
other countries; but the situation is slowly changing.
Americans are already buying smaller cars, and American cars consume much less gas
than they used to. But in the coming years, they will use less and less oil. They will have
to.
There is still a lot of oil under the ground, but oil and gas must become more expensive in
the future. Over 50% of America's traditional oil reserves have already been used - mostly
since 1950. Nobody knows when America's oil will start running out, but the first problems
could come in less than 20 years. And as soon as oil starts running out, its price will go up
very quickly!
In conclusion, the "two dollar gallon" was good for America. It has encouraged Americans
to buy smaller cars, and to use less energy. That way, America's oil will last longer.....
perhaps until the age of clean green energy arrives.
Environment : Someone else's
problem ?
There are still people in positions of power who do not
believe that everyone has to work to protect our natural
environment
In 2015 most of the nations of the world signed the historic Paris
Environmental protocol. A year later, Americans elected a new president
who has said that he could well take the USA out of this vital international
accord. And in countries all over the world, there are still people who think
that "protecting the environment" is a pointless waste of money
A HUMOROUS DIALOGUE THAT MIGHT TAKE PLACE ANYWHERE
There is a small factory somewhere in the middle of somewhere, called
Blackwater, Deadfish & Co. Every day, a thousand gallons of polluted water go
from the factory into the small river beside it. The water has been pouring into the
river for years and years. A few weeks ago, the company took on a new employee,
Gordon Green. A couple of days after starting work as a junior manager, Green
confronted the boss, Mr. Desmond Deadfish, with a few proposals.
GREEN: Mr. Deadfish, sir. I have a few ideas for improving things around here.
Could I have a word with you.
DEADFISH: Of course, Gordon, let's hear what you have to say.
GREEN: Well sir, I think everybody would be better off if we installed a Clean-it-
up Water Treatment Plant between us and the river.
DEADFISH: What on earth for?
GREEN: Well we seem to be putting an awful lot of waste into the river.
DEADFISH: Oh I don't think so, not compared with some other companies — but
go on Gordon. I'm listening. How much do these things cost?
GREEN: Well, there's a simple model that costs about £ 20,000; or a bigger and
better one for £ 30,000
DEADFISH:: Mmmm. That's a lot of money. It would take a part of our profits. So
tell me, what advantage would we get out of it?
GREEN: A cleaner river.
DEADFISH: And ?
GREEN: A better environment.
DEADFISH: And what else ?
GREEN: Well, that's quite a lot, isn't it?
DEADFISH: And no direct benefit for us?
GREEN: But of course; a cleaner river and a better environment are good for the
company, aren't they?
DEADFISH: Listen young man! There's no way anyone here is going to start
investing twenty thousand pounds in a luxury like a water-treatment plant! If there's
no direct benefit for this company, it's just a waste of money! If we
start worrying about the environment too much, we:II just have to put up our
prices, and then we'll lose our customers. So until the day the government forces
us to treat our waste water, we won't go wasting our money on things we don't
need. Anyway, there are hundreds of small factories like ours putting waste into
the river between here and the sea! What difference will one less make?
Mr. Deadfish's attitude is one which can be heard in every country of the world. It
is always easy to say that problems of the environment are someone else's
problems; or even (like some people) that they do not exist. It is simple to say that
someone else should take action first. Companies do it, governments do it too.
In most developed countries, the situation has improved in the last 40 years.
Factories cannot now put polluted water directly into rivers. There are
environmental laws. But there are still companies that break the law; and there are
still countries in many parts of the world, where there are no laws.
The cost of a polluted river does not appear in the annual accounts of a
company. It is a cost to society, not to the firm; and too often, society just says:
"This river is polluted, it always has been, and there is nothing we can do to save
it." And so the problem is just carried away to somewhere else, and someone else.
Someone else's problem.
WORDS:
gallons: a US gallon = 3.78 litres, a British gallon = 4.54 litres - pour : flow, go -
better off: in a better situation - to treat: to clean, to find a solution - plant: a
machine - What on earth for? : why ? - have a word with : speak with - an
awful lot: a lot - waste: effluent, things that we throw away - benefit: advantage
(not profit) - worry: be anxious - customer : client - attitude : point of view,
opinion improve: get better -- annual accounts: the annual financial figures for a
company - society : people in general (not a company) - factory: an industrial
building, where things are made
Will there be Life after Oil ?
Answer: Yes. The twentieth century was the century of OIL; but the twenty-first will
be the age of cleaner types of fuel. It will have to be.
Oil will not last for ever; and extracting it will become much more expensive
To start with, we cannot go on using oil for ever. We can do so for a
few more decades - perhaps until 2070, then it will run out.
There will be none left - or at least, there will be hardly any left.
At present, there is still plenty of oil under the ground. There is oil
under the North Sea and under the Atlantic Ocean.
Engineers keep finding new sources of oil. But there are some realities
which cannot be avoided.
a) The quantity of oil under the ground and under the sea is not
infinite. It will not last for ever.
b) As oil becomes rarer, it will become harder to extract. It will also
become more and more expensive. It will therefore become more
expensive than other fuels.
c) Oil will always cause pollution.
Of course, there are also other truths:
d) Scientists are making new forms of oil, using plants.
e) Most of the oil that we eat comes from plants; and it is sometimes
possible to make petrol from this oil
For instance, some
types of diesel-fuel
already contain sun-
flower oil.
Sunflowers produce oil too;
but most of this oil is needed
for cooking.
Sun-flower oil is
cleaner than mineral oil,
so it causes less
pollution. But
perhaps, in the long
term, vegetable oils are
not a good solution for the future; in the future we may need all the land for
producing food.
In reality, the future will have to be a future without oil - or with very little oil.
Scientists are already developing cars, houses and plastics that do not use oil.
Electricity will be the energy of the third millennium, but it will have to be clean
electricity.
Today, electricity is produced in Britain in several different ways; some of it is
produced using oil; but already oil-burning power-stations are being closed.
Nuclear power-stations will be closed too, because they are very expensive and
people do not want them.
Tomorrow's electricity will be made from gas, and from "renewable sources".
In the short term, gas will be an important source of energy. It is cleaner than oil,
and easier to extract. There is also a lot more gas than oil under the ground!
Gas can be used in cars and houses too.
In the long term, all our energy will come from "renewable sources" - including
water! The sun, the wind, the rivers and the oceans will give us all the energy that
we need! It will be clean energy - with no pollution - and it will last for ever.
We are not there yet, however! The twenty-first century will be a century of
change. People who are over 50 today are not going to see a world without oil.
Those who are under twenty may perhaps do so...... if they live long enough.
Living without Energy
Everyone says that we must use less energy ! But how? that
is the big question.
In this article, you can read about the house of the future, which uses hardly any
energy at all.....
Most houses use energy - lots of it. We use energy for heating, lighting, for running
our household appliances - TV's, washing machines, fridges, and so on. In winter
time, most houses use dozens of kilowatts of electricity every day, or the
equivalent in gas.
The house in the photo, on the other hand, uses virtually nothing: most of the
energy that it uses comes straight from the sun, the wind or the ground. This is an
experimental house at the University of Nottingham, and it could be the kind of
house that most people are living in fifty years from now.
During the daytime, it is rarely necessary to turn on an electric light, even in
rooms without windows. Sunlight, or daylight, is "piped" through the house, into
each room, through special high-reflection aluminium tubes. You can see how
well they reflect light, by looking at the reflections of the faces in the picture!
At night, of course, energy is necessary - but most of this comes from the sun or
the wind. The house is fitted with photovoltaic solar panels
that generate electricity during the daytime, and a wind turbine power generator
too; electricity from these can be used directly, or else stored in batteries, and
used when it is needed.
For heating, the house uses direct solar energy (sunshine heating water that
circulates through a radiator system), or geothermal energy. This takes low-level
heat out of the ground, and uses a heat-pump to convert it into high-level heat for
use in radiators - the same principle as a refrigerator, but in reverse.
As for water, most daily needs are provided for by the house's own supply;
rainwater is collected on the roof, filtered, and used for all toilets, baths and
showers.
If, one day, most people in developed countries live in houses like this one, most
of today's pollution will have disappeared, and global warming may be a problem
of the past.
WORDS:
fitted: equipped - generate: make, create - store: conserve, keep - geothermal:
from under the ground, from the earth - in reverse: backwards - supply: provision
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