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Part 3. Practice your vocabulary and use of language skills
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PART 3. PRACTICE YOUR VOCABULARY AND USE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS
1. Complete the text with one word in each gap. Contracted forms (eg isn't) count as one word.
GLOBAL WARMING ARGUMENTS
It's easy to suppose that we all feel the same way about global warming. After all, everybody wants to save the world, a they? We all want to make a contribution, however small, and we all do our best. You aren't one of those people who wastes water, b you? Of course not! And I'm sure you've got low-energy light bulbs in your house, c you? You bet! Not everyone is so enthusiastic, of course. Some people wonder d they can do to help, and don't really know what to do. Until they find out by paying attention to what the world's scientists are saying. At least, we all hope this is true, e we? Still, there are quite a lot of people who just hope that the problem will go away. Why do they do this, we might ask. f they want to make a difference? Their usual response is 'We don't really know whether the climate is changing. ' g we? Well, of course we do. There is plenty of evidence of climate change, isn't h ? We know that we are wasting energy and polluting the planet, don't i ? It's all quite simple really. And if you do know anyone who is still uncertain about whether to save the world or not, your message to them should be clear. What are you waiting j ? If you Hunk this is just somebody else's problem, it will, very soon, be your problem as well. Believe it.
2. Complete the text with one word in each space.
Nowadays we are all well a aware of the problem of global warming, and It is generally agreed that we are all at b from rising temperatures, climate change, and changes in sea levels. Massive consumption of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and wood, is c for greatly increasing the amount of C02 in the atmosphere, and many people believe that we are d with possible catastrophe if we cannot bring this situation under e . However, there is another side to the fact that we are a world f to the use of petrol, oil, coal and wood. In g , there is enough oil and gas to keep industrial societies going for several centuries, but in practical terms, we might have to get h to looking for energy elsewhere, as resources dwindle and become more expensive. There is no i for complacency when, on j , an American home uses more than 30 times as much electric light as an Indian one. and 1. 6 billion people in the world have no electricity at all.
3. Complete the text with one word in each gap.
Rubbish - or refuse as we a should really call it - is big news at the moment. For many years, people in Britain b had to pay a local tax (council tax) which Includes a charge for refuse collection. In many parts of the country people have also been c to ask their local council to remove unwanted household items, such as furniture and electrical appliances. However, in recent years, as a result of EU legislation, councils have d to reconsider how they collect rubbish, and what they do with it. In the past, householders simply e to put out their dustbins once a week, and the council collected the rubbish. Now the emphasis is on recycling, and householders f to separate recyclable waste (paper, plastic, cans and bottles) from organic waste (food and garden waste) and other items. ‘Really we g have started doing this years ago. ’ explained Karen Graham from recycling consultants WasteNot. ‘We h to stop filling up holes in the ground with rubbish and look at what other countries have I able to do. ’ One likely change is that soon householders J have to pay for their rubbish collections. ‘People k pay according to how much rubbish they produce, and we i to reward people who recycle and consume less. People in Belgium, for example, m had lo get used to this system - and it seems to have worked. ’ And if you think that weighing your rubbish fe a strange idea, you had n get used to it. Before long, an electronic chip in your dustbin will be weighing the bin and calculating how much you o to pay.
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4. Complete the sentence with a suitable form of the verb in brackets.
THE EARTH AFTER HUMANS
If all the people on Earth a (disappear) disappeared tomorrow, nature b (begin) to reclaim the planet. For a start. If people no longer c (pollute) the atmosphere, lire air d (soon become) clean again. If there e (he) no people to maintain buildings, they f (soon begin) to decay, but more solid parts g (lake) thousands of years to disappear. In general, if the 6. 5 billion humans no longer h (compete) with other species on Earth, most species I (benefit) . For example, if humans no longer j (catch) fish, the numbers or fish worldwide k (eventually increase) . However, if humans I (vanish) from the Earth, endangered species of animals m (not necessarily recover) as some are already too few in number. Some endangered species n (have) greater difficulty surviving if no humans o (take) the trouble to protect them horn other species. Even if we no longer p (poison) the planet, several decades q (go by) before all dangerous chemicals r (disappear) . And even if the burning of fossil fuels s (cease) tomorrow, the oceans t (not absorb) all the C02 in the atmosphere for thousands of years. In the end, though, if alien visitors u (land) on the Earth in 100, 000 years lime, they v (find) no signs (hat an advanced civilization had ever lived here.
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