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UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY UNIT 1 : ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 1 UNIT 1 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY WARM-UP 1) What do you think the term environment refers to? 2) What environmental issues are you concerned about? 3) Have you ever heard of the word ecology? READING The term environment broadly indicates the surroundings of an individual organism or a community of organisms, ranging on up to the entire biosphere, the zone of Earth that is able to sustain life. By surroundings is meant all the nonliving and living materials that play any role in an organism's existence, from soil and air to what the organism feeds on and the organisms that may feed on it. Any other factors acting on the organism, such as heat and light and gravitation, make up its environment as well. In the case of human beings, cultural factors may also be included in the term. Figure 1 2 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES The environmental science of ecology is the study of the relationship of plants and animals to their physical and biological environment. The physical environment includes light and heat or solar radiation, moisture, wind, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients in soil, water, and atmosphere. The biological environment includes organisms of the same kind as well as other plants and animals. Because of the diverse approaches required to study organisms in their environment, ecology draws upon such fields as climatology, hydrology, oceanography, physics, chemistry, geology, and soil analysis. To study the relationships between organisms, ecology also involves such disparate sciences as animal behavior, taxonomy, physiology, and mathematics. An increased public awareness of environmental problems has made ecology a common but often misused word. It is confused with environmental programs and environmental science. Although the field is a distinct scientific discipline, ecology does indeed contribute to the study and understanding of environmental problems. The term ecology was introduced by the German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel in 1866; it is derived from the Greek oikos (“household”), sharing the same root word as economics. Thus, the term implies the study of the economy of nature. Modern ecology, in part, began with Charles Darwin. In developing his theory of evolution, Darwin stressed the adaptation of organisms to their environment through natural selection. Also making important contributions were plant geographers, such as Alexander von Humboldt, who were deeply interested in the “how” and “why” of vegetational distribution around the world. Figure 2 : Ecology UNIT 1 : ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 3 READING COMPREHENSION A. QUESTIONS Answer the questions about the reading. 1) What is environment? 2) Who is considered to be the founder of modern ecology? 3) When was the term ecology used for the first time? 4) What does ecology deal with? 5) Why does ecology depend on such sciences as climatology, oceanography, physics, chemistry, or geology? B. TRUE-FALSE Write T if the sentence is true and F if it is false. 1) _ The term environment also includes cultural factors. 2) _ Ecology does not draw upon physiology or mathematics. 3) _ _ Ecology does not contribute to the study and understanding of environmental problems 4) _ Ecology is the study of the interactions of organisms with their 5) _ physical and biological environment The term ecology was introduced in the mid 19th century. VOCABULARY Choose the best word or phrase in the box for each of the following sentences. discipline biosphere factors sustain contributions environmental organisms selection involves evolution 1) Ecology focuses on the interactions taking place between ………………… and their environments. 2) The study of ecology also includes how the nonliving ……………………… in the environment influence one another. 3) Darwin's theory of ……………………… was essentially ecological. 4) When did ecology emerge as a distinct …………………… ? 5) Alexander von Humboldt made significant …………… to ecology. 6) Ecology also ……………… such disparate sciences as animal behavior, taxonomy, physiology, and mathematics 7) The moon can …………………… life because it does not provide enough of what organisms need in order to live or exist. 4 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 8) Darwin stressed the adaptation of organisms to their environment through natural ………………………. 9) An ………………… movement aims to improve or protect the natural environment. 10) The ……………………… is the part of the earth’s surface and atmosphere in which plants and animals can live. WORD STUDY A. UN-, IM-, IN-, DIS-, AND NON- The prefixes un-, im-, in-, dis-, and non- can be added to the beginning of some words. These prefixes mean “not.” Look at this example: un- + healthy = unhealthy Smoking is not good for you. It’s unhealthy. Here are other words with these negative prefixes. un- unimportant, unpopular im- impossible in- incomplete, inexpensive dis- discontinue non- nonfat EXERCISE Choose the best word to complete each sentence. 1) A person who is unfriendly is probably ………………, too. A. unpopular B. unusual C. uncomfortable D. unimportant 2) The service at this restaurant is very slow. It’s ……………… to have a quick lunch here! A. impossible B. important C. immoral D. immediate 3) The airline will ………… service to that city. It is not a popular place to go. A. discontinue B. disagree C. disable D. discover 4) ……………… yogurt is better for you than ice cream. A. Nonstop B. Nonfat C. Nonstandard D. Nonstick 5) Jaime’s homework is ……………… because he felt sick last night. A. inexpensive B. incomplete C. inflexible D. inevitable UNIT 1 : ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 5 B. ±MENT AND ±ER Some nouns and verbs have the same form. We can add a special ending, or suffix, to other verbs to make noun forms. Here are some examples: same form -ment -er verb noun verb noun verb noun order drink cost order drink cost govern agree government agreement drive own run work driver owner runner worker EXERCISE Complete the sentences with verbs and nouns from the chart. (If you need to, make the nouns plural. Also, make sure that each verb agrees with its subject.) 1) Susan is the fastest ……………… . She can ……………… the race in less than three minutes. 2) The bus ……………… will not ……………… an unsafe bus. 3) I think the two companies will ……………… to work together. They will both sign the ………………. 4) – Did Saul ……………… a salad and some tea? – Yes. Now he’s waiting for his ……………… . 5) Joseph bought a lot of food and ……………… for the get-together. He hopes that everyone will eat and ……………… a lot. 6) Even though they……………… hard, most of the ……………… at fast-food restaurants do not make a lot of money. 7) – My aunt is the ……………… of that popular take-out restaurant on Main Street. – Does she ……………… the restaurant on Green Street, too? C. ±TH AND ±GHT Some nouns that end in ±th or ±ght are related to similar words that are not nouns. Read the following pairs of sentences and see how the words in bold print are related. 1) Some cities grow quickly. Their growth is fast. 2) The street is five kilometers long. The length is five kilometers. 3) The street is fifteen meters wide. Its width is fifteen meters. 4) The lake is thirty meters deep. Its depth is thirty meters. 6 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 5) Joanna is very strong. She has a lot of strength. 6) How high is that building? What is its height? 7) Anna weighs 50 kilos. Her weight is 50 kilos. EXERCISE Now choose the best word for each sentence. Use each word only once. depth height strength width growth length weight 1) The flag is flying high above the ground. The …………………of that flagpole is about 20 meters. 2) The …………………of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is about 1,400 meters. It is a very long bridge. 3) What is the …………………of the Pacific Ocean at its deepest point? 4) People who build houses must be very strong. They must have great …………………in their arms. 5) Plants need a lot of water to grow. Without it, their …………………is slow. 6) What is the …………………of your garage? Is it wide enough to park two cars inside? 7) David is very thin now. He weighs only 49 kilos. He lost a lot of …………………. STRUCTURE STUDY THE PASSIVE A sentence is often written in a passive form when the important idea is not WHO does something, but WHAT IS DONE. (a) They measured the extension in the steel bar. (b) The extension in the steel bar was measured. If the doer of the action has some importance (though less than the object), or is needed to complete the sense of the sentence, it is given, e.g. ‘A knowledge of statistics is required by every type of scientists.’ Passives can be formed in the following ways: a) A tense of be + past participle active: He cooked the food. passive: The food was cooked. UNIT 1 : ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 7 b) Modal + be / have been + past participle active: He may cook the food. passive: The food may be cooked. c) to be / to have been + past participle active: He is to cook the food. passive: The food is to be cooked. d) being / having been + past participle active: Cooking / Having cooked … passive: Being / Having been cooked … EXERCISE Rewrite the following sentences in the passive : 1) People apply mathematics in many different activities. 2) People use computers for many different purposes. 3) People use the decimal system even in countries with non-decimalized systems of weights and measurements. 4) Water covers most of the Earth’s surface. 5) Somebody was cleaning the room when I arrived. 6) Huge ocean waves swept houses into the sea. 7) They have postponed the seminar. 8) A mystery is something that we can explain. 9) We are going to build a new zoo next year. 10) The vegetables didn’t taste very good. People had cooked them for too long. 11) The situation is serious. We must do something before it’s too late. 12) When we got to the stadium, we found that they had cancelled the game. 13) They are building a new ring road round the city. 14) I don’t like people telling me what to do. 15) We gave the police the information. 16) We will give you plenty of time to decide. 17) They must first clean sewage in treatment plants. 18) Has anybody told you about ecology? 19) In modern zoos, people can see animals in more natural habitats. 20) He said that he wanted somebody to wake him up at 6.30 next morning. 8 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Unit 2 BIOMES AND ECOSYSTEMS WARM-UP 1) What is the biosphere? 2) What is a biome? 3) What is an ecosystem? READING That part of the world where life operates is known as the biosphere. The biosphere consists of the air (atmosphere), water (hydrosphere), and earth (lithosphere) where living things interact with their environment. Several approaches are used to classify its regions. The broad units of vegetation are called plant formations by European ecologists and biomes by North American ecologists. The major difference between the two terms is that biomes include associated animal life. Major biomes, however, go by the name of the dominant forms of plant life. Figure 3 : Terrestrial Biomes UNIT 2 : BIOMES AND ECOSYSTEMS 9 Influenced by latitude, elevation, and associated moisture and temperature regimes, terrestrial biomes vary geographically from the tropics through the arctic and include various types of forest, grassland, shrub land, and desert. These biomes also include their associated freshwater communities: streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. Marine environments, also considered biomes by some ecologists, comprise the open ocean, littoral (shallow water) regions, benthic (bottom) regions, rocky shores, sandy shores, estuaries, and associated tidal marshes. A more useful way of looking at the terrestrial and aquatic landscapes is to view them as ecosystems, a word coined in 1935 by the British plant ecologist Sir Arthur George Tansley to stress the concept of each locale or habitat as an integrated whole. A system is a collection of interdependent parts that function as a unit and involve inputs and outputs. The major parts of an ecosystem are the producers (green plants), the consumers (herbivores and carnivores), the decomposers (fungi and bacteria), and the nonliving, or abiotic, component, consisting of dead organic matter and nutrients in the soil and water. Inputs into the ecosystem are solar energy, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and other elements and compounds. Outputs from the ecosystem include water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrient losses, and the heat released in cellular respiration, or heat of respiration. The major driving force is solar energy. Relationship among biotic components of the ecosystem 10 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES READING COMPREHENSION A. QUESTIONS Answer the questions about the reading. 1) What is the biosphere? 2) What is a biome? 3) Why does terrestrial biomes vary geographically from the tropics through the arctic? 4) What is an ecosystem? 5) What are the major parts of an ecosystem? B. TRUE-FALSE Write T if the sentence is true and F if it is false. 1) _ Plant formations do not include associated animal life. 2) __ 3) 4) 5) The major driving force in an ecosystem is solar energy. Inputs into the ecosystem do not include carbon dioxide or nitrogen. The term ecosystems was invented by Sir Arthur George Tansley. A grassland is not an ecosystem. VOCABULARY Choose the best word or phrase in the box for each of the following sentences. interdependent influence comprise organic nutrients interact abiotic components coined associated 1) Both the biotic and abiotic …………… are equally important in the ecosystem. 2) Plants draw minerals and other …………… from the soil. 3) A system is a collection of …………… parts that function as a unit. 4) …………… vegetables are produced without using artificial chemicals. 5) The study of ecology also includes how the nonliving factors in the environment …………… one another. 6) A biome includes …………… animal life. 7) The biosphere is that part of the world where living things …………… with their environment. 8) The term ecology was …………… by a German zoologist, Ernst Haeckel. UNIT 2 : BIOMES AND ECOSYSTEMS 11 9) The nonliving factors of the environment make up the …………… component of the ecosystem. 10) Marine environments …………… the open ocean, littoral regions, benthic regions, rocky shores, sandy shores, estuaries, and associated tidal marshes. WORD STUDY A. COMPOUND WORDS A compound word is two smaller words put together. The meaning of the compound word is related to the meanings of the two words. Here are some examples: bird + house = birdhouse (a place for birds to live) car + wash = carwash (a place to wash your car) EXERCISE First, make compound words by putting together these pairs of words. some + one = …………………………………… stop + light = …………………………………… bed + room = …………………………………… birth + day = …………………………………… under + line = …………………………………… note + book = …………………………………… Now use the compound words to complete the sentences. 1) In class, students write notes in a …………………………………… 2) I sleep in a bed in my …………………………………… 3) Cars must stop when the …………………………………… is red. 4) Next week is my 20th …………………………………… . I am going to have a party for all my friends. I will be 20 years old. 5) If the teacher says to put a line under the verb, then we must ……………………… the verb. 6) …………………………………… wants to talk to you on the telephone. I don’t know who it is. 12 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES B. -AL, -ABLE, AND -FUL The suffixes -al, -able, and -ful can be added to the end of some words. These suffixes mean that something “is full of something” or “has something.” Here are some examples: Roses are beautiful flowers. (full of beauty) Puerto Rico has many coastal cities. (has a coast) That is a very comfortable chair. (has comfort) When you add these suffixes to a word, the new word becomes an adjective. An adjective describes a noun or a pronoun. It usually comes before a noun or after the verb be. EXERCISE Practice making adjectives by adding the suffixes -al, -able, and -ful to the following words. Spelling Note: Change y to i before -al and -ful. noun (add –al) adjective verb (add -able) adjective coast ……………………… notice ……………………… season ……………………… agree ……………………… industry ……………………… enjoy ……………………… nation ……………………… noun (add -ful) adjective beauty ……………………… help ……………………… wonder ……………………… Complete each sentence with an adjective from the lists. 1) Most people in Puerto Rico live in …………………… cities. 2) The influence of Spain is very …………………… in San Juan. 3) The people of Puerto Rico are usually …………………… to tourists. 4) San Juan is a modern, …………………… city. 5) Puerto Ricans cannot vote in U.S. …………………… elections. 6) The beaches and mountains of Puerto Rico are …………………… 7) My cousins had a very …………………… time visiting the old city of San Juan. They bought some souvenirs and had a delicious lunch. 8) In general, Puerto Rico is a …………………… place to visit. UNIT 2 : BIOMES AND ECOSYSTEMS 13 C. -EN We can change some nouns and adjectives into verbs by adding the suffix -en. For example, if you add -en to the adjective dark, you get the word darken. Darken means “to make something dark.” EXERCISE Look at these examples. Complete the chart. noun verb adjective verb strength length strengthen ……………………… weak ……………………… short weaken widen ……………………… STRUCTURE STUDY THE PASSIVE (continued) When we talk about what other people say, believe, etc we can use two possible passive forms. Compare: Active: People say that Mr. Ross is a millionaire. Passive (1): It is said that Mr. Ross is a millionaire. Passive (2): Mr. Ross is said to be a millionaire. We often use these passive forms in a formal style and with verbs such as: say, think, believe, consider, understand, know, report, expect, allege, claim, acknowledge, fear. EXERCISE Read each sentence. Then make two new sentences in the passive. 1) People expect that taxes will be reduced soon. 2) People say that the monument is over 2000 years old. 3) People expect that the president will resign. 4) People think the fire started at about 8 o’clock. 5) Journalists reported that seven people had been injured in the fire. 6) They expect that a new law will be introduced next year. 7) People say that the concert was very good. 8) People allege that the man drove through the town at 90 miles an hour. 9) They report that many people are homeless after the floods. 10) Those two houses belong to the same family. People say that there is a secret tunnel between them. 14 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 11) They say that the company is losing a lot of money. 12) People expect that the strike will end soon. 13) They believed that the workers had stolen the money. 14) They say that it was designed by Leonardo da Vinci. 15) They say that there is plenty of oil off our coast. 16) People know that there are thousands of different species of beetles. 17) They suppose that George is an expert in financial matters. 18) They say that thousands of new jobs will be created in the computer industry. 19) They reported that all the passengers had died in the crash. 20) They say that there are thousands of people waiting to renew their passports. Figure 4 : The biosphere UNIT 3 : ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS 15 UNIT 3 ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS WARM-UP 1) Why is the energy from the sun is essential for life? 2) Have you ever heard of photosynthesis? 3) How important is photosynthesis? READING Ecosystems function with energy flowing in one direction from the sun, and through nutrients, which are continuously recycled. Light energy is used by plants, which, by the process of photosynthesis, convert it to chemical energy in the form of carbohydrates and other carbon compounds. This energy is then transferred through the ecosystem by a series of steps that involve eating and being eaten, or what is called a food web. Each step in the transfer of energy involves several trophic, or feeding, levels: plants, herbivores (plant eaters), two or three levels of carnivores (meat eaters), and decomposers. Only a fraction of the energy fixed b y plants follows this pathway, known as the grazing food web. Plant and animal matter not used in the grazing food chain, such as fallen leaves, twigs, roots, tree trunks, and the dead bodies of animals, support the decomposer food web. Bacteria, fungi, and animals that feed on dead material become the energy source for higher trophic levels that tie into the grazing food web. In this way nature makes maximum use of energy originally fixed by plants. The number of trophic levels is limited in both types of food webs, Figure 5 : A Food Web 16 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES because at each transfer a great deal of energy is lost (such as heat of respiration) and is no longer usable or transferable to the next trophic level. Thus, each trophic level contains less energy than the trophic level supporting it. For this reason, as an example, deer or caribou (herbivores) are more abundant than wolves (carnivores). Energy flow fuels the biogeochemical, or nutrient, cycles. The cycling of nutrients begins with their release from organic matter by weathering and decomposition in a form that can be picked up b y plants. Plants incorporate nutrients available in soil and water and store them in their tissues. The nutrients are transferred from one trophic level to another through the food web. Because most plants and animals go uneaten, nutrients contained in their tissues, after passing through the decomposer food web, are ultimately released by bacterial and fungal decomposition, a process that reduces complex organic compounds into simple inorganic compounds available for reuse by plants. Figure 6 : Energy and nutrients cycle UNIT 3 : ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS 17 Feeding or tropic levels and food chains 18 ENGLISH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES READING COMPREHENSION A. QUESTIONS Answer the questions about the reading. 1) How is light energy converted to chemical energy? 2) What does a food web consist of? 3) Why are herbivores more abundant than carnivores? 4) Why is the number of trophic levels limited? 5) How are complex organic compounds reduced into simple inorganic compounds available for reuse by plants? B. TRUE-FALSE Write T if the sentence is true and F if it is false. 1) _ Each trophic level contains more energy than the trophic level supporting it.. 2) _ Plants incorporate nutrients available in soil and water and store them in their tissues. 3) _ All of the energy fixed by plants is transferred through the ecosystem by the grazing food web. 4) _ Carnivores are more abundant than herbivores. 5) _ Bacterial and fungal decomposition is a process that reduces complex organic compounds into simple inorganic compounds available for reuse by plants. VOCABULARY Match each of the terms on the left with its definition on the right. 1) carnivore A. any animal that eats only plants 2) decomposition B. a region characterized by similarities in its vegetation, living organisms and climate 3) herbivore C. the breakdown of dead plants and animals by organisms such as bacteria and fungi 4) photosynthesis D. a substance that is needed to keep a living thing alive and to help it to grow 5) decomposer E. any animal that eats meat 6) omnivore F. an animal which obtains its food from plants or other animals UNIT 3 : ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS 19 7) biome G. the process in plants by which carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds using the energy of light 8) nutrient H. an animal that eats all types of food, especially both plants and meat 9) consumer I. an organism that produces organic compounds from simple substances 10) producer J. any animal uses the bodies of dead animals and plants for its food WORD STUDY A. RE- The prefix re- means “to do something again.” Here is an example: re- + read = reread (to read again) If you don’t understand a story the first time you read it, then you should reread it. EXERCISE Add the prefix re- to each word in the box. The