The great pacific garbage patch

Transcription

1 The great pacific garbage patch In 1997, Captain Charles Moore took a short cut while crossing the Pacific Ocean on his way home from a yacht race. During his voyage, he discovered something that would change his life. Day after day, as he looked out at what should have been a clear blue sea, Moore found himself floating in an endless ocean of rainbow-coloured plastic fragments. Since his discovery, he has devoted himself to researching this environmental nightmare. There is a large part of the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between California and Japan, that no one ever visits and only a few ever pass through. Sailors avoid it because it lacks the wind they need to sail. Fishermen know they should stay away because its lack of nutrients makes it an oceanic desert. Surprisingly, this is the largest ocean realm on our planet. It's about the size of Africa - over 10 million square miles. Circular ocean currents here spiral into a centre, bringing with them debris from all over the world. This includes every piece of plastic left on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, and all the trash that washes down rivers of Asia and North America to the sea. This is where the debris stays. This is the place now referred to by oceanographers as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The problem is that it's not a patch - it's the size of a continent, and it's still growing. This is because plastic doesn't biodegrade. Instead, it photodegrades: it is broken down by sunlight into smaller and smaller pieces, but it never disappears. On some beaches of Hawaii, there are now more multi-coloured plastic particles than there are particles of sand. On my latest voyage, we spent weeks documenting the effects of this floating plastic on the creatures that inhabit this area. Our photographers captured rare, endangered monk seals hopelessly tangled up in bits of plastic nets, and delicate, transparent jellyfish with colourful plastic fragments in their bellies that they aren't able to digest. The stomach contents of dead albatrosses looked like a convenience store, full of toothbrushes, cigarette lighters and combs. There is an even darker side to plastic fragment pollution. As these fragments float around in the ocean, they accumulate huge amounts of DDT and other man-made poisons. These are ingested by tiny organisms, which are then eaten by fish - fish which eventually make their way to our dinner tables. I am often asked why we can't vacuum up the particles. This might have been possible when the area was smaller, but today it would be more difficult than vacuuming every square inch of the entire United States. In any case, great numbers of organisms would be wiped out in the process. Only elimination of the source of the problem will result in an ocean nearly free from plastic, and the desired result will only be seen in the distant future. The battle to change the way we produce plastics, and cut down the amount we consume, has just begun. I believe we must fight this battle now, and we had better win if we are to survive. Choose the best answer according to the text 1. The area described in paragraph 2 is... a. popular among fishermen b. dangerous to sailors c. very big d. near the African coast 2. The debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch... a. is carried there by ocean currents. b. comes mainly from the USA. c. includes every piece of plastic waste from Asia. 3. eventually moves to other parts of the world. a. The purpose of Moore's latest trip was to... b. document the various types of debris c. discover the main locations of the debris d. find out what creatures inhabit the area e. show how wildlife is affected by the debris 4. The main purpose of the text is to... a. describe Captain Moore's research b. make us aware of an environmental disaster c. warn us that many fish contain toxins 1 d. persuade us to join an environmental organization Answer the questions in your own words. 1. What did Moore decide to do after discovering the plastic? 2. Plastic is not biodegradable. What effect does this have on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? 3. In what way does the Great Pacific Garbage Patch affect human health? 4. What are two reasons that the particles cannot be vacuumed up? 5. How do you know it will take a long time to salve the problem? Find words or phrases in the text that mean the opposite of: 1.has got 2.getting smaller 3.huge 4. unwanted 5. increase

2 SHOPPERS GO GREEN TO IMPRESS NEIGHBOURS, NOT TO SAVE THE PLANET Shoppers are hypocritical about buying environmentally friendly goods, according to a report which has found consumers are more concerned about impressing the neighbours than saving the planet. While consumers are more likely to go green on the high street where they can be seen making altruistic choices, the privacy of online shopping brings out an entirely different behaviour. When people are not being watched by their peers they are more willing to shun the ethical products in favour of comfort and con venience, the report says. The habit has been studied by Vladas Griskevicius, of the University of Minnesota, who found ecofriendly shopping decisions are not always motivated by a social concern. He discovered that people were more likely to buy energy efficient light bulbs from the shops, but tended to opt for the old-fashioned type online. The same trend was also found when people purchased white goods, electronics and even domestic cleaning products over the internet. Mr Griskevicius picks out the Toyota Prius car as a prime example. Celebrities including Leonardo Di Caprio and Cameron Diaz have been photographed behind the wheel of a Prius, despite being well able to afford a more powerful and expensive car, sending the message that they are concerned for the environment. When you publicly display your environmentally friendly nature, you send the signal that you care, said the report. The study also showed that people were often more willing to buy green products when they were the most expensive option, because it showed they could afford to be caring. The Daily Telegraph, March, 17, 2010, p. 13 I. Answer the following questions using your own words but taking into account the information in the text. a) What are the real reasons why consumers buy eco-friendly goods? b) Why do some film stars promote eco-friendly products? II. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? Identify the part of the text that supports your answer by copying the exact passage on the answer sheet. a) People tend to buy more green products online. b) The car that most film stars own is a Toyota Prius. c) People don t mind buying green products when they are more expensive if other people notice what they are buying. III. Find a synonym for each of the four words below from these six options: concerned privacy behaviour peers purchased prime a) bought b) representative, characteristic c) intimacy d) preoccupied IV. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct. 1. According to the report, people who buy eco-friendly products... a) are more interested in impressing their neighbours. b) are more interested in saving the planet. c) are more interested in comfort and convenience. 2. When buying goods on the Internet... a) consumers always go green. b) consumers rarely go green. c) consumers go green if the bulbs are energy efficient. 3. Leonardo Di Caprio and Cameron Diaz have both a) photographed cars including the Toyota Prius. b) promoted the Toyota Prius. c) bought powerful and expensive cars such as the Toyota Prius. Part B. Write a 130 to 150-word composition. What is your opinion about eco-friendly products? Do you think they are an urgent need or just a passing fashion? 2

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