I. Prediction will

GRAMMAR & VOCAB.

1. Idioms
Here you are looking at idioms which are linked to the topic of Nature and natural phenomena. Study them and illustrate their use with your own examples.
a drop in the ocean

If an amount is a drop in the ocean, it's a very small portion of the amount that's needed.

a ray of sunshine

Something is a ray of sunshine if it brings happiness to someone.

a voice (crying) in the wilderness

You're a voice in the wilderness, or a voice crying in the wilderness, if you're expressing an unpopular opinion or insight.

at sea | all at sea

If you're at sea, or all at sea, you're confused about something and not sure what to do.

beat around the bush | beat about the bush

If you beat around the bush, or beat about the bush, you don't say something directly, usually because you don't want to upset the person you're talking to.

can't see the wood for the trees

If you can't see the wood for the trees, you can't see the whole situation clearly because you're looking too closely at small details, or because you're too closely involved.

down to earth

If someone is down to earth, they are practical and sensible.

go with the flow

If you go with the flow, you relax and go along with whatever is happening.

in deep water

If you're in deep water, you're in some sort of trouble or in a difficult situation.

make a mountain out of a molehill

If you make a mountain out of a molehill, you make a small problem seem to be a much bigger problem.

neck of the woods (Informal)

A neck of the woods is a neighbourhood or a district, usually rural.

reach for the moon | reach for the stars

If you reach for the moon, or reach for the stars, you are aiming to achieve something great, or do something very challenging.

the tip of the iceberg

You can say something is the tip of the iceberg when it's just a small part of something much bigger.

under the weather

If you are under the weather, you're not feeling well.

2. In the end or at the end?(e.g. “However, in the end I decided to stick with my goldfish”, p. 39).
NB. When you use the expression "at the end", it needs the preposition "of". When you use "in the end", it doesn't need a preposition. There are also set expressions: to the end of time, to the bitter end.
1. We waited for nearly an hour and ____ the end we went without her.

a) at b) in c) on

2. The teacher set some homework ____ the end of the lesson.

a) at b) in c) on

3. There's an eraser ____ the end of my pencil.

a) at b) in c) on

4. My house is ____ the end of the street.

a) at b) by c) in d) on

5. We were exhausted ____ the end of the journey.

a) by b) in c) on

6. They get killed ____ the end of the film.

a) at b) in c) on

7. I'll love you ____ the end of time.

a) at b) by c) to d) on

8. They couldn't decide which one they liked and ____ the end they didn't bother.

a) at b) by c) in d) to e) on

9. They argue everything ____ the bitter end.

a) at b) by c) in d) on e) to

10. I paid the fees ____ the end of the course.

a) at b) in c) on

11. When do you get paid? — ____ the end of the month.

a) at b) on c) in

12. I couldn't decide what to get Ann for her birthday. ____ the end I didn't get her anything at all.

a) at b) in c) on

13. We waited ages for a taxi. We gave up ______ the end and walked home.

a) at b) on c) in

14. I'll be moving to a new address ____ the end of September.

a) in b) by c) at

15. Tom didn't want to lend us the money at first but ___the end he agreed.

a) at b) in c) to

3. Number or amount? (e.g. “…the amount of rubbish we throw away…”, p.44 ).
NB. Use the word amount with quantities that cannot be counted and number with quantities that could be counted one-by-one.
1.  That assignment took an enormous (amount / number) of time to complete.

2.  That assignment took an enormous (amount / number) of hours to complete.

3.  A small (amount / number) of people gathered on the sidewalk.

4.  We have a large (amount / number) of work to complete.

5.  The (amount / number) of rainfall this year has been pitiful.

6.  We expect a huge (amount / number) of friends to attend the party in Joe's honor.

7.  The bait attracted only a small (amount / number) of crabs.

8.  We are trying to bring in a generous (amount / number) of money for the charity.

9.  Jones always donates a large (amount / number) of dollars to the fund.

10. The records show that Smith's firm handles a healthy (amount / number) of clients each month.

11. The (amount/ number) of food wasted in the United States each day is appalling.

12. The (amount/ number) of pounds of food wasted in the United States each day is appalling.

13 Expect a certain (amount/ number) of madness when you marry someone with pets.
14. A great (amount/ number) of pets can drive you mad.
4. Ways of comparison.
a) Underline the best word.

1. 
   I wasn’t so much surprised as/ than shocked by the result.
   
2. 
   This was probably/ not nearly the best football match I’ve ever seen.
   
3. 
   Politics is too / so important an activity to be left to politicians.
   
4. 
   It was as/ too good an opportunity to miss, so I accepted the job.
   
5. 
   It’s quicker to travel by bus than/ like by car in the city center.
   
6. 
   You are every bit/ miles as responsible for what happened as I am.
   
7. 
   Cats are not nearly/ a lot harder to understand than dogs.
   
8. 
   This looks like/ as the place. It fits the description, anyway.
   
9. 
   I think the Harry Potter films are about as/ a lot more interesting than the books.
   
10. 
    This is definitely the best/ the better beach we’ve been to so far.
    
11. 
    As the medicine took effect, Tina became far and away/ more and more sleepy.
    

b) Complete the sentence with one word in each gap.

1. 
   You haven’t really worked hard ________ to get a higher mark.
   
2. 
   The more exercise you take, the ________ you will feel.
   
3. 
   Quite honestly, I don’t think this is as hard an examination ______ it used to be.
   
4. 
   This is ___________ the most beautiful beach in the Mediterranean. Don’t you think so?
   
5. 
   I’ve done just ________ as much shopping as anyone can do in one day!
   
6. 
   The film was every _______ as entertaining as I expected it to be.
   
7. 
   Most of Winterson’s books are good, but I think this one is the best of _____ all.
   
8. 
   The hotel was a ______ more expensive than I expected, so I looked for a cheaper one.
   
9. 
   This crossword puzzle isn’t quite as easy _____ I thought it was.
   
10. 
    This is not _______ as complicated as it sounds.
    

c) Choose the best option A, B or C to complete the sentence.

It’s quite common to hear someone complain that their memory is (1) as it used to be, or that the more things they try to remember, (2) quickly they seem to forget. However, memory is (3) complicated than we usually think. For example, remembering facts is not at all (4) remembering how to perform an action, and it seems that we don’t “forget” how to ride a bicycle or drive a car. For some people it may be (5) to remember what they have just read (6) recall where they left their car keys. Of course, (7) interesting a topic is, the more we remember about it, and we are almost certainly (8) to recall something we have read or seen recently, because it remains active in our memory. Where studying is concerned, there are certainly ways of making the memory (9). It’s (10) to remember disorganized information, so note-making and summarizing are important, and the learner, not the teacher, has to do this. Regular reviewing of what has been learned is (11) ways of strengthening memory. Some learners have (12) visual than a verbal memory, and may remember more by associating ideas with visual images. There’re plenty of books on the market which illustrate these techniques, always assuming that you can remember to buy one!

1. A less good	B worse	C not as good
2. A not nearly as	B the more	C it’s just as
3. A by far	B easily	C a lot more
4. A the same as	B like	C as if
5. A probably	B much easier	C nowhere near as
6. A as	B than to	C the more
7. A just about as much	B more and more	C the more
8. A faster and faster	B Far and away	C more likely
9. A more efficient	B as good as	C every bit as
10 A just as easy	B not so easy	C easier and easier
11. A as important	B more and more important	C one of the best
12. A just as good	B easily the best	C a better

d) Make statements about these topics using as many different ways of comparing as possible.

• 
  a film, book etc
  
• 
  something you dislike
  
• 
  a sport
  
• 
  an activity
  

5. Fill the gaps in the sentences with prepositions.

1. 
   The emergency crew has turned ________ local power and gas supplies.
   
2. 
   Smoking is damaging _________ your health
   
3. 
   Increased emissions almost certainly have a damaging effect __________ the environment
   
4. 
   Now that we've heard all the arguments for and ________ the proposal, shall we vote on it?
   
5. 
   He said that he was going to stick _________ the traditions established by his grandfather
   
6. 
   Anton has a consuming passion _________ science fiction
   
7. 
   What do you charge __________ a haircut and blow-dry?
   
8. 
   She wrote a book _________ car maintenance
   
9. 
   Some of these houses go ______ to the early 19th century
   
10. 
    We'll have to stop for fuel _______ the way to the airport.
    
11. 
    He said he'd picked the woman ________ in a bar
    
12. 
    That song was popular ­­­­­________ people from my father's generation.
    
13. 
    I hope my teacher will take ________ account the fact that I was ill just before the exams when she marks my paper.
    
14. 
    We usually meet _______ for a quick coffee in the morning
    
15. 
    We go out once in a while after work and ________ the weekend
    
16. 
    _________ weekdays I'm usually in bed by ten o'clock.
    
17. 
    The thought of it fills me _________ dread
    
18. 
    I'm a bit concerned ________ your health.
    
19. 
    The company needs to reduce its dependence ________ just one particular product.
    

6. Rendering.

Render the following text into English using the active tenses and at least 15 active vocabulary units (including the idioms).

Будущее Интернета глазами экспертов

Одним из важных изобретений современного мира является Интернет.

Каким же будет Интернет в ближайшие десятилетия, по какому пути пойдет развитие, какие преимущества получат пользователи?

Исследовательский центр Pew Reseach Center провел масштабное исследование, опросив более 200 экспертов в области IT и информационных технологий, чтобы выяснить, каким видят Интернет 2020 года профессионалы индустрии.

Предлагаем несколько прогнозируемых изменений.

1. Продолжит развитие глобальная информационная сеть. Объемы передаваемой информации возрастут многократно. Большинство финансовых транзакций будет проводиться через Интернет. Стоимость сетевых услуг понизится. Появится понятие общемировой конкурентной борьбы. Любой житель планеты сможет приобрести через Интернет - магазины любой товар. Однако возникнут проблемы сетевой безопасности. Контролировать огромные массивы передаваемых данных будет все сложнее.

2. Некоторые языки, которые сейчас используются для общения в Интернете, отомрут. Появится три-четыре общемировых языка (английский, китайский, испанский, русский), которые все больше будут ассимилироваться. 

3. Проблема безопасности будет остро стоять в 2020 году. Поколение, выросшее на сетевых технологиях будет более продвинутым в техническом плане. Возможны активные противодействия внедрению глобальных контролирующих систем. 

4. Личная жизнь станет менее частной. Появятся сообщества людей, которые живут в своем социуме, ничего не скрывая от окружающих. Это может вызвать как положительные, так и отрицательные последствия.

5. Активно будет развиваться виртуальная реальность. Обучающими программами, играми, разнообразными виртуальными мирами будут пользоваться значительное количество людей. Появятся проявления отказа от настоящей реальности в пользу виртуальных миров.

6. Государственные границы в современном понимании будут постепенно исчезать. Люди будут объединяться не по национальным признакам, а по увлечениям, потребностям, стилю жизни.

7. Интернет проникнет практически во все сферы жизни. Это может вызвать широкомасштабные акции протеста, террористические акты, пикеты и забастовки.

8. В сети появятся новые религии, которые будут проповедовать не мирские блага, а информационные ценности.
READING & SPEAKING.

1. Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.

tundra permafrost swamp wilderness landslide catastrophic indigenous itinerant unmistakeable impenetrable

1. 
   The _______________ people of a particular place have lived there for a very long time before other people came to live there.
   
2. 
   A _______________ situation or event causes a lot of damage or makes a lot of people suffer.
   
3. 
   A _______________ is a heavy fall of earth and rocks down the side of a mountain or steep slope.
   
4. 
   A _______________ is an area of land covered by water where trees and plants grow.
   
5. 
   _______________ people or animals travel from place to place frequently.
   
6. 
   If a place is described as _______________, it is impossible to get into or get through it.
   
7. 
   _______________ is a large flat area of land without trees in very cold northern parts of the world.
   
8. 
   A _______________ is an area of land where people do not live or grow crops and where there are no buildings.
   
9. 
   _______________ is ground that stays permanently frozen.
   
10. 
    If something is described as _______________, it is very easy to recognize.
    

2. Decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F). Then check your answers in the text.

1. Russia is the world’s biggest country by geographical area.

2. There are no polar bears in Russia.

3. Reindeer give birth to their young in October.

4. Global warming is happening at a faster rate in Russia than in other parts of the world.

5. Temperatures of -50^oC have been recorded in the Arctic regions of Russia.

6. It is impossible to build railways on permafrost.
Climate change in Russia’s Arctic tundra: ‘Our reindeer go hungry. There isn’t enough pasture’

Luke Harding

20 October, 2009

It is one of the world’s last great wildernesses, a 435-mile-long peninsula of lakes and squelching tundra stretching deep into the Arctic Ocean. For 1,000 years the indigenous Nenets people have migrated along the Yamal peninsula. In summer they wander northwards, taking their reindeer with them. In winter they return southwards.

But this remote region of north-west Siberia is now under heavy threat from global warming. Traditionally the Nenets travel across the frozen River Ob in November and set up camp in the southern forests around Nadym. These days, though, this annual winter pilgrimage is delayed. Last year the Nenets, together with many thousands of reindeer, had to wait until late December when the ice was finally thick enough to cross.

“Our reindeer were hungry. There wasn’t enough pasture,” Jakov Japtik, a Nenets reindeer herder, said. “The snow is melting sooner, quicker and faster than before. In spring it’s difficult for the reindeer to pull the sledges. They get tired,” Japtik said, speaking in his camp 25 kilometres from Yar-Sale, the capital of Russia’s Arctic Yamal-Nenets district.

Herders say that the peninsula’s weather is increasingly unpredictable – with unseasonal snowstorms when the reindeer give birth in May, and milder longer autumns. In winter, temperatures used to go down to -50°C. Now they are typically -30°C, according to Japtik. “Obviously we prefer -30°C. But the changes aren’t good for the reindeer and ultimately what is good for the reindeer is good for us,” he said, setting off on his sled to round up his itinerant reindeer herd.

Here in one of the most remote parts of the planet there are clear signs the environment is under strain. Last year the Nenets arrived at a

regular summer camping spot and discovered that half of their lake had disappeared. It had drained away after a landslide. While landslides can occur naturally, scientists say there is unmistakable evidence that Yamal’s ancient permafrost is melting. The Nenets report other curious changes – fewer mosquitoes and a puzzling increase in gadflies.

“It’s an indication of the global warming process, like the opening of the Arctic waters for shipping this summer,” says Vladimir Tchouprov, Greenpeace Russia’s energy unit head. The melting of Russia’s permafrost could have catastrophic results for the world, Tchouprov says, by releasing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and the potent greenhouse gas methane that were previously trapped in frozen soil.

Russia – the world’s biggest country by geographical area – is already warming at one-and-a-half times the rate of other parts of the world. If global temperatures do go up by the 4°C many scientists fear, the impact on Russia would be disastrous. Much of Russia’s northern region would be turned into impenetrable swamp. Houses in several Arctic towns are already badly subsiding.

Many Russians, however, are sceptical that climate change exists. Others rationalize that it might bring benefits to one of the world’s coldest countries, freeing up a melting Arctic for oil and gas exploration and extending the country’s brief growing season. Russia’s scientific community seems sceptical of global warming and the Kremlin doesn’t appear to regard the issue as a major domestic problem; public awareness of climate change in Russia is lower than in any other European country.

Western politicians, however, point out that it is in Russia’s interests to take action on climate change and to push for ambitious targets at December’s Copenhagen summit. “There is 5,000 miles of railway track built on permafrost. It could crumble as a result of melting,” Ed Miliband, the UK secretary of state for climate change, pointed out during a recent visit to Moscow.

However, even Russians working in the Arctic are unconvinced that their country faces a serious climate-change problem. “It’s rubbish. It’s invented. People who spend too long sitting at home have made up climate change,” Alexander Chikmaryov, who runs a remote weather station on the Yamal peninsula, said. A small community of Nenets hunters live nearby; otherwise there’s nobody for a hundred kilometres. The weather here is, not surprisingly, bitterly cold; the sea freezes for nine months of the year.

In fact, Chikmaryov’s own data suggests that global warming is a real problem here too. In 2008 the ice was 164cm thick; this year it is 117cm. Winter temperatures have gone up too – from lows of -50°C in 1914, when the station was founded, to -40°C today. Every year large chunks of the coast fall into the sea. And there are other unnatural signs. On 15th August a large polar bear started rooting through the station’s rubbish bin. “It was 7pm. The bear was enormous. We set off a flare. It ran off,” she recalled. Polar bear sightings are becoming increasingly common – with the bears coming south from their far-northern habitat in search of food.

Back on the tundra Japitik was rounding up his reindeer. “I’ve lived all of my life in the tundra,” he said. “The reindeer for us are everything – food, transport and accommodation. The only thing I hope is that we will be able to carry on with this life.”

© Guardian News & Media 2009

First published in The Guardian, 15/11/09

3. Choose the best answer according to the text.

1. Why would the melting of Russia’s permafrost have catastrophic results for the world?

a. Because the 5,000 miles of railway track built on it would be destroyed.

b. Because it would release billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

c. Because it would be an indication of the global warming process.

2. Why is the rise in temperature from -50°C to -30°C a bad thing for the Nenets herders?

a. Because it isn’t good for their reindeer and what is good for their reindeer is good for them.

b. Because they can’t cross frozen rivers when the temperature rises to -30°C.

c. Because there are unseasonal snowstorms when the reindeer give birth.

3. What will happen to Russia’s northern region if global temperatures rise by 4°C?

a. It will turn into impenetrable swamp.

b. There will be so many mosquitoes that people won’t be able to live there.

c. The growing season will be longer.

4. What do many Russians think about climate change?

a. They are very worried about it and regard it as a major domestic problem.

b. They believe it will be a good thing for their country.

c. They do not believe that climate change exists.

4. Find the following words and phrases in the text.

1. an adjective meaning far away from other cities, towns or people (para 2)

2. a noun meaning a visit to a place that is important to you (para 2)

3. two different words both meaning a vehicle that you sit on to travel over snow (para 3/para 4)

4. a two-word expression meaning under pressure (para 5)

5. a verb referring to buildings meaning to become damaged as a result of the land sinking (para 7)

6. a two-word expression meaning extremely cold (para 10)

7. a noun meaning a bright light or flame that burns brightly and is used as a signal in the dark (para 11)

8. a noun meaning the type of place that an animal normally lives in (para 11)
5. Match the phrasal verbs from the text with their meanings.

1. 
   set up a. flow out of somewhere
   
2. 
   round up b. make something available
   
3. 
   drain away c. people search through something with their hands; animals search by pushing with their nose
   
4. 
   free up d. tell someone something.
   
5. 
   push for e. cause something to operate or make it explode
   
6. 
   set off f. build a structure or put it in a particular place
   
7. 
   point out g. try hard to achieve something
   
8. 
   root through h. bring animals together in one place for a particular purpose
   

6. Complete the sentences using the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each sentence.

1. The weather is becoming increasingly ____________ in some parts of the world. [PREDICT]

2. Global warming could have a ____________ impact on Russia. [DISASTER]

3. Warmer temperatures could free up Russia’s Arctic regions for oil and gas ____________. [EXPLORE]

4. Many politicians are hoping for ____________ targets at the Copenhagen summit. [AMBITION]

5. Many Russians are ____________ that there is a serious climate-change problem. [CONVINCE]

6. ____________ of polar bears are becoming increasingly common. [SIGHT]
7. Discussion