READING SKILLS III. A. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

(20 marks) There are various factors that currently pose threats to the environment. Soil erosion is now a severe problem in the world. It is estimated that 6 to 7 million hectares of agricultural land are made unproductive each year because of erosion. The actual cause of most land degradation is loss of vegetation, but the underlying cause is people. Forests and woodlands are cleared for farming and fuelwood. Where there is no more new land and farmers cannot afford fertilizer, the land they are already on becomes over used. The soil becomes less fertile and the vegetation becomes weak. In the tropics, land that has been cleared by burning, and planted with crops often loses its fertility in just a few years. Slowing population growth will slow down further degradation. The continuing build-up of greenhouse gases is altering the composition and behaviour of the atmosphere. The major responsibility for the production of these gases lies with the industrialized countries. People living in the developed world each add on average around 3.2 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year. This is four times the amount added by the average person in a developing country. But as the population of developing countries increases, so will their contribution to pollution. By 2025 developing countries will be emitting 16.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually - three times their present level. Much of that growth is expected to occur in the developing world, which currently owns only 12 per cent of the worlds cars. In recent decades, populations in urban areas have grown even faster than overall population growth. Constant increases in urban populations have stretched services to the limit and the future prospects for many urban areas look quite bleak. The main problems are housing, sanitation and transport. The number of permanent dwellings being built has fallen behind the demand. Between 1970 and 1988 the number of households without adequate sanitation mushroomed from 98 million to 340 million. Uncontrolled growth threatens to overwhelm transport, health and sanitation systems in many cities. As the worlds population has grown, food technology has improved. If food was distributed equally, the world would have enough food to feed everybody. But because of unequal distribution, millions of people do not have enough to eat. Most of the additional 1 billion people will be born in the less developed world. This will create tremendous problems in these countries - many of which are already struggling. Theoretically, it should be possible to grow enough food for everybody - but at what expense? For a start, every square metre of possible land would have to be used to produce a barely sufficient, mainly vegetarian diet, using large amounts of fertilizer and pesticide. As most of the potential land for this lies in the tropics, massive migrations of people would be needed to provide the necessary labour force and staggering amounts of the rainforests would have to be cleared. This is obviously completely undesirable and unrealistic. We can in theory feed a growing population, but only with massive financial support to less developed countries, by huge social dislocation and by damaging the environment in a way which will have catastrophic consequences. Water is a finite resource. There is a fixed amount circulating within the Earths system and it is unevenly distributed. Many areas, including most of Africa, much of the Middle East and nearly all of Australia, have severe water deficits. There are about 2 billion people in the world who live in areas suffering from chronic water shortages. In some countries, the situation is extremely grave. Not only is water availability becoming more limited, but water quality is declining. The industrialized countries of Europe and North America have dumped billions of tonnes of pollutants into their rivers. Added to this is the fact that measures adopted to clean up the water only tend to tackle the result rather than the cause. 1. Why are forests and woodland cleared?

2. What are the negative effects of overusing the land?

3. What are responsible for the production of greenhouse gases?

4. What are the main problems of constant increases in urban population?

5. Why dont millions of people in the world have enough to eat?

6. What should we do to grow enough food for everybody?

7. To grow enough food for everybody, how much rainforests would have to be cleared?

8. What will happen, if we damage the environment?

9. Why does the writer say that water is a finite resource?

10. Why is water quality declining?

Reading Skill I. Read the passage. Conservation of natural resources is the main theme in the 21st century: the effects of deforestation, various types of pollution as well as negative human attitudes towards conservation of natural resources all contribute to the concept. Deforestation in particular has been occurring throughout centuries and in some places of the earth, it is too late to do anything: deserts have eaten up green grasslands end sparse woods. It is high time to look for an answer to environmental problems. In the animal world, many species have disappeared and many more are on the verge of extinction. It will not take very long for all species, including humans, to disappear from the surface of the earth at the rate we are going. If we look around in our environment, we can find examples of the troubles we are facing: the melting of the icecaps of world renown glaciers, the collapsing of the ice walls in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, the rapid desertification of meadows and grasslands in Africa, South and Central America as well as in many parts of Asia and eroding of the banks along streams, rivers and oceans of the earth. Texas, USA, is well-known for its glowing sunsets. In Myanmar also, the glowing sunsets of Bagan, for instance, may be appealing to the sight of the beholders. But behind the beautiful surface, there is an ugly story. The glowing sunsets are produced by the dust particles floating in the air. These dust particles are set loose by the motions of the air and float freely about in the air. The particles can be seen against the rays of the sun which give them a golden glow at sunsets. They are not held down by natural means such as firm soils, roots of grass, plants and trees as well as perpetual moisture. Where all these things are absent, dust can fly loose. Flying dust is a reminder that the weather pattern is changing. Rainfall is decreasing. Water level is falling in lakes but rising at seashores due to melting polar icecaps and scorching heat of longer summers as well as shorter winters. All these are a result of global warming which in turn is caused by green house gases. Green house gases are produced by the depletion of green things around us: forests. So this is a vicious cycle. Is there a way out of this? I. A. Answer the following question in complete sentences. 1. Why is conservation important in the 21st century?

2. How long has deforestation taken place?

3. Why is it too late to do anything about deforestation in some places of the earth?

4. What is happening in the animal world?

5. According to the passage, what are some instances of problems faced by human beings?

6. What is Myanmar famous for according to the passage?

7. What produce the glowing sunsets?

8. Why can dust particles float freely about in the air?

9. Why is the water level rising at seashores?

10. What cause global warming?

Reading Skill I. Read the passage. There are obvious benefits in using the Internet for extensive reading. There is the enormous quantity and variety of material available on a huge range of topics in a number of different registers. Some of this material is easily understood by beginner/intermediate level students. Most, however, is more suited to advanced learners. There is the motivation to surf the Internet and explore areas of personal interest, as well as to participate in activities with peers from around the world. Students can be encouraged to become more independent and take greater responsibility for their own beyond-class reading practice. Students who might be reluctant to participate in face-to-face situations feel freer to interact through reading and writing on the Internet. They are anonymous and can create new identities without anxieties over gender, ethnicity, appearances, pronunciation, age, and so on. They dont have to respond on the spot, as in spoken interaction, but have a bit of time to compose an answer (or in fact they may not need to respond at all). Unlike reading a book, they are able to request clarification and ask questions when they dont understand what the writer has written. The interaction crosses age boundaries and is, in general, very supportive and friendly. The drawbacks include the fact that as yet, most schools are not adequately equipped with computers, especially those set up to allow student access to the Internet. Even where there are sufficient computers, there are the inevitable breakdowns and frustrations with communications technology that just doesnt work as smoothly as you would like. Many students and teachers are not yet comfortable using the Internet, and may baulk at the perceived complexity of it and the volume of material available. In terms of text resources, it is time-consuming to monitor the level of difficulty. It is therefore important that teachers provide some sort of structure and purpose for the students in their extensive reading. While many of us might not yet be prepared to fully exploit the Internet (and other uses of computers) for such activities as extensive reading, it is an area which offers great potential and is well worth taking the challenge, perhaps by trying one aspect at a time (e.g., the World Wide Web) until you feel confident enough to venture further afield. I. A. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1. Where can we do reading apart from in a library?

2. What kind of reading is suggested in this passage?

3. How is surfing the Net better than reading a book?

4. How many benefits of using the Internet are given in the passage?

5. How many drawbacks of using the Internet are discussed in the passage?

6. How much material is available on the Internet?

7. Why is writing on the Internet much better than face-to lace interaction?

8. What is the most suitable level of learners who can use the material on the Internet?

9. We are free from certain anxieties when writing on the Internet. What are they?

10. How is reading on the Internet different from reading a book?

READING SKILLS III. A. Read the passage and answer the following questions. (20 marks) The most devastating form of water pollution is oil pollution. Large oil spills cause massive damage to wildlife. The main causes of oil pollution are accidents to oil wells or supertankers. Oil spillage can cause a lot of damage to wildlife. Oil floats, so it stops sunlight getting through to the microscopic plants (phytoplankton) under the surface. The phytoplankton die. The tiny organisms which usually feed off the phytoplankton starve. Therefore fish have no food and die. Birds get covered in oil. This destroys the insulating and waterproofing qualities of their plumage. They lose their buoyancy and either starve or freeze to death. If the birds attempt to clean their plumage with their beaks, they inhale or swallow the oil, which is poisonous and damages their respiratory and digestive systems. The usual way of dealing with oil in open water is by booms and skimmers. Boom equipment works on a very simple principle - oil floats. Booms float on the water and trap the oil. The oil is then skimmed off the top, either by boats which suck the oil in, or by huge mops which absorb the oil. Detergents can also be used to deal with oil pollution. Detergents break the oil into a sheen which can be broken down naturally. In 1967, 10,000 tonnes of detergents were used on the oil spilt from the Torrey Canyon off the coast of Cornwall. These detergents caused more problem than the oil as they were just as poisonous to marine life. Over the years, scientists have come up with less poisonous detergents. The problem with these is that they have to be used as soon as possible. When the oil comes into contact with sea water it changes chemically and physically. The use of bacteria is another means of dealing with oil pollution. Oil is made up of many organic compounds. Some of these evaporate. What remains mixes with sea water and becomes a brown, mousse-like substance. Detergents are useless at breaking it down in this state. Oil is made up of hydrocarbons. Some types of bacteria digest these. However, the bacteria cannot survive on oil alone. They need nutrients. In Valdez, after the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989, fertilizers were sprayed on the water to feed the bacteria. 1.What does the word, massive in paragraph 1 mean?

2.What causes oil pollution?

3.Why does phytoplankton die when there is an oil spillage?

4.What happens to birds when they get covered in oil?

5.When birds lose their buoyancy what happens to them?

6.Why can oil damage the respiratory and digestive systems?

7.How is oil spillage cleaned up by booms?

8.Is it effective and safe to clean up oil spills using detergents? Why?

9.What is the problem with less poisonous detergents?

10.How many means of cleaning up oil spills are mentioned in the passage? What are they?

READING SKILL II. Read the passage and answer the following questions. Note-taking is very helpful in writing research papers. Good notes can save you time and effort. Begin your note-taking when you begin to do your reading for the paper. 1. The note-card is an essential aid in recording notes for papers. The size of the card you choose should be based on your individual style of writing. If you write large and intend to use to use some long quotes, a large size (5x7 inch cards) is better than smaller sizes (3x5 or 4x6 inch cards). Whichever size card you choose to use, be consistent; that is, use cards of only one size. Use one card for each note. Do not record two different ideas on the same card Note- cards are better than slips of paper because they are easier to handle. They are superior to regular notepaper because they are not only easier to handle but also more convenient to organize, store, and edit. 2. To save having problems when you come to write the paper, you should acquire some good habits. Make sure that every note-card contains this information: a. The topic you are writing on or that topic or the subtopic to which the particular note applies (If you dont know this information for certain when you begin taking notes, leave room to fill it in later.) b. The exact source of your information recorded at the bottom or the top of the card. c. The information the card is to record. The information may be in a summary in your own words, figures or statistics, a definition, a direct quotation, or some other bit of relevant knowledge. Special notes 1. Your instructor will probably give you information on the bibliographical form he or she wishes you to use. If you have all the information recorded on your cards, you will have no difficulty writing your bibliography according to any given style. 2. If you have used a source before, you only have to record the authors last name and the page from which the information was obtained. Obviously, if you have two authors with the same name, include the authors first names, also, in addition, if you have two or more books by the same author, you should include the title of each book. 3. Each note that you take should be so clearly written that you have no difficulty understanding it or why you wrote it. a. If you are quoting an authors exact words, make sure you put them in quotation marks. b. Try to summarise what you have read but be careful that you are stating facts, not opinions. c. If you are giving your or someone elses opinion, make sure you record this on your card so that you will not confuse the opinion with fact. d Do not take notes on matters of common knowledge. e. Do not take notes on the same information twice. If two or more sources give the facts or ideas, note the idea only once. This rule should not be followed, however, if you are collecting evidence to prove or disprove something. The more evidence you can uncover that points to a single conclusion, the better you will be able to defend your position on the question.

A. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1. When, according to the writer, should you start taking notes if you decide to write a research paper?

2. What is the size of the note-card that is suggested for longer quotes?

3. What is another suggestion concerning the size of note-cards you use?

4. What are the advantages of using note-cards instead of slips of paper?

5. What kind of information should you note down first?

6. Where on the card do you note down the title of the book?

7. How do you summarise the information that you have read on your note-card?

8. What do you need to do to the direct quotations from the authors work?

9. Under what condition should you not follow the rule Note the idea only once?

10. What will happen if you dont follow the above rule?