2020-06-08
184
Loss of Nature Will Damage Economies
We are causing so much damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This bleak warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative impact on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the deaths of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity at a rate never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the historical…rate."
Scientists are worried that governments will not do enough to try to reduce the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss measures to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be adopted at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are facing extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a huge impact on marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse with the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.
TRANSLATE THESE WORDS:
| damage / our planet / biodiversity / national economies / coral reefs / extinction / scientists / international frameworks / threats / species / environment / pollution ущерб / наша планета / биоразнообразие / национальная экономика / коралловые рифы / вымирание / ученые / международные рамки / угрозы / виды / окружающая среда / загрязнение |
SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
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| 1. | Causing - i | a. | gloomy |
| 2 | Bleak - a | b. | coming up against |
| 3. | Impact - e | c. | cut |
| 4. | Huge - j | d. | supplies |
| 5. | Extinction - g | e. | effect |
| 6. | Reduce - c | f. | chosen |
| 7. | Tackle - h | g. | dying out |
| 8. | Adopted - f | h. | address |
| 9. | Facing - b | i. | creating |
| 10. | Stocks - d | j. | enormous |
TRUE / FALSE:
| a. | A new United Nations report says loss of biodiversity costs economies. | T |
| b. | The report gives us tips on points to help nature. | F |
| c. | The report says all coral reefs have already died. | F |
| d. | The rate of biodiversity loss is 1,000 times higher than ever before. | T |
| e. | Scientists are confident governments will tackle the damage. | F |
| f. | World leaders will adopt a new biodiversity framework in October. | F |
| g. | The report says more than 25% of corals might soon become extinct. | T |
| h. | The article predicts pollution will cause fish to start fighting each other. | T |
PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)
| 1. | We are causing so much - e | a. | global biodiversity loss |
| 2 | This bleak - h | b. | impact on nature |
| 3. | there are many important - j | c. | seen in history |
| 4. | man’s negative - b | d. | facing extinction |
| 5. | a rate never before - c | e. | damage to our planet |
| 6. | do enough to try to - g | f. | on biological diversity |
| 7. | discuss measures to tackle - a | g. | reduce the damage |
| 8. | adopted at a convention - f | h. | warning |
| 9. | huge numbers of species are - d | i. | made worse |
| 10. | This problem will be - i | j. | ecosystems on our planet |
GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
| We are __ causing __ so much damage to our planet that it will soon affect the global economy. This ___ bleak __ warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are in __ impact __. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative _ deaths __ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the __ continue __ of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We __ historical __ to lose biodiversity at a __ worried __ never before seen in history - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the __ reduce ___ …rate." | continue rate impact bleak deaths causing historical danger | |
| Scientists are __ measures __ that governments will not do enough to try to __ adopted __ the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss __ outlines __ to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international framework that will be __ extinction ___ at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report __ huge ___ how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are facing _ worse __ if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a ____________ impact on marine life and many fish species will also disappear. Countries will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made ____________ with the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers. | adopted huge reduce extinction worried outlines worse measures |
TEST EACH OTHER: Try to recall how they were used in the text:
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LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE
We are causing so much damage to our planet that it will soon (1) _affect__ the global economy. This bleak warning is according to a new United Nations report called the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO). The paper says there are many important ecosystems on our planet that are (2) _in__ danger. These “tipping points” in our natural world are where man’s negative (3) _impact___ on nature will start costing national economies. Examples of these are the (4) _deaths___ of coral reefs, the destruction of huge areas of forest, or major pollution of rivers. UN spokesman Ahmed Djoglaf said: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity (5) _at__ a rate never before seen in (6) _history___ - extinction rates may be up to 1,000 times higher than the historical…rate."
Scientists are worried that governments will not do enough to try to reduce the damage to the tipping points. World leaders will soon meet in Nairobi to discuss (7) _measures__ to tackle global biodiversity loss. They hope they can then create an international (8) _framework___ that will be adopted at a convention on biological diversity in October in Japan. The GBO report outlines how serious the threat is. It says huge numbers of species are (9) _facing__ extinction if we continue to pollute the environment. Over a quarter of corals may soon disappear. This will have a huge impact on (10) _marine___ life and many fish species will also disappear. (11) _countries___ will be fighting over much smaller stocks of fish. This problem will be made worse (12) _with___ the increasing pollution of the world’s rivers.
