BÀI 10: CONVERSATION

Reading

Conserving the world natural resources

Read the passage and do the task that follows

In the decade of the 1700s, the United Nations organized several important meetings on the human environment to study a very serious problem. We humans being are destroying the world around us. We are using up all of our natural resources. We must learn to conserve them, or life will be bad for our children and our grandchildren.

There are several major parts to this problem.

Distribution: Scientists say there is enough water in the world for everyone but some countries have a lot of water and some have only little. Some areas get all the rain during one season. The rest of year is dry. There are huge forests in the Amazon area of Brazil. In other parts of the world, there is only desert.

Petroleum: We are using up the world's petroleum. We use it in our cars and to heat our buildings in winter. Farmers are using petrochemicals to make their soil rich. They use them to kill insects that eat plants. These chemicals go into the rivers and lakes and kill fish there. Thousands of people also die from these chemicals every year. Chemicals also go into the air and pollute it. Winds carry this polluted air to other countries and other continents.

Poverty: Poor farmers use the same land over and over. The land needs a rest so it will be better next year. However, the farmers must have food this year. Poor people cut down trees for firewood. In some areas when the trees are gone, the land becomes desert. However, people need wood to cook their food. Poor people can not save environment for the future.

We now have information and the ability to solve the huge problems. However, this is not the problem for one country or one area of the world. It is a problem for all humans. The people and the nations of the world must work together to conserve the world's resources. No one controls the future, but we all help make it.

Nguồn: Internet