1. Siberia is the huge natural preserve, three quarters of which are covered by...

a. water b forest c. snow

2. Nature has generously endowed this ...

a. land   b. planet c. region

3. Each ... the forest puts on its new dress.

a. season b. year  c. month

4. In winter the nature falls asleep under the sparkling snow-white ...

a. blanket b. covering c. sheet

5. ... is the longest time of the year.

a. summer b. winter c. spring

6. Local dwellers grow tomatoes and cucumbers ...

a. in the green houses     b. in the open air c. on the windows

7. Some of the animals hibernate others store food for ...

a. summer 6. winter c. autumn

8. Sturgeon is the most...

a. delicious b. tender c. valuable

Exercise 8. Match the beginnings of the sentences in the first column with the endings in the second:

Exercise 9. Mark the following statements as True or False.

1. Winter is the shortest time of the year.

2. The growing period lasts a little bit more than 2 months.

3. People grow tomatoes and cucumbers in the green houses.

4. The biggest species of sturgeon may rich the size of 4 meters and weigh about 150 kilograms.

5. Nelma is the representative of the sturgeon’s family it has the white meat and very tender.

6. The snow covers the ground about 5 months a year.

7. The green summer meets you with lots of mosquitoes.

8. Each season the forest puts on its old dress.

9. Rivers and lakes of this region aren’t rich in valuable species of fish.

10. The fragrance is followed by the blossom of the rowan trees and then by the dog-roses.

Exercise 10. Watch the video about Ecological problems and do the Quizat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-CbS2h7Ly0

Exercise 1 1. Read and translate text II. Name the Text.

Text II

Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous Okrug – Ugra is located in the forest natural zone. The main part of the okrug’s territory takes waterlogged taiga. There are about 30 thousand rivers in Ugra. The okrug is one of the richest with the mineral resources region of the country. The unique oil and gas province is opened here. There are large amounts of the hard coal and brown coal, iron ore and nonferrous metal ores are concentrated in the Ugra territory. There are large amounts of turf, also large amounts of wood and predominantly soft wood concentrated in the region.

Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous Okrug – Ugra with its huge natural resources potential is a major Russian oil and gas province and one of the largest global oil producing regions. Natural capital is one of the main components of the territory's sustainable development, laid a solid foundation for economic growth and wealth of the population.

However, the region's resource structure specifics, its geographic and climatic characteristics, as well as the manufacturing sector development are at the same time the source of its major environmental hazards: atmospheric pollution, water and soil contamination, waste placement and utilization, deterioration of flora and fauna natural habitats.

All these factors have a pronounced negative effect on the environment and pose continuous threats of damaging both the environment and vital interests of the population.

In order to protect the environment and ensure ecological safety in the territory of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous Okrug – Ugra the government works on implementation of a dedicated program "Environmental Safety of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous Okrug – Ugra 2014-2020". The program consists of 4 sub-programs:

- environment quality management;

- preservation of bio-diversity;

- development of industrial and household waste management system;

- development of hydro economic system.

The government of our Okrug signed socio-economic agreements with all major oil companies providing for accidents prevention and incident rate reduction (worn pipes replacement), as well as accumulated environmental damage recovery (remediation works) and APG utilization programs.

Implementation of measures stipulated by the government program will reduce negative environmental effect, improve ecological damage prevention rate, and provide better protection for the population and economic assets.

Core element of the territorial environment protection work in our Okrug is the system of specially protected nature reserve territories (SPNR) of the Okrug. SPNR make possible protection of the typical and unique natural landscapes, flora and fauna diversity, natural and cultural heritage objects. Ugra has 24 specially protected nature reserve territories with the total area over 2.7 million hectares, i.e. 5.2% of the total okrug's territory. In addition, there are two waterlogged areas of international significance: Upper and Lower Dvuobje with the total area over 1 million hectares, main purpose of which is supporting waterfowl habitats, spawning areas and forage reserves.

The Red Book of Ugra contains 48 animal species, 150 plants and 38 fungi species.

The okrug has plenty of wonderful noteworthy natural sites: 2 nature reserves - "Malaya Sosva" and "Ugansky"; 8 wildlife sanctuaries; and 4 natural parks: "Samarovsky Chugas”, "Sibirskiye Uvaly", "Numto", and "Konda Lakes"; 10 nature sanctuaries; archaeological complexes "Barsova Gora", "Saigatino", Sherkaly hillfort.

To raise the environmental awareness of the population the region developed a system of ecological education embracing a wide range of educational institutions: public associations, sports and culture facilities, mass media, library systems.

One of important components of improving ecological culture in the Okrug is the International Environmental Action “Save And Preserve” - a large scale socially oriented project which has been implemented in the okrug since 2003. Annual agenda of the Action covers about 7 thousand events of the Okrug, national and international scale: conferences, forums, round table discussions, etc. Over 30% of the Okrug's population traditionally take part in the events.

For more information about Environment Vocabulary, watch the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keGgDTJI02g

Exercise 12. Give English equivalents from the text II to the following Russian phrases. Compose your own sentences with these words :

естественная зона, полезные ископаемые, нефтегазоносная провинция, природный капитал, устойчивое развитие, специфические особенности, экологическая опасность, атмосферное загрязнение, загрязнение почвы, ухудшение флоры, естественная среда обитания, отрицательный эффект, угроза повреждения, экологическая безопасность, качественное управление, развитие отходов, социально-экономическое соглашение, заповедник, объект естественного и культурного наследия, среда обитания, водоплавающая птица, экологическая осведомленность