War and peace .
A- ] The outbreak [ start ] of war :
- Wars often start because of a ‘conflict’ [ strong disagreement ] between countries or groups of people , about ‘territory’ [ land that belongs to one country or group ].
- A country invaded another country . The country entered the other country ‘by force’ and ‘in large numbers’ and captured [ also took / took control of ] one of its cities . Soldiers from the other country had to ‘retreat’ [ go backward X advance ] to other positions . The army and air force of this country continued to ‘attack’ the cities [ took violent action to damage it] but the other country’s soldiers ‘defend’ them [ take action to protect them ] successfully .
B- ] A war zone :
- They are around the city of Y is now the main ‘war zone’ [ the area where the fighting is happening ] . The other country has asked for help from its ‘allies’ [ countries that are friends with this country ] . The allies sent ‘aid’ [ help ] in the form of extra ‘troops’ [ large groups of soldiers ] and supplies [ food and other things that are needed , e.g. , blankets and medicine ] . There is ‘shelling’ [ ‘firing’ of ‘guns’ and ‘explosives’ ] of the city every day , and hundreds of soldiers are either ‘killed’ or ‘wounded’ [ injured ] . Many ‘civilians’ [ ordinary people who are not in the army ] are also killed .
C- ] Peace talks :
For the civilians who are still ‘alive’ [ X dead ] , the situation gets worse . As winter approaches , food supplies ‘run out’ [ they are almost gone / finished ] . The soldiers get tired , and both sides begin to see that neither side can win the war ; they agree to meet for ‘peace talks’ [ talks to try to negotiate a ‘peace settlement’ / an end to the war ] . Finally they agree to a ‘cease-fire’ [ a period of no fighting ] .
D- ] Terrorism :
- ‘Terrorism’ is violent action for political reasons . People who do this are ‘terrorists’ , and a common terrorist crime is ‘hijacking’ [ taking control of a bus , train , ship or plane ; the people on board then become prisoners ] . The main purpose of hijacking is to use the prisoners [ called ‘hostages’ ] in order to ‘bargain’ for something [ to demand something in exchange for the hostages ] . The terrorists may agree to ‘release’ the hostages [ permit them to go free ] if government agrees to give the terrorists money or release other terrorists .
Pollution and the
environment .
A- ] Important definitions :
- Many people ae worried about the environment [ the air , water and land around us ] as a result of the ‘harmful’ [ dangerous / damaging ] effects of human activity . Some of these activities cause ‘pollution’ [ dirty air , land and water ] , and some are ‘destroying’ the environment [ damaging it so badly that soon parts will not exist ] . Here are some of the problems :
- ‘the ozone layer’ : a layer of gases that stops the sun’s harmful radiation from reaching the earth . Recent research shows that there are now holes in parts of the ozone layer .
- ‘the greenhouse effect’ : when gases [ from pollution ] trap the sun’s heat , in the same way that the glass of a ‘greenhouse’ [ a glass building for growing plats in winter ] holds in heat . This may lead to ‘global warming’ .
- ‘global warming’ : an increase in world temperature caused , in part , by an increase in carbon dioxide and other gases .
- ‘acid rain ‘ : rain that contains dangerous chemicals ; this is caused by smoke from factories.
B - ] Common causes of damage :
- smoke from factories . – car ‘exhaust fumes’ . – ‘dumping’ [ throwing away ] industrial ‘waste’ [ unwanted material ] in sea and rivers . – ‘aerosol cans’ [ also called ‘spray cans’ ].
Some of these contain CFCs [ a type of chemical ] , which can damage the ozone layer .
C - ] Protecting [ stopping damage to ] the environment :
- Don’t ‘throw away ‘ bottles , newspapers , etc. Instead , take them to a ‘recycling center / bin’ so they can be ‘recycled’ [ used again ] .
- Walk , bicycle , or use ‘public transportation’ [ buses , subways , etc. ] ,if possible .
- Join a ‘carpool’ [ a group of car owners who agree to share their cars ; a different car is used for the group each day ] if you must drive to work or school .
- Don’t ‘waste’ [ use badly ] ‘resources’ [ e.g. water , gas ] . Try to ‘conserve / save X waste] them .
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