The Titanic

The Titanic was built by the White Star Line. The owners of the company thought that if ocean liners were big and luxurious enough more people would travel with them.

The Titanic was designed to be the largest in a series of three ships made by the White Star line. It was 268 metres long, 28 metres wide, and weighed 45 000 tons. It produced enough power to travel at a speed of 24 knots (about 40km per hour).

The bulk of the ship was divided into compartments. They were separated by steel doors that did not let any water through. The ship could still move and float if 3 or 4 of the 16 compartments were filled with water.

The Titanic was more like a floating hotel than a ship. It cost $7.5 million and it was unlike any other ship that had ever been built. Palm trees and other expensive plants decorated the luxurious hallways and corridors. The ship could carry 2 600 passengers and a crew of 900.

The Titanic - The World's Largest Luxury Liner

On April 10, 1912 over 2200 passengers boarded the Titanic on its maiden voyage to New York. Many of them were immigrants who saved all their money for the journey. First class passengers had to pay between $2 500 and $4 500 for a private room and a bath, third class passengers had to share rooms and paid $35 each.

Although the ship’s owners said the Titanic was unsinkable many problems before the first voyage were overlooked. Safety regulations at that time were not very strict. The ship only had 16 life boats, enough for about 1 500 passengers. It was only tested for a few hours and never went at full speed. The telegraph system on board was new and not many people knew how to operate it.

During the night of April 14, 1912 the waters of the North Atlantic had a temperature of about -2° C. At noon on that day the radio operators got messages from other ships about icebergs that were nearby. The Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith, did not care about these warnings. He was captain of a steel giant that could not sink. The only thing he cared about was setting up a new world speed record. The Titanic was to be the fastest ship that ever sailed from Southampton to New York.

The night was clear and the Titanic sped on. When a big iceberg was sighted the first officer shut down all the engines. But it would have taken the ship about half a mile to come to a full stop. Even though, on the surface, the ship stayed clear of the iceberg, it ripped a big hole in the hull. At once the compartments began to flood with cold, icy water. The bulkheads were lowered but it was too late. Water flooded at least five compartments.

Route of the Titanic

The collision with the iceberg was so slight that the passengers hardly heard it. Most of them didn’t take any notice and continued dancing and having fun. Some passengers were asleep in their cabins.

The bow of the ship dipped under the water’s surface and the back part of the ship began to rise. After a short time the Titanic broke into two pieces. When Captain Smith realized

that the Titanic was sinking he had a distress signal sent out but the nearest ship was a hundred kilometres away.

As time went on chaos emerged and passengers rushed to the boat deck. Women and children were allowed on the lifeboats first. Lights flickered and electricity was finally gone. At 2:20 a.m. the Titanic disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Carpathia, which was the nearest ship, came to the scene about two hours later and picked up the freezing passengers in their lifeboats. By early morning the news of the disaster had gone around the world. The world’s largest ocean liner, the Titanic, had sunk on its maiden voyage, killing 1513 people.

Words

although = while board = to go on a ship boat deck = the level of the ship where the lifeboats were bow = the front part of a ship bulk = the main part of bulkheads = a wall that divides the ship into many compartments collision = crash compartment = sections, big rooms corridor = hallway crew = all the people who work on a ship decorate = to make something look very attractive by putting something pretty on it design = make dip = to go under disappear = to go away so that you cannot see it any more disaster = catastrophe, tragedy distress signal = to send a signal out when you are in danger divide = separate electricity =the power that is in wires and cables. It is used to give us light and run

machines emerge = come up, start first officer = the officer who is just below the captain of a ship flicker = to go on and off float = to stay on the surface of the water flood = to cover with water full speed = as fast as something can go hull = the part of the ship that is in the water immigrant = a person who goes to another country to live or work there lower = to bring down luxurious = expensive maiden voyage = the first trip of a ship message = note

ocean liner = a big ship that could carry many passengers and sail from one continent to another

operate = work, function owner = the company that built the ship pickup = rescue realize = see rip = tear rise = to go up rush = hurry, run fast safety regulations = things that are done so that something is safe sail = to move on water separate = divide share = to use together shut down = stop sight = to see slight = small, not important speed = how fast something moves stay clear = not get into contact with; to be far away from steel = a very strong metal strict =exact surface =the top layer of something take notice = to realize that something happened telegraph = an old method of sending messages using radio signals unsinkable = it could not sink voyage = a journey by ship weigh = how heavy something is wide =broad

Titanic Exhibit at Las Vegas Hotel

Over 1,500 people died when the ocean liner Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912. The unsinkable ship, as the Titanic was called by many, caused one of the biggest disasters of history. Now the story of the Titanic is told at an exhibition at a Las Vegas hotel. Visitors get a boarding card with a name of one of the passengers and can find out what happened to them. They can also observe many artefacts and original items that were on the Titanic. Even a huge iceberg is on display to give visitors a feeling of how cold it was when the Titanic hit disaster.

Words

actual = real artefact = tool or object from the past boarding pass = a piece of paper that allows you to go on a ship or plane china = hard white material that you make when you bake clay at a high

temperature considered = thought to be disaster = catastrophe discover = to find for the first time essence = spirit, heart exhibit = show, display fate = the things that happened to someone feature = show furnished = with furniture like tables, chairs etc.. hull = the main part of the ship that is in the water hypothermia = an illness you get when it is very cold jewellery = small things that you wear for decoration memorial wall = place that reminds people of someone who has died noteworthy = famous ocean liner = very big ship with many passengers on display = is shown perish = die replica = the exact copy of something supposedly = what many people believed was true survive = to live on toiletry = things you need when you go to the restroom unadorned = plain, very simple wreck = the ruins of the ship

The Oasis of the Seas - The Biggest Cruise Ship in the World

The Oasis of the Seas is the world’s largest cruise ship. It can carry up to 6,200 passengers, who are served by over 2000 crew members. The vessel is 40% bigger than any other cruise ship in the world , has a weight of 225,000 tons and is five times the size if the Titanic. It has a total of 15 decks and is as high as a twenty- storey building.

The ship was built in Finland and is owned by Royal Caribbean International. Its maiden voyage is scheduled for early December 2009. The ship is stationed in Fort Lauderdale Florida, from where it will go on week-long cruises of the Caribbean Sea.

The Oasis of the Seas has virtually everything a tourist can dream of. Biggest attraction is a giant open-air theatre for 750 passengers that is a swimming pool by day and an entertainment arena at night. Passengers can wander through a park full of real trees and exotic plants, eat and drink in 24 restaurants or travel up and down between decks in a movable bar. There is something for everyone: a small golf course, a basketball court , an ice rink and two rock-climbing walls for those looking for athletic activities. Mothers can leave small children in nurseries while they go shopping in the ship’s boutiques.

The best and latest technology makes the Oasis of the Seas one of the most modern ships on the seas. But, the captain says, it’s very easy to manoeuvre because everything is automated and runs with computers.

The owners hope that the Oasis of the Seas will earn them a lot of money. The vessel cost over 1.5 billion dollars to build and with a starting price of about 1,700 Euros for a nine day cruise it is not exactly cheap. But spending a holiday on the world’s biggest ship should be worth something.

Words:

attraction = an interesting place automated = things go or work by themselves court = an area for playing games cruise = a holiday trip on sea cruise ship = a large ship that people spend holidays on ; it has restaurants, bars and

other attractions entertainment = things that make people and make them happy exotic = from faraway places ice rink = area where you ca go ice- skating maiden voyage = the first journey or trip that a ship makes manoeuvre = steer, to move in a certain direction movable = something that can move and is not fixed in one place nursery = a place where young children are taken care of while there parents work

or are somewhere else open-air = something that exists outdoors schedule = plan serve = work for size = how big something is stationed = the home port of the ship story = floor technology = equipment, machines and computers on the ship vessel = ship virtually = almost nearly wand = walk around a place weight = how heavy something is

Earthquakes

An earthquake is one of the worst natural disasters on our earth. We think that the ground we stand on is very stable, but it isn’t. It moves quite a lot. In the last few decades scientists have been able to find out why earthquakes happen.

Earthquakes happen when there is a sudden vibration in the earth’s crust. It’s like a large lorry that travels down your street. When it passes by, you feel your house shake.

Earthquakes can be caused by a lot of things :

Volcanoes that suddenly erupt Meteorites that hit the earth Undergrounds explosions Buildings that fall apart

But most earthquakes happen because the earth’s plates move.

In the middle of the 20th century scientists found out that continents do not always stay in the same place. They have been moving on plates for millions of years. The earth’s surface is made up of many such plates. Where two plates meet magma comes out of the inner part of the earth . These areas are called faults—breaks in the earth’s crust.

How plates move

When two plates move away from each other lava or magma comes out of the earth. Most of this happens at the bottom of oceans, where the earth’s crust is very thin. Lava cools down when it reaches the water and underwater mountains are formed.

When plates push towards each other—one of them slides under the other. Rocks are pushed up and new mountains are formed.

Some plates slide past each other— for example, one moves north and the other moves south . When these plates move along faults a lot of energy is released and the biggest earthquakes happen.

Plates move away from each other Plates move towards each other Plates slide past each other

We only hear about earthquakes once in a while , but they really happen every day. There are more than 3 million earthquakes every year—about 8,000 every day or one every 11 seconds.

But most of them are very weak or they happen in places where nobody lives. Some of them take place on the sea floor.

Where do earthquakes happen ?

Earthquakes occur all over the world but there are places where they happen more often. Big earthquakes can be found where plates meet.

80% of the world’s earthquakes happen around the Pacific Ocean—near the east coast of Asia and the west coast of America. Japan has over 2,000 earthquakes every year and California and South America are also very active earthquake zones. The edge of the Pacific Ocean is also called the “Ring of Fire” because there are also many active volcanoes in this region.

Earthquake Waves

When there is a sudden movement in the earth’s crust, energy moves in the form of waves . It’s like dropping something into water.

Body waves move through the inner part of the earth and surface waves travel over the earth’s surface.

Body waves can travel very fast—up to 8 km a second. They travel through rock , water and gas . When they reach other places on the earth’s surface they can be registered there. They are usually the first waves to get to the surface.

Surface waves cause the most damage, but they move very slowly. These waves come at the end of an earthquake.

Man-made Earthquakes

Sometimes people can make earthquakes happen. They can fill man-made lakes with water after building a dam—or they test atomic bombs underground. Some of these tests can help scientists find out how quakes happen.

How earthquakes are measured

With a machine called a seismograph scientists can tell where an earthquake happened and how strong it was.

The place in the earth where the movement takes place is called the focus or hypocentre. From here, waves start to spread out in all directions. This focus can be very near to the

surface or it can be hundreds of km below it. The area on the surface exactly above the focus is called the epicentre. This is the place where the waves hit first and where the most damage is done.

Whenever an earthquake hits us you hear how powerful it is. The Richter Scale is used to rate the magnitude of earthquakes. Small quakes have a rating of under 4. You won’t see a lot of damage here. Medium-sized earthquakes reach between 5 and 7 on the scale, and the really big ones are above 7. The largest earthquake that has ever been registered was at 9.5 on the Richter scale.

There are more than 100 seismograph stations all over the world. When the earth shakes seismologists compare the information they get and then they can tell where the earthquake really happened.

Effects of earthquakes

Earthquakes make the ground move. Buildings shake and many of them collapse. Landslides also happen when rocks get loose.

Another danger is fire. In 1906 San Francisco was hit by a big earthquake and many houses burned down because they were made of wood.

San Francisco earthquake of 1906

When an earthquake occurs on the sea floor, big waves - called tsunamis—hit the coast. They often come without any warning and they kill many people and destroy buildings and streets near the coast.

Earthquakes also can lead to diseases, especially in developing countries. When water supplies are destroyed people don’t have safe water to drink. Sometimes earthquakes also hit hospitals where injured people are treated.

Dealing with earthquakes

We understand earthquakes a lot better today than we did 50 years ago, but we still can’t do very much about them. They are so powerful, that we cannot control them.

Scientists can tell us in which regions earthquakes will probably happen, but they can’t tell us exactly where.

So what can we do about earthquakes? We can make our houses we live in and buildings we work in safer. Today architects use materials that won’t collapse when an earthquake hits—like steel and concrete.

The biggest earthquakes in history

856

200,000 people are killed in one of the deadliest earthquakes in history in Damghan, Iran.

1138

An earthquake in Aleppo, Syria kills 230,000

1556

The deadliest earthquake in history hits Shensi province in China. Almost 1 million people are killed.

1755

The most serious earthquake in Europe hits Lisbon, Portugal. The whole city is destroyed. About 70,000 people get killed.

1906

The city of San Francisco is hit by a large earthquake. A big fire destroys most of the city. About 500 people die.

1908

Messina, Sicily is totally destroyed by a large earthquake . About 70,000 people are killed.

1923

Tokyo, Japan is destroyed by an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 . 150,000 people are killed.

1960

The strongest earthquake ever recorded hits Chile. It reaches 9.5 on the Richter scale. 20,000 people die.

1964

The strongest earthquake in North America hits Anchorage Alaska. Ocean waves reach a height of 20 metres. 200 people are killed.

1976

The biggest earthquake ever recorded in China leaves 242,000 people dead.

Words

cause = the reason for something collapse = to fall down compare = to exchange the information you have with others concrete = a very hard material made of cement crust = the top part of the earth damage =destruction decade = ten years destroy =damage , ruin

developing countries = the poorest countries in the world direction =way disaster = when something very dangerous happens and a lot of people die edge =border ,outer part of erupt = to break out or explode especially =above all fault = where two plates meet height =how high something is injured = hurt landslide = rocks move down mountains and destroy houses or block roads lead to =to be the reason for loose =movable, to come free, not fixed lorry = a car that carries lots of goods magma = rock in the inner part of the earth that is liquid magnitude = how strong or powerful an earthquake is . It is measured on the Richter

scale man-made = something caused or made by a person medium-sized = not so big and not so small movement =when something moves occur = happen once in a while = sometimes plate = the earth’s crust broke up into many plates and the continents move on

these plates rate =rank, measure how strong something is reach = get to reach =go from .... to record =write down, keep information registered = recorded release =let go safe water = clean water serious = dangerous slide =move, go down spread out = to move stable = it doesn’t move sudden =unexpected, quick supplies =reserves surface =the top layer take place = happen towards each other =here: two objects move to each other treat =care for, take care of volcano = a mountain that often explodes and rock, gas and lava come out of it weak = not very strong zone = places, areas

Plate Tectonics - What Causes Earthquakes

Geologists who study the Earth tell us that the continents and oceans are always moving. Sometimes this movement is quick and sudden and is what causes earthquakes. The Earth's surface is not as smooth as it may look from far away. Continents float on the Earth's outer skin, the crust. When hot, melted rock comes up from the inside of the Earth new crust is created. The old crust is pushed away and moves deeper down into the Earth where it is melted again. This movement of crust and continents is called plate tectonics.

The Earth's crust is not in one big piece. It consists of up to 20 plates. These plates sometimes crash into each other, at other times they move away from each other. When plates move, the continents move with them. Where these plates come together earthquakes occur.

Modern instruments show us that 90% of all earthquakes happen where these plates come together. Other earthquakes take place near the coasts of continents.

California, for example, is geologically not a part of North America. It lies on the Pacific plate which is moving northwest. The North American plate, on the other hand, is moving in the opposite direction. The line on which this happens is called the San Andreas Fault. Los Angeles is about 50 km away from this fault. Many smaller faults are in and around the city.

The Earth's continents have not always been in the place they are today. Hundreds of millions of years ago there was only one continent, called Pangea. This huge continent broke apart about 200 million years ago and started drifting into all directions.

Scientists found out that some of the rocks found in Brazil were the same as the rocks found in Western Africa. They also discovered that the ocean floor and the continents are not made up of the same material. Very often hot, melted rock comes up in valleys in the middle of oceans. It becomes hard and presses older rock away. The new ocean floor of the Atlantic is pushing Europe and America apart from each other. Not fast, but slowly, at the speed of 2 cm a year.

When the ocean floor presses against a continent it is forced down and melts again. That is why the Earth does not become bigger. New ocean floor is created, older one is destroyed.

Volcanoes also occur where plates come together. Scientists call these places "hot spots", areas where melted rock comes out of the inner part of the Earth. The Hawaiian Islands, for example, are in the center of one of these hot spots.

Words

area = place, region cause = lead to coast = where the ocean meets land consist of = to be made up of create = make, produce crust = the hard outer layer of the Earth destroy = to damage something so badly that it does not exist any more discover = to find out for the first time drift = move slowly earthquake = when the Earth suddenly shakes; it destroys buildings and sometimes

people are killed fault =a large crack in the Earth’s outer layer float = here: to move on force = here: to make something move huge = very big melt = if something turns into liquid movement = to change your position and go from one place to another occur = happen opposite = other plate = one of the large sheets of rock that form the surface of the Earth quick = fast scientist = someone who works in a laboratory or is trained in science smooth = flat, even speed = how fast something is sudden = unexpected surface = the top part of the Earth valley = an area of lower land between two lines of mountains

Amasia – The Earth’s New Supercontinent

The theory of plate tectonics proves that the Earth’s continents swim on plates and are constantly in motion. During the geologic history of the Earth they have crashed together a few times. Modern research shows that this will happen again within the next 150 million years. Land masses travel at a speed of only a few millimeters to two centimeters every year.

Predictions show that the next big supercontinent could form over the North Pole as America and Asia drift together.

The last time there was such a large continent was about 300 million years ago. Pangaea was a vast landmass on which dinosaurs roamed. Its center was Africa and about 150 million years ago it broke apart into several plates that drifted away from each other. Scientists think that during the course of the Earth’s history, which goes back 4.5 billion years, there have been at least three such supercontinents.

According to computer models the Americas and Asia seem to be drifting to the north and will meet somewhere over the North Pole. The Arctic Sea will be gone and the Caribbean Sea will also disappear. Such a landmass, called Amasia, would take up most of the northern hemisphere and then slowly move southwards towards the equator. While Australia is also moving north and will presumably collide with East Asia to join the supercontinent, Antarctica may remain isolated over the South Pole.

Scientists can find out how such continents have moved during billions of years by analyzing magnetic rocks. Findings show how far away landmasses have been from the Earth’s magnetic poles during the course of history.

Words

according to = as shown by… analyze = examine, study billion = a thousand million

Caribbean Sea = sea between Central, North and South America collide = crash constantly = always disappear = go away drift = move , float finding = result hemisphere = half of the world join = meet land masses = continents magnetic pole = one of the two points that are near the North and South Poles of

the Earth. They are not fixed but move around and the needle of a compass points to them

motion = moving plate tectonics = the study of how large sheets of rock move on the Earth’s surface predict = to say how and why something will happen in the future presumably = probably prove = show remain = stay research = to study something in order to find out new facts about it roam = wander around scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a laboratory several = many speed = how fast something is vast = very big

Geologic History of the Earth

Geologists are scientists who study the structure of rocks and the history of the earth. By looking at and examining layers of rocks and the fossils they contain they are able to tell us what the earth looked like at a certain time in history and what kind of plants and animals lived at that time.

Scientists think that the earth probably was formed at the same time as the rest of our solar system, about 4.6 billion years ago. The solar system may have begun as a cloud of dust, from which the sun and the planets evolved. Small particles crashed into each other to create bigger objects, which then turned into smaller or larger planets. Our earth is made up of three basic layers. The centre has a core made of iron and nickel. Around it is a thick layer of rock called the mantle and around that is a thin layer of rock called the crust.

When the earth formed over 4 billion years ago it was totally different from the planet we live on today. There were no plants or animals, only rock, desert, water and ice. The atmosphere probably consisted of carbon dioxide and steam with almost no oxygen to breathe.

The Precambrian Time

The oldest period of the earth’s history lasted from the beginnings four and a half billion years ago to about 600 million years ago. At first simple forms of one-celled life developed in the oceans. Later on bacteria and algae evolved. Towards the middle of the Precambrian, about 2 billion years ago, more complex organisms, sponge-like creatures and soft-bodied animals lived in the seas. During this time there was no life on land because there was not enough oxygen to breathe.

As the Precambrian came to an end the oceans were full of life. Plants started absorbing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turned it into oxygen. Early continents formed, but they looked quite different than they do today.

The Paleozoic Era

The Paleozoic Era lasted from about 600 million to about 240 million years ago. Geologists divide this era into six periods. From the earliest to the latest these are the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and the Permian.

Although most animals and plants still lived in the oceans, life started to develop on land and by the end of this era there was life in both the sea and on land. The earliest living things on land were simple plants and mosses, the first creatures to appear on land were animals that looked like spiders, scorpions and insects.

The middle of the era was dominated by all sorts of fish and invertebrates. Early amphibians, animals that could live on land and in the water, appeared. During the Carboniferous period the first reptiles evolved and insects grew to an enormous size.

The end of the era was the time of big forests and swamps. The earth got hot and wet. Plants and big trees died and were buried in sediments.

Over millions of years they turned into gigantic coal deposits which we find in the eastern United States, Europe, Russia and China.

During the Paleozoic era the land masses were constantly moving and by the end of the era they joined together to become a single continent called Pangaea. As these land masses collided several mountain chains, like the Appalachian and Ural Mountains emerged.

The Mesozoic Era

The Mesozoic era lasted from about 240 million to about 65 million years ago. At the end of the Paleozoic about 90 % of all living creatures on earth died out. We don’t really know what caused this to happen but many scientists think that our climate started to change dramatically. Maybe a big volcanic eruption thrust gas into the earth’s atmosphere or maybe a large asteroid hit the earth and dust blocked out sunlight for many years.

The Mesozoic era is often called the age of dinosaurs because they dominated the earth’s landmasses. Reptiles were the most powerful and fearsome creatures of that time. The archaeopteryx was a flying reptile, probably the first bird on earth. Some dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex were meat eating predators; others only ate plants and leaves. The 30 meter long brontosaurus was the largest land animal that ever lived. During the Mesozoic era the first mammals also appeared on earth but they were very small and could not match the size and greatness of dinosaurs.

In this era Pangaea started breaking up and land masses formed the continents we know today. They started moving in all directions. By the end of the Mesozoic era South America

had separated from Africa; Australia and Antarctica was one continent and North America had started to move away from Eurasia. Just like the Paleozoic era before it, the Mesozoic also ended abruptly. About 65 million years ago 75 per cent of all animals on earth, including the dinosaurs died out. Geologists are pretty sure that a large asteroid hit Mexico and sent dust into the atmosphere that blocked out sunlight for years. It killed off many plants and animals could not survive without food.

The Cenozoic era

The Cenozoic era started about 65 million years ago and continues on into the present. It is divided into the Tertiary period which ended about 1.8 million years ago and Quaternary period.

After the death of the dinosaurs and other reptiles mammals started to dominate life on earth. In the early Cenozoic era horses, rhinoceroses, pigs, camels, deer and cattle started to evolve. As time went on mammals got bigger and bigger. Elephants and mammoths roamed the plains and forests.

The wooly mammoth

About 2 to 4 million years ago apelike creatures lived in Africa. Apes that looked like humans appeared 2 million years ago, but the first real humans came to earth much later, maybe even less than 200 000 years ago.

During the Cenozoic era continents continued to move and crash into each other. Layers of rock folded and moved upward. During this era the biggest mountains of the world, the Alps, Himalayas, Rocky Mountains and Andes have taken shape. In the last 2 million years large parts of the earth have been covered by huge ice sheets. In four Ice Ages, which were separated by warmer periods, glaciers moved across the northern hemisphere. The surface of the seas sank by about 100 meters and turned many shallow parts of the oceans, like the

North Sea, into land. Great Britain, for example, was a part of the European mainland and became an island when the ice melted about 20,000 years ago. The glaciers built up huge deposits of rock and reshaped mountains and valleys into today’s form. On the southern continents it rained a lot and turned these areas, like the Sahara desert, into green forests and grasslands.

Words

abruptly = very quickly absorb = to take something in algae = very simple plants that grow in or near water although =while amphibian = animal that lives on land and in the sea apelike = like an ape or monkey appear = to be seen for the first time asteroid = a small planet like object that moves around the sun at first = in the beginning basic = main, important beginning = start billion = one thousand million block out = keep out, not let in breathe = to take air into your lungs and send it out again bury = if something is hidden under the ground carbon dioxide = gas that is produced when you breathe out Carboniferous = later part of the Paleozoic era cattle = cows cause = lead to certain = special collide = to crash against complex = something that has many different parts consist of =to be made up of constantly = always contain = have continue = to go on core = the hard centre of an object cover =if something is over something else create = make creature = a living thing crust = the hard outer layer of the earth deer = a large wild animal that can run very fast, has thin legs , eats grass and has

horns deposit =layer of rock that has metal or minerals in it desert = a large area of hot, dry land develop = grow direction =route, way

divide =break up, separate dominate = control, to be the most important drift = to move slowly away from each other dust = dry powder made up of dirt emerge = to come into being enormous = very very big era = time in history eruption = if a volcano explodes and sends out smoke, fire and rock into the sky Eurasia = the land mass of Europe and Asia evolve = grow, develop examine = to look at something very carefully because you want to find out more

about it fearsome = very frightening fold = to bend something fossil = an animal or plant that lived many thousands of years ago and that has been

preserved in rock gigantic = very big glacier = a large mass of ice which moves slowly down a mountain valley grassland = a large area of grass covered with wild grass greatness = here: power hemisphere = half of the earth north or south of the equator huge = very big human = a person ice sheet = layer of ice including =together with invertebrate = a living thing that does not have a backbone join = to become one layer =material that lies between two other substances location = place mainland = the area of land that forms a country , not the islands mammal = an animal that drinks milk from its mother’s body when it is young mammoth = an animal like a large hairy elephant that lived on earth thousands of

years ago match = to be the same as melt = to become water moss = a very small green plant that that grows on the ground or wet rocks mountain chain = group of mountains , usually in a line nickel = a hard silver-white metal oxygen = a gas that is in the air and which we need to breathe particle = a very small piece of something period = a part of an era plains = a large area of flat land predator = an animal that kills and eats other animals present = today probably =likely quite = very real =true, original

reptile = animal whose body temperature always changes. It usually lays eggs to have babies

reshape = to get a new form rhinoceros = a large heavy African or Asian animal with thick skin and one or two

horns on its nose roam = to walk or travel for a long time without having a place to go scientist =a person who is trained in science sediment = material that falls down to the bottom of the sea separate = divide into parts separate = to move away from shallow = not deep size =how big something is solar system = the sun and the planets that go around it spider = a small creature that has eight legs and catches insects sponge =a soft material with small holes in it that can absorb water or other liquids steam = gas that comes up from hot water sure =certain, there is no doubt surface = the top layer of something survive = to go on living swamp = land that is always wet or covered with water take shape = form thrust = to send out quickly and with a lot of power towards =just before upward = to the top valley = an area of land between mountains, usually with a river that flows through it

Magnets and Magnetism

A magnet is a piece of rock or metal that can pull other metals towards it. The force of magnets is called magnetism. Together with gravity and electricity it is a basic force of nature. Early humans discovered magnets and magnetism thousands of years ago. They found out that certain types of rock, called loadstone, pulled iron and other metal objects towards it. After some time they found out that thin pieces of such a rock would always point in one direction if you hung it on a piece of thread . The ends of such a metal are the poles of a magnet. All magnets have a magnetic field around them, the force between the two poles.

Magnets attract or repel other metals. This is because every magnet has two poles: a north and a south pole. North and south poles attract each other but two north poles or two south poles push each other apart.

Our planet is also a big magnet with a North and a South Pole. But the Earth’s magnetic poles are not in the same place as the geographic poles. The magnetic North Pole, for example, is in northern Canada. Compasses always point to the magnetic poles, not to the geographic ones.

Magnetism comes from electrons , the tiny particles that fly around the nucleus of an atom. They are negatively charged and produce a very weak magnetic field. When many of these electrons point towards the same direction they can pull metals to them.

It is also possible to make a magnet by taking an existing one and rubbing another piece of metal with it. If you keep rubbing the new piece of metal in the same direction its electrons will start to point in that direction , thus creating a new magnet.

If a magnet keeps its magnetic field all the time we call it a permanent magnet. However , not all magnets are permanent . Some objects become magnets only when electricity passes through them. They are called electromagnets. There are many examples of such electromagnets in everyday life: car motors, railway signals, loudspeakers .

Magnetism and electricity

In the 1700s scientists discovered that magnetism and electricity had similar features. Just like magnets have two poles, electricity has positive and negative charges . A positive and a negative charge attract each other and two negative or two positive charges repel each other.

After they had found this out they started making useful tools and machines with the help of electricity and magnetism. The Danish physicist Oersted sent electricity through a wire and put a compass near it. To his surprise the compass needle moved. Soon after that the first electromagnet was made by making a wire into a coil and sending electricity through it.

Use of magnets

The first magnetic instruments were compasses which sailors used to guide them on their journeys . Today, magnets can be found in many areas of everyday life. They are in washing machines, hold doors shut and work in generators and electric motors. Credit cards have magnetic strips on them that give you financial information. Magnetic audio and videotapes as well as disks have many tiny magnetic particles which are used to store sounds, pictures and other information.

In medicine a magnetic resonance imaging machine (MRI) can create exact pictures of organs and bones inside the human body . It is much better and more exact than x-rays .

Powerful electromagnets are attached to big cranes that can move iron and steel. In some parts of the world trains travel on tracks that are magnetized . These trains, called maglev, are lifted above the tracks and do not have any contact with them. They travel at speeds of up to 480 km an hour.

Superfast maglev train in Japan

Magnets in animals

Scientists have also discovered that some animals, like pigeons , dolphins and turtles may have some magnetic particles in their body. They are able to detect the Earth’s magnetic field and find out their location.

Words

attach = connect attract = to pull an object towards another one basic = important, main charge =electricity that is put into a battery or another electrical object coil =a wire that is wound in a circle ; when electricity passes through it it gives you

light or heat crane = a tall machine that is used to lift heavy things create = make credit card = small plastic card that you use to buy things and pay for them later detect = find direction =way , course discover = to find out for the first time dolphin = a very intelligent sea animal like a fish with a long grey pointed nose electricity =the power that is carried by wires and cables to make machines work or

give light or heat electron = a very small particle that moves around the nucleus of an atom force = power generator =machine that produces electricity gravity = the power that makes something fall down to Earth guide = lead hang—hung =fall from an object however =but

journey = a long trip lift = raise lodestone = a piece of iron that acts like a magnet loudspeaker = something that makes sounds louder magnetize = to make iron or steel able to pull other pieces of metal towards itself needle =pointer particle =very, very small element of something permanent = something that lasts forever pigeon = a grey bird with short legs that you can often find in cities point = show repel = to push an object away from another one rub = to press your hand backward and forward over an object sailor = a person who works and lives on a ship scientist =a person who is trained in science speed =how fast something is store = to keep facts and information in a place for a longer time strip =narrow piece thread = a long thin string of cotton thus =therefore, that is why tiny = very, very small tool = something that does a certain job towards = in the direction of track = two metal lines on which trains travel turtle = a reptile that lives mostly in water and has a hard shell useful = helpful videotape =material that you record pictures and sounds on weak = not very strong wire = a very thin piece of metal through which electricity travels x-rays = rays that can go through objects of your body and can be used for taking

pictures of inside organs

Tsunamis - Killer Waves

On December 26, 2004 a great underwater earthquake near the coast of Indonesia caused the greatest tsunami in history. 280,000 people died and many coastal villages were wiped out.

The word tsunami comes from the Japanese : tsu means harbour and nami waves. A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that can travel over hundreds of kilometres at a very high speed. They are hardly seen in the open ocean, but when they reach the shallow water near the coast they get taller and taller—up to 30 metres. The waves are so powerful that they can destroy everything that gets in their way.

Tsunamis are created by earthquakes on the ocean floor. The earth’s crust is made up of many plates that always move. Where such plates meet one of them may move on top of the other. When a plate moves upward it pushes the water above normal sea level. That is when a tsunami is born.

Tsunami in southern Asia - Christmas 2004

The energy of the earthquake creates waves that spread into all directions very quickly. In the open ocean tsunamis can reach a speed of up to 900 kilometres an hour. When a tsunami approaches the coastline it slows down to maybe 50 km an hour. The water has nowhere to go so it piles up—in some cases it gets taller than a ten-story building. It crashes onto the coast and destroys houses, beaches, roads without difficulty.

Tsunamis cause most damage when an underwater earthquake occurs near a coastal region. The waves can reach the coast within minutes and the population there cannot be warned in time. There is almost no way of escaping.

If quakes happen very far from land it may take the killer waves a few hours to reach the coast. People can be warned and get to a safe place.

On the beach people who witness a tsunami approaching will see a great rise and fall of water. Sometimes the water near the beach will completely disappear and a few minutes later the first of the great waves can reach the shore. In some cases tsunamis don’t arrive as one big wave but as a strong flood.

People, especially tourists, often make mistakes when they see a tsunami approaching. Curious crowds stay at the beach and watch the giant waves come in. When they realize how tall these waves are, it may be too late to run. The best thing to do is to try to run as far inland as possible and try to reach high ground.

Many regions around the Pacific Ocean have warning centres and special plans on how to evacuate people when a tsunami comes close. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is located on the Hawaiian Islands. It detects the rise of ocean water and underwater earthquakes and reports information to many other stations in other countries. Local governments must then decide what to do.

On December 26, 2004 the world’s most powerful earthquake in 40 years occurred off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The tsunami that it set into motion hit the coastal areas very quickly—during the middle of the Christmas season. Thousands of Europeans were on the beaches of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other islands when the tsunami hit. It is thought that about 280,000 people died.

Words

approach = to come nearer cause =lead to coastline = where land meets the ocean create = make crust = the hard outer part of the earth curious = if you want to know something damage =harm, destruction detect = to find out or discover something destroy =harm, damage, so that you cannot use something any more disappear = go away so that you cannot see it earthquake = a sudden shake of the earth that causes a lot of damage evacuate = to bring people away from a dangerous place disappear = you cannot see it any longer flood = a lot of water harbour = a place where ships stay inland = away from the coast local = regional locate = to be in a certain place occur = happen

pile up = to become taller and taller plate = large sheets of rock that form the earth’s surface population = the people who live in a country reach = get to realize = see, find out rise = to become taller sea level =the average height of the sea , used to measure mountains and other

places series = many set into motion =to start moving shallow = not very deep speed =how fast something is ten story = ten floors high wipe out =destroy witness = someone who sees something and can tell you how it happened

Floods

A flood is a body of water that covers land which is normally dry. Floods are common natural disasters that can affect millions of people around the world. They destroy houses and buildings, and carry soil away from valuable farming land. Floods can also contaminate drinking water and lead to diseases. They are often caused by rivers, but overflowing lakes and seas can also cause flooding.

Flooding has always been a part human history. Many ancient civilizations developed along waterways and rivers because people needed water for their fields.

Floods are not always destructive natural events. Before the Assuan High Dam was built yearly floods in Egypt brought along nutrients and made the land around the Nile very fertile. Every year floods during the monsoon season in Bangladesh deposit fertile soil but also kill thousands of people and leave millions homeless.

How do floods occur?

At least once a year the plains around large rivers are flooded. This is due to the amount of water that rivers bring with them, because of heavy rainfall or melting snow in the mountainous regions. Thunderstorms can cause flash floods, in which small rivers can swell quickly and carry up to ten times the normal amount of water.

Rivers that flow slowly carry water, sand and silt. They build up their own beds, making them higher than the land around them. The Huang He, or Yellow River, in China and the Mississippi in North America are examples for such rivers. Flooding here builds up slowly but causes more damage because more land is affected.

Coastal regions can also be affected by flooding. After earthquakes on the ocean floor tsunamis can bring up to 15-metre high waves and flood the coast many miles inland. In 2004, a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean killed over 250,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries.

Tropical storms, cyclones and hurricanes also lead to flooding. Hurricane Katrina caused a massive flooding of the whole Mississippi Delta in 2004. Most of New Orleans had to be evacuated because of widespread flooding.

Low-lying countries are in permanent danger of being flooded. A large section of The Netherlands, for example, lie below sea level. In the past, ocean water from the North Sea flooded much of the country. Today a series of dikes and dams protect the land behind the coast.

Floods are also caused by humans. Trees and plants normally help absorb too much water. When forests are cut or burned down, water from rainfall flows down barren land and produces mudslides. Too much water pressure on dams can lead to cracks in the concrete or even cause a dam to break completely.

Flood protection

Today flood protection has a high priority in countries that are in danger. Dams are built along rivers to regulate the flow of water. They are often connected with hydroelectric power plants. In some areas rivers are dredged and their beds are laid deeper. In alpine regions reservoirs are built to hold back water and control the flow of small rivers.

London is protected from flooding by the Thames Barrier, a construction that moves up and stops water from getting in to London when it reaches a certain height.

In many areas, authorities provide quick and unbureaucratic help for people who have suffered from flooding. Special boats pick up people who are trapped on roofs or on the upper floors of buildings. Shelters are set up for people who are left homeless. Rebuilding after massive floods often takes months and sometimes even years.

Words

absorb = take in affect = to have an effect on ancient = old

authorities = people who work in government organizations barren = without vegetation barrier = wall, blockade bed = flat ground at the bottom of a river build up = create certain = special coastal = where sea and land meet common = something that happens often concrete = material used for making buildings; it is made up of water, stones,

cement and sand contaminate = poison; to make something dirty so that you cannot use it any more crack = small break cyclone = tropical storm damage = destruction delta = an area where a river divides itself into many smaller rivers and flows into

the ocean deposit = leave a layer of material in a place destroy = damage completely destructive = causing damage to people or things devastating =shocking, destructive dike = wall to keep back water from flowing into land that lies lower disaster = an event that destroys things and can kill or hurt many people disease = illness dredge = to remove mud from the bottom of the sea or a river due to = because of earthquake = when the crust of the earth suddenly moves; earthquakes cause a lot

of damage evacuate = to bring people away from a dangerous place fertile = here: if soil is able to produce good food or crops flash flood = heavy rain that covers a region with water in a very short time homeless = without a place to live hydroelectric power plant = building located on a river or high up in the mountains

that produces electricity from the power of water inland = away from the coast massive = great, very much melt = when snow or ice turn into water monsoon = heavy rain that falls in many parts of South Asia between April and

September mudslide = when a lot of wet earth suddenly falls down the side of a hill; this usually

happens after heavy rainfall nutrient = chemical or food that gives plants what they need to grow occur = happen overflow = if a river or lake is so full of water that the material inside moves over its

edges permanent = never-ending; something that is here to stay plains = large flat areas of land priority = importance

protection = defense, safety rebuilding = to build again after something has been destroyed regulate = to control reservoir = a man-made lake where water is kept sea level = the average height of the sea section = part shelter = place to live silt = sand, mud and soil that a river carries ; it slowly settles down to the bottom soil = the top part of the earth suffer = to feel pain swell = to become larger thunderstorm = storm with thunder and lightning trap = if you cannot escape from a place tsunami = very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake unbureaucratic = without forms to fill in valuable = important

Stress - Signs, Symptoms and How to Manage Stress

Stress is a feeling we have when we react to events that don’t make us feel very good. Such events can happen at school, like a test or examination, at your office, like getting a new boss or in your private life, like preparing for a divorce.

Our body has certain hormones that it releases during times of stress. In this period more adrenalin gets into your blood. The hormones make your heartbeat go up and change your blood pressure and the way you breathe. Blood vessels become wider and let more blood pass through. Our body heats up and produces sweat to cool it down.

Stress response is what your body does to fight stress. It makes you handle stress and do well during such situations. Stress response happens, for example, when you are in a car and step on the brakes to avoid an accident. Or when you are the one chosen to shoot a penalty in a football game that may decide if you win or lose.

Stress can also be long term, like preparing for a difficult exam or having private problems with your parents, teachers or friends. Stress happens when you work too much and don’t have the time to relax. This long-term stress keeps your body alert and pumps hormones into your bloodstream for a longer time. This can hurt your body, make you tired and weaken your immune system.

Although the right amount of stress can be good, too much stress isn’t. A little stress can motivate you to study hard. But if stress lasts too long your body can’t cope with it any more. Some people overact to stress and even make small problems seem difficult to solve. They feel worried, upset and anxious all the time.

Signs of stress

People who are experiencing long-term stress may have the following symptoms:

panic attacks the feeling of constant pressure on them they change moods quickly stomach problems, headaches sleeping problems drink too much alcohol smoking depression

How to keep stress under control

Managing stress is not an easy thing to do. Knowing how to de-stress can keep it under control

Don’t think you can do everything. Concentrate on the things that are important Be realistic- Don’t try to be perfect! Get enough sleep! It helps your body relax Learn simple breathing exercises and use them in stressful situations Read a book or take a relaxing bath Treat your body well. Get enough exercise, go for long walks or a run Give your body the right food and enough vitamins. Think positively. Many people who endure long-term stress are pessimistic. Solve small problems. This gives you a feeling that you are in control. It gives you

confidence and you can manage bigger problems better.

Words

adrenalin = a chemical that your body produces; it makes your heart beat faster when you are afraid, or excited

alert = aware, awake although = while amount = quantity anxious = nervous avoid = keep away from blood pressure = the force with which blood travels through your body brake = a tool that makes your car stop or go more slowly breathe = to take air in through your mouth or nose and push it out choose- chosen = select confidence = feel good constant = always cope = deal with

de-stress = fight off stress divorce = to end a marriage and break up endure = suffer from exercise = keep fit, work out, do some training experience = have heartbeat = the sound of your heart as it pumps blood through your body hormone = a chemical that your body produces immune system = the system by which your body protects itself against a disease long term = last a longer time manage = deal with mood = how you feel overreact = to react to something with too much emotion prepare = get ready for pressure = stress relax = rest release = set free solve = work out stress response = how you react to stress sweat = drops that come through your skin when you are hot , are frightened or do

exercise symptom = sign upset = troubled, sad weaken = to make weaker

Alcohol is More Dangerous than Heroine

A recent study in the UK has found out that alcohol is , surprisingly, more dangerous than heroin or crack. Scientists examined 20 drugs and their effects on people and society. While heroin and crack were considered to be very harmful to individuals, heroin, alcohol and cocaine are the worst for society. The study found out that alcohol had the worst overall effects.

The study also said that tobacco was at least as harmful as cocaine. Ecstasy, LSD and marijuana were considered to be the drugs that cause the least damage. Substances were marked from 0 to 100 on a scale. Alcohol received 72, the highest rating, while heroine was rated at 55 and crack at 54.

Researchers looked at 16 factors, including a drug’s effect on the brain and body, how it affects the crime rate as well as the costs for the economy. Although cocaine is more addictive, alcohol is the most harmful drug our society because it is most widely used. It does the most damage to the world around us.

Alcohol is drunken by a large part of the population as a social drink. It makes you happy and loosens you up. When it enters the brain it produces a chemical called dopamine. This makes you feel happy and without stress.

However , too much alcohol consumption can lead to the destruction of almost all parts of your body. People who drink alcohol are more likely to drive in a drunken state or commit violent acts.

The World Health organization estimates that alcohol causes about 3 million deaths every year, including suicides, car accidents and heart and liver diseases.

Banning alcohol is not the same as forbidding LSD, cocaine or other drugs. It is part of our culture, but the report concludes that governments should do more to educate the population and point out the dangers of alcohol consumption. Especially younger people are at a high risk. They like to combine energy drinks with alcohol. These alcopops taste good, contain a lot of alcohol and are high on calories, which leads to obesity.

Words

addictive = something that you need all the time; you cannot stop using it affect = influence although = while cause = lead to commit = do consider = believe, think consumption = use crack = an illegal drug ; form of cocaine destruction = complete damage effect = influence ; what something does estimate = to try to guess the size of something examine = look at closely factor = one of many things that must be examined harmful = dangerous however = but individual = a single person; not a group liver = organ in your body that cleans your blood loosen up = to stop worrying and become more relaxed mark = to show something’s position in a list overall = general receive = get recent = new, fresh researcher = a person who studies something in detail scale = level scientist = person who is trained in science or works in a laboratory social = common, public society = people in general state = condition, situation substance = here: drugs suicide = to kill yourself widely = a lot; commonly

Asthma

Every year in spring millions of people around the world suffer from asthma. It is a time when flowers blossom and grass is cut.

Asthma is an illness that narrows the breathing passages. As a result, not enough air can enter and leave your lungs. According to the World Health Organisation over 230 million people around the world are suffering from asthma. Among children it is the most chronic disease. While asthma occurs in almost all countries, asthma-related deaths happen mainly in the poorer countries of the Third World.

In America over 25 million people and 7 million children develop asthma every year. The disease is more common among African Americans. The death rate among this group is five times as high as among whites.

The WHO warns that asthma rates are increasing by 50 % every ten years. Asthma also causes a loss of business and does damage to the economy because many people stay at home when they are ill.

Asthma occurs when tissue in your throat begins to expand or swell. Muscles in these passages become tighter and cells begin to produce some sticky substance, which makes airways even smaller. This makes it difficult for air to flow into your lungs.

When this happens we call it an asthma attack. Victims fight to get enough air into their lungs, sometimes they have to cough and they breathe heavily. Sometimes asthma victims have a pain in the chest. Such an illness can deeply influence a person's health and may even lead to death.

Asthma inhaler can help you with your breathing

Doctors are not sure what causes asthma. Some argue that environmental influences are the main factors; however, some doctors claim that genes are also responsible for asthma. Almost half of the parents who suffer from asthma will also pass it on to their children. 70% of all people who have asthma also suffer from allergies, when the body reacts in an unusual way towards mostly harmless substances.

Many things can trigger asthma attacks, sometimes pollen that fly through the air, at other times dust, animal hair, mold or dampness. Air pollution from motor vehicles, factories, smoking, household sprays and other chemicals can lead to asthma. Exercising in cold weather can also trigger an asthma attack.

Many doctors prescribe asthma patients albuterol. Asthma victims often use a machine that turns this medicine into a fog-like spray that is connected to a mask that fits over your nose and mouth. It helps reduce the swelling of the airways.

There are some things that individuals can do to reduce the suffering caused by asthma. They should know when and how to take their medicine and how to treat asthma attacks when they occur.

There are also new methods that have been tried out. Researchers have tested a new vaccine that protects people from dust. It produces dust particles of its own and makes the human body immune to dust.

Words

according to = as reported by … allergy = if you become ill or your skin gets red because of something you have eaten

or something you have touched asthma-related = connected with asthma blossom = to produce flowers breathing passage = parts of your body that help you take air in and blow it out, like

your throat and lungs

cause = lead to chest = the front part of your body between your neck and your stomach chronic = never ending claim = say common = widespread connect = link to dampness = wetness deeply = very much disease = illness dust = dry powder made up of very small bits of dirt economy = system by which a country’s money and goods are produced environment = the world around us exercise = to do sport expand = to become bigger factor = reason flow = move fog = cloudy air that has small droplets of water in it gene = part of a living cell that controls what you look like, how you grow etc.. harmless = not dangerous heavily = here: to have problems breathing immune = you cannot catch a disease influence = change lead to = to be the cause of loss = to no longer have something mold = soft green or grey material that grows on food if you keep it too long or if it is

kept in warm wet air motor vehicle = car, motorbike, bus or other objects that have an engine and can

drive narrow = to make smaller occur = happen particle = a very small piece of something pass it on = give it to pollen = powder produced by flowers that are carried to other flowers of the same

type by the wind or by insects prescribe = to say what medicine an ill person should get reduce = to make smaller researcher = a person who studies something in order to find out more about it spray = liquid that comes out of a container in very small drops sticky = wet and thick substance = material suffer = to have pain, if something hurts you swelling = an area in your body that has become larger than normal throat = the passage between the back of your mouth to your lungs; you use it to

swallow food tight = to pull together tissue = material that forms out of cells in your body trigger = to make something happen very quickly

vaccine = medicine that has bacteria or a virus in it and can protect a person from an illness

victim = here: person who suffers from asthma

Air Pollution

Air pollution is caused by many things

the increasing number of cars on our roads growing cities the fast development of our economy industrialisation

Air pollution, as we know it today, started with the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 19th century. In the last few decades, it has become the major problem for our environment.

Clean air is normally made up of nitrogen (76 %) , oxygen (22%) , carbon dioxide and a few other gases.

When harmful elements get into the air they may cause health problems and can also damage the environment, buildings and soil. They make the ozone layer thinner and thinner and lead to the warming of the earth’s atmosphere and climate changes.

Our modern life style has led to dirtier air over the years. Factories, vehicles of all kinds, the growing number of people are some things that are responsible for air pollution today. But not all pollution in the air is caused by people. Forest fires, dust storms and volcano eruptions can lead to the pollution of the atmosphere.

Major pollutants and where they come from

Carbon monoxide is a colourless gas that is set free when wood, petrol or coal are not completely burned. It is also in products like cigarettes. Because of it , less oxygen enters our blood and it makes us confused and sleepy.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that gets into the atmosphere when we burn coal , oil or wood.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are gases that come from air-conditioning systems or refrigerators. When they get into the air they rise high into the atmosphere ( about 20—50 km above the earth’s surface). There, they get into contact with other gases and destroy the ozone layer. We need the ozone layer because it protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

Lead is in petrol, paint, batteries and other products. It is very dangerous if it gets into our bodies . In some cases it can even cause cancer .

There are two types of ozone that we know of : Natural ozone is in the upper part of our atmosphere , but on the ground, people produce ozone too. Traffic and factories cause ground ozone. It is especially dangerous to children and older people. It makes them tired and doctors suggest not to go outdoors when there is too much ozone in the air.

Nitrogen oxide causes smog and acid rain. It is produced when you burn fuels like coal and oil. It can lead to breathing problems especially when children go outside in the wintertime.

Sulphur dioxide is a gas that gets into the air when coal is burned in power plants. Paper factories and other chemical industries also produce sulphur dioxide. This pollutant can lead to lung diseases.

Acid rain

Another result of air pollution is acid rain. It happens when sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide get into the air. When it rains the water that comes down on us has these dangerous substances in it.

Acid rain can also be caused by volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes send poisonous gases high up into the atmosphere.

Acid rain leads to the destruction of forests, lakes and soil. Many lakes and rivers have been poisoned over the decades and even some types of fish have disappeared. Buildings also corrode because of acid rain.

The pollutants can travel in the air for a long time before they come down to earth . That’s why it’s sometimes hard to tell where dangerous pollutants originate. Acid rain that destroys forests and lakes in Austria and Germany may come from power stations in Eastern European countries.

What can we do about air pollution ?

The job of cleaning up our air is difficult but not impossible. Choosing other forms of energy , like solar energy , wind energy or tidal energy could be used for controlling pollution.

Cities like London have shown that better air quality can be achieved in a short time. But we individuals can also help make the air around us cleaner !

Walk or ride a bike to school or to your friend’s home. Take a bus or a train to work Organize car pools. Don’t use spray cans anymore!

Make sure that your parents get a pollution check on the car every year ! Trees give us oxygen and take in carbon dioxide. They clean the air around us. Take

care of them ! Switch off the lights when you leave the room. Only use the number of lights that

you really need. Don’t overheat your room during the winter months. It’s better to wear a pullover

than to be in a room that is too warm.

Smog

Smog is a combination of smoke and fog. It occurs when gases from burnt fuel get together with fog on the ground. When heat and sunlight get together with these gases, they form fine, dangerous particles in the air.

Smog occurs in big cities with a lot of traffic. Especially in the summertime, when it is very hot, smog stays near the ground. It is dangerous to our breathing and in smog areas we can’t see very well.

Smog was first discovered in Great Britain in the 19th century, during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. At that time people used coal for heating and cooking. Factories also used coal to produce iron and steel. Smoke got together with wet, foggy air and turned yellow. The smog often stayed over cities for many days. It caused lung diseases and breathing problems. Thousands of people died in London every year.

Today, cities that have a high population and are located in hot, subtropical areas have the biggest smog problems—Los Angeles, Mexico City or Cairo.

A lot has been done to prevent smog recently. Factories use coal that doesn’t have that much sulphur in it. And cars are much cleaner today. In some cities, cars aren’t even allowed to drive on smog days.

Words

achieve =reach, get acid rain = rain that has poisonous gases in it—it can damage our environment air conditioning = a system that makes the air in buildings or in a car cooler

air pollution = things that make our air dirty, so that it damages our environment areas = places breathing =to pull in air through your mouth into your lungs cancer =a very dangerous disease in which cells in the body start to grow in an

unusual way car pool = a group of people who travel to work together in one car carbon dioxide = the gas that is produced when animals breathe out check = to find out if something is safe confused = if you can’t think clearly or don’t know what is happening damage =destroy, harm, make worse decade = a period of ten years destruction =damage, ruin development =growth disappear = if something doesn’t exist anymore or you can’t see it—it’s gone discover = to find something for the first time dust =dry powder that is made up of small particles of dirt economy =the system of how a country buys and sells its products ; also the financial

system of a country environment = the air, water, ground around us eruption = when a volcano sends out lava and gas especially =above all fuel = a material like gas, oil or coal that can be burned to get energy greenhouse gas =gases like carbon dioxide that makes the atmosphere thicker and

causes the greenhouse effect impossible = something that can’t be done increasing = growing lead = a grey metal that melts easily and is very poisonous life style = the way we live lung disease = a disease that makes it very difficult or impossible to breathe nitrogen =a colourless gas that forms most of the earth's air nitrogen oxide = when nitrogen gets together with oxygen occur = to happen originate = come from outdoors = outside the house overheat = to make something too hot oxygen =a gas in the atmosphere that we can breathe and that animals and plants

need to live ozone =a poisonous blue gas that is a type of oxygen ozone layer =layer of gases in the sky that stops harmful rays from the sun from

reaching the earth particle = a very, very small piece of something—you can hardly see it poisonous = something that can lead to a disease or even kill you pollutant =material that makes air or water dirty population = all the people that are living in a country or a city power stations = a building where a lot of electricity is produced prevent =stop something from happening protect =defend, guard

ray = a line of light that comes from the sun or the moon responsible =to blame set free =release soil =the top part of the earth on which plants grow solar = everything that comes from the sun spray can =a can from which you can spray paint onto things substance = material that can be solid , liquid or a gas sulphur dioxide = a poisonous gas that causes air pollution surface =the top layer of something tidal = everything that comes from the waves of a sea or an ocean vehicles = a machine with an engine in it that can take people from one place to

another . Cars, buses or motorcycles are vehicles.

Ozone and the Ozone Layer

Ozone is a kind of oxygen in which each molecule has three atoms instead of two. The formula is O3 . Ozone is often produced when electricity passes through the air. That is why there is often an unpleasant smell after a thunderstorm or around electrical equipment .

Ozone is a blue gas that is explosive and poisonous .It is denser than oxygen and condenses into a dark blue liquid at - 112° C. This liquid freezes at – 251° C.

Ozone is used in many industries. Factories use it for chemical reactions because it reacts more easily than oxygen does. Ozone also kills germs , which makes it useful for removing bad smells and sterilizing drinking water. Ozone is also used to bleach color out of other substances .

Ozone occurs in our atmosphere in two forms. Near the ground even small amounts of ozone can cause health problems. It irritates your eyes and can lead to coughing and asthma . Ozone is especially dangerous on clear days when exhaust fumes or cars pollute the air. Older people and babies are often told to stay indoors because ozone may weaken your immune system .

About 30 -50 km above the Earth’s surface there is a layer of ozone in the atmosphere that protects us. It absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. If too much of this radiation reaches the Earth it may injure your eyes and lead to skin cancer and other diseases .

In the 1970s scientists found out that chemicals released into the atmosphere have been destroying this ozone layer . The first hole in the ozone layer was found over Antarctica. In the last 20 years this hole has been getting bigger and now lies over some parts of Australia, New Zealand and the northern hemisphere as well.

The hole in the ozone layer is caused by CFCs , chemicals often used in spray cans and refrigerators . They escape into the atmosphere and break up the ozone molecules.

Words

absorb = take in amount = quantity, how much of something asthma = if you have difficulty breathing bleach = to make something pale or white cause = lead to CFC = gas used in refrigerators and spray cans; scientists believe it destroys the

ozone layer condense = to turn into a liquid dense = thick destroy = damage completely disease = illness electricity = the power that is in wires and cables; it gives us light and heat and

makes machines work equipment = machine and other tools escape = get away into especially = above all exhaust fumes = the gases that are produced when a car is running explosive = it can explode factory = place where products are made germ = bacteria; small living things that can make you ill hemisphere = half of the earth immune system = the system that helps your body protect itself against diseases indoor = inside the house injure = hurt irritate = your eyes get red and you have to rub them because they hurt liquid = fluid, something water occur = happen

oxygen = a colourless gas that is in the air ; it is necessary for animals and plants to live

ozone layer = the part of the atmosphere that keeps harmful rays from reaching us poisonous = it can lead to death if it gets into your lungs or body pollute = to make dirty protect = defend, guard radiation = energy that is sent out as waves that you cannot see refrigerator = machine that keeps food cool release = let free remove = take away scientist = a person who is trained in science skin cancer = a disease in which skin cells start to grow in a way that is not normal sterilize = disinfect, purify, to make clean substance = material surface = the top layer of an object thunderstorm = storm with thunder and lightning ultraviolet ray = light that comes from the sun and makes your skin darker unpleasant = bad weaken = to make weaker

Diabetes - Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

About 200 million people all over the world suffer from a disease called diabetes. Sometimes people don’t even know that they have it because they you can’t see any symptoms. But if you don’t treat it it may cause health problems and sometimes may even be deadly.

Diabetes happens when the body has too much sugar in it. It is the energy we need and comes from the food we eat. Normally, a hormone called insulin regulates how much sugar the body needs.

There are two type of diabetes. Type 1 normally occurs when people are young or are becoming adults. Some cells in the body are destroyed and it cannot produce any more or not enough insulin.

Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes. Adults have problems changing food into energy. It usually starts at around the age of 30. The older you get the higher the risk is of getting diabetes.

Symptoms

People who have diabetes are often very thirsty and they urinate a lot. Your skin can become dry and and you may get very tired. Diabetes can lead to heart diseases, kidney problems and may even cause death.

Causes

Doctors do not know exactly what causes diabetes . If your parents or grandparents have it you also have a higher chance of getting it. Overweight and not enough exercises can also put you at a higher risk. High blood pressure may also lead to diabetes.

How to Treat Diabetes

People who have Type 1 diabetes must get insulin every day. Usually they inject it into their body. Older people who have Type 2 diabetes can control it by eating healthy food and doing a lot of exercise.

Words

blood pressure = the force with which blood travels through your body cause = lead to common = happening often diabetes = a disease in which there is too much sugar in your blood insulin = something that your body produces that turns sugar into energy kidney = one of two organs in your back that takes bad things out of your blood and

makes urine regulate = control suffer = to feel pain symptom = a sign that you have a health problem or illness