Focus on Words

Deforestation. The removal of forest to make way for cattle ranching was the
leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon since the mid 1960s. One of the
reasons of deforestation is the logging industry. At present rates, tropical rainforests in
Indonesia will be logged out in 10 years.
Consumption. The World Watch Institute said the booming economies of China
and India are shaping the global biosphere. Thriving economies such as China and
India are quickly becoming large oil consumers. State of the World 2006 report said
the two countries’ high economic growth cause severe pollution. The world’s ecological
capacity cannot satisfy the ambitions of China, India, and Japan, Europe and the United
States as well as the rest of the world in a sustainable way.
The international trade of endangered species. The use of parts of endangered
species (such as seahorses, rhinoceros horns, and tiger bones and claws, etc) has
resulted in a black market of poachers who hunt restricted animals. Madagascar is
home to at least 150, 000 living species found nowhere else in the world. What will
become of it?
Sweatshops. There are factories set up in the poor countries where employees
agree to work for low wages. Sweat Shops are widely used by sports shoe
manufacturers, such as Nike. Poorer countries suffer disadvantages. Several agencies
have been set up worldwide to focus on anti-sweatshop issues, specifically, forced
labor/exploitation of foreign impoverished work/, child labour, as well as the right to
decent working conditions.
The problems may be solved only with international cooperation. In 1999, 156
countries signed the Kyoto protocol, part of a United Nations agreement on climate
change, which came into force in 2005.They agreed to reduce their emissions of CO2
and other greenhouse gases, although so far, some countries, such as the USA and
Australia, haven’t taken any action.
<strong>Focus</strong> on Words
1. Collecting words
a. Describing economy
economic: policy/affairs/cooperation/development/reform/activity
economy: booming/thriving/developing
consume: consumption, consumer, consumer goods, large oil consumers
crisis: (pl. crises) financial/political/economic/domestic
recession: enter into a deep recession, a slow-down, depression
growth: stable growth, growth by 8% yearly
boom: progress/advance/a rapid advance/upsurge/rise/a sharp rise/on the rise/boom and
crises, bring about
market: housing market boom
b. What ecological problems can you name?
disasters nouns: drought, famine, earthquake, fires, floods, hurricanes, volcanoes, war,
terrorism, hostilities, prisoner of war, development of the events,
adjectives: natural/ man-made, predicted/unpredicted
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