Read the following passage about ecological problem and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 31 to 40.
Ecological problem is one of the most important issues nowadays. Human activities have a negative impact on the environment. Humanity currently faces problems with air, water, and land pollution, unreasonable agricultural systems, deforestation, and others. [I] As a result, the number of available natural resources is decreasing. Another negative consequence of human activities is the process of global warming and global climate changes. These changes affect the whole Earth and might result in adverse consequences for people and wild nature (“The Consequences of Climate Change”). Therefore, it is obvious that the situation should be improved.
Probably, everybody asks oneself what he or she personally could do to improve the ecological situation. [II] However, we all belong to humanity and make our small impact on the environment. And we all could make the situation slightly better. [III] Our daily habits have both positive and negative long-term consequences for the world we live in. It is important to understand to plan our life and our activities.
As far as my family and I are concerned, we have taken several steps to reduce the bad impact on the environment. First of all, we all try to save clean water. We always remember to turn off our taps. We do not keep the water running when we brush our teeth or wash something. [IV] Saving clean water is very important for the environment. The problem of clean water availability is probably one of the most serious. No living thing can survive without clean water. The fewer sources we use, the more we keep for the future generation.
Another important action we can take to improve the situation with water is avoiding water pollution. Our family stopped using cleaning products with harmful chemicals because they are known to be bad for people’s health. Also, it is hard to remove these substances from water. So, when they get into nature, they can harm living things. That’s why it is better to use cleaning products without these chemicals. It helps keep us healthy and also reduce water pollution.
Besides water pollution, there are a lot of other problems that need to be solved. One of them is waste. These piles of waste take up a lot of space. Different types of waste take different (but always long) times to break down. While they break down, they release dangerous substances. These substances can harm the land and get into the water. In the last decade, many programs for waste separation have appeared. People are asked to sort their waste: to put plastic with plastic, food with food, and paper with paper. Different types of waste are treated in different ways, which helps reduce pollution. For example, plastic can be changed and used again, while it needs hundreds of years to break down in nature. Also, during this time, it releases harmful things. So, it is better to recycle plastic. It is even better not to use plastic at all, and when possible, try to use eco-friendly materials instead.
[Adapted from https: //ivypanda.com/essays/human-impact-on-environment/]