The use of pesticides

Ø 1) Read and translate the second paragraph into Russian.

Ø 2) The text contains a number of words to describe the environmental impact of chemicals. How many can you find?

Ø 3) Tick the statements which are true:

a) Destructive insects can live on pesticides.

b) The Environmental Protection Agency has banned all pesticides.

c) To live, people need food and health.

d) If a pesticide is prohibited, it cannot be used.

e) If insects are not controlled, more food could be grown.

(1) Farmers, together with consultants from the United States Department of Agriculture, are continuously working to eliminate the presence of destructive insects, for the purpose of improving crop yields. To destroy the unwanted insects, chemical pesticides are often used. However, not all pesticides which are harmful to pests are harmless to other animals and people.

(2) The Department of Agriculture is not the only government agency concerned with the use of pesticides. It is the task of the Environmental Pro­tection Agency to determine if the pesticides now in use should continue to be used. Intensive re­search is necessary to study the effects – both short term and long term – that the various chem­ical pesticides have on humans and other as­pects of the environment.

(3) The Environmental Protection Agency has for­bidden the use of some pesticides, because evi­dence of harmful effects to human health and the environment have been found. One of the most widely used chemicals to be banned was DDT, the cumulative effects of which have proved to be extremely hazardous to desirable wildlife.

(4) Department of Agriculture officials, as well as farmers, fear that many additional pesticides may be prohibited. They fear a possible food shortage when destructive insects are able to multiply freely and destroy crops.

(5) Clearly, both food supply and human health are necessary. Therefore, it is essential to find substi­tutes for harmful pesticides. What is needed are substances that control pests without harming people. Finding suitable and safe measures to control destructive pests is not an easy task. Its importance, however, clearly adds up to a matter of life and death.

Ø 4) Which of the summaries renders the content of the article you have read the most adequately:

a) In order to improve crop yields it is necessary to eliminate the presence of destructive insects. Otherwise, there may be food shortage. Farmers started using different chemicals, e.g. DDT. Some of them are very harmful to health. It is therefore essential to find suitable but safe measures to control the use of pesticides.

b) This text is mainly about the Department of Agriculture. The Department is trying to introduce methods of controlling destructive insects. The Environmental Protection Agency works hand in hand with the Department of Agriculture and is working on methods to let farmers prosper.