研究生英语口语考试

Discussion:

How does coal mining affect the environment ? could you list some solutions to the environmental problems from coal mining ?

D: hi, T, you are from Shanxi province, how do you feel about the environmental changes these years?

T: when I was young, the water was clear, the sky was blue, the air was fresh. In a word, there was not much pollution to the environment.

C: That must be caused by the coal mining. There are abundant coal under the ground, and large amount of colliery.

D: Yeah, that’s why I care about the environmental changes in Shanxi province. Even though the coal mining can promote the economic development, it also causes pollution of the environment, and it’s obviously that too much coal mine and the burning of coal will release a lot of harmful gas, which contributes to the global warming.

T: what’s more, mining activities require the clearing of large areas of land. That means the forest or wood areas will gradually be cut down. Actually, forests are the biggest source of oxygen, wood and medicines on this earth. Thus, the coal mining, in the other hand, increases the pollution to the environment.

C: yeah, the forests that are cleared for mining purposes are home to a large number of organisms. Indiscriminate clearing of the forests leads to loss of habitat of a large number of animals. This puts the survival of a large number of animal species at stake. The cutting down of trees in itself is a big threat to a number of plants, trees, birds and animals growing in the forests.

D: Beside these, too much chemical elements flow into rivers with the rain, that means the coal mine will also cause the water pollution. Even more worse is the surface subsidence caused by the coal mine, which will cause serious economic losses and casualties.

T: what terrible. So in order to avoid these pollutions or disasters, how should we do now?

C: To meet this challenge, we can adopt a broad range of protective measures, including: sensitive treatment of the land during exploration; environmental and aesthetic management of land under development; environmentally sustainable production procedures during the mining and metallurgical processes; and decommissioning and reclamation practices aimed at restoring the land.

T: hoops that the coal mine could think about this, and do some changes to protect our home.

Debate

Directions: Work in groups and have a debate on the topic “Economic development

or environmental protection?” D: Hello, C,T What are you talking about?

C: we are talking about the question between economic development and environmental protection? D: Oh, what’s your mind about that?

T: Well, in my opinion, we should give priority to environmental protection. As the economy develops, a great deal of waste gases and poisonous water are arbitrarily emitted and the environment has already been seriously polluted. The environmental pollution has brought great threat to people’s health and survival.

D: On the whole I don’t support your idea. China is a developing country. Although we have made great progress in improving the lives of the people, but the living standard is still rather low compared to western countries. C: Though some area is still poor, China’s economy has developed to a stage where we have to consider the environment.

D: But we should not neglect a lot of people who even can’t get enough food in our country. So many families can’t afford their children‘s tuition fees. T: At the same time we should aware that environmental destruction can undermine the quality of people lives. Can you have a happy, rich and healthy life in a badly polluted environment where you can’t even breathe freely? C: No I couldn’t tolerate that. Well maybe you are right.

D: with the development of global economic, the issue of“ economic development or environmental protection” cause much more debate by more and more people or organizations. C, T, how do you know about this?

C: in my opinion, the western countries have developed for several decades, and in their earlier stage of development, they obviously caused the environment pollution. Nowadays, their economic development level is very high, people lives a happy life, and then, they are beginning to be more concerned about the environmental protection.

T: I agree with you. Economic development and environment protection are a pressing issue primarily for developing countries, where trying to catch up with developed countries, China for example.

D: Yeah, They have to consume natural resources on an unprecedented scale. This has seriously polluted our environment and with the global environmental campaign gaining momentum, many people in china call for the precedence of environmental protection over economic development. What do you think, Er Pang Zi?

C: we indeed should care much more about the environment, but China is a developing country. Although we have made great progress in improving the lives of the people, but the living standard is still rather low compared to western countries. As for the environmental protection, the western countries have much more responsibilities, after all, they contribute to lots of problems when they were developing.

T: the western countries indeed should bear greater responsibility, and they are cable to do well, but we should also consider this issue in our development history.

D: you are right. We both can’t pass the buck in environment protection. Any attempt to pose the economic development and environmental protection as diametrically contradictory is simple-minded. Since no country is willing to stop its economic development, the best way is to strike a balance between the two and to heighten the environmental awareness of those solely concerned with economic development.

T: I agree with you. European countries both economic developed and environmentally friendly can serve as perfect example for China. Their success story does not mean a complete standstill of economic activities or exploitation of natural resources, but rather an active development and application of effective technologies to minimize environmental consequence.

C: I think these would be the best ways, do you think so?

D: I couldn’t agree more. I hoop that our country would pay more attention about these issues in our economic reform.

Discussion:

What is low carbon energy? why should we favor low carbon energy ? As an individual, how to live a low carbon life?

D: Hi, T and C , What are you talking about? T: We are talking about low-carbon energy.

D. Sounds interesting. What is low carbon energy?

C. Generally speaking,. Low carbon energy is the energy that produce less or zero greenhouse gases.

D: Are wind power, solar power, and nuclear power belong to low-carbon energy?

T: Absolutely yes. Sources with lower-level emissions such as natural gas are also low-carbon energy.

D: Yesterday I saw the cctv programe, a news said that the Chinese Government will encourage the development of low-carbon energy..Why should we favor low carbon energy?

C: China rapid economic growth has demands for energy and resources. Traditional energy like coal and oil will be exhausted someday. So we should search for low-carbon energy source.

T: Yes I know. Some low-carbon energy are renewable and Inexhaustible.In order to promote sustainable development, we need develop low-carbon energy. D: On a social level, perhaps the biggest factor should contributing to the general public’s awareness of global warming and the need for new technologies of low carbon power.

T: I know that the global warming will impose major threat to long term survival of human beings. Developing low-carbon energy has positive influence on environment issues as well as climate(气候) change.

C: I definitely agree with you. So as an individual, how should live a low carbon life?

D: just like what I said, the most important is the public’s awareness of living a low carbon life. When we realize that, the first thing that we can do is do not waste resources, like do not burning rubbish, turn off the light when you leave, do not use disposable products, and so on.

T: it seems that we can only do such little things, which seems have no contribution to the low-carbon life. But if everyone in our country could do these little things in their life, it must be very useful.

C: like a saying said: when everybody adds fuel, the flames rise high. D and T: yeah, I agree with you.

Discussion:

Could you make a list of some coal mining safety problems? What are the measures and

precautions we can take to eliminate coal mine accidents based on what you have learned？

D: Can you make a list of some coal mining safety problems ?

T: Yes. Like potential collapse 潜在的爆炸, Roof accident, water rush 透水are main mining safety problems.

C: Coal mine safety is a serious issue, as coal mining is dangerous work and many people died in coal mine accident..

D. Yes. Usually, Mining was looked as the most dangerous job in China. We should take measures to eliminate coal accidents.

T. Safety issues in coal mining vary according to region. Coal mining in developing countries tends to be more dangerous than coal mining in highly developed countries like the United States. Chinese coal mines are often unregulated, although increasingly Chinese authorities are cracking down on this problem. Chinese coal mining companies should are in contact with American mining companies to improve safety standards.

C: Yes, you are right. An article says most accidents are blamed on failures to

follow safety rules, so I think the government should make stricter regulation. D: It sounds very reasonable. I think explosion risk can also be control. Some dangers of coal mines are riskier than others, with mining explosions being the worst. Many mine explosions are caused by methane gas leaked from coal and the rocks surrounding it. Methane levels in the air of coal mines must stay below 5 percent to lower explosion risk as much as is feasible.

T: Yes, this is a reason. In mine, have a lot of problems, so if you don't handle in time, problems will be turned into accident. Therefore, we should start from the source control.