Topic 32: Conservation

Language preservation is the effort to prevent languages from becoming unknown. A language is at (1)______ of being lost when it no longer is taught to younger generations, while fluent speakers of the language (usually the elderly) die.

Language is an important part of any society, because it enables people to communicate and express themselves. When a language dies (2)_______, future generations lose a vital part of the culture that is necessary to completely understand it. This makes language a vulnerable aspect of cultural heritage, and it becomes especially important to (3) __________ it. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), from facts published in their “Atlas of Languages in Danger of Disappearing,” there are an estimated 6,000 languages spoken worldwide today, and half of the world’s population speaks the eight most common. More than 3,000 languages are reportedly spoken by fewer than 10,000 people each. Ethnologue, a reference work published by SIL International, has cataloged the world’s known (4)_______ languages, and it estimates that 417 languages are on the verge of extinction.

There are different factors that can (5)________ a language in danger of becoming extinct. One is when a language is no longer being taught to the children of the community, or at least to a large number of the children. In these cases, the remaining fluent speakers of the language are generally the older members of the community, and when they pass away, the language dies out with them.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_preservation)

Countries around the world have growing (1)_______ of trash because people are throwing out more trash than ever before. How did we become a throwaway society?

First of all, it is now easier to replace an item than to spend time and money to repair it. (2)_________ to modern manufacturing and technology, companies are able to produce items quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and prices are low, so we would rather buy something new than repair it. Even if we did want to repair something, many items are almost impossible to repair. These products contain many tiny, complicated parts. Some even contain small computer chips. It’s easier to throw these items away and buy new ones than to fix them.

Another (3)__________ factor is our love of disposable products. As busy people, we are always looking for ways to save time and make our lives easier. Why should we use cloth kitchen towels? It’s easier to use paper towel once and toss it (4)_______. Companies manufacture thousands of different kinds of disposable items: paper plates, plastic cups, cameras, and razors for shaving, to name a few. The problem is that disposable products also contribute to our trash problem.

Our appetite for new products also contributes to the problem. We are addicted to (5)___________ things. As consumers, we want the latest clothes, the best TVs, and cellphones with west features. Companies tell us to buy, buy, and buy. Advertisements persuade us wer is better. The result is that we throw away useful possessions to make room for new ones.

(Source: http://www.planetthoughts.org)

At its narrowest point, Vietnam is only 30 miles (48 kilometers) wide. Two of Vietnam’s largest rivers, the Mekong in the south and the Red in the north, end at the South China Sea in huge swampy plains called (1)________ . These regions are home to most of the country’s people and provide (2)________ ground to grow rice and many other crops.
Vietnam’s mountainous terrain, forests, wetlands, and long coastline contain many different habitats that support a great (3)________ of wildlife. Some 270 types of mammals, 180 reptiles, 80 amphibians, and 800 bird species reside in Vietnam.

Many rare and unusual animals live in Vietnam, (4)________ giant catfish, Indochinese tigers, Saola antelopes, and Sumatran rhinos. The government has set up 30 parks and reserves to protect its animals, but their survival is (5) ________doubt because much of their habitat has been cleared for lumber or to grow crops.

There are a number of initiatives, some already introduced and some in the pipeline, that are specifically designed to ensure that the economic value of nature is recognised.

One example is reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, under which forest owners are paid not to cut down trees. A number of governments across the world have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to these projects. Another is habitat banking, the market for which currently stands at around $3bn in the US, where companies that degrade natural areas are forced to restore nature elsewhere. Trade in forest conservation obligations in Brazil and ground-water salinity credits in Australia have also proved successful. Alongside these schemes and those like them, there are various compensation arrangements that make those causing environmental damage pay for it, just like carbon credits that currently exist. Exemptions from these various taxes, charges and fees, as well as subsidies, are also used to encourage environmentally responsible behaviour.

There is also growing pressure for companies to begin incorporating the costs of the damage that they do to the Earth’s natural resources into their profit and loss accounts. Only by incorporating these costs into their accounts, many argue, will companies be forced to reduce their impact on the natural world. "Directors’ bonuses don’t have to be included in company accounts from a pure profit and loss point of view, but they are. Environmental externalities should be the same," says Pavan Sukhdev, a career banker and team leader of the United Nations’ The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study.

“This is not a straightforward process and needs standard methodologies accepted by everyone, but it could be achieved within 10 years.” The next step would be to incorporate environmental assets into national accounts.

(Source: https://www.bbc.com/)