✅ B. Answer the following questions
1. What kinds of diseases are caused by air pollution? Name some of them.
Air pollution causes many serious diseases, especially related to the lungs, heart, and respiratory system.
Some of them are:
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Lung and heart diseases
- Respiratory allergies
- Premature death
2. How does the excess amount of some gases affect the earth’s atmosphere?
Excessive amounts of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide trap heat in the atmosphere.
This leads to the greenhouse effect, which causes:
- Warming of the Earth’s atmosphere
- Melting of polar ice caps
- Rising sea levels and floods
- Disruption of climate and weather patterns
3. What changes will the greenhouse effect bring about on the earth?
The greenhouse effect can cause:
- Global warming
- Melting of polar ice caps
- Rising sea levels
- Flooding of coastal areas
- Large-scale changes in climate and weather
These changes could have disastrous consequences for life on earth.
4. In what way is the release of CFCs harmful for us?
CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) are used in refrigerants and cleaning agents.
When released, they damage the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
The thinning of the ozone layer can lead to:
- Skin cancer
- Eye problems
- Harm to plants, animals, and marine life
5. What is acid rain? List the things affected by acid rain.
Acid rain is rain, snow, or fog that becomes acidic due to pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released by burning fossil fuels.
Acid rain affects:
- Lakes and rivers (kills fish and aquatic life)
- Forests and soil (destroys trees and washes away nutrients)
- Human health
- Buildings and monuments (damages marble and stone structures)
6. Why are the effects of acid rain widespread?
The effects of acid rain are widespread because pollutants can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers in the air before falling back to earth.
This means that even places far away from the pollution source can be affected by acid rain.
7. Pick out the line from the text that shows that the harmful effects of air pollution on buildings are not very old.
“Experts say that more damage has been done in the past 30 years than in the previous 2,000 years.“
A. Complete the following table
| Things Affected | How Affected |
|---|---|
| Human beings | Suffer from diseases like asthma, bronchitis, lung and heart problems |
| Plants, trees | Damaged or killed by toxic gases; forests destroyed; crops affected |
| Animals (like cattle) | Poisoned by fumes from industries like aluminium smelters |
| Water bodies (lakes, rivers) | Acidified by acid rain; fish and aquatic life die |
| Soil | Nutrients like potassium, calcium, and magnesium are washed away by acid rain |
| Buildings and monuments | Become black with soot; marble eroded by acid rain (e.g., Taj Mahal, Krakow) |
| Ozone layer | Damaged by CFCs, allowing harmful sun rays to reach Earth |
Words
Work in pairs. Find words/phrases from the text which are similar in meaning to the following:
| Given Word/Phrase | Word/Phrase from the Text |
|---|---|
| STOP POLLUTION | control air pollution |
| vehicular traffic | urban transport |
| fumes | smoke / poisonous gases |
| widespread | all around us / extensive / ever-present |
| ill-effects | harmful effects |
| disappeared | seemed to disappear |
| destroying slowly | eroding / washing away |
| saves | protects |
| in danger of dying forever | threatened / endangered |
Grammar
Use of the simple present tense, active and passive
Complete the following
Grammar: Use of the Simple Present Tense (Active and Passive)
- There are three thermal power plants in Delhi—Badarpur, Indraprastha and Rajghat. All of them release large volumes of pollutants into the air. A great deal of fly ash is also released from these plants. This ash pollutes not only air but also land and water.
- Each day Delhi is becoming dirtier and dirtier. Delhi produces about 6,000 tonnes of solid waste. This waste comes from households, industries and hospitals. But only 80% of this garbage is collected every day. The rest is left on the roads, streets, open spaces and parks to pile up. And this piling up goes on daily. If nothing is done to stop this, Delhi will become a huge garbage dump.