1. Assignment (2 hrs)

Read and Summarize text on "Ecology, Economics and Politics." (another version)

Hint: You can and should first skim the text for relevant in formation. Do this by examining and translating to yourself the title. Think for a moment:

• What is this article likely to be about?
• Who is speaking/writing, what issues does (s)he identify?
• Are any solutions or conclusions offered?

You should read carefully and understand (can you translate them to yourself?) the first and last sentence of each paragraph.

That's too hard!!

Examine the title! Are these words related to English? Can you understand them?

Look at just the title and first two paragraphs.

• Underline any words you may already know, or that seem familiar to English words and concepts you know. These might be cognates, or because of what you know of environmental studies, familiar concepts.
• Highlight in one color the verb of the sentence.(Remember Russian doesn't need the verb "to be" in the present tense.) In the present or future tense this will help identify the subject by number (singular and plural) and person (first, second, third). The past tense form of the verb can identify the number and gender in the singular of the subject.
• Use a different color to identify the subject of the sentence (normally in the nominative or naming case).
• Now think through the following questions, which can be answered regarding the article:
  • Who or what is the actor or agent (the subject)?
  • What is he/she/it doing? (the verb)
  • Where? When? Why and How does this action take place?

If you still have some time, try associating adjectives or modifiers with the respective nouns, and adverbs with the verb, adjective or other adverb which they modify. Remember that adjectival modifiers agree with the noun in gender, number and case. Adverbs have forms that do not change.

2) Assignment (1 hr)

Identify some of the major environmental issues facing Russia today. Prepare a brief outline giving both the English and Russian word(s) for these issues.

Tip: Scan several articles in English on environmental topics relevant to Russia. Skim a book on Russia and its environmental concerns. One I can recommend is Ecocide in the USSR: health and nature under siege by Murray Feshbach (1992)

(Scanning means to read quickly trying to locate and identify words of significance. You might concentrate for example on such words/phrases as: pollution, conservation, clean up, population issues, atomic energy, coal and gas, (hazardous) waste disposal, acid rain, etc. Skimming is a very quick examination of a text to gather the main ideas. Examine the title and table of contents, then read the first and last sentences of each paragraph, stopping to read the entire passage only when it contains important information you are seeking.)

3. Assignment (1 hr)

Search and identify at least five sites in Russia that relate to environmental issues. Then prepare an annotated list of at least ten web pages useful for us to follow. Be sure to follow through on some of the links, checking both the viability of the links (do they still work) and their usefulness. Submit the list as Word document or use a web page editor and mount the page containing live links top your own web page and provide us with the location.

4. Assignment (2 hrs)

• Read the article on Baikal today (another version)
• Type a 250-word summary in Russian of the issues discussed.

That's too hard!!!

Read and then summarize in English the following two articles: the first is on the interconnection of Ecology, Economics and Politics; the second discusses several issues in the Russian Siberian-Baikal environment today:

That's still too hard!!!

Examine carefully the first paragraph. Using the technique discussed above, identify the key issues and answer as many questions as you can: Who, what, where, when, why, how? Provide a translation from Russian to English of fifteen to twenty key words.

• Read and translate text on environmental issues. (2 hours)
• Identify major environmental issues with English-Russian vocabulary. (1 hour)
• Prepare personal set of web links to Russian environmental concerns (1 hour)
• Read and sumamrize in Russian article on Baikal today.(2 hours)

Additional work: If you still have time you might examine the following links: