Decide which answer a, b or c best fits each space.
In 1984, Union Carbide plant 1._______ 30 tons of lethal methyl isocyanate gas into the air in Bhopal, India. Thousands of people 2.________ immediately. Deaths and disabilities 3._______long after.
A year later, in West Virginia, another Union Carbide plant 4._________ toxic gas into the atmosphere, resulting in illnesses among town residents. The law 5._________ companies that 6.________ hazardous waste to minimise their annual polluting activities. Since the law 7._____, companies 8._______ a substantial reduction in toxic releases.
Oil also polluted land and water sources, the most tragic example of which was the Exxon Valdez. On the night of March 24, 1989, the oil tanker 9._______ a ground at Bligh Reef, Alaska, spilling eleven million gallons of oil into the fragile environment. While it was not one of the largest spills in the world, it 10._______ the worst in terms of the damage to the environment.
| 1. a. released | b. had released | c. was releasing |
| 2. a. were dying | b. died | c. dyed |
| 3. a. were continuing | b. had continuing | c. had been continuing |
| 4. a. was emitting | b. had emitted | c. emitted |
| 5. a. requires | b. required | c. had required |
| 6. a. were handling | b. had handled | c. handled |
| 7. a. had been enacted | b. was enacted | c. enacted |
| 8. a. reported | b. had reported | c. were reporting |
| 9. a. ran | b. was running | c. had run |
| 10. a. was considering | b. considered | c. was considered |
PRACTICAL SKILLS
HOW TO WRITE A SUMMARY
The ability to write an effective summary might be the most important writing skill a college/ university student can possess. You need to be able to summarize before you can be successful at most of the other kinds of writing that will be demanded of you in college/ university, and it is an important part of note taking, too. Writing a good summary demonstrates that you clearly understand a text and that you can communicate your understanding to your readers.
A summary expresses the most important facts and ideas of a text or an article in a short and clear form. It should be expository i.e. it shouldn`t include opinions and judgments. It is an objective condensation of the author`s ideas. It should include major points and support for each of these points. It should be smooth and logical.
A good summary should:
• Answer the question what the author or speaker is really saying?
• Convey the speaker`s or author`s message.
• Be written as a coherent (связный, понятный), unified text.
Writing a summary.
1. Read and understand the text. Try to understand the main purpose of the author (message). It should be pointed out in the introductory sentence.
2. Underline the important points/subpoins.