Let's save the environment

 

Let's save the environment

The environment is everything around us. The natural environment is all the products of nature around us. These are trees, vines, rivers, streams, mountains, waterfalls, oceans, seas, and all animals. Man-made things do not belong in the natural environment.

 

Although man is the most intelligent creature in the world, he does more to destroy the environment than he does to protect it. Also, the environment has been destroyed a lot today due to human activities. And the natural environment is polluted in many ways. Accordingly, land pollution, water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution are some of them. Man has polluted the land by dumping non-perishable materials such as polythene and plastic in the environment. Water sources have also been polluted due to careless discharge of various chemicals and waste into water sources. The atmosphere around the earth is also polluted due to the highly harmful gases released into the atmosphere due to industrialization. Frequent noise from vehicles and factories causes noise pollution. In the midst of all this, global warming is rising day by day. People are suffering from various diseases that cannot be identified due to this pollution. Due to relentless deforestation, fresh air has reached a very low level and natural disasters are increasing day by day.

 

Considering all these facts, we can conclude that the destruction of man as well as the natural environment will not be far off if man does not act quickly to protect the natural environment, leaving aside his selfishness.

පරිසරය සුරකිමු

පරිසරය යනු අප අවට ඇති සියලුම දේය. ස්වභාවික පරිසරය යනු අප අවට ඇති සොබාදහමේ‍ සියලු නිමැවුම් ය. ඒවානම්  ගස් වැල්, ගංගා, ඇළ දොළ, කදු, දියඇළි, සාගර, මුහුදු ආදිය සහ සියළු සතුන්ය. මිනිසා විසින් හදන ලද දේ ස්වභාවික පරිසරය ට අයත් නොවේ.

 

මිනිසා ලොව බුද්ධිමත්ම ජීවියා වුව ද ඔහු තමන් ජීවත් වන පරිසරය ආරක්ෂා කරනවාට වඩා සිදු කරන්නේ එය විනාශ කිරීමයි. එසේම මිනිස් ක්‍රියාකාරකම් හේතු කොටගෙන අද වන විට පරිසරය බොහෝ විනාශ වී තිබේ. තවද ස්වභාවික පරිසරය බොහෝ ආකාර වලින් දූෂණයට ලක්ව ඇත. ඒ අනුව ගොඩබිම දූෂණය, ජල දූෂණය, වායු දූෂණය සහ ශබ්ද දූෂණය ඒ ආකාර කිහිපයකි. දිරාපත් නොවන පොලිතීන්, ප්ලාස්ටික් වැනි ද්‍රව්‍යයන් පරිසරය තුළ ගොඩගැසීමනේ මිනිසා ගොඩබිම දූෂණය කර තිබේ. විවිධ රසායනික ද්‍රව්‍ය සහ කැළි කසල ජල මූලාශ්‍රවලට නොසැලකිලිමත් ලෙස මුදා හැරීමෙන් ජල මූලාශ්‍රද අපවිත්‍ර වී ඇත. කර්මාන්තකරණය හේතුවෙන් වා තලයට මුදා හරින ඉතාමත් අහිතකර වායූන් හේතුවෙන් පෘථිවිය අවට වායුගෝලය ද දූෂණයට ලක්වී තිබේ. වාහන හා කර්මාන්තශාලාවලින් නිරන්තරයෙන් පිටවන ශබ්දය නිසා ශබ්ද දූෂණය සිදුවේ. මේ සියල්ල අතර වන විට ගෝලීය උෂ්ණත්වය දිනෙන් දින ඉහළ යමින් පවතී. මිනිසුන් හඳුනා ගැනීමට නොහැකි විවිධ රෝග වලට මේ පරිසර දූෂණය නිසා ගොදුරු වෙමින් සිටී. ඉවක් බවක් නොමැතිව වනාන්තර එළි පෙහෙළි කිරීම හේතුවෙන් පිරිසිදු වාතය ඉතාමත් අඩු මට්ටමකට ළඟා වී ඇති අතර ස්වභාවික ආපදා දවසින් දවස වැඩි වේ.

 

මේ සියළු කරුණු සලකා බැලීමෙන් අප හට නිගමනය කළ හැක්කේ මිනිසා තම ආත්මාර්ථය පසෙක ලා ස්වභාවික පරිසරය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට ඉක්මනින් කටයුතු නොකළහොත් ස්වභාවික පරිසරයේ මෙන් ම මිනිසාගේ විනාශය ද වැඩි දුරක නොවන බවයි.

Online education

 

Online education

Online education is about educating teachers and students from their own homes using the Internet and various computer software. Here the teacher and the students are connected through the internet. Today, many educational institutions provide education to their students online. Online education has come to the fore, especially in the current Covid 19 epidemic.

 

However, there are pros and cons to online education. The advantages of this system are that the teacher and students can connect at an easy time, exchange information easily, maintain distance, reduce transportation costs, increase efficiency and save time. However, there are downsides to this method. This can be a bit of a letdown for students, especially due to the distance. Sometimes this reduces the motivation in the students as well as in the teacher. It is also a question of whether students are actually engaged in it during the learning period. In developing countries such as Sri Lanka, the lack of adequate technical facilities and internet facilities is a major problem for many students. Due to these reasons, online education is limited to one group in the country.

 

While such advantages and disadvantages exist in online education, it is impossible to think of an education without it when personal relationships need to be minimized, such as the Covid 19 epidemic.

මාර්ගගත අධ්‍යාපනය

මාර්ගගත අධ්‍යාපනය යනු අන්තර්ජාලය හා විවිධ පරිගණක මෘදුකාංග භාවිත කරමින් ගුරුවරයා සහ සිසුන් තම තමන්ගේ නිවසේ සිට අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතු සිදු කිරීමයි. මෙහිදී ගුරුවරයා සහ සිසුන් සම්බන්ධ වන්නේ අන්තර්ජාලය හරහායි. වර්තමානය වන විට බොහෝ අධ්‍යාපන ආයතන තම සිසුන්ට අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා දෙන්නේ මාර්ගගත ක්‍රමය හරහාය. විශේෂයෙන්ම වර්තමානයේ පවතින කෝවිඩ් 19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය තුළ මාර්ගගත ක්‍රමය ඔස්සේ අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා දීම පෙරට පැමිණ තිබේ.

 

කෙසේ වුවද මාර්ගගත අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමයෙහි යහපත් මෙන්ම අයහපත් ප්‍රතිවිපාකද පවතී. මෙම ක්‍රමයේ ඇති වාසි වන්නේ ගුරුවරයාට සහ සිසුන්ට පහසු වෙලාවක සම්බන්ධ විය හැකි වීම, විවිධ තොරතුරු පහසුවෙන් හුමමාරු කර ගැනිමට හැකි වීම, දුරස්ථභාවය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට හැකි වීම, ප්‍රවාහන වියදම් අවම වීම, කාර්යක්ෂමතාවය වැඩිවීම සහ කාලය ඉතිරි කරගැනීමට හැකි වීම යනාදිය යි. එසේ වුව ද මෙම ක්‍රමය තුළ අයපහත් ලක්ෂණද පවතී. විශේෂයෙන්ම දුරස්ථභාවය හේතුවෙන් මෙය තරමක් සිසුන් තුළ අලස බව ඇති කරවන සුළුය. ඇතැම් විටෙක සිසුන් තුළ මෙන්ම ගුරුවරයා තුළ ද ප්‍රබෝධාත්මක බව මේ තුළින් අඩු වේ. සිසුන් ඉගෙනුම් කාලය තුළ ඒ සඳහා සැබවින්ම නිරත වන්නේද යන්න ද ගැටළුවකි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වැනි සංවර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතින රටවල මේ සඳහා අවශ්‍ය තාක්ෂණික පහසුකම් හා අන්තර්ජාල පහසුකම් නිසි පරිදි නොමැති වීම තුළ බොහෝ සිසුන්ට මේ සඳහා අවකාශ අඩු වීම ද විශාල ගැටළුවකි. මේ හේතු කොටගෙන මාර්ගගත අධ්‍යාපනය රටේ එක් පිරිසකට පමණක් සීමා වූ බවක් ද දැකිය හැක.

 

මෙවැනි වාසි අවාසි මාර්ගගත අධ්‍යාපනය තුළ පැවතිය ද කෝවිඩ් 19 වසංගතය වැනි පුද්ගල සබඳතා අවම කළ යුතු අවස්ථාවක එය නොමැතිව අධ්‍යාපනයක් ගැන සිතිය නොහැකිය.

Adverbs of frequency

 

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency

 

Meaning and use

Adverbs give us more information about a verb. Adverbs of frequency tell us how often an activity happens. There are many adverbs to choose from. Here are some of the most common ones, listed from most frequent to least frequent

 

I always walk to work..

They usually arrive late.

My father often forgets his birthday.

He sometimes wakes up early.

I rarely drink tea in the morning.

You hardly ever say you love me.

Jenny never drinks coffee in the evening.

 

We can use adverbs of frequency with the verb to be.

 

We are never unhappy.

This time of year is usually the coldest.

 

We can use modal verbs with adverbs of frequency. For example, we can use the auxiliary verbs can, should and might, which express ability (can), obligation (should), and possibility (might).

 

Laura can sometimes hold her breath for over a minute.

You should always put on suncream when it’s very sunny.

We might never see each other again.

 

 

Form

Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb.

subject + adverb + main verb

 

I always eat breakfast.

They sometimes take a taxi.

 

They go after the verb ‘to be’.

subject + to be + adverb + main verb

 

I am always late for work.

He is often ready for work at 6 am.

We aren’t usually hungry in the morning.

 

They go between a modal and the main verb.

subject + modal + adverb + main verb

 

You should always wear a helmet.

I can sometimes hear my neighbour’s TV.

 

 

Positive

I always take the bus into town.

Jenny is often late for work.

 

Negative

The adverb of frequency goes between the auxiliary and the main verb.

We don’t usually watch TV after lunch.

They can’t always wait for you.

 

It goes after ‘to be’.

I am not always this organised.

They aren’t usually late.

 

Question

For questions, the order is auxiliary + subject + adverb of frequency + verb.

Do you always eat here?

Does he usually do that?

 

Take note: negative adverbs

Negative adverbs such as never, seldom, rarely and hardly evercannot be used in negative sentences. The following sentence is incorrect, because it has a double negative.

 

WRONG: The weather isn’t never sunny.

CORRECT: The weather is never sunny.

 

Take note: sometimes

Sometimes can go before the subject, before the main verb, and after the main verb.

 

Sometimes we go fishing.

We sometimes go fishing.

We go fishing sometimes.

 

Take note: adverbs of frequency and the present continuous

We usually use adverbs of frequency with the present simple, but they can also be used with the present continuous. The adverb comes between the auxiliary and the main verb.

 

She’s always losing her phone.

 

Spoken English

Some people pronounce the /t/ sound in often; other people pronounce often with a 'silent t'. Both are acceptable.

‘Might’, ‘may’ and ‘could’

 ‘Might’, ‘may’ and ‘could’ for possibility

Meaning and use

We use might + verb, may + verb or could + verb to talk about the possibility of something in the present or the future, when we are making a guess about a present situation, or we aren’t sure if something will happen in the future. 

I might go to the exhibition at the Tate this afternoon. (future)

He’s travelling in Eastern Europe. He may be in Ukraine by now. (present)

We could have some problems later this year. (future) 
There is almost no difference in meaning between might, may and could.

We use might not/mightn’t and may not to talk about negative possibility. We don’t usually use a contraction for may not. We cannot use could not/couldn’t for possibility in the same way as might not and may not (see Take note below).

We might not move into the new offices until the New Year.

Our client may not agree with our suggestions. 

Form

We use might/may/could + infinitive without ‘to’ or might not/mightn’t/may not + infinitive without ‘to’. They are the same for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.). 

Positive

They are warning that storms could hit most of the country later today.

There might be some delays on the railways as a result. 

Negative

Many people may not be able to get to work at all.

It mightn’t affect us as badly as they say.

Question

It is possible to ask questions with Might/May/Could + subject + infinitive without ‘to’, but it is more common to form a question with Do you think + subject + might/may/could + infinitive without ‘to’. 

Do you think he might/may/could be in Ukraine by now?

(Might/May/Could he be in Ukraine by now?)

Take note: couldn’t

We don’t use couldn’t in the same way as might not/mightn’t/may not. ‘Couldn’t’ means that something is impossible. 

WRONG: I think there couldn’t be any trains today, so I’m going by bus.

CORRECT: I think there mightn’t be any trains today, so I’m going by bus.

Take note: ‘might’, ‘may’ and ‘could’ for permission

Might, may and could for permission are different from might, may and could for possibility. For permission with might, may and could, the question form is Might/May/Could I + infinitive without ‘to’. Might for permission is very formal. 

Could/May/Might I come with you to the exhibition?

Spoken English
Might, may and could are modal verbs. When we say modal verbs, we usually say them quicklyhout emphasis. We don’t pronounce the ‘t’ or ‘d’ in might and could or the ‘t’ at the end of mightn’t and couldn’t. 

They might get here late.

We mightn’t watch the whole film.

It couldn’t be Pete you saw because he’s in Greece.

‘Have to’ and ‘must’

 

‘Have to’ and ‘must’ (obligation)

Meaning and use

If you have to do something, it is necessary for you to do it. It’s a law, an obligation or a fact.

You have to get a visa if you want to go to Russia.
According to our agreement, we have to send these orders to our client today.
I have to go to the doctor later today.

 

If you must do something, it is necessary for you to do it, but this is often your opinion or a rule that you have made yourself.

I must remember to buy a birthday card for Alice today.

 

We see must (not have to) in formal written notices or rules that an organization has made itself.

All students must be at the examination hall fifteen minutes before the exam.

 

We can often use either have to or must in a sentence. But be careful! There a big difference in meaning between don’t have to and mustn’t.If you don’t have to do something, it isn’t necessary to do it, but you can if you want.

You don’t have to finish the spreadsheet today. Tomorrow will be fine.

 

If you mustn’t do something, it means ‘don’t do it’. It is necessary not to do it.

Employees mustn’t send passwords by email.

 

I mustn’t make any mistakes this time.

 

Form

We use have to / must + infinitive without ‘to’. Must is the same form for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.). Have to changes to has to in the third person singular (he, she, it).

Positive
Karen has to get up at six every day in order to get to work on time.

 

You must drive more carefully or you will have an accident.

 

Negative
You don’t have to take a towel. The swimming pool provides them.
They’re expecting us to call so we mustn’t forget.

Questions
It is possible to ask questions with Must + subject...? but it is much more common to use Do/Does + subject + have to...?

Do I have to come to the meeting tomorrow? (Must I come to the meeting tomorrow?)

 

Take note: the future and the past

There is no future or past form of must. We use will have to (future)and had to (past).

It’s too late now. You’ll have to talk toher tomorrow.
All the trains were cancelled, so we had to get a taxi.
Did you have to write it all again?

Take note: have got to

In informal British English, we sometimes use have got to instead of have to. They mean the same.

You’ve got to get a visa if you want to go to Russia.

 

Have we got to send these orders today?

 

Spoken English

Have to and must are modal verbs. When we say modal verbs, we usually say them quickly and often without emphasis. So have to sounds like ‘hafta’(haf tə). Must sounds like ‘mus’ (məs). You don’t hear the final /t/ sound in must.

Present Simple and Present Continuous

 

Present Simple and Present Continuous

Present simple and present continuous

Meaning and use

We use the present simple for:

• things that we do regularly
• facts and truths 
• habits
• permanent situations

We often use adverbs of frequency and time expressions like every day, once a week, on Fridays.

I check my email every day. (regular activity)

 

Sheryl works at the bank. (permanent situation)

• We use the present continuous for:
• things that are happening now – at the time we are speaking,
• temporary situations
• activities that are in progress

We often use time expressions like at the moment, today, this week.

Just a minute. I’m checking my email. (now)

She usually works in London, but she’s working from home this week. (temporary situation)

I’m studying Economics (activity in progress)

 

Form - Positive

The present simple has the same form as the infinitive without 'to'’ for I, you, we and they. For he, she and it, we add -s or -es to the infinitive.

They live in Rome.
Julian starts work at nine o’clock and finishes at five.

The present continuous for I is subject + am + verb-ing For you, we and they: subject + are + -verb-ing. For he, she, it: subject + is + verb-ing. We usually use contractions (I’m, he’s, they’re, etc.) when we are speaking.

Can I call you back later? We’re having dinner right now.

Form - Negative

The negative present simple is subject + don’t (do not) + infinitive without 'to' for I, you, we and they, and subject + doesn’t (does not) + infinitive without 'to' for he, she and it.

I don’t eat meat.
It doesn’t usually snow in October.

The negative present continuous for I is I’m not + verb-ing.  For you, we and they: subject + aren’t + verb-ing. For he, she, it: subject + isn’t + verb-ing.

He isn’t answering his mobile at the moment.

Form - questions

The present simple question form is do/does + subject + infinitive without ‘to’.

Do you read the news online every day?

 

Does the supermarket sell stamps?

The present continuous question form is am/is/are+ subject + verb-ing. 

What are you doing?

 

Is it raining?

Take note: spelling changes

In the present simple, regular verbs end in -s or -es, but -y changes to -i.

marry – marries      study – studies

In the present continuous, all verbs end in -ing, but sometimes the spelling changes.

make – making   sit – sitting    die – dying     

Take note: spelling

In the present simple, regular verbs end in -s or -es, but -y changes to -i.

 

marry – marries     
study – studies 

 

In the present continuous, all main verbs end in -ing, but sometimes the spelling changes.

make – making  
sit – sitting   
die – dying  

Take note: verbs we don’t use in the present continuous

There are some verbs that we don’t usually use in the continuous form. They are often verbs linked to the senses and thinking, for example: hear, see, smell, hate, know, understand, believe, want, need.

Wrong: Could you explain that again? I’m not understanding.
Correct: Could you explain that again? I don’t understand.

Practice

Match questions 1-8 with answers a-h.

1. Does it snow in the UK?                              a. My home’s in Brazil.

2. Is it snowing in the UK?                               b. Yes, I’m the managing director.

3. Do you work here?                                      c. No, I’ve got a day off.

4. Are you working today?                               d. Just coke, usually.

5. Where do you live?                                      e. It’s water.

6. Where are you living?                                  f. In a friend’s flat in London.

7. What do you drink?                                     g. Not right now.

8. What are you drinking?                                h. Only in winter.

Answers

1. Does it snow in the UK? (h) Only in winter.

 

[Use the present simple for truths and facts.]

2. Is it snowing in the UK? (g) Not right now.

 

[Use the present continuous for things that are/aren’t happening now.]

3. Do you work here? (b) Yes, I’m the managing director.

 

[Use the present simple for permanent situations.]

4. Are you working today? (c) No, I’ve got a day off.

 

[Use the present continuous for temporary situations.]

5. Where do you live? (a) My home’s in Brazil.

 

[Use the present simple for permanent situations.]

6. Where are you living? (f) In a friend’s flat in London.

 

[Use the present continuous for temporary situations.]

7. What do you drink? (d) Usually just coke.

 

[Use the present simple for habits.]

8. What are you drinking? (e) It’s water.

 

[Use the present continuous for things happening now.]