Read the answers to some questions to the text above.
Make up the questions:
a) What … for?
They use ivory to make jewellery, piano keys and billiard balls.
b) When …
Large scale killing of elephants began in about 1900.
c) How many …
About 700,000 elephants died in that period.
d) What …
To protect the elephants it was decided to ban the sale of ivory.
e) What …
Angry villagers were demanding that elephants should be taken away from areas near humans.
f) What …
Money from the sale is being used to help people live alongside the elephant.
Do the crossword.
| W | E | S | H | A | R | E | T | H | I | S | P | L | A | N | E | T | |||
1. A group of animals or plants which are similar and can breed together to produce young animals or plants of the same kind as them.
2. Animals that live on a farm or in someone's home.
3. Animals that eat flesh.
4. An animal that lives in water and swims, and uses its fins and tail to swim.
5. Creatures with wings and feathers that lay eggs and can usually fly.
6. Small creatures like a fly or ant, that have six legs, and sometimes wings.
7. Animals that can live both on land and in water.
8. The class of animals that drink milk from its mother's body when they are young.
9. Animals such as snakes or lizards whose blood changes according to the temperature around it, and that usually lay eggs.
Study the meanings of these four related verbs.
Fill in the gaps in the examples below with one of the words in the chart in the correct form.
In some cases more than one answer is possible.
| research | investigate | examine | study |
| to study a subject in detail, specially in order to discover new facts, or test new ideas | to try and find out the truth about something such as a crime, an accident, a scientific problem | to look at something carefully, in order to make a decision, find something or check something; to ask someone questions in a test | to watch and examine something carefully over a period of time in order to find out more about it; to spend time reading, going to classes etc. in order to learn about a subject |
a) He is a zoologist. At present he ... the difference in behaviour patterns of domestic and wild animals in similar situations.
b) Wild animals intended for keeping at home need to … by a veterinarian that has special knowledge and training in wildlife medicine.
c) Animal control specialists … the attack on a two-year-old boy by a wild bobcat.
d) Jane Goodall is famous for her works on the behaviour of chimpanzee. She … them in the wild for decades.
6. Translate the following texts, using your dictionary. Fill in the gaps with the words given below:
Ostrich, raptor, Dugong, Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Emu.
A. A … (a bird of prey) has a hooked, sharply pointed beak. At the base is a waxy cere, through which the nostrils open. The feet are powerful with sharp claws. Large eyes, placed forward in the head, give good binocular vision. A large raptor can see an object from 3 to 8 times more distant than a human can see it. The sense of smell is poor.
B. A newborn young … weighs less than one gram. Born 36 days after mating, it climbs to the pouch and attaches to nipple, which swells to plug into its mouth. The female will mate again after giving birth, but until the embryo will not develop inside her. If the suckling baby disappears, the embryo will resume development.
C. Australia's largest birds, the … and the … are members of a group of flightless birds called Ratites. The history of the ratite group goes back at least 80 million years. Ostrich can stand up to 2.7 m tall and weigh 156 kg. The Ostrich has been used as a domestic farm bird since the 19th century. An Ostrich can swallow fruits up to 6 cm in diameter.
D. The …, the only remaining herbivorous mammal, which lives entirely in the sea, is found in shallow, warm coastal waters in Western Australia. It is related to the three living species of freshwater manatees, but its nearest relative was Stellar's Sea Cow, which was discovered by Europeans in the northern Pacific Ocean in 1741. This enormous animal, which weighed up to six times as much as its modern relatives, was hunted vigorously and became extinct by 1768. The Dugong's powerful tail can propel the animal at up to 22 kilometers per hour. Its paddle-like forelimbs are used for steering, feeding and pushing the animal along the seabed.
Read the text, classify the animals (reptiles, birds, etc.) and speak on the peculiarities of Britain's fauna.