Mystery of how owls spin their head is solved

Until now it's been a mystery... how do owls spin their heads right round without hurting themselves?

            The nocturnal birds, famous for their "twit-twoo!" sounds, can turn their heads almost full circle - a whopping 270 degrees. Scientists who were wondering how this was possible say they have now come up with an answer.

            Owls have special bones and arteries in their necks that won't twist or snap. Also their neck bones are more spaced out than ours, which helps them move them much further.

            It's a handy trick for them too, as an owls eyes are in a fixed position. This means they can only see in one direction unless they turn their heads.

            If a human was to try and do the same thing it would be really dangerous and they would pass out.

Match the words below to their definitions

arteries                / mystery / nocturnal / pass out / spaced /             wondering

               

something strange which is not understood

describes animals that are awake at night

wanting to know about something

thick tubes that carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body

arranged with distances between things

become unconscious for a short time

True or false?

1.  Owls’ necks are just like ours.

2.  Owls sleep during the day,

3.  Owls’ neck bones are further apart than ours.

4.  An owl’s eyes can only look in one direction.

5.  Humans can turn their heads further than owls can.

6.  Owls don’t make any sounds.

7.  The arteries in an owl’s neck are special.

8.  Scientists don’t know how owls can turn their heads.

Same or Different?

1. hurting

a) the same as twisting

b) the same as pulling

c) the same as injuring

2. whopping

a) the same as tiny

b) the same as huge

c) the same as whipping

3. handy

a) the same as useful

b) the same as feeling

c) the same as mobile

4. snap

a) the same as bend

b) the same as break

c) the same as bounce

KEY

mystery                  something strange which is not understood

nocturnal              describes animals that are awake at night

wondering            wanting to know about something

arteries                  thick tubes that carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body

spaced                  arranged with distances between things

pass out                become unconscious for a short time

True or false?

1. False

2. True

3. True

4. True

5. False

6. False

7. True

8. False

Same or Different?

1. injuring

2. huge

3. useful

4. break

Civilisation is making humanity less intelligent

The simplicity of modern life is making us more stupid, according to a scientific theory which claims humanity may have reached its intellectual and emotional peak as early as 4,000 BC.

Intelligence and the capacity for abstract thought evolved in our prehistoric ancestors living in Africa between 50,000 and 500,000 years ago, who relied on their wits to build shelters and hunt prey.

But in more civilised times where we no longer need to fight to survive, the selection process which favoured the smartest of our ancestors and weeded out the dullards is no longer in force.

Harmful mutations in our genes which reduce our "higher thinking" ability are therefore passed on through generations and allowed to accumulate, leading to a gradual dwindling of our intelligence as a species, a new study claims.

Prof Gerald Crabtree, a developmental biologist at Stanford University, explained in the Trends in Genetics journal that a mutation in any one of 2,000 to 5,000 particular genes could lower our intellectual and emotional ability. 

Our development of intelligence genes "probably occurred in a world where every individual was exposed to nature's raw selective mechanisms on a daily basis," he said, but the same pressures do not apply today.

QUESTION 1 (2 points) Indicate whether these sentences are TRUE or FALSE. Justify your answers with evidence from the text. 

1. Some theories maintain that the most intelligent humans lived about 4.000 B.C.
2. Our Ancestors needed their intelligence to survive.
3. In our modern society, the natural selection provides humans their intelligence.
4. Humans are less clever because of a mutation in their genes.

QUESTION 2 ( 2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words. 

1. Why are humans less intelligent?
2. Why were our ancestors clever?

QUESTION 3 (1,5 points) Find a word or phrase in the text that means the same as:

1. The point of a highest activity or achievement. (paragraph 1)
2. Developed gradually (paragraph 2)
3. Eradicated (paragraph 3) 

QUESTION 4 (1,5 points) Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.

1. Civilisation is making humanity less intelligent, study claims.

It is...

2. Humans are not very clever because they don’t have to fight to survive.

If...

3. Our prehistoric ancestors had to hunt pray. They lived in Africa many years ago.

Use a relative sentence 

QUESTION 5 ( 3 POINTS) Write a short essay (120 – 150 words) on the following topic.

      Life in the past was better. Do you agree?

Supergiant 'shrimp' found deep underwater

It's a bit creepy to look at - but this giant 'shrimp' is quite a discovery. The underwater whopper was found over four miles down at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of New Zealand.

Called a supergiant, it's a type of crustacean like a lobster or a shrimp - just a lot bigger than usual!

Normally measuring in at between 2-3cm, the giants discovered deep underwater by the scientists are about 10 times bigger. The largest measured in at 34cm - which one expert compared to like finding a cockroach that's a foot long!

The discovery was made after scientists, trying to discover more about what's down at the bottom of the ocean, set traps deep below the surface of the water.

Smaller creatures are usually found miles deep underwater living in large groups in trenches in the ocean floor.

Experts used to think that life wouldn't survive at these depths, miles and miles down - but more and more types of creatures are now being discovered that love living down there.

Match the words below to their definitions

cockroach / creatures / creepy / crustacean / trenches / whopper

strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened
something surprisingly large
animals such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp
animal that lives in the sea, with a hard shell, two large claws and eight legs
flat brown or black insect sometimes found in the home
animals
long, narrow hole in the earth

True or false?

1. The giant shrimp was 2-3 centimetres long.
2. The bottom of the ocean was four miles deep.
3. The shrimp was compared to a foot-long cockroach.
4. The shrimp was found on the surface of the ocean.
5. The giant shrimp was actually a lobster.
6. Scientists set traps deep in the ocean.
7. Lots of different creatures live deep in the ocean.
8. Life can’t survive miles under the ocean.

Same or different?

1. discovery
a) the same as uncovering
b) the same as surprise
c) the same as finding

2. normally
a) the same as usually
b) the same as sometimes
c) the same as rarely

3. underwater
a) the same as wet
b) the same as earthly
c) the same as marine

4. called
a) the same as shouted
b) the same as named
c) the same as mobile phone


KEY

creepy strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened
whopper something surprisingly large
crustacean animals such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp
lobster animal that lives in the sea, with a hard shell, two large claws and eight legs
cockroach flat brown or black insect sometimes found in the home
creatures animals
trenches long, narrow hole in the earth



True or false?

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True
7. False
8. False

Same or different?

1. finding
2. usually
3. marine
4. named

TV giraffe takes a tumble into a swimming pool

Talk about head over heels, but this is quite the giraffe gaffe!
Firefighters were called to the set of ITV1 drama Wild at Heart in South Africa after Lucy, one of the show's giraffes, fell into a swimming pool. Crew worked into the night to dig a trench so she could get out safely.
Wild at Heart star Stephen Tompkinson said: "It was such a bizarre sight - as soon I walked round the corner all I could see was this great neck sticking out of the pool."
No one's quite sure how it happened, but it's thought she was trying to drink from the pool when she took a tumble. The nine-year-old giraffe must have been thirsty, as she managed to squeeze through a fence which usually prevents her from getting near the pool.
The giraffe emerged without any injuries from the rescue, which happened in September during the show's filming.
Lucky was 14 months pregnant at the time, so it was important they got her out safely and kept her calm.

Vocabulary
Match each words to its definition

crew / gaffe / injuries / pregnant / prevents / tumble

when you do something that is a embarrassing mistake
stops something from happening
group of people who work together
damage to your body
fall down quickly
when a person or animal is having a baby

True or false?

1. Lucy was the only giraffe in the show.
2. The pool had water in it.
3. The show was being filmed in South Africa.
4. The fence kept Lucy away from the pool.
5. Lucy was not hurt by the accident.
6. Firefighters rescued Lucy from the pool.
7. Stephen Tompkinson knows how Lucy fell into the pool.
8. Lucy fell into the pool last September.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

1. emerged

a) the same as arrived
b) the same as came out
c) the same as entered

2. bizarre

a) the same as frightening
b) the same as strange
c) the same as amusing

3. calm

a) the same as agitated
b) the same as safe
c) the same as relaxed

4. trench

a) the same as ditch
b) the same as hollow
c) the same as mound


KEY

gaffe
when you do something that is a embarrassing mistake
prevents
stops something from happening
crew
group of people who work together
injuries
damage to your body
tumble
fall down quickly
pregnant
when a person or animal is having a baby

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. False
8. True

1. b) the same as came out
2. b) the same as strange
3. c) the same as relaxed
4. a) the same as ditch

Scientists try to bring woolly mammoth back from dead

It sounds like the film, Jurassic Park but scientists in Russia and Japan are experimenting to see if they can bring a woolly mammoth back from the dead.

Their starting point could be a fossilised thigh bone found in August which contains well-preserved bone marrow cells.

They'd be cloned and inserted into an egg of an African Elephant, the mammoth's closest surviving relative.

The woolly mammoth became extinct over 4000 years ago.

Experts think that might have happened when climate change affected the vegetation they ate.
Bringing a mammoth back won't be easy.

The Russian and Japanese scientists will need to find a suitable female elephant to have the calf but woolly mammoths were much bigger than modern elephants, so this may not be possible.

The calf would also actually be half-elephant, half-mammoth, so it wouldn't look exactly like a pre-historic mammoth.

On the other hand, we know cloning can work. The first animal to be cloned was a sheep named Dolly, in 1997, who lived to the age of six. And an extinct Pyrenean ibex was brought back from 10-year old DNA, though it didn't survive very long.

Vocabulary
Match each words to its definition
cloned / experimenting / fossilised / ibex / marrow / prehistoric / suitable

performing scientific procedures to find something out.
when a dead animal or plant has turned into rock
soft, fatty tissue in the centre of a bone
when an animal of plant has been created using the genes from another one.
acceptable or right
describes the period before there were written records
type of wild goat

True or false?

1. The cells came from a mammoth’s leg bone.
2. No one has ever cloned an animal before.
3. The scientists have found a suitable female elephant.
4. The clone would be exactly like a mammoth.
5. Woolly mammoths ate plants.
6. Mammoths and elephants are closely related.
7. The Pyrenean ibex was called Dolly.
8. Over 4,000 years ago, the climate changed.

What is the missing word?

9. They'd be cloned and __________ into an egg of an African Elephant.
10. Climate change affected the __________ they ate.
11. Woolly mammoths were much bigger than ___________ elephants.
12. The __________ would also actually be half-elephant, half-mammoth.



KEY

experimenting
performing scientific procedures to find something out.
fossilised
when a dead animal or plant has turned into rock
marrow
soft, fatty tissue in the centre of a bone
cloned
when an animal of plant has been created using the genes from another one.
suitable
acceptable or right
prehistoric
describes the period before there were written records
ibex
type of wild goat


1. True
2. False
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. False
8. True

inserted
vegetation
modern
calf

Penguins filmed bathing in mud spa to keep cool

Penguin chicks move from a river dip to mud-bathing to try to cool down.
You might think life as a penguin is all about keeping warm in freezing cold temperatures, but cooling down in the sunshine is just as important.
A group of king penguin chicks have been caught bathing in a load of mud to do just that. Summer temperatures in St Andrews Bay, South Georgia, can reach 17C so the birds use streams and thick, cooling mud to stop their large, fluffy bodies from overheating.
They were filmed for the Frozen Planet series. The crew said that although they were expecting to see the chicks paddling in rivers and streams, their mud-bathing display was "unexpected".Penguin chicks move from a river dip to mud-bathing to try to cool down.

VOCABULARY

Match each word to its definition

bathing / fluffy / overheating / paddling / spa

place where people go to become more healthy, by doing exercises, eating special food and so on
going for a swim
soft and woolly or like fur
becoming too warm
swimming in shallow wáter

True or false?

1. Penguins need to cool down when it is cold.
2. The mud cools the penguins.
3. In winter, temperatures can reach 17C in St Andrew’s Bay.
4. Young penguins have fluffy feathers.
5. The sunshine helps the penguins to cool down.
6. The penguins only use mud to cool down.
7. The penguins were filmed for the series “Frozen Planet”.
8. All the streams are full of thick mud.

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

1. freezing
a) the same as icy
b) the same as humid
c) the same as stopping

2. unexpected
a) the same as anticipated
b) the same as surprising
c) the same as early

3. chicks
a) the same as adults
b) the same as females
c) the same as infants

4. load
a) the same as heavy
b) the same as pool
c) the same as pile


KEY

spa place where people go to become more healthy, by doing exercises, eating special food and so on
bathing going for a swim
fluffy soft and woolly or like fur
overheating becoming too warm
paddling swimming in shallow water

True or false?
False
True
False
True
False
True
True
False

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?
1 icy
2 surprising
3 infants
4 pile

Twelve giant panda cubs born in China

Twelve giant panda cubs born in China have been shown off to the public for the first time.

The furry friends were brought outside to enjoy a bit of sun at the research centre where they live.

The centre breeds the black and white bears to encourage their survival. Giant pandas are endangered animals because of forests being destroyed where they live.

The research centre was started in 1987 with just six pandas, but the new arrivals bring the total up to 108. The staff also breed red pandas and monkeys which are also threatened in the wild.

They may look small here but giant pandas can grow up to 1.8 metres in length!



Are these statements TRUE or FALSE?

1. No one has seen the panda cubs so far.
2. Pandas are endangered in the wild.
3. Giant panda cubs don’t have any fur.
4. The centre only breeds giant pandas.
5. The number of pandas at the centre has grown since 1987.
6. Giant pandas live in forests.
7. Giant panda cubs are small.
8. Giant pandas are the only type of panda.

Match the words to the definitions

arrivals survival endangered breed research

when someone or something continues to live or exist
detailed study of something
babies which have been born recently
describes animals or plants which may not exist in future because there are very few alive now
keep animals so you can produce young animals

Which word or phrase means the same as the one in italics?

forests
a) the same as forages
b) the same as fields
c) the same as woods

destroyed
a) the same as defamed
b) the same as protected
c)the same as wiped out

encourage
a) the same as discourage
b) the same as promote
c) the same as ensure

threatened
a) the same as protected
b) the same as at risk
c) the same as lost

KEY

FALSE / TRUE / FALSE / FALSE / TRUE / TRUE / TRUE / FALSE

survival when someone or something continues to live or exist
research detailed study of something
arrivals babies which have been born recently
endangered describes animals or plants which may not exist in future because there are very few alive now
breed keep animals so you can produce young animals

WOODS / WIPED OUT / PROMOTE / AT RISK