Text №2 «Insects» (beginner)

Words for the text:

1. everywhere — везде
2. desert — пустыня
3. nectar — нектар
4. hive — улей
5. sting — жалить
6. brightly coloured — ярко окрашенный
7. harmful — вредный
8. wide — широкий
9. study — изучать
10. entomologist — энтомолог
There are more insects on the earth than all other kinds of animals. Insects liveeverywhere – in
the garden, in the pond, in the forests, and even in deserts.Some insects live in the oceans or in
very cold places, such as Antarctica.

Let us go to the garden. In the daytime you can see bees, bumblebees, beetles, butterflies,
dragonflies, wasps and some others. In the nightime there come mosquitoes, some beetles and
night butterflies. Insects are always busy. They try to fing food – plants, other insects or nectar
from flowers.

Bees collect nectar to take back to their hive for food. They visit more than two thousand
flowers each day. Bees make honey and they can sting.
Butterflies are beautiful, brightly coloured insects. Some butterflies live for a year, others live
only for a week. Butterflies don’t usually fly at night.
Ladybirds are a type of beetle. Their bright colours tell other animals that they don’t taste very
good. Ladybirds are useful because they eat harmful insects.
Dragonflies are very big. Their wings can be 19 cm wide. They are the fastest insects and they
can fly up to 97 km an hour.
People who study insects are called entomologists.
Answer the questions to the text:
1. Where do insects live?
2. What do they look like?
3. What do they eat?
4. How long do they live?
5. Do you know any interesting facts about some insect?
6. What do bees make?
7. Which insect bites people?
8. Which is the fastest insect in the world?
 Text №3 «Tortoises» (intermediate)
Words for the text:
1. The Galapagos Islands — Галапагосские острова
2. species — виды
3. survive — выживать
4. be isolated — быть изолированным
5. taken off — увозить
6. endangered — животные, занесенные в красную книгу
7. are left — осталось
The Galapagos Islands are situated in the Pacific Ocean to the west of South America. There
are many species of reptiles, birds and plants which are only found here. These
animals survived on the islands because they wereisolated from dangerous animals, disease and
people.
The Galapagos islands are famous for huge tortoises. These tortoise can live for about 100
years and can weigh about 270 kilos. They are so heavy that only six or eight people can lift
them.
Not long ago sailors, explorers, hunters and fishermen came to the islands and killed the slow,
friendly animals for their meat. Some tortoises were taken offthe islands for zoos or private
collections.
These tortoises are now endangered animals. There are now only about 6,000 left. Now, they
and their home are protected.
Answer the questions to the text:
1. What animals live in the Galapagos islands?
2. What are the tortoises like?
3. Why are they endangered animal now?

Text № 4 «The Giraffe» (upper-intermediate)

Words for the text:
1. habit — привычка
2. reach — доставать
3. upper — верхний
4. vertebra — позвонок
5. stiff — негнущийся
6. spread — расставить
7. enable — давать возможность
8. skillfully — умело
9. thorny — колючий
10. being pricked — уколоться
The giraffe is the tallest of all living animals. It is strange but the body of a giraffe is no larger
than of a horse. The animal is so tall because of its long legs and especially neck.

A famous French zoologist, Jean de Lamarck, had a theory that the giraffe’s neck grew so long
because of the animal’s habit of reaching for the tender leaves in the upper branches of trees.
The neck of a giraffe has only seven vertebrae. But each vertebra is extremely long. Because of
this a giraffe always has a stiff neck. If it wants to take a drink from the ground, it has
to spread its legs far apart in order to be able to reach down!
The strange shape and build of the giraffe is perfectly suited to enable it to get its food. A giraffe
eats only plants, so its great height enables it to reach the leaves on trees which grow in tropical
lands where there is little grass.
The giraffe’s tongue is very long, and it can use it so skillfully that it can pick the smallest leaves
off thorny plants without being pricked.
Задание. Какие интересные факты вы узнали о жирафе? Перескажите текст.

Text №5 «Bats» (upper-intermediate)

Words for the text:
1. echo — эхо
2. obstacle — препятствие
3. brownish — коричневатый (ср. также greenish — зеленоватый, и т.п.)
4. spotted — пятнистый
5. suck — сосать, высасывать
6. heal — заживать
7. carry rabies — зд. переносить, разносить бешенство
8. upside down — вверх ногами, вверх тормашками
9. hawk — ястреб
10. species — виды
Bats are strange creatures: they have legs and feet but they cannot walk. So, they fly like birds
and they are the only animals that can fly.Bats are most common in the tropics, where they can
find food all the year round. Most bats are brownish in colour, but others are blackish, orange,
grey, greyish green, greenish white, white, yellowish, and some are even spotted.

There are fruit-eating bats and insect-eating bats. There are also bats that catch and eat small
fish. And there are bats that feed on blood.

Vampire bats are the only animals that feed on blood. These small tailless creatures live in
Central and South America. With their two sharp upper teeth vampire bats make a small hole in
the skin of another animal and suck blood from it. They sometimes bite human beings, too, but it
happens very seldom. The wound they give their victims heals quickly, but these bats may carry
rabies, that is why people are afraid of them.
Bats are usually active at night, when most people are asleep. In the daytime they hang close
together in their attics, caves, or other dark places where they make their homes.

Bats hang upside down when they are resting. Only when evening comes do they begin to move.
They go out of the hole into the night above to search for food. In the morning they come home
from their night of work to sleep until the next night.

Bats have very few enemies. Some hawks, owls, and snakes can catch them, but it isn’t an easy
thing for them.
Bats live as long as 10 years, some species live longer. Many strange and false legends have
been told about bats. In Western countries people fear them and think that they bring bad luck. In
China and Japan bats are symbols of good luck, happiness, and long life.