Post-reading tasks:

Task 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What species do mammals include?

2. What are the main characteristics of mammals?

3. How are the most primitive mammals called?

4. How many species of monotremes are there?

5. Where do monotremes live?

6. How are pouched mammals called?

7. What is the biggest marsupial?

8. How would you define placental mammals?

9. How many species of placental mammals are known?

10. What types of mammalian diet do you know?

Task 2. Finish the sentences, choosing the option which corresponds to the text.

1. Monotremes … .

1. drink milk;

2. have a pouch;

3. lay egg.

2. Marsupials are born …

1. well-developed.

2. in an immature state.

3. with a big head and a long tail.

3. The smallest marsupial is … .

1. koala;

2. kangaroo.

3. the Pilbara.

4. Kangaroos can hop up to ...

1. 40 miles per hour.

2. 50 miles per hour

3. 60 miles per hour

5. As with most animal groups, there are more … .

1. herbivores then carnivores;

2. carnivores then herbivores.

3. omnivores than herbivores.

Task 3. Complete the following sentences.

1. Mammals are animals that have hair, are warm-blooded, and … their young with milk.

2. There are three species of monotremes, the duck-billed platypus and two … …, or echidnas.

3. Monotremes lay tiny eggs that have a … … .

4. Monotremes have hair like other mammals, and the … produce milk.

5. Marsupials are … … whose babies are born in a very undeveloped state.

6. The only … in North America is the Virginia opossum.

7. Marsupials evolved during the … …, about 100 to 75 million years ago.

8. Roos can go for months without … .

9. … … are mammals whose … are born at a relatively advanced stage.

10. There are more … and bats than other types of … ….

Task 4. Match the terms with their definitions.

mammal	members of the mammalian group characterized by the presence of a placenta
monotremes	an animal that feeds on grass and other plants
marsupials	an organism that eats insects
placental mammals	mammals that lay eggs
nocturnal	any of various warm-blooded vertebrate animals of the class Mammalia, including humans, characterized by a covering of hair on the skin and, in the female, milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young.
herbivore	any other animal or any plant that feeds on animals
carnivore	an organism that eats both plants and animals.
omnivore	a class of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young
insectivore	most active at night

Task 5. Fill in the blanks below using words from the box.

plants	bodies	vampire	insects	mammals
muscles	fruits	bats	pollen	noises

Many people fear the small flying animals called bats. There are stories about 1)______ attacking people and drinking human blood. However, bats are not a threat to people. In fact, they are an important part of our environment.

Bats are 2)______, just like humans. There are about one-thousand different kinds of bats in the world. Some weigh less than ten grams. Yet the largest bats are almost two meters long when their wings are extended.

Most people think bats are rare. That is because they hide during the day and are active only at night. However, bats can be found in almost every part of the world.

Not all bats spend their days underground in dark caves. Some rest in trees or other places that keep them safe from attack and changes in weather. Unlike other animals, their 3)______ are designed to hang upside down. This is the best position for them to take flight suddenly.

Bats are the only mammals that can really fly. Their wing structure, bones and 4)______ help them to move quickly. This helps bats in their search for food.

Some bats use a guidance system called echolocation to move around in the dark. The creatures produce a series of 5)_______ through their mouth or nose. They can judge their distance from an object by the time it takes for the sound to return.

Most bats eat 6)________. Bats provide one of the most effective controls on insect populations. A single, small, brown bat can catch more than one-thousand insects in just one hour. Twenty-million bats live in Bracken Cave in the western American state of Texas. They eat about two-hundred tons of insects every night.

Some bats eat 7)______. As they fly, they spread seeds through forests and deserts. Other bats like to eat pollen on 8)______. They help to make new plants by spreading 9)______ from flower to flower. A few bats eat meat. They catch small frogs, birds or fish.

No report about bats is complete without a discussion of 10)_______ bats. Three kinds of vampire bats feed on blood. They live in parts of Central and South America. These bats feed mainly on the blood of birds, farm animals and wild animals. They rarely attack people. The bats bite their victims and drink the blood, usually while the animal is sleeping. The harm from such bites comes not from the amount of blood lost, but from any resulting infection.

TRANSLATION: Translate the sentences into English.

1. Ныне живущих млекопитающих насчитывают около 4500 видов.

2. Самки сумчатых млекопитающих рожают от одного до 25 детенышей, в зависимости от вида. 

3. Хищники — это животные, которые охотятся на других животных и питаются их мясом. 

4. В животном мире ближайшими родственниками человека считаются приматы.

5. Грызуны как никакие другие представители класса млекопитающих умеют приспосабливаться к самым различным условиям обитания. 

6. благодаря наличию плаценты, через которую эмбрион получает от матери питательные вещества.

7. Яйцекладущие составляют подкласс наиболее примитивных из современных млекопитающих.

8. Кроме живорождения и выкармливания потомства молоком, для млекопитающих характерен целый ряд признаков 

9. Все насекомоядные — мелкие животные с длинным узким носом.

10. Кенгуру – это самые крупные млекопитающие, передвигающиеся прыжками на задних лапах. 

SPEAKING: Prepare a mammal report. Write about its scientific name, color, size, diet, enemies, habitat, life cycle and some interesting facts. Present your mammal in front of the group.