II. Listen to the first fragment and say whether the following statements are true or false

1. The speaker’s family often used to sit near the fireplace when he was a child.

2. The speaker liked the potted ferns in his family house and took care of them.

3. But for him the plants would have died from a dangerous disease.

4. He found out that he had been frustrating the plants sex life before he got to college.

5. According to the recent statistical data the ferns occupy the world top position in the list of decorative house plants.

6. Thoreau once said, “God made ferns to bring pleasure into our lives.”

II. Listen to the second fragment and answer the following questions

1. How many species of ferns are known to modern science?

2. What size do the largest representatives of this phylum reach?

3. What are fronds?

4. What shapes can fern leaves have?

5. Who benefits from “nest” ferns that grow in the tropics?

6. Why do ferns prefer wet habitats?

III. Listen to the third fragment and complete the summary below with the missing information

The ferns were among the first land plants that possessed ___________________ for _________________ and roots for ___________________. Due to these features they increased the ___________________ where these plants could ____________. In the ________________ geological period, giant horsetails and _______________ grew in ________________ in ______________. Huge deposits of ______________ produced by these plants were eventually transformed into ___________, due to the lack of __________ that inhibited ____________________________ of the plant biomass. The coal deposits contain large __________________ that may be reintroduced into the atmosphere in modern times as we ________________. This may cause _________________________.

WRITING AND SPEAKING

Summarize the text “Vascular Plants” in 200 words. Retell your summary

Lesson 2

DEVELOPMENT OF GAMETOPHYTES IN ANGIOSPERMS

PRE-READING TASKS

I. Answer the following questions

• What forms of plant reproduction do you know?

• What do you know about the alteration of generations in higher plants?

• What plant structures are responsible for their distribution?

II. Listen to the following words and practice their pronunciation

Gymnosperm, angiosperm, gametophyte, megaspore, megasporocyte cell, microspore, microsporocyte cell, heterosporous, sporophyte, pollen grain, ovule, micropyle, gamete, synergid, antipodal, megagametophyte, microgametophyte, anther, embryo sac, exine, pollination, fertilization, stigma, pollen tube, style, vegetative nucleus, generative nucleus, gnetophyte, zygote, endosperm.

READING COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

I. Match each word on the left to its correct definition on the right

aperture, n degenerate, v dense, adj discharge, v fertilization, n longevity, n ovule, n patch, n seed, n simultaneous, adj texture, n

the disposition or manner of union of the particles of a body or substance; length of life; a small, hard object produced by plants, from which a new plant of the same kind grows; a structure in a seed plant whose development begins after fertilization and which eventually develops into a seed; to pass from a higher to a lower type or condition; a part or area distinct from that about it; happening at exactly the same time; the process of union of two gametes whereby the somatic chromosome number is restored and the development of a new individual is initiated having a high mass per unit volume; an opening or open space, a hole; to throw off or deliver a load or burden.