Planet Earth Is 4,600 Million Years Old

If we pretend that our planet is like a person, we can compare the Earth with a man of 46 years of age. Nothing is ___ (1) about the first 7 years of this person’s life, and very little ___ (2) can be found about his youth. What we know for sure is that ___ (3) at the age of 42 the Earth began to flower.

Dinosaurs and the great reptiles did not ___ (4) until one year ago, when the planet was 45. Mammals arrived only eight ___ (5) ago. In the middle of the last week man-like apes ___ (6) into ape-like men. And only last weekend the ice age enveloped the ___ (7).

Modern ___ (8) has been around for only four hours. During the last hour Man ___ (9) agriculture. The industrial revolution began only a minute ___ (10). During those sixty seconds of biological time, Man has made ___ (11) rubbish dump out of Paradise. Man has caused the ___ (12) of 500 species of animals, robbed the planet of its mineral ___ (13), and now stands at the brink of a war to end all ___ (14) which will destroy this oasis of life in the solar ___ (15).

Appendix I. Supplementary Reading to Lessons To Lesson 2

Satomi (Japan)

There are five members in my family: my mom, dad, grandmother, brother and myself. My dad works for a golf company. My mom is a housewife. My brother is majoring in tourism at Rikkyo University. When I was four, we moved from Kanagawa to Tokyo because we bought a new house. Now, we’re living with my grandma. She used to be a very energetic ikebana teacher, but she’s getting old. So, we’re supporting her as much as possible. I was influenced by her very much because in my childhood she mainly took care of me and I wanted to be a woman like her in every respect. Now, she’s not what she used to be; however, I really love her and my family also really loves her. That’s why we’ll continue to look after her. As for my grandpa, he died before I was born. Therefore I don’t know very much about him. One thing I know about him is that thanks to his job (teacher), he didn’t have to go to the war.

Daniel (USA)

My immediate family consists of six people. I am the youngest of four children. I have an elder brother John, who is twenty-five and two sisters. Jackie is twenty-two, while Anne-Marie is twenty-eight. John graduated from the University of Michigan and is an engineer, while Jackie has just graduated from the University of John Carol. Anne-Marie is an attorney, and currently works for McDonalds, dealing with their corporate material. My father has been the provider for the family as a doctor, and my mother works as a secretary and housemother. My family is always there for me through the rough times, even though I see little of them now.

Sarah (USA)

My family consists of my father (George), mother (Jennifer), my elder sister Korie, me, and my younger sister Vanessa. Korie is 21, and she is a senior at the Ohio State University. She has a double major of journalism and political science and is an editor of the school’s newspaper, the Lantern. She plans to graduate after the summer quarter. My little sister, Vanessa, is 5 years old, and is in her last year of pre-school. She will start kindergarten next year. My father and mother are both alumni of the Ohio State University. My father works for Conrail/CSX, and my mother as a family and consumer sciences teacher for Benjamin Logan High School. My parents made our family’s home in Belle Center in 1980. This was after living in Marysville, Ohio, and Runnemede, New Jersey, respectively. The house that we call home now has always been home to me.