Vocabulary:

1. coil up [kɔɪl] – свертываться кольцом

2. fang [fæŋ] – ядовитый зуб

3. hibernate ['haɪbəneɪt] – зимовать, находиться в зимней спячке

4. hibernation [haɪbə'neɪʃ(ə)n] – зимняя спячка

5. jaw [ʤɔː] - челюсть

6. lizard ['lɪzəd] - ящерица

7. rattle ['rætl] – детская погремушка, трещотка

8. rattlesnake ['rætlsneɪk] – гремучая змея

9. shed [ʃed] - сбрасывать

10)swallow ['swɔləu] – глотать

Vulture

One of the biggest vultures in the world is the California condor. It can have wingspans of more than 3 meters and casual observers have sometimes mistaken them for small planes!

Welcome to the USA!

As other vultures, the condors hunt small animals and can take baby livestock. They look for food by circling high overhead and scanning the ground. With eyes that are better than many binoculars, the large birds can see animals up to 1,6 km away! But they prefer to find its food already dead.

The condors have very strong talons and beaks and can break through the skins of large animals. They have bald heads as many other vultures. This is a convenient feature – it allows the big birds to stick their heads into dead bodies of animals without getting their feathers all dirty.

The California condor is nearly extinct, but recently scientists have reintroduces a few to the wild.

Vocabulary:

1. be extinct [ɪk'stɪŋkt] - вымирать

2. beak [bi:k] - клюв

3. condor ['kɔndɔː] - кондор

4. feather ['feðə] - перо

5. livestock ['laɪvstɔk] – домашний скот

6. scan [skæn] – пристально разглядывать

7. talon ['tælən] - коготь

8. vulture ['vʌlʧə] - гриф

9. wingspans ['wɪŋspænz] – размах крыльев

Condor

Welcome to the USA!

Alligator

American alligator is a large and dangerous creature. The older the alligator, the bigger its prey. Baby alligators eat mostly insects. As they grow, their diet changes to frogs, snakes and fish. And big, old alligators eat everything they can catch – fish, birds, muskrats, and even try to grab a deer from time to time.

Inside an alligator’s mouth, there are always new teeth growing under all the existing teeth. When one tooth gets knocked out a new tooth underneath is ready for action. That’s why there are teeth of different sizes in the alligators’ mouthes.

Alligators, like all crocodilians are good parents. The female makes a nest for her eggs and stays near to guard them. When the young are ready to hatch, they make specific sounds, and their mother gently cracks the eggs to help them break free. Then she carries them to water. If the babies yelp for help, any adult alligator will rush to the rescue, as a grownup is always nearby.