Text b. Animal telepathy

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

In a recent research study an average of 48 per cent of dog owners and 33 per cent of cat owners said their pets responded to their thoughts. Surprisingly, little research has been done on these phenomena.

I have been investigating some of these unexplained powers of animals, powers of perception that can be grouped into three categories: telepathy; sense of direction; and premonitions.

To test these possibilities, you have to do experiments. I and my colleagues have concentrated on the phenomenon of dogs that know when their owners are coming home. Other kinds of animal telepathy can also be investigated experimentally, such as the ability of dogs to know when they are going to be taken for walks. In these experiments the dogs are kept in a separate room and videotaped. Their owner, at a randomly selected time, thinks about taking the dog for a walk and then five minutes later does so. Our experiments have shown dogs exhibiting obvious excitement when their owner is thinking about taking them out, although they could not have known this by normal sensory means.

Animals’ sense of direction is another unexplained power. Dogs and cats can make their way home from unfamiliar places many miles away. Even if some species have a compass sense, enabling them to detect the Earth’s magnetic field, this cannot explain their ability to navigate.

Animals also exhibit what we might call premonitions, for example, animals that become disturbed before earthquakes.

All three types of perceptiveness - telepathy, the sense of direction and premonitions - seem better developed in non-human species than in people. Although very little research has been done, such premonitions seem to occur in the human realm too. We might have lost some of these abilities because we no longer need them: telephones and television have taken the place of telepathy; maps and global positioning systems have replaced sense of direction...

Ex. 2. Choose the sentence which is true.

1. The writer gives arguments to prove that animals possess telepathic abilities.

2. The writer believes that biology and physics can explain animal telepathy scientifically.

3. The writer doubts whether animal telepathy exists.

Ex. 3. Find in the text examples of unexplained powers in animals and group them under three headings:

Telepathy	Sense of directions	Premonitions

Ex. 4. Retell the text in short.

Text c.

Ex. 1. a) Read, translate and entitle the text.

Cheni arrived in Sydney one year ago from China. Cheni lives in an apartment with her husband and two children in South Sydney. Their apartment has a balcony, but Cheni misses the garden she had in China. Her garden had lots of pretty flowers in it that smelt so nice and vegetables that she and her mum used for cooking. To make her apartment feel more like home Cheni decided to go to the nursery with her husband and children to buy some flowers and pot plants they could put on the balcony. Favourite colours of Cheni’s daughter are pink and red so they bought lots of bright coloured flowers and a watering can to water the flowers. Cheni chose some plants that she could grow on her balcony to use for cooking. She bought some coriander seedlings, a chilli plant and seeds for growing bok choy, as these are things she uses a lot in her cooking. Cheni bought a pot and some soil to plant the coriander and a box to plant the bok choy. Cheni is much happier in her home now and spends more time on her balcony watching her plants grow and watering them everyday. Her favourite thing is to be able to use the food she grows for cooking.

Cheni’s children also love being able to watch the plants grow and help to pick the chillies off the tree when Cheni needs them for cooking. They all agree that Cheni’s home grown food tastes delicious!

b) Think it over if you would like to have such a garden as Cheni has. Give your reasons.

Ex. 2. Comprehension questions.

1. Cheni arrived in Sydney ________ year ago from _____________.

2. Cheni lives in an apartment with her ______________ and __________children.

3. Does their apartment have a balcony or a garden now?

4. Favourite colours of Cheni’s daughter are ______________ and _____________.

5. What did Cheni buy to water the plants with?

6. Is Cheni much happier now?

7. Cheni chose some _____________ that she could grow on her balcony to use for_______________________.

8. She bought some ________________ seedlings, a chilli __________________ and seeds for growing bok ________________ as these are things she uses a lot in her cooking.

9. Cheni’s children also love being able to watch the plants ____________________ and help to pick the _________________ off the tree when Cheni needs them for _____________________.

10. What does Cheni miss about China?

11. Why did Cheni decide to go to the nursery?

12. What kind of vegetables and herbs did Cheni buy?

13. What did Cheni plant in the box?

14. What is Cheni’s favourite thing?

15. What do Cheni’s children help with?

Ex. 3. Retell the text.

TEXT D. ANIMALS NEED HELP.

EARTH IS IN DANGER

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

People have lived on our planet for many years. They lived and live on different continents, in different countries. People depend on their planet, on the sun, on animals and plants around them. People must take care of Earth. Our ecology becomes worse and worse with every new day. Many species of animals and birds are disappearing nowadays. People destruct wildlife, cut down trees to make furniture. They forget that people can’t live without trees and plants, because they fill air with oxygen. And, of course, great problems are population and animal destruction. The main reason of pollution is rubbish. Most of our rubbish goes to big holes in the ground, called “dumps”. But dumps are very dangerous for our life because they are full of rats, which can carry infections away from dumps. Another way to get rid of rubbish is to burn it. But the fires make poisons, which go into the air and pollute it. But pollution isn’t the only actual problem. Every day a big number of animals disappears. People kill animals for different aims: e.g. people hunt whales for their meat and oil; elephants for their tusks, crocodiles for their leather and so on. And also animals are used for medical experiments. Modern life is bad for animals, birds, fish. The air isn’t fresh and the water isn’t pure. They don’t have good meal and facilities for the life. You can find their names in the Red Book.

Of course, people can’t stay indifferent to these problems. There are a lot of special organizations, which try to save our nature. The most known are: The Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (The RSPCA), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace. The RSPCA tries to protect animals from bad use. It operates big nation campaigns aimed at lost pets, circus animals. The WWF rescued several species of animals, mammals as well as birds. These organizations also helped to create more than 250 National parks. Greenpeace began its work 20 years ago from saving whales. And now Greenpeace is a world-famous organization, which saves plants, animals and people. These organizations want to rescue animals, to help them to survive and to save jungle rain forests, which are in danger of destruction. And they also help animals because many of them have already gone as they have nowhere to live. Their homes, the trees, have disappeared. We must save wild animals. And we must find the right way to save land, people and animals. We must take care of nature, because we are part of it.

Ex. 2. Discuss in groups the ways of protection animals and plants. How can you help them to survive?