Vocabulary Activities.

NOUN

VERB

ADJECTIVE

 resident, residence, residency

 reside

 residential

 mammal

 explore

 differ

 predator

 competition

 ecology

 multiply

 type

 suspect

 report

  armor

U

I. Pre-reading Activities.

A. Practise the pronunciation of the following words and memorize them.

• muscle /ˈmʌs(ə)l/ • feather /ˈfɛðə/ • gizzard /'gɪzəd /

• digestive /daɪ'ʤestɪv/ • feature /ˈfiːtʃə/ • tissue /'tɪʃu:/

• plumage /ˈpluːmɪdʒ/ • species /'spi:ʃi:z / • rigidity /rɪ'ʤɪdətɪ /

B. Look up in the dictionary the meaning of the following terms and memorize them.

• proventriculus • nitrogenus

• endotherms • semisolid

• avian • bladder

• esophagus • gastric juice

С. Match the following words with their definitions.

1. generate A. produce or cause something

2. reflection B. an image that you can see in a mirror, glass or water

3. refraction C. get rid of waste material from your body

4. excrete D. when light changes direction as it passes through glass, water

5. provide E. give something to somebody

6. possess F. have a particular quality or ability

7. remain G. become larger in size, number

8. expand H. stay in the same place

D. Discuss the questions.

- When you compare a bird and a reptile there are many obvious differences. Yet they may be descended from a common ancestor. What ancestor do they have in common?

- What is a reptile? What is a bird?

- Say in which ways birds and reptiles are similar and in which ways they differ.

II. Reading Activities.

A. Read the text below using a dictionary.

MODERN BIRDS ARE A VERY SUCCESSFUL GROUP

Encyclopedia of animals

Even modern birds possess some characteristics in common, with the reptiles. For example, they lay eggs and have reptilian-type scales on their legs. About 9000 species of birds have been described, and they have been classified into 30 orders. Birds inhabit a wide variety of habitats and can be found on all of the continents, most islands, and even the open sea. The large living birds are the ostriches of Africa, which may be up to 2 m tall and weigh 136 kg, and the great condors of the Americas, with wingspans of up to 3 m. The smallest known bird is Helena's hummingbird of Cuba, with a length of less than 6 cm and a weight of less than 4 g.

The anterior limbs of birds are wings, usually modified for flight. The posterior limbs are modified for walking, swim­ming, or perching. Not all birds fly. Some, such as penguins have small, flipper-like wings used in swimming. Others, such as the ostrich and cassowary, have only vestigial wings, but well developed legs.

In addition to feathers and wings, birds have many other adaptations for flight. Their bodies are compact and streams-lined., and the fusion of many bones gives them the rigidity needed for flying. Their bones are strong but very light; many are hollow, containing large air spaces. The avian jaw is light and, instead of teeth, there is a light, horny beak. The breastbone is broad and flat for the attachment of the large flight muscles.

Birds have efficient lungs with thin-walled extensions, called air sacs, that occupy spaces between the internal organs and within certain bones. Like mammals, birds have a four-chambered heart and a double circuit of blood flow. Blood delivers oxygen to the tissues and then is recharged with oxygen in the lungs before being pumped out into the systemic circulation again. The very effective respiratory and circulatory systems provide the cells with enough oxygen to permit a high metabolic rate, which is necessary for the tremendous muscular activity that flying requires. Some of the heat generated by metabolic activities is used to maintain a constant body temperature. Birds and mammals are endotherms. Their ability to maintain a constant body temperature permits birds to re­main active in cold climates.

Birds excrete nitrogenous wastes mainly as semisolid uric acid. Because they lack a urinary bladder, these solid wastes are delivered into the cloaca. They leave the body with the fe­ces, which are dropped frequently. This adaptive mechanism helps to maintain a light body weight.

Birds have become adapted to a variety of environments, and various species have very different types of beaks, feet, wings, tails, and behavioral patterns. Bills are specifically adapted for the type of food the bird eats. Although all birds must eat frequently (because they have a high metabolic rate and do not store much fat), the choice of food varies widely among species. Most birds eat energy-rich foods such as seeds, fruits, worms, mollusks, or arthropods. Warblers and some other species eat mainly insects. Owls and hawks eat rodents, rabbits, and other small mammals. Vultures feed on dead an­imals. Pelicans, gulls, terns, and kingfishers catch fishes. Some hawks catch snakes and lizards.

An interesting feature of the bird digestive system is the crop, an expanded, saclike portion of the digestive tract below the esophagus, in which food is temporarily stored. The stom­ach is divided into a proventriculus, which secretes gastric juices, and a thick, muscular gizzard, which grinds food. The bird swallows small bits of gravel that act as "teeth" in the giz­zard, mechanically breaking down food.

Birds have a well developed nervous system with a brain that is proportionately larger than that of reptiles. Birds rely heavily on vision, and their eyes are relatively larger than those of other vertebrates. Hearing is also well developed.

In striking contrast to the relatively silent reptiles, birds are very vocal. Most have short, simple calls that signal danger or influence feeding, flocking, or interaction between parent and young. Songs are usually more complex than calls and are performed mainly by males. Songs are related to repro­duction, attracting and keeping a mate, and claiming and de­fending territory.

One of the most fascinating aspects of bird behavior is the annual migration that many species make. Some birds, such as the golden plover and Arctic tern, fly from Alaska to Patagonia, South America, and back each year, covering perhaps 40,250 km (25,000 mi) en route.

Beautiful and striking colors are found among birds. Color is due partly to pigments deposited during the development of the feathers and partly to reflection and refraction of light of certain wavelengths. Many birds, especially females, are pro­tectively colored by their plumage. Brighter colors are often assumed by the male during the breeding sea­son to help in attracting a mate.

III. Speaking Activities.

- Compare two organisms: the bird and the reptile, using the information from the text.

IV. Make up a summary of the text.

V. Pre-reading Activities.

A. Look up in the dictionary the meaning of the following words and terms and memorize them.

• deciduous /dɪ'sɪdjuəs / • deterrent /dɪ'ter(ə)nt /

• challenging /'ʧælɪnʤɪŋ / • mash /mæʃ /

• moult /məult / • stomach lining /'stʌmək 'laɪnɪŋ /

• plumage /ˈpluːmɪdʒ / • peel /piːl/

• slumber /ˈslʌmbə / • pellet /ˈpelɪt /

• dispersal /dɪ'spɜːsl / • progeny /'prɔʤənɪ /

• familiarize /fə'mɪlɪ(ə)raɪz / • glut /glʌt/

• beneficial / benɪ'fɪʃ(ə)l / • apprenticeship /ə'prentɪsʃɪp /

• flock /flɔk / • accomplished /ə'kʌmplɪʃt/

• foraging techniques /ˈfɔrɪʤɪŋ tekˈniːks / • impair /ɪm'pɛə/

• nutritious /nju:'trɪʃəs / • avoidance /ə'vɔɪdəns /

• noxious /'nɔkʃəs / • vulnerable /'vʌln(ə)rəbl /

B. Answer the question.

- Have you ever watched the birds? If yes then when and where?

VI. Reading Activities.

A. Read the text below using a dictionary.

^{DECIDUOUS WOODLAND}

^{Nature, 2005}

Go down to the woods in August and it's easy to get the impression that the birds, like so

many of us, are on holiday. The woodland highways, which only a month ago were crowded with birds commuting from feeding site to nest, are oddly silent, and the atmosphere has dropped from feverish to lethargic. Birdwatchers find woods in August disappointing, and tend to go to more open, less challenging places at this time of year.

The birds are here, though. Many are in quiet mode, moulting behind the safety of the tired leaves and avoiding excessive external effort while their bodies work hard on plumage change. They have no need for song or display and are not yet stressed by food shortage, so, overall, they can be difficult to locate.

But the wood is not in slumber, and there are birds hereabouts that are feverishly active. Some of them are even on 'holiday' - or at least as near as a bird can get to one. These are the young birds of the year, and they are going through a rite of passage known as post-juvenile dispersal. Having left their parents' territory, they have begun a period of wandering - not necessarily travelling very far, but at least avoiding the immediate neighbourhood of where they were born. As they move, they gather into parties with other wandering birds - of the same age but not necessarily the same species - and follow a beat along paths or woodland edges each day, familiarising themselves with places that might one day be breeding territory. Many do not travel more than a few kilometres away from where they were hatched, but this, even for the most sedentary of birds, such as marsh tits and nuthatches (species that, once settled, never leave their territory), is nevertheless a formal time of travel and movement.

Many of these wandering species are attracted at the beginning of each August day by the calls of the flocking 'carrier species' -birds, such as blue tits or long-tailed tits, that form the nucleus of the gatherings and guide the movement along, acting like gurus to hippies. Their calls are readily answered, as flocking can be highly beneficial. For example, as they move, members of the flock watch their peers feeding and learn novel foraging techniques or rich places to search. More eyes are also better for predator detection. The members of the flock each have their eyes opened a little wider to their world; one might equate the month of August to a young bird's gap year.

For some woodland birds, much longer and less informal travels have begun in earnest. Several migrant species go through a rapid moult after breeding and are already on their way south towards their wintering grounds by August; the majority leave the country before the month is out. One of these is the garden warbler, a bird that seems to be a perpetual migrant. It is on the road for up to six months a year, travelling slowly between Europe and Africa and never settling down. Some of spring's most famous players are also notable for their early departures, including Beethoven's Pastoral stars, the nightingale and cuckoo. Nightingales stop singing in June and, no longer holding our rapt attention, melt away from our consciousness like faded pop stars. In common with many migrants, they can fly long distances, so it is possible that we may wake up one August morning to find they've gone. Cuckoos, also silent now, depart with equal surety. We are more likely to see them leave than the skulking nightingales because, prior to departure, they often visit woodland glades and edges to collect their late-blooming tipple - hairy caterpillars, fresh on the nettle. It's an odd diet - but then the cuckoo is an odd bird. These caterpillars are no doubt as nutritious as others, but are coated with noxious hairs that are a deterrent to other birds. The cuckoo, however, swallows them in droves, mashing the caterpillars in its gizzard. Once inside, the hairs adhere to the cuckoo's stomach lining. Eventually that peels off, and both lining and hairs are ejected together as a pellet.

The bloom of hairy caterpillars is only one of several feeding booms that begin in August. The main berry season is also launched, with several trees and shrubs beginning to burst into fruit. On the wood edges elders and rowans ripen, attracting a variety of fruit-eaters from the shadows, such as blackbirds and song thrushes. Young starlings, kept off prime grassland by the adults, take to such trees too, and the less noticeable species, such as robins, blackcaps or even spotted flycatchers, come one by one.

These smaller species, which can be kept off the bounty by their heftier competitors, may also need to feed on berries undercover. Several plants of the deep wood, such as honeysuckle and even lords-and-ladies, produce specialist fruit for the discerning palate, their wares discreetly hidden from the crowds as if their place in the shade were equivalent to some classy backstreet cafe.

August is also the seed season and, for a few species, the strengthening supply of seeds may actually lengthen the breeding programme. Bullfinches, for one, sometimes have young in the nest even at the end of August. Their progeny are raised mainly on the seeds of the herb layer, such as dog's mercury, and tree seeds.

There is one more late summer bloom of food around -- the birds themselves. At this time of year, with breeding adults and juveniles intermixing, there are more bodies around than usual, and the glut provides rich opportunities for the woodland's predators. Young sparrowhawks and tawny owls, for example, have largely completed their early summer hunting apprenticeships, and have a great opportunity now to practise what they have learned from their parents. Theirs is not an easy diet to satisfy, and they must become accomplished very quickly Nevertheless, August favours them for all the reasons explained here. Many songbirds, for example, are moulting, leaving gaps in their feathers with potentially big consequences for impaired flight. Secondly, there are juveniles moving about in dispersing groups, each with limited skills in predator avoidance. And thirdly, those very gluts of plant produce that benefit the fruit-eaters also concentrate their customers, making them unusually vulnerable.

No wonder, then, that an August wood may seem to be a quiet place. Perhaps, with such risk about, the birds are being unusually cautious.

B. Reading Comprehension.

- What do birdwatchers think about woods in August?

- Where are the birds? What are they doing?

- What is post-juvenile dispersal?

- What is the role of «the flocking carrier species»?

- Why is the cuckoo an odd bird? Do you agree with it?

- What are the feeding booms in August?

- Why are the birds more vulnerable in August?

VII. Vocabulary Practice.

- Find in the text the names of birds, trees and bushes and memorize them.

VIII. Speaking Activities.

Make up a story on behalf of:

- a young sparrow hawk

- a flocking «carrier species» bird

- a cuckoo

- a hairy caterpillar

- a birdwatcher

IX. Writing Activities.

- Explain why birds can be difficult to locate in the woodland in August.

X. Make up a summary of the text.

XI. Make up a summary of the following texts in English using a dictionary.

Древесная теория, с деревьев вниз

Википедия

Является первой высказанной гипотезой, предложенной Маршем в 1877 году. Была создана по примеру парящих позвоночных, таких как белки-летяги, шерстокрылы. Согласно гипотезе, протоптицы, подобные археоптериксу, использовали когти для того, чтобы подниматься на деревья, с которых потом взлетали с помощью крыльев.

Однако более поздние исследования поставили эту гипотезу под сомнение, приводя данные, что первые птицы не умели лазать по деревьям. Современные птицы, которые имеют такую способность, имеют значительно искривлённые и более крепкие когти, чем ведущие наземные образ жизни; когти же птиц мезозойской эры, как и у родственных им динозавров-тероподов, были подобны когтям современных наземных птиц.

Наземная теория, с земли вверх

Перья были довольно широко распространены у целурозавров, включая раннего тиранозавроида Dilong, а современных птиц палеонтологи чаще всего относят именно к этой группе, хотя некоторые орнитологи относят их к родственным группам.

Функциями этих перьев могли быть теплоизоляция или же половая демонстрация. В наиболее распространённой версии возникновения полёта «с земли вверх» утверждается, что предки птиц были небольшими наземными хищниками (как современная калифорнийская бегающая кукушка), и использовали свои передние конечности для поддержания равновесия, а позднее эти покрытые перьями конечности развились в крылья, способные поддерживать птицу в полёте.