ANIMALS AND NATURE

Prey Birds

Among the best-known birds are the birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles, ospreys, falcons, and owls. They have hooked beaks, strong talons or claws on their feet, and keen eyesight and hearing. ----. Ospreys and many eagles eat fish, falcons eat mostly insects, and owls eat everything from insects to fish and mammals.

• Birds are warm-blooded animals, with feathers and wings

• Unlike mammals, except for the duck-billed platypus, birds lay eggs

• Their long wing feathers also help them to get the lift necessary for flight

• The larger hawks and eagles prey on small mammals, such as rodents

• Feathers provide insulation 'for birds, allowing them to maintain a high body temperature

The jaguar Is sometimes called Americans El Tigre by South and Central Americans. ----. Both names convey the awe and reverence this largest New World cat inspires. Their gold coat spangled with black rosettes was said to be the stars of night. In the Mayan religion, the sun took the form of a jaguar when travelling through the underworld at night.

• Jaguars are closely related to lions, tigers, and leopards

• Jaguars live in the rain forests and more open countryside in South and Central America

• They are known to be the largest members of the cat family there

• Jaguars are strong swimmers and climbers, and they often prefer to live by rivers

• Long ago, they called it Yaguara, the "cat that kills with a single spring"

Monarch butterflies travel long distances to stay warm. They fly up to 3,000 miles to the same winter roosts, sometimes to the exact same trees. However, their life span is only a few months. ----. Their great-great-grandchildren return south the following fall.

• Baby swallows and their parents learn each other's voices

• Most of the bird species migrate south for the winter

• Other butterflies also fly thousands of miles in search of warmth

• So individual monarchs only make the round-trip once

• The regular movement of animals during the year is called migration

Squirrels live mostly in the forests of Europe and north America. ----. That is the size of two of your hands. Behind them and often suspended over their backs are their tails, wide, upright and furry, and almost the same size as their length. Thanks to this long tail, a squirrel can jump from one tree to another without losing its balance.

• It can readily run along branches

• They are about 25 centimetres long

• It's an interesting method of communication

• Some squirrel species can also fly

• Sleeping is a great threat to squirrels

Atlantis is an island whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first references to Atlantis are from the classical Greek philosopher Plato, who said it was engulfed by the ocean as the result of an earthquake 9,000 years before his own time. ----. They also added that Plato made up the story using elements that may have been drawn from real events.

• Plato described Atlantis as an ideal state, and the name is considered synonymous with Utopia

• Plato's accounts of Atlantis are in his works Timaeus and Critias and these philosophical dialogues are the earliest known references to Atlantis

• The legend of Atlantis is frequently featured in many books, movies, television series, and other creative works

• While there are many hypotheses about Atlantis, the vast majority of scientists conclude that Atlantis never existed

• According to the legend, an island called Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean was swallowed by an earthquake

Tsunami

----. However, the most common cause is an undersea earthquake. An earthquake which is too small to create a tsunami by itself may trigger an undersea landslide quite capable of generating a tsunami.

• Tsunamis have been historically referred to as tidal waves because as they approach land, they take on the characteristics of a violent onrushing tide

• Since tsunamis aren't actually related to tides, the term is considered misleading

• The term tsunami comes from the Japanese language meaning "harbour' and "wave"

• A tsunami can travel hundreds of miles over the open sea and cause extensive damage when it encounters land

• A tsunami can be generated by any disturbance that rapidly moves a large mass of water such as volcanic eruption

Man's Best Friend

We know that dogs are a human's best friend. They love us and we love them.----. Many scientists think they came from wolves 15,000 years ago. Although wolves are wild and dogs are tame, they're still a lot alike. Both wag their tails when happy and put their tails between their legs when scared.

• However, we're not so sure where they came from

• Some were trained to do more than keep us company

• Working dogs guide blind and wheel chair-bound people

• So they're good at finding things using their keen senses

• Handlers teach the dog how to find specific things

Educating Dogs

Dogs are easy to educate. Well-educated dogs are sometimes used as watchdogs. ----. It is interesting, though, that these dogs, which can become terrifyingly wild in times of danger, pose no harm to their owners. In the face of a threat, they put their lives in danger to save their owners.

• There are hundreds of dog species of different colours and sizes

• A watchdog can stop a creature that is five to six times bigger

• Dogs have 42 teeth, that is, 10 more than human beings

• They were able to perceive moving objects from farther away

• This extraordinary sense of smell itself is a miracle

Panda Bear

Panda is the name for two nocturnal Asian mammals: the red panda and the giant panda. The red panda, also known as lesser panda and cat bear, is found at high elevations in the Himalayas. It resembles a raccoon but has a longer body and tail and a more rounded head. Its thick fur is rust colour to deep chestnut, with black on the under parts, limbs, and ears. The red panda spends much of its time in trees but feeds on the ground, eating primarily bamboo leaves but also fruit and roots. The giant panda superficially resembles a bear. The body is chiefly white, and the limbs are brownish black, with the dark colour extending up over the shoulder. The ears and eye patches are black. Giant pandas live in restricted areas of the high mountain bamboo forests of central China; their diet consists entirely of bamboo shoots. Rare in the wild, they produce young poorly when they are not in their natural environment. Giant pandas are protected by law in China.

It can be understood from the passage that ----.

• all the nocturnal mammals in China are called panda

• the diets of the red panda and the giant panda are not totally the same

• there are no pandas in China for the time being

• the under parts, limbs, and ears of the giant panda are all white

• bamboo shoots are an important part of the diets of the people living in China

Panda Bear

Panda is the name for two nocturnal Asian mammals: the red panda and the giant panda. The red panda, also known as lesser panda and cat bear, is found at high elevations in the Himalayas. It resembles a raccoon but has a longer body and tail and a more rounded head. Its thick fur is rust colour to deep chestnut, with black on the under parts, limbs, and ears. The red panda spends much of its time in trees but feeds on the ground, eating primarily bamboo leaves but also fruit and roots. The giant panda superficially resembles a bear. The body is chiefly white, and the limbs are brownish black, with the dark colour extending up over the shoulder. The ears and eye patches are black. Giant pandas live in restricted areas of the high mountain bamboo forests of central China; their diet consists entirely of bamboo shoots. Rare in the wild, they produce young poorly when they are not in their natural environment. Giant pandas are protected by law in China.

It is clear from the passage that ----.

• giant pandas do have breeding problems in captivity

• the red panda is also called raccoon in the Himalayas

• the giant panda never spends its time in trees

• cat bear is a more dangerous animal than the red panda

• bears and pandas can live together in their natural environment