Texts for comprehensive reading and discussion

UNIT 1

PRE-TEXT TASK

Study carefully the meanings of the following phrases and word-combinations to avoid any difficulty in understanding TEXT A.

	...are grouped into species	классифицируются по видам
	subject matter	предмет, содержание, предмет науки
	inseparably close to...	неотделимы от, нераздельно связаны с…
	to deal with = to be concerned with	иметь дело с…, касаться
	to distinguish as clearly as possible	различать настолько четко, насколько возможно
	dividing line between...	линия водораздела
	can be taken as...	могут рассматриваться как…

 

TEXT A

The Subject Matter of Biology

There is an enormous variety of life on this planet: from microscopically small bacteria to the giant trees of the forest and the beautiful orchid; from single-celled animals like amoeba to the great variety of worms, insects, fishes, reptiles and birds, and then to the many members of the class of mammals to which we belong.

Biology is the study of living things. The word that can be used for.all living things is organism. When we say "organism" we mean anything that is alive. Organisms that are similar are grouped into species.

Biology is classified as a natural science because its subject matter is a part of nature. Problems in biology are inseparably close to chemistry and physics. Biochemistry and biophysics, for example, are well-recognized areas of study.

Biological knowledge can be divided into smaller groups: those that deal with plants (botany), those concerned with animal life (zoology) and those that study plants and animals in the relationship to their environment (ecology).

Since biology is the group of sciences that deal with life in all its forms and in all its functions, it is necessary to distinguish as clearly as possible between living and non-living bodies. The dividing line between the living and non-living is not a very sharp one.

Prom the view point of function we can speak of several unmistakable signs of life. They are responsiveness, nutrition and reproduction. These activities - responsiveness, nutrition and reproduction - are combined in living bodies, and can be taken as the main criteria of the living state. The most unique characteristic of living bodies is the capacity for reproduction.

 

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Exercise 1. Are the following statements true or false?

1. Biology is the study of plants and animals.

2. Scientists group similar organisms into species.

3. Scientists can easily distinguish between living bodies and non-living things.

4. The unmistakable signs of life are responsiveness, nutrition and reproduction.

Exercise 2. Fill in the correct words from TEXT A

Biology studies an enormous______ of living bodies. Anything that is alive is called ____. Problems of biology are _______ to chemistry and physics, because the subject matter of biology is a part of _________. There are different ______ of biological knowledge. For example, botany______ with plants, while zoology ______ with animals. There are three ________ of life: responsiveness, nutrition and reproduction. The most unique of living bodies is _____.

 

PRE-TEXT NOTES

Study carefully the list of English phrases and their Russian equivalents to avoid difficulty in translating TEXT B.

 

1....may account for the evolution of existing species – мoжно объяснить эволюцией существующих видов

2. between these extremes – между этими крайностями

3. primeval seas – первозданный океан

4. in some logic and coherent way – логически и последовательно

5. as such – как таковой

6. area of distribution – зона распределения

7. a proper system of naming – научные принципы именования

8....from which our modern system is descended – от которой происходит современная система именования

9....not to confuse the organisms – чтобы избежать путаницы в наименованиях организмов

10. characters and distinctions – характерные черты и отличительные особенности

 

 

TEXT B

THE DIVERSITY OF ORGANISMS

Scientists recognize thousands of different types of living things. Organisms have lived on earth for more than three billion years. Variation and selection operating during these past years may account for the evolution of great variety of existing species

The diversity of organisms is one of the most striking features of the biotic world. It can be expressed in a number of different ways: diversity by morphological difference (or difference in external form), by anatomical differences (or differences in internal structure), diversity extending on the microscopic level to differences of tissue structure and beyond that to cytological differences on the cellular level. Or diversity may be expressed physiologically in the way in which organs operate, or biochemically in the chemical mechanisms operating within the organism. Diversity also extends to means of reproduction. Perhaps, most extreme of all is the diversity in size of individuals of various species: the California redwood is about 10,000,000,000 times larger than the virus particle. Between these extremes may be found plants and animals of different intermediate size and weight.

All life must have originated from a very few, perhaps even one self-duplicating nucleic acid molecule in the primeval seas. Then the reasons for this vast diversity of living forms constitute one of the major problems of biology, namely the evolution of life forms. Many biologists tried to organize their knowledge of living things in some logical and coherent way. In early biological writings we find little direct reference to any scheme of classification as such.

The best biological writing of classical times was that of Aristotle. His work was remarkable for its time. Despite many incorrect statements it contained an enormous body of facts, many of them are based on direct observation and experiment uncommon in Greek science.

The medieval period made little progress in the classification of animals. However, medieval naturalists made good progress in Botany. Many late medieval books on plants are as scientifically objective as any made in the twentieth century.

A proper system of naming was well stated by the great Swedish biologist Carl von Lime, better known under the Latinized form of his name, Carious Linnaeus, who established the system of naming and classification from which our modem system is descended.

It is an enormous task to classify and describe scientifically the millions of species of plants and animals. Usually the scientists’ concerned with classification give every organism two Latin names not to confuse the organisms. The first is the name of the genus, and the second is the name of the species.

The name of the genus is written with a capital letter, and that of the species, with a small one. For instance, the domestic cat has the scientific name - Felis catus. That is the species "catus” of the genus "Felis". The lion is called Felis leo, the tiger – felis tigris. As an example from the plant world, the orange, the lemon, the grape-fruit and the tangerine are all different species of the genus Citrus.

When distinguishing species the scientists look for the following characters and distinctions:

A visible resemblance between members of the group.

A geographical area of distribution that would lead to think that the group had a common ancestor.

That the group can interbreed and produce offspring sufficiently like themselves to be considered of the same species.

 

WRITING PRACTICE

A summary is a brief restatement in your own words of the main idea of a passage, article or entire book. When you write a summary, you should be careful not to leave out important points or misrepresent an author's intention. Before you write your summary, make sure that you thoroughly understand your source. As you reread a source, pay careful attention to topic sentences, headings, or key-words that will help clarify the source's meaning. Your summary should present the important ideas of the original without using the exact language or phrasing. Notice that the summary is much shorter than the original and gives just the main idea of the text.

 

Make use of the following standard phrases and expressions while writing your summary

 

the article is called... = the title of the article is...	статья называется.., статья озаглавлена,,,
the article is published in...	статья опубликована в…
the article is about/on	статья повествует о …
is devoted to	посвящена
is concerned with	касается
deals with	имеет дело с…
touches upon the problem of	затрагивает проблему
in the introductory part of the article the author points out	во вводной части статьи автор указывает
the following facts are stressed in the article	в статье акцентируется внимание /подчеркивается
the article contains useful information on...	статья содержит полезную информацию о …
in concluding paragraphs it is pointed out that	в заключительной части статьи указывается, что..
the article contains statistics about...	содержит статистику о…
the reader's attention is drawn to...	внимание читателя привлечено к…

 

TEANSITIONAL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS:

first of all/at first/ second/secondly/

then/ besides that/next/ in conclusion/ finally.