Discuss the following questions with your partner

Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible).

New Highways Threaten Giant Pandas.

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Match the following synonyms from the article.

a.	threat	knocked down
b.	rapid	choosy
c.	habitat	splitting
d.	run over	mating
e.	battling	home
f.	dividing	danger
g.	breeding	rules
h.	principles	fighting
i.	as a result of	speedy
j.	picky	because of

There is a new _______ to the survival of the giant panda. The rapid construction of China’s national highway network is _______ the pandas’ natural habitat into many small pieces. This is destroying the bamboo forests that the _______ animals need to survive. It is also adding a new danger of being ____ _____ by cars and trucks. The China Daily newspaper reported the biggest threat to the animal is in the northwest province of Gansu. There are now ______ than fifty pandas there. Conservationists are _________ to preserve them. They are building special panda crossings and tunnels to help them _________.

The biggest problem is the dividing of the pandas’ ________ into smaller areas. The growth of the highways now makes _________ even more difficult. The China Daily reports that: “According to basic principles of ________ and the pandas’ reproduction habits, a group of less than 50 giant pandas are predicted to become ________ at some point as a result of a weakening reproductive ability caused by inbreeding.” There are only two days of the year when the female panda is ________. This problem is made worse because of the males’ ______ ___ interest in sex and the females’ being too picky in choosing her Mr. Right.

a.	There is a new threat	choosing her Mr. Right
b.	cutting the pandas’ natural habitat	the loveable animals need to survive
c.	destroying the bamboo forests that	to preserve them
d.	There are now fewer	breeding even more difficult
e.	Conservationists are battling	some point
f.	the highways now makes	to the survival of the giant panda
g.	basic principles	reproductive ability
h.	predicted to become extinct at	than fifty pandas there
i.	a weakening	of genetics
j.	being too picky in	into many small pieces

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS

a. Did the headline make you want to read the article?

b. What do you think of the giant panda?

c. Do you think the giant panda is the best animal for the World Wildlife Fund’s logo?

d. Do you think it’s right that new highways should endanger the giant panda?

e. Do you think the people who make the road-building decisions care about pandas?

f. Who will be blamed when a truck knocks down the last panda and they become extinct?

g. What alternatives can you think of to building superhighways?

h. It costs over $600,000 a year to protect just one giant panda in the wild. Is this right?

i. What else can we do to help the pandas survive the road building?

j. When was the last time you faced a battle?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Do you think all road building should stop in and around the giant pandas’ natural habitat?
4. What would you do if a giant highway was built right outside your front door?
5. Do you think the giant pandas can survive?
6. What do you think news reporters will be saying in the future, when pandas are extinct?
7. What animal will replace the panda on the WWF logo?
8. How can humans encourage pandas to breed more successfully?
9. Are you overly picky in choosing your Mr. or Ms. Right?
10. Did you like this discussion?

Дата добавления: 2014-11-18