Something to say

Something to say
Reading
I
Before you read
II
Scanning and skimming
I ,I
I
I
I !I
Multiple matching
~
(Paper I Part 4)
1 Read the title and subheading of the magazine article opposite. How much
do you know about how animals communicate with each other?
2 Look at the list of animals in the multiple-matching task. Scan the article to
find where they are mentioned and write the letters A-G next to them. ow
quickly read the text about each animal to find out how they communicate.
3
Task strategies page 168
A Stink bug
B Elephant
For questions 1-15, choose your answers from the animals A-G. You may
choose any of the animals more than once.
C Tiger
D Ring-tailed lemur
E Vervet monkey
F Chimpanzee
G Prairie dog
According to the article, which animal uses a form of communication that
is designed to help individuals feel a part of the social group?
1 ..
varies according to the gender of the individual?
2
is designed to deter those threatening the species?
3
is designed to mark out a particular locality for a number of individuals?
4
was originally intended to help members of another species?
5 ....
helps a species in areas where visibility may be poor?
6
allows one individual to attract or repel another?
7
shows that it can identify which members of another species may be dangerous?
8
is designed for use in confrontations between members of the species?
9
.
enables a group of individuals to maintain contact over large distances?
10
.
identifies which other species may be posing a threat at anyone time?
11
12
..
makes use of a plant to transmit a message between individuals?
13
14
.
allows individuals to be identified within a group?
15
.
Task analysis
4
Were you able to complete the task within the time limit?
Discussion
5
Discuss these questions.
1 What are the main purposes of animal communication according to
the text?
2 How do you think these compare with humans? How do human
behaviours differ from animal behaviours in similar situations?
3 Did you learn anything about animal communication from the text that
you didn't know before? Did anything surprise you particularly?
,
Ca
S oE~he
Wi
~he television presenter and zoologist, Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek has been
exploring the secrets of animal communication.
Although we share the same physical
v/Orld with many other creatures, we often
. ,:~e, hear and smell that world In quite
"dferent ways But as technology advances,
,we are beginning to get unprecedented
Insights into the sensory world of animals
Charlotte Uhlenbroek tells of how one day
she studied some tiny stink bugs crawling
up a vine leaf Wearing headphones wired
'" IJp to a computer, she eavesdropped on
t e tiny green insects' conversation - an
exchange conducted by infinitesimally
small vibrations along a network of
branches. She heard the rhythm of five
IS scratchy pulses punctuated by a pause,
sent out by the female of the species, and
a reply from a male; pure-toned pulses
followed by noisy bursts of sound. If a
rival male comes in on the conversation,
20 however, the female can tap out a different
rhythm to make him go away Listening
In on their conversation, the insects'
equivalent to a first date, Uhlenbroek
gained an astounding insight into the
,. I !dden world of animal communication,
,J secret code that scientists are only now
beginning to crack
Sound is one of the most pervasive
and persuasive forms of communication
"As Uhlenbroek explains, 'Patterns of
sound are almost infinite, and calls can
include a huge variety of information'
In using sound to find a mate, look
after offspring, locate food or warn of
)5 danger, individual animals and groups
can convey messages far more detailed
and subtle than scientists had previously
realised. Elephants, for example, use
very low-pitched sounds to communicate
.. over distances of several miles, whereas
trumpeting is a sound of excitement, an
expression of surprise or alarm, or a cry
, for help. If an old female elephant, th~
herd's leader, senses danger, she raises
45 her trunk and roars in fury, flapping her
ears as she emits a loud trumpeting
SOund. If this doesn't scare away a
predator, she charges, hurling her body
at her enemy at speeds of up to 25 miles
50 per hour. In peaceful times, c call which
is frequently used is the contact rumble,
which allows feeding elephants to keep
in touch in areas where dense vegetation
prevents them from keeping an eye on
"one another Yet we only hear part of their other's alarm calls. In Ambroseli National
calls Elephants can produce a sound as .,,, Park, vervet monkeys look to the starling
low as 8Hz, known as 'infrasound' This for signs of danger If these birds
may account for the seemingly telepathic emit a harsh cry, a sign of a predator
way widely dispersed elephants move approaching on the ground, the monkey
(,uin relation to one another Elephants will take to the trees, while a clear
recognise the calls of about 100 other "whistle, a response to hawks or eagles,
herd members, while they can identify will make them look up to the sky
each other's rumbles at a range of over
a mile; the human equivalent of hearing
6sthe voice of a friend on the other side of
a small town.
Animals also use chemicals to
communicate. Tigers leave traces for
each other by marking trees in the forest
'0- by digging its claws deep into the bark
and spraying it with scent, each individual
tiger impregnates the chosen trunk with
a great deal of information about itself
By acting as relay stations, the trunks
,splay a vital role in animal communication.
Male ring-tailed lemurs maintain their
group's territory with scent-marking and
a plaintive call that can be heard up to
half a mile away. To intimidate rivals, a
80 male secretes a pungent substance from
its arms and rubs its tail against these
glands. The other male responds in kind,
and sooner or later the smellier tail wins,
and the overwhelmed contender backs
85 off.
In future, it looks as though science
will help us understand more about the
language of animals. 'Communication
'co involves much more than just the exchange
of information,' says Uhlenbroek If you
watch chimpanzees grooming each other
for hours, you realise this is a vital part of
communicating, the purpose of which is to
'os create an impression, to persuade, to bond
them to the family or tribal unit
The prairie dogs of Arizona exhibit very
sophisticated behaviour. Small rodents
living in burrows, they are hunted by a
110 great number of predators, from haWks,
foxes, dogs and cats to humans. As a
defence, they have evolved a special
alarm call for each one. Latest findings
have shown that the animals have a
115 word for human in their vocabulary and
can describe individual people in detail,
down to their size, or whether they are
carrying a gun. Uhlenbroek concludes, 'If
small rodents show such extraordinary
Animals from species facing co~mon 120 sophistication, what might we find
dangers may effectively communicate
.
I
. gt
h th
. f t re?'
anima s sayln 0 eac 0 er In U U .
with one another by making use of each
c Complete the sentence'> llsing verbs from Exercisc
2a in the correct form. LJ,c cach verb once olll\'.
'Get out of 111\ \\'ay,'
... the old l11an as he
pushed past me:.
2 The C0l11l"l311\ I) proudly
... the filet th,lt it
has 1V0n tht' conlract.
3 The ,wdience. \\'hic!l hated the speaker, booed
Vocabulary
Similar meanings
1 a Find words and expressions in the text on page] 37
that could be replaced in this context by the
following. Add the noun phrase from the text
where there is one.
EXAMPLE: learn things we've never known before
abollt (sth.)
get unprecedented insights into the sensory
world of animals
Paragraph 1
1] frighten
1 extremely tiny
12 strong smelling
13 does the same
2 interrupts
3 solve
14 moves away
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 4
4 common
] 5 depend on
5 communicate
16 climb
6 makes
Paragraph 6
7 frighten off
17 show
8 explain
18 developed
Paragraph 3
19 including
9 small signs
10 sad
b Look back through the text and find more
expressions in the text that you would like to add
to your vocabulary notebook. Check their meaning
in your dictionary.
a The following words, some of which are used in
the text on page 137, describe animal sounds.
Match the sound to an animal, then decide if each
sound is loud/quiet, high/low, long/short,
musical/not musical.
1 trumpet
a snake
b frog
2 roar
3 rumble
c elephant
4 whistle
d mouse
5 squeak
e lion
6 hiss
f dog
7 growl
g starling
8 croak
b Which of the verbs in Exercise 2a would you
associate with the following?
1 an engine
6 a burst tyre
7 a sporting event
2 thunder
3 an audience
8 someone boasting
(in a theatre, etc.)
9 nervousness
4 the wind
10 anger
5 an old door
- ---,1
138
',1----
on the
5 'Help: she. . , her throat dry with fear.
6 Fans yelled and
with excitement when the
band came on stage.
7 Everyone
with laughter ""hen he told the
joke.
S James was so hungry that his stomach.. ...... aU
through the meeting.
Animal idioms
3
a Choose a suitable animal from the box to complete
the idioms 1-7. Then match the idioms to their
meanings a-g.
donkey
goose
cal
parrot
rat
horse
rabbit
1 to smell a
2 to let t h e , out of the bag
:; to hear somethll1g (straight) from the
mouth
4 to talk the hind leg off a .
5
on about something
5 to
6 wouldn't say boo to a .
Sounds
2
and
throughout hiS t'llk.
4 The rubber soles of l11y shoes
shiny 1100r.
11 getting attention
~ p94 )
7 to say something
fashion
a to be quiet or shy
b
c
d
e
f
g
to
to
to
to
to
to
be told something directly from the source
be suspicious about what you hear or see
talk for a long time in an annoying way
speak at length about unimportant things
give away a secret
repeat something without understanding it
b Use the idioms in Exercise 3a to complete the
following sentences.
1 I know this information is true - I heard it
2 My aunt Sally never stops chatting; she could
3 It was supposed to be a surprise party, but
someone must have ...
4 I am surprised Jen stood up to her boss like that;
normally she
,
..
5 Gary said he was going to work, but he's obviously
somewhere else. I
!
6 I'm not surprised Kathy's phone bill is so high
the way she
.
7 At school we had to learn poems and then repeat
them
.