Are All Endangered Species Worth Saving?

Are All Endangered Species Worth Saving?

I Study the active vocabulary and focus on Ukrainian equivalents of English words.

loss втрата

conservation збереження

habitat середовище існування

carbon dioxide вуглекислий газ

growth розвиток

backwards назад

facilitate сприяти

biodiversity біологічне різноманіття

reflect обмірковувати

fail зазнавати невдачі

breed розводити

scoff зжерти

delicious дуже смачний

dreadful страшний

greenhouse gas парниковий газ

emission викид

reduce зменшувати

rate темп

pointless безглуздий

parrot папуга

predator хижак

mammal ссавець

harsh суворий

trajectory шлях

species вид

II Vocabulary focus. Study the words and  word combinations, check flashcards, practise translation, spelling. Take a  test. Play matching vocabulary game (match words to their translations to make cards disappear)  and save the planet from asteroids by typing in correct translation of the words.

ІІІ Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the text.

         Polar bears, should we 1)______ them? Well, that’s a really difficult 2)______.

 Change is not equivalent to loss. In many conservation philosophies you see people trying to 3)______ habitats to something that they used to be some 4)______ ago or some thousands of 5)______ ago. In reality they can’t do it. It’s 6)______ to restore any biological community, any 7)______, to exactly what it was a 8)______ hundred years ago because too much has 9)______ since. The 10)______ has changed, the carbon dioxide in the 11)______ has changed, which affects the growth of every 12)______ on the 13)______. So we can’t go backwards. We have to have a forwards 14)______ conservation about how we facilitate the 15)______ of biodiversity rather than always reflecting backwards as to: “How can I stop 16)______? How can I go backwards?” Because 17)______ that’s going to 18)______.

So saving the 19)______ bear is not about taking some into 20)______ and breeding them. It’s not about releasing them into Antarctica where there’s lots of 21)______ and lots of penguins they can scoff. And that would be absolutely 22)______ but dreadful for 23)______. What we need to do is to reduce the 24)______ gas emissions and reduce the rate at which the 25)______ is warming. And, in fact, reduce the final 26)______ in temperature that takes place so that there is still enough 27)______ ice for them to survive. Otherwise you’re going to be left with a kind of zoo 28)______ forever. And ultimately that kind of becomes a pointless 29)______. So one of the 30)______ which one might wonder whether it is worth trying to 31)______ is something like the flightless kakapo parrot in New 32)______. So this particular species of 33)______ can only live in effectively predator free environment or that is  to say environments that lack 34)______ living mammals.

The really harsh 35)______ is: “Is the saving the kakapo going to affect the future of 36)______   of birds and the long-term future of birds?”  I would say no. So if the kakapo dies out, some people are 37)______. It is a loss of 38)______ identity in New Zealand, but it’s not going to change the future evolutionary trajectory of 39)______ on the earth because that is the future of birds is in those species that can 40)______ and can survive in the presence of 41)______. When we find that we’ve got an endangered 421)______, I think it’s important that we don’t throw good 43)______ after bad and keep, as I say, treating the symptoms rather than the cause of the problem. And if the cause of the decline of a species cannot be 44)______, then you get to some hard 45)______.

ІV Watch the video and answer the questions.

1 What is the main idea of conservation philosophies? What problems do people face when they try to restore natural habitats?

2 What factors have affected the changes in natural habitats?

3 What ways of saving polar bears does the speaker discuss? Are these ways effective in his opinion?

4 What are the special or unique features of the flightless kakapo  parrot in New Zealand?

5 Does the speaker think that flightless parrots are necessary for the survival of birds on our planet?

6 Does the speaker think that flightless parrots should be saved?

IV Study the table below.

a) Find and underline the examples of the usage of modal verb should in task III.

Should Meaning	Additional information	Examples
1) obligation with shades of advisability/ desirability	Less categorical than must In affirmative sentences Generally refers an action to the future (Simple Infinitive) To refer to the present should + Continuous Infinitive is used	You should do it. You should be doing it.

b) Think of at least 4 ways to save polar bears and the flightless parrots.  Use modal verb should in your sentences. For example: People should create national parks where the endangered species would live and breed in their natural habits.

V OVER TO YOU.

a) Do you agree with the speaker who said that not all endangered species are worth saving?

b) What species are endangered today in the world? What species are endangered in your country?

c) What measures are taken to protect these species (choose one to describe in greater detail in the classroom)?

d) Do you think these measures are effective? If not, what should be done instead? Imagine how life would be different if the endangered