PASSAGE 7
The Cold Places
The Arctic is a polar region. It surrounds the North Pole.
Like Antarctica, the Arctic is a land of ice and snow. Antarctica holds the record for a low temperature reading ---125 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. Reading of 85 degrees below zero are common in both the Arctic and Antarctica. Winter temperatures average 30 d3egrees below zero in the Arctic. At the South Pole the winter average is about 73 degrees below zero.
One thing alone makes it almost impossible for men to live in Antarctica and in parts of the Arctic. This one thing is the low temperature --- the killing chill of far North and the polar South.
To survive, men must wear the warmest possible clothing . They must build windproof shelters. They must keep heaters going at al times. Not even for a moment can they be unprotected against the below-zero temperatures.
Men have a way of providing for themselves. Polar explorers wrap themselves in warm coats and furs. The cold makes life difficult. But the explorers can stay alive.
What about animals? Can they survive? Do we find plants? Do we find life in the Arctic and in Antarctica? Yes, we do. There is life in the oceans. There is life on land.
Antarctica, as we have seen, is a cold place indeed. But this has not always been the case. Expedition scientists have discovered that Antarctica has not always been a frozen continent. At one time the weather in Antarctica may have much like our own.
Explorers have discovered coal in Antarctica. This leads them to believe that Antarctica at one time was a land of swamps and forests. Heat and moisture must have kept the trees in the forests alive.
EXERCISE:
1) The lowest temperature that man has ever known was recorded in Antarctica.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
2) Winter temperatures average 85 degrees below zero in Antarctica.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
3) The Arctic and Antarctica are no man's lands because of their notorious coldness.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
4) Polar explorers can stay alive without heaters and windproof shelters.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
5) Despite the hostile environment, both animals and plants can be found in the oceans and on land in polar areas.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
6) As discovered by expedition scientists, Antarctica has not always been so cold as it is today, so has the Arctic.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
7) At one time, the weather in Antarctica was so warm and damp that trees grew there.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
KEY:
A B B B A C A
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PASSAGE 9
Why is the Native Language Learnt So Well
How does it happen that children learn their mother tongue so well? When we compare them with adults learning a foreign language, we often find this interesting fact. A little child without knowledge or experience often succeeds in a complete mastery of the language. A grown-up person with fully developed mental powers, in most cases, may end up with a faulty and inexact command. What accou...[
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