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Unit 4 Historical Figures Further Reading Look at the cover of the book. Do you know the Chinese name of the book? 《物种起源》 Do you know who wrote it? It was written by Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Darwin’s book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. Read the text and tick the facts which are true about Charles Darwin. √ □ came up with the idea of natural selection √□ did famous scientific research □ rich businessman □ professor at Cambridge √□ observer □ tourist √□ British □ clergyman Skim the text to complete each of the following topic sentences and then write the corresponding letter at the beginning of each paragraph. Para. 1 Para. 2 Para. 3 Para. 4 Para. 5 A. At first, Darwin had _______ unclear or even no thoughts of _________. evolution suggestion of one B. Following the _________ friend, Darwin _________ boarded the ship. C. The __________ information collected during the voyage led to The origin of Species published almost _____ 30 years later. D. A ship named__________________ the H.M.S. Beagle left Plymouth to begin a journey in coast of South order to study the _____ America. stopped in the E. When the ship ________ Galapagos Islands, Darwin studied a animalsand birds. lot of ______ Answer the following questions according to the text. 1) What was the major aim of Charles Darwin’s voyage? To study the coast of South America. 2) Why was Charles Darwin chosen as a member of the Beagle’s crew? The ship needed naturalist and he was 3) one. What was Charles Darwin’s interest while studying at Cambridge? His interest was looking at beetles, shooting birds and reading books on plants and 4) What did he do in South America? He collected rocks, plants, animals and fossils. 5) How do you understand the underlined sentence in the last but one paragraph? It was very important for Darwin that the ship stopped in Tierra del Fuego. 6) Where did the ship leave for? The ship left for South America. 7) How old was he when he finished the voyage? He was 27 years old. Read the passage and decide which of the following statements are true or false. ___1) F Darwin was such a brilliant scientific thinker that he was chosen as a member of the Beagle’s crew. It was a friend who suggested that he be given a job as naturalist aboard the Beagle and he received no payment for the job. F ___2) Darwin’s aim of the voyage was to study the coast of South America. Darwin went out of simple curiosity and for want of anything else to do. T ___3) Darwin had studied at Cambridge University to become a clergyman. T ___4) The trip in the Beagle’s was the only scientific abroad for Darwin. Surprisingly, he never made another scientific trip abroad. F ___5) At the end of the voyage, Darwin finished The Origin of Species. Thirty years later Darwin finished The Origin of Species. ___6) The Origin of Species is often described as F “the most important book of the ___ 18th 19th century”. Read the text carefully and put them in the correct order. ⑥ __He 1) He published the book The Origin 1) became a student of medicine at of Species. ① __ 2) He became a student of medicine at Edinburgh. Edinburgh. 2) He had spent more time looking at beetles, ③ __ 3) He was on a journey to South America. birds and reading ④ __shooting 4) He collected what he had books found on andplants. made 3) He of was a journey to South America. notes hisonobservations. ⑤ __He 5) He had stored 4) collected whatenough he hadinformation found and which made finally conclusions. notesled of to hishis observations. ② __ 6) He had spent more time looking at beetles, 5) He had stored enough information which shooting birds and reading books on plants. finally led to his conclusions. Read the following sentences carefully and decide what each of the coloured words refers to. 1)... Darwin had no thoughts of evolution and only unclear thoughts of it when it finished. (Para. 3) √ B. evolution A. thoughts of evolution C. the journey D. the beginning of the journey 2) The Beagle started out from Plymouth, made its first stop in the Cape Verde Islands... (Para. 4) A. Darwin’s B. Plymouth’s D. the Cape Verde Islands’ √C. the Beagle’s 3) If the ship had not stopped there, it is still doubtful whether Darwin would have come to the conclusions he did. (Para. 4) A. islands √B. the Galapagos Islands C. Chile and Peru D. the western coast of Chile and Peru 4) Often described as “the most important book of the 19th century”, that book was to change forever man’s considerations about his origins. (Para. 5) B. considerations √A. man’s C. Darwin’s D. The Origin of Species Put the places in order according the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. ① Plymouth. ② The Cape Verde Islands. ③ The western coast of Chile and Peru ④ Galapagos Islands. ⑤ Tierra del Fuego. ⑥ The eastern tip of Brazil. ①②⑥⑤③④ ______________ Complete the summary about Charles Darwin and his voyage with the information you get from the text. On December 27, 1831, a ship called ________________ the H.M.S. Beagle left England for the coast of naturalist South America. Charles Darwin, as a __________, had gone on the voyage without any payment but only out of simple scientific __________. curiosity At the beginning of the voyage, Charles Darwin had not got any idea about _________. evolution But the experience aboard gave him good chances to study and discover. collected rocks, plants, animals and fossils, He ________ made notes of his observations and classified ________ and listed his __________. collection The Beagle made several stops on the way and the most famous stop was in the Galapagos Islands where Charles Darwin could study many ____________ extraordinary animals. The observations there helped him to form his theory. Charles Darwin got a lot of useful information after this five-year voyage and almost thirty years later he published his famous book ____________________, The Origin of Species which completely changed man’s idea about his _________. origins Darwin Day is a recently instituted celebration intended to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin on February 12, 1809. The day is used to highlight Darwin's contribution to science and to promote science in general. The first organized Darwin Day events took place in 1995, and were organized by the Humanist Community of Palo Alto, California. What can we learn from Darwin? Have a discussion and then report in groups.