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Középfok-B2 Worksheet 4 Avasi Nyelviskola © Ex.1. Read the text and answer the questions which follow the article in English. Only include information from the text. Give short answers, write full sentences only if necessary. Spot the gecko: Reptile so small it can fit on pencil top found along with dozens of other new species in threatened Ecuador jungle A gecko so small it can perch on top of a pencil has been discovered along with dozens of new animal species in Ecuador’s threatened rainforest. Scientists also found 30 new varieties of frog and a snail-sucking snake – all on the verge of becoming extinct. Their microhabitat – the Cerro Pata de Pájaro, meaning Bird Leg Hill in Spanish – has seen 95 per cent of its trees felled for farming. Dr Paul Hamilton’s team also found three species of lungless salamanders and bushmaster snake, which is the longest viper in the world yet is rarely recorded, having been hunted almost to extinction in many parts of its range. One of the discoveries which has most excited many of the scientists are the frogs which lay their eggs in trees rather than water. But the animals’ habitat is being threatened by deforestation and climate change. The rise in temperatures and drought are forcing animals to move to higher elevation in search of cooler, wetter climates. Indeed, sites like Pata de Pájaro are under siege from countless ecological disturbances, from widespread deforestation for cattle grazing to timber harvesting and hunting. Climate change models actually predict that many of these mountaintop cloud forests – along with the animals that depend on them – will disappear altogether from global warming if something is not done to save them. The rain frogs just discovered are particularly susceptible to climate change since they rely on moist trees to lay their eggs which may dry up with temperature increases. There are countless gaps in our knowledge about the status and distribution of tropical animals; this study just scratches the surface of what we know about this region alone, much less what is happening to global patterns of extinction’, said Dr Hamilton. ‘But to stem the pattern of current extinction rates, we all need to do our part, whether that be driving less, eating less meat, or simply educating ourselves and spreading the word.’ Dr Kerry Kriger, director of the Save the Frogs charity, said: ‘The good news is, the animals are still there and alive, so there is still time to save them from extinction. ‘But we need to take action now to make it happen.’ /15th January 2010- Dailymail/ QUESTIONS Középfok Avasi Nyelviskola © Questions: 1.List 4 animal species scientists have just discovered. _______________________________________________________ 2.Where do these species live? _________________________________ 3. Which animal species are the scientists mostly interested in and why? _____________________________________________________________ 4. What threaten the animals’ habitat? ___________________________ 5. Why are the animals forced to move to higher elevation? ____________________________________________________________ 6. List 3 ecological disturbances mentioned in the article. _____________________________________________________ 7. What should we do against current extinction rates according to Dr Hamilton? ______________________________________________________________ 8. Who is dissatisfied with our present knowledge about tropical animals? __________________________ 9. Who is optimistic about the saving of tropical animals? _________________ 10. Why have the trees been cut out from the threatened animals’s microhabitat? ______________________