Thành Trung - Pre - Student - L2

LESSON
02 IELTS READING
Reading:
Note completion
LESSON 2: IELTS READING
TOPIC: ANIMALS
In Class
I. EXERCISE 1
Betty
This experiment was carried out by the Zoology Department at Oxford
University and set out to test the ability of Betty, a New Caledonian crow,
to make simple tools. A male and female crow were given a choice between
a straight garden wire and a hook in order to lift a small bucket of food from
the bottom of a plastic tube. After the male bird took the hook, Betty the female
crow bent the tip of the straight wire to make a replacement. This was an
amazing achievement as Betty had been kept in a laboratory for two years
by the ecology research group and had never seen garden wire before.
In the next stage the birds were set the same challenge-to retrieve the
bucket of food, but this time the researchers only provided straight wires.
In nine out of ten trials, Betty bent the wire and pulled up the bucket. To bend
the wire, she sometimes stuck one end into sticky tape wrapped around the
bottom of the tube or held it in her feet, then pulled the tip with her beak.
This species of crow is very skillful at making tools and often uses sticks
and leaves in the wild. However, the fact that this bird had the ability to make
the right implement for the job from unfamiliar materials, as this study proved,
shows unheard-of animal intelligence, say the researchers.
Read the passage and complete the note below. Choose NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS from the passages for each answer.
Method used to conduct tests

The crows chose a hook or straight wire in order to 1 ……………....………
the container. After the male crow took the hook, the female bird (Betty)
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A&U LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
2 ........................... the wire to make another one. Researchers gave Betty

more straight wire. She made a hook 3 .......................... times in ten tests.
She held the wire in her feet or put it in some 4 .................................
Research findings
Crows are able to make appropriate tools from 5 ......................... not seen
or used much, providing new evidence of animal intelligence.
II. EXERCISE 2
Project Delphis
These studies were undertaken by Earthtrust, an international research
and educational organization, in Hawaii as part of Project Delphis. The main
objective was to conduct scientific research in order to find evidence that
dolphins are extremely self-aware. In addition, Earthtrust aims to raise global
awareness about dolphins and to improve conservation efforts worldwide.
Although it has been well recorded that dolphins are large-brained social
creatures, having the capacity for self-awareness is an even more revealing
sign of intelligence. In the past only man and a few apes were thought to
possess this faculty.
As with previous research carried out in this area on man and apes, self-
awareness is measured by marking a subject, then observing the animal’s
reaction to a mirror image-touching himself indicates self-awareness,
whereas touching the mirror shows social behavior suggesting the subject
is investigating another individual.
Five bottlenose dolphins were ‘marked’ by putting zinc oxide on their sides
and then their behavior was videotaped through a one-way mirror. Control
experiments were also conducted in order to:
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A. compare ‘marked’ / ‘unmarked’ behavior

B. compare mirror behavior to behavior with a real stranger through a barred gate
C. compare dolphins watching themselves on TV and in the mirror
In the project the dolphins looked in the mirror then twisted and turned a lot
revealing that they seemed to have seen the zinc oxide mark and therefore
suggesting that they are self-aware. If this is the case, then such evidence
provides a significant insight into animal intelligence as previously only man
and apes had demonstrated the capacity for self-awareness.

Zinc oxide was put on the sides of bottlenose dolphins and their behavior
was filmed through a 6 ................................ After looking in the mirror, the
dolphins 7 ....................., suggesting they had noticed the 8 ......................
Research findings
Dolphins, like 9 ........................ may be self-aware.
III. EXERCISE 3
Orang-utan language project

This research was undertaken as part of the Orang-utan Language Project
at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in New York which has been on
going since 1995. The main purpose was to test the ability of orang-utans to
communicate and the study was carried out by testing whether these creatures
could remember abstract symbols and then use this system to accurately label
objects. Unusually, the public could actually watch these observations take
place at the zoo.
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Computers with touch-sensitive screens were placed in the cages of Azy

and his little sister Indah. Female orang-utans in particular are known to
have good manual skills but the males tend to use their lips more. Objects
were passed through the bars and when the creatures touched the screen,
a particular symbol based on Arabic numerals would appear. Once a number
of objects and their corresponding symbols had been introduced, more symbols
were put up on the screen to increase the number of choices. Tests were then
conducted on the animals to find out if they could make the correct selection
and what their accuracy rate was. If they did choose the right symbol for an
object, a bell rang and then rewards were given in the form of food or praise.
The results of the research show that orang-utans achieved 90% accuracy
and therefore have the ability to communicate by quickly relating abstract
symbols to objects. In fact, the animals have now progressed to using symbols
to identify actions and they are now also using Arabic numerals to identify
quantities.

Objects were passed into the orang-utans’ cages and as they touched a
computer screen a corresponding 10 ............................. would appear.
They then learned which one matched which object. If they made the
correct choice a 11 ........................ and they received 12 .........................,
which could be food or praise.
Research findings
Orang-utans showed the 13 ........................... by making connections
between abstract symbols and objects.
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LESSON 2: IELTS READING
TOPIC: ANIMALS
Homework
Read the passage and complete the tasks below.
1. ....... They can, and do, communicate with humans. There is a linguist
chimp called Nim Chimpsky with a vocabulary of 125 signs, all used
correctly. Chimps can solve problems, use tools and when they lose their
teeth, even improvise a makeshift food blender. Two observers have now
claimed to see chimps in the wild leaving each other ‘notes’. Separate
groups of chimpanzees have different ways of doing things, and pass
these ways on through the generations: that is, chimpanzees have culture,
just as humans have culture. In a word, they might be human. Morris
Goodman, a geneticist at Wayne State University School of Medicine in
Detroit, argues that chimpanzees should be included with humans in the
same evolutionary grouping.
2. ....... The evidence is in the DNA. Instead of comparing digits, or spinal

structure, or the teeth, taxonomists - scientists who deal in evolutionary
relationships - have now begun to consider the basic information of life,
reproduction and development. Goodman and his colleagues report in
their article that they compared 97 genes in six different species: humans,
chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans, old world monkeys and mice. DNA is
common to all life: the closer the DNAs match, the closer the evolutionary
link. Humans and chimps came out with a similarity of 99.4%. On the
strength of this, Goodman says: think again, humans.
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3. ....... But at another level, he is raising an argument about human links

with the rest of creation. Are humans a breed apart, with dominion over fish,
flesh and fowl? Or are humans just gifted apes, lucky enough to have an
edge over their nearest relatives? And if the latter, then what responsibilities
do humans owe to their fellow creatures?
4. ....... If apes were reclassified as human, would they then be entitled to

human rights? And if apes were classified as human, would Homo sapiens
be guilty of genocide?
Task 1: Complete the Glossary table.
Word Word type Transcription Vietnamese meaning
1 communicate (with sb)
2 linguist
3 improvise
4 evolutionary
5 evidence
6 compare (sth with sth)
7 reproduction
8 colleague
9 gene
10 geneticist
11 species
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Word Word type Transcription Vietnamese meaning
12 chimp / chimpanzee
13 gorilla
14 orang-utan
15 ape
16 breed
17 Homo sapiens
18 genocide
Task 2: Scan the passage and underline topical words (words that help
you identify topic/theme of the passage).
Task 3: Skim the passage and identify the general idea of each paragraph.
Paragraph General idea
Task 4: The first sentence of each paragraph is missing. Match the

paragraphs and the 4 sentences provided.
A. At one level, he is reviving an argument about classification: what is it that

makes animals alike, and different, and how do you logically group them?
B. Chimps have language.
C. So a small change in classification translates into a big one in moral attitudes.
D. The evidence is not in their capacity to stand upright or use computer
touch screens.
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LESSON

Method used to conduct tests

2 ........................... the wire to make another one. Researchers gave Betty

A. compare ‘marked’ / ‘unmarked’ behavior

Method used to conduct tests

Orang-utan language project

Computers with touch-sensitive screens were placed in the cages of Azy

Method used to conduct tests

Read the passage and complete the tasks below.

2. ....... The evidence is in the DNA. Instead of comparing digits, or spinal

3. ....... But at another level, he is raising an argument about human links

4. ....... If apes were reclassified as human, would they then be entitled to

Task 1: Complete the Glossary table.

Word Word type Transcription Vietnamese meaning

1 communicate (with sb)

6 compare (sth with sth)

Word Word type Transcription Vietnamese meaning

Paragraph General idea

Task 4: The first sentence of each paragraph is missing. Match the

A. At one level, he is reviving an argument about classification: what is it that

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