Nature vs. nurture

 

 

Complete gaps 1 to 10 with ONE suitable word.

 

NATURE vs. NURTURE

 

The nature vs. nurture debate is the scientific, cultural, and philosophical debate about 1) __________ human culture, behavior, and personality are caused primarily by nature or nurture. Nature is often defined in this debate as genetic or hormone-based behaviors, 2) __________ nurture is most commonly defined as environment and experience.

The nature vs. nurture debate is an ongoing one. The modern debate often centers around the effect genes have 3) __________ human personalities as opposed to the influences that early environment and development might have. As cultural mores have changed, so have popular understandings of this debate. In the 1960s, for example, psychologists—and pop culture in general—4) __________ heavily influenced by the theories of behaviorism. This theory 5) __________ to the widespread belief that human personality is primarily influenced by experience and training. It was during this time that researcher John Money attempted to demonstrate that gender was a product of early conditioning by 6) __________ a boy, whose circumcision was botched, as a girl. His experiment seemed successful in the beginning, but ultimately was a failure.

In recent years, the nature side of the debate has 7) __________ more attention, with headlines trumpeting newly discovered genes for virtually every behavior. Evolutionary psychology and sociobiology are two 8) __________ of science that attempt to demonstrate the evolutionary roots of human behavior. Books authored by scientists in these fields are 9) __________ popular. However, critics 10) __________ emphasize the important role of early childhood environment, development, and cultural influences, and many have argued that sociobiology and evolutionary psychology are deterministic pseudo-sciences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poaching

 

Read the text about elephant poaching and do activities 1, 2 and 3.

Countries around the world are meeting in Doha, Qatar, this week to discuss a one-time sale of ivory. Tanzania and Zambia want to sell the stockpiles of ivory they have built up over the past few decades. They have as much as 90,000 kilograms of elephant tusks. Neighbouring Kenya is against any relaxing of the ban on the ivory trade. It says such action could increase the illegal trade, which would be a serious threat to elephant numbers. The Kenyan Wildlife Service's Patrick Omandi said: “We totally believe that any experiments to allow partial lifting of (the) international ban in ivory trade stimulates elephant poaching....Indeed there has been an increase in  poaching across the entire continent, with some countries losing their entire  population.”

 
Elephant poaching has risen seven-fold in Kenya since 2007. In 2009, 271 Kenyan elephants were killed by poachers, compared with 37 two years earlier. A pair of elephant tusks can sell for up to $2,000 in Kenya. That‟s a huge sum of money for poor farmers. The temptation to poach has increased in recent years because of the lack of rain. Many crops have failed and there is widespread hunger across much of the country. Another reason poaching is increasing is because elephants are competing for land and food with humans. Mr. Omandi said: "Human- elephant conflicts are growing and the view by the communities is that elephants are a pest." African ivory is used to make rubber stamps and necklaces in Asian countries like  China and Japan.

 

 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

 
a. The world will vote on whether to end the ban on selling ivory. T / F
b. There is almost 90,000 kilograms of ivory stockpiled around the world. T / F
c. Kenya said the ban on ivory is relaxing. T / F
d. Some countries have lost all their elephants to poachers. T / F
e. Elephant poaching has increased seven times in two years. T / F
f. Two elephant tusks sell for around $2,000 in Kenya. T / F
g. Very dry weather has lead to an increase in elephant poaching. T / F
h. Many African communities think elephants are a nuisance. T / F

 

 
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

 
1. stockpiles             a. big
2 relaxing                 b. whole
3. serious                 c. enormous
4. totally                  d. nuisance
5. entire                   e. absence
6. risen                     f. opinion
7. huge                     g. supplies
8. lack                      h. completely
9. view                     i. loosening
10. pest                     j. increased

 

 
3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

 
1. a one-time                                                   a. ban on the ivory trade
2 the stockpiles of ivory they have                 b. elephants are a pest
3. Kenya is against any relaxing of the           c. the entire continent
4. a serious threat to                                       d. of money
5. an increase in poaching across                   e. fold in Kenya
6. poaching has risen seven-                           f. sale of ivory
7. A pair of                                                      g. of the country
8. a huge sum                                                   h. built up
9. widespread hunger across much                  i. elephant numbers
10. the view by the communities is that          j. elephant tusks

 

 

 

 

ANSWERS

 
TRUE / FALSE:
a. F b. F c. F d. T e. F f. T g. T h. T

 

 
SYNONYM MATCH:
1. stockpiles a. supplies
2 relaxing b. loosening
3. serious c. grave
4. totally d. completely
5. entire e. whole
6. risen f. increased
7. huge g. enormous
8. lack h. absence
9. view i. opinion
10. pest j. nuisance

 

 
PHRASE MATCH:
1. a one-time a. sale of ivory
2 the stockpiles of ivory they have b. built up
3. Kenya is against any relaxing of the c. ban on the ivory trade
4. a serious threat to d. elephant numbers
5. an increase in poaching across e. the entire continent
6. poaching has risen seven- f. fold in Kenya
7. A pair of g. elephant tusks
8. a huge sum h. of money
9. widespread hunger across much i. of the country
10. the view by the communities is that j. elephants are a pes 

Renewable energy vs. Non-renewable energy

 

 

 

 

 

In this video you will learn vocabulary related to different kinds of renewable energy. Click on the link below.

Renewable energy  

 

Renewable energy is energy that is replaced naturally or controlled carefully and can therefore be used without the risk of using it all up. Renewable sources of energy include wind and solar power.

Fill the gap in each sentence with one word or expression from the box.

alternative fuel, biogas, geothermal, hydroelectric, hydroelectricity, renewable, solar, solar panels, wind farm, wind turbines

1. Biodiesel is a type of ________________ made from plants.

2. _______________ energy comes from heat that is stored deep in the Earth.

3. Most of the country’s ________________ energy is from wind power.

4. ___________ power is a way of harnessing energy from the sun.

5. ______________________ power stations are built near lakes and rivers in the mountains.

6. The city has a new fleet of buses that run on ____________ from food waste.

7. This offshore ______________ supplies 450,000 homes with electricity.

8. Some _______________ are located on land and others are located at sea.

9. We have installed ________________ on our roof and they produce almost all our electricity.

10. The country is planning to construct 50 dams for the generation of _______________ .

 

For the opposite kind, check the following link:

 Non-renewable energy 

Non-renewable energy is energy that cannot be replaced after use such as fossil fuels or natural resources (i.e. gas or oil). Do you know words related to non-renewable energy?

Fill the gap in each sentence with one word or expression from the box.

coal, electricity, energy, fossil fuels, gas, nuclear energy, oil, petrol, power, power station

1. When ____________, like coal and oil, are burned to produce energy, they create greenhouse gases.

2. The UK extracts _________, and some oil, from the North Sea.

3. There is a _______________ located near the town, which causes air pollution.

4. Several companies are drilling for ___________ in the region.

5. If more people installed solar panels, they would use less _____________ from non-renewable sources like coal.

6. Burning coal to generate ______________ produces far more carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels.

7. The aim is to eliminate carbon pollution from the ______________ industry by 2050.

8. ______________ does not produce carbon dioxide but it does produce radioactive waste.

9. At the height of the Industrial Revolution, vast numbers of people spent their lives working in factories and ___________ mines.

10.__________ and diesel fumes pollute the environment and contribute to climate change.