test 1 B2.pdf

Many people do not realize that there is a plague that has r i sen from the depths o f

human society . This plague leaves humans untouched but it affects our little brothers

in a most horrifying way. Since the late 20 t h

century marked a trend of de c lines , the

world has been losing its amphibians . These catastrophic declines could remove

amphibians from the ea r th surface for ever . What can be observed as an irreversible

l o ss of species is also a warning that the earth is losing its ability to support life . The

f i rst v i ctim of the plague was the Palestinian Painted Frog which was las t spotted in

1955. Soon after , the Vegas Valley Leopard Frog was driven to extinc t ion when its

habitat was replaced by parking lots , golf courses and swimming pools . Out of 238

amph i bians on the Redlist of Threatened Species , five are already extinct and

hundreds more are endangered . It is not actually possible to know of all of the

extinctions there may be as t h ere are representatives of all th r ee of the amphibian

groups on the Redlist . Take for example caecillians . They are worm-like burrowing

creatures confined to the trop i cal and sub t ropical regions of the world . Because of

t he i r mostly subterranean habitat , encounters with caecillians are really rare. Thus ,

kn o w l edge about them is rather poor . There have been only two caecillian fossils ever

found which suggest they have hardly " evolved since their first appearance m i llions of

years ago . These specific creatures are w ell adapted to their subte r ranean life. Their

eyes are s m al l and some have eyes hi d den inside of the skull ; hence , the name

" caecillian " which simply stands for " blind " . Caecillians do not l ay eggs. They ar e

viviparous .

Salamanders , which are so popular with terrarium and aquarium keepers , are another

group of amphibians that have suffered a lot . They a r e easily distinguishable because

t hey are the only amph i bians that re t ain a well developed tail afte r their larval stage .

Many salamanders resemble lizards for which they are so often mistaken. Unlike most

amph i bians , salamanders shed their skin as they con t inue to grow after reaching

matu r ity. After the skin is shed, the salamander devours i t . Like caecillians and all

othe r amphib i ans , sala m anders are known to be very sensitive to water quali t y . They

absorb wa t e r through their skin together with all chemicals in it . Si n c e most

amphibians d e velop in water , hormone-iike chemicals can adversely influe n ce the

gro w th and dev e lopment . Deformed salamanders or frogs with missing or extra f i mbs

have become a common view in certain areas.

Many other factors c ont r ibute to the declines and deformi t ie s . T h e h o l e in t h e ozon e

laye r pl ays a p art, too since amphib i ans are highly sens itiv e t o u l tr a vi olet ra d ia t i on

which kills their embryos. L ots of amphibian s are dependen t on t e mp orar y wet l ands

t hat fo r m a ft er sto r ms i n sp ri ng or summer. T h e se wetlands d o n o t n ormall y form in

de v eloped areas or if they do, they are of t en too polluted fo r a mp h i b i ans to breed.

R ecent researches have determi n ed the cu r rent annual dec li ne r a t e o f amphibia n s

which is 2% . If t he decline of a mph i bians con t inues at this ra t e , e v e nt uall y amphib i a n s

w i ll d isappear from the planet. Five amphibi a n species were d ri ve n t o e xti nction in t he

20 th ce nt ury a lone. E v en i f the declines are no t a warning sign , amphibians constit u te

an i m porta n t pa r t o f t he e cosyste m . They a r e a source of food fo r p r edatory birds and

their be a uty has inspired many a story, poe m or a l egend. Take for instance religious

documents like the Bible and t he K ora n . C ould th e world be the same without

amphibians , w i tho u t frogs' songs on hot summe r n i ghts?

1. The serious dec li nes in t he number of amphibians began in the 20 th

ce n tury.

2. T h e Palestinian P ain t ed F r og has bee n se e n on several occasions

sinc e 1955 . . 1 '

3 . Some o f Vegas Valley Leopard Frogs live now in golf courses.

4 . 238 spec i es of amphibians from th e Re d list are extinct.

5. Caecillians can only been found i n tropica l and subtropical regions .

6 . Caecillains have not changed much for ages.

7. "Caec i llian" means " l i ving under ground".

8. Caecill i ans give birth to live young .

9. Salam a nders a nd lizards are the same species.

10 . Afte r shedding their skin, salamanders u s ually eat i t.

11. Pollu t ed w ater does not prevent amphibians f r om developing.

12. Amphibians w i th de f o r med bodies are rarely f ound.

13. Some amphibians lay eggs in pools o f rain water.

14 . Amphibians will d i sappear from earth in t wo decades.

15. Some amphibians are mentioned in t he Bible and t he K oran.

1. The fil m star firmly objected to

dur i ng the press conference.

a) b e pho t ographe d

b) being photog r aphed

c) be in g photogra p h i ng

d) p h otograp h her

- - ~ ~ con s i dered we decided to hire it without even

- - : - a · n g the monthly rent with the landlord .

om being spacious sufficiently

b) that the room be enough spacious

: -: c om to be sufficiently spacious

d) enough spacious the room to be

- -~ • .... ..... . . . . .. . ....... . ..

by their father three times , the children finally stopped

r u l y .

a n d i ng them

b) having bee~ reprimanded

ere being reprimanded

d) they had reprimanded

e pl ane landed ,

_ : : I eel safe

b) I didn ' t feel safe

" - n safe

d) didn ' t I feel safely

e r

these heavy suitcases by yourself.

o t t o li ft

b) d i d you not lift

s o ul dn ' t lift

d) you didn't lift

on g of Michael

by a professional mechanic .

h ave had the engine repaired

b) having not to repair the engine

a e n ' t had the engine repa i red

d) not repair i ng the engine

ut with us?

_ e e · t he children to party b) to let the children partying

: : . . g th e children pa r ty d) let the children party

li t i ca l crisis in the Middle East

into a military conflict

~ a l .

b) is reporting as turning

i g reported to bein g turning

d) i s reported to be turning

-~ i e r you climb ,

in the air.

e i s l ess oxygen

b) the less oxygen there i s

- " e e the less oxygen

d) less oxygen is there

~ ~ - . a b o u t time

to provide for yourself?

o accustomed to having

b) that you should get accustomed to have

o to accustom to have

d) your gett i ng accustomed to having

I d i ers are not allowed to leave the barracks under any account.

e r no

s h e was a wealthy person , she wouldn ' t spare a pound on charity .

- - -

r eported that traces of the fugitives have been spotted.

ce s of the fugitives

4 . They m i ght have forgotten a b o ut our or d er . ( likely)

They

5 . We didn ' t have to bUy the ca r insurance . ( no need )

6 . I don 't usual l y remember people ' s s ur names . ( memory ) '

I don't

7 . T h e r e w as s o much n oise in the p l ace t h at I could n ot h ear my o wn v o i ce . ( such)

8 . ' I don ' t mind yo ur s i t ti ng in t he lab as long as you d o n ' t t o u ch any t h in g . ' - said Joe.

Joe sa id

9 . Th i s i s t h e hi ghes t skyscrape r I have ever seen .

I haven't

10 . These high hee l ed shoes are no longer f ash i onable . (out )

1 . M any p eople ha v e mo v e d o ut of th i s a r e a as they w ere

( F EAR) o f f requent earthqua k es . •

2 . I a m so gla d I ha ve t his (SPACE) r oom t o myse l f . Fi n al l y , there

i s enough pla c e f or a l l my books and dic t i on a ries .

3 . Al thou g h doc t o rs ha v e told Gi n a t o cut down on swee t s , she finds the tem p ta t i o n

of cheesecake q u i te

( RES I ST ) .

4 . The r e ' s a

(STR I K E) s im i lar i ty betwee n t h ese two p aintings .

I wo nder wh i ch one i s fake .

5 . Th e (L IK ELY) that f o r ms o f l if e si m ilar t o t hose o n ear t h exi s t

s o me w he r e i n s pac e is very li t t l e .

6 . Th e f ac t t h at bo t h s i des a greed t o cease f i re was very

(ADVA N TAGE ) t o t he w hole peace p r o cess .

7 . I n som e Afr ican co u ntries (LITERA T E) is s ti ll a g reat prob l em .

The r e a r e s t i l l t oo f ew p eop l e who can r ead and write .

8 . O nce M r Pe r ry lea v es , we wi ll have to fin d a

(R EP L ACE) f o r

hi m. His p osi ti on canno t stay vacant f or too long .

9 . T h e ra ng e o f d est ru c t ion was

( I M AG IN E) . W he r e v er on e

looked th e r e w as nothing but r u bble .

1 0 . A few

(ADJUST) h ave ha d t o be in troduced in t he project t o

make i t mo r e practical .

11 . M orris is a

(HABI T) g a mbler . H e spends h i s e v ery second

evening i n t he cas in o .

1 2 . Thank y o u f o r your (GENEROUS) . Without your support, the

construct i on of the hospital would have never been c ompleted .

13. Like the pound or the dol l ar, the zloty is a

(CONVER ' f : )

currency .

14 . With all their rusty guns and obsolete fight i ng meth o ds , the rebels were quite

. . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . . (DEFEND) against the w el l - equipped regular units .

15. Celebr i t i es hate it when their privacy is v i olated by inquisit i ve fans or

.. .. . . .... . . ... . . . . . . .. . ..

( I N TRUDE) paparazz i .

advan c e

comm o n

debt

exchange

mo o d

need

recogn i ti o n

sight

t o uch

use

view

1 . I haven't h e ard from Ursula recently . In fa c t , we haven't been in

sin ce her last b i rthday .

2 . We had t o take a loan t o buy the c a r. N o w, we're in

3 . This p l ace l o oks deserted . There's nobo d y in

who we co u ld

ask for the way

4. Our boss wants us to inf o rm him in

about every decision we're

going to take. < 1

5 . As they say, a friend i n is a fri e nd i ndeed .

6 . In o f his s c ient i fic achievem e nts , the professor ha s been

awarded the Nob e l pr i ze.

7. Several de c ades ag o , these strange ma c hin e s were in

almost every ho u seho l d . Now, they can on l y b e see n i n museum s .

8. Leave me al o ne . I ' m i n no f or y o ur s i l l y jok es.

9 . In of your c l ean r ecord, y o u w i l l not be fined this time . But next

t i me you break safety regulations, y o u won't get away w i th it .

10. I'm afraid Mark and Steve won't make good fr i ends. They have v e ry li ttle in

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