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     Volume 4 Issue 25 | December 17, 2004 |


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Education


             

Before you read today's article, think about these questions.

* Do you know what a mangrove is? How would you describe them to someone if they do not know?
* Where in Bangladesh are you likely to see them?
* In different places around the world there are mangrove forests. Why are these forests important?
* In many countries, the numbers of wild animals, birds and plants are decreasing. Think of one or two examples of animals or birds that are decreasing in number. Why are they decreasing?
* Do you think it is important to preserve the mangrove forest for future generations?

Vocabulary:
Match the following words with their meanings.

1. endangered
a. catching or killing animals illegally.
2. species
b. to keep someone or something safe.

3. protect
c. a group of plants or animals that are the same.
4. threats
d. something whose survival is in threatened.

5. poaching
e. places of natural or cultural importance around the world that are very special.
6. World heritage
f. things that are said and sites done that can hurt or damage somebody or something.

Reading:
Read the headline and the first paragraph of the text and then choose the statement that you think gives the main idea of its message.

Main ideas.
1. The Sundarbans forest is the biggest mangrove forest in the world.
2. The government of Bangladesh and India will work together to try to save the Sundarbans forest.
3. The United Nations (UN) made a plan to protect the Sundarbans Forest.

Bangladesh, India To Work To Save Sundarban Forest.

Bangladesh and India will work together under a UN plan to protect the Sundarbans forest. The Sundarbans (9,630 square kilometres in area) is the world's biggest mangrove forest and is shared by the two countries, officials said. (continued…)

Answering questions:
Here are some questions about today's article. In each question one word is in the wrong place. Find the word and move it into its correct place to make the question correct. Then read the text and answer the questions.

1. Where the Sundarbans forest is?
2. How big it is?
3. When was made a world heritage it site?
4. Endangered animal, which lives in the forest?
5. Is the name of a tree that is found only in the Sundarbans forest what?
6. How important is it that Bangladesh and India work together to the forest save?

(…continued.) The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) made the Sundarbans a world heritage site in 1997.
Nearly two-thirds of the Sundarbans lie in Bangladesh and the rest in India, stretching along the Bay of Bengal. Sundarbans is the home to the endangered Royal Bengal Tigers and a number of other unique species such as the Sundari tree, which is found nowhere else in the world.
Now it is facing a number of threats including poaching, the cutting down of trees and decreasing amounts of freshwater flowing into the forest, experts told UNDP at a sponsored seminar in Dhaka.
A UNDP representative in Bangladesh said it was very important that the two governments work together in order to save the Sundarban. UN development program officials said they have got $100,000 from the UN International Partnership Fund and $20,000 from UNESCO to support the Sundarban protection drive so far.

Answer the following questions about the text above.
1. What does the text say are the dangers or problems for the forest?
2. How could the two governments help to stop these problems?

Language:
The Sundarbans is the world's biggest mangrove forest…
Big is an adjective, bigger is the comparative and the biggest is the superlative form.
Add "er" to make the comparative and add "est" to make the superlative adjective.
If the word has two syllables and it ends with "y", drop the "y" and add "ier" to make the comparative; add "iest" to make the superlative.
If the word has two syllables and does not end with a "y" or has three or four syllables, add "more" before the adjective to make the comparative and add "most" before the adjective to make the superlative adjective.
Use the adjective in brackets in a superlative form to fill the gap in each of the sentences below. You will also need to use the article 'the'.

1. I visited the Sundarbans last year. It was the__________ place I have been to. (interesting)
2. The Royal Bengal Tiger is one of __________ animals in the world. (rare)
3. Poaching is one of __________ problems we have. (serious)
4. The tiger is __________ member of the cat family. (large)
5. The Sundarbans provide people with some of __________forest products in Bangladesh. (valuable)
6. He said it would be __________ problem to solve, but I don't agree with him. (easy)
7. It's one of __________places I've ever visited. (wet)

Writing:
Do you now think the Sundarbans are so important? Why/why not?

ANSWERS
Matching: 1 d 2 c 3 b 4 - f 5 a 6 e
Headline main idea 2
1. Where is the Sundarban forest?
2. How is big it?
3. When was it made a world heritage site?
4. Which endangered animal, lives in the forest?
5. What is the name of a tree that is found only in the Sundarban forest?
6. How important is it that Bangladesh and India work together to save the forest?
Language work : 1. the most interesting, 2. the rarest, 3. the most serious 4. the largets. 5. the most valuable 6. the easiest 7. the wettest

 

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