The Loose Button

George wore a pair of blue shorts around the house. They were old, faded, and ugly, but they were comfortable. And when you are at home, you want to be comfortable.

But when he put on his blue shorts one morning, the button was just hanging on by a thread. That single button was the only thing that held his shorts up.

George could do two things. He could wait until the button fell off. Or, he could sew the button on securely before it fell off.

He found his sewing kit. He threaded the needle. Then he started the needle through the cloth. He directed it through one of the holes in the button. Then he reversed direction. He put the needle back through a different hole, and then through the cloth again.

He repeated this motion through all four button holes until the button was tight. He put on the shorts and buttoned the button. It was strong.

Good for another ten years, he smiled to himself.

MODULE 5

1. 1. – E; 2. – D; 3. – 0; 4. – B; 5. – A; 6. - C

2. 1. T; 2. F; 3. NS; 4. T; 5. T; 6. F; 7. NS; 8. F; 9. NS; 10. F

3. a) 1. – D; 2. – C; 3. – E; 4. – 0; 5. – A; 6. – B

b) 1. d; 2. c; 3. b; 4. c; 5. b; 6. c;

4. 1. T; 2. F; 3. NS; 4. T; 5. F; 6. F; 7. NS; 8. T;

5. a) 1. –C; 2. –E; 3. – A; 4. – 0; 5. – D; 6.– B

b) 1. T; 2. F; 3. T; 4. NS; 5. T; 6. F; 7. F; 8. NS;

6. 1. b; 2. c; 3. d; 4. c; 5. c; 6. b; 7. d; 8. b; 9. b; 10. a

Plants

The fact that plants do not live a passive life has been known

for sometime now. Two separate and reliable research studies RELY

reveal that these silent communicators may be 'talking' COMMUNICATE

to each other and us! If you have ever noticed that certain

plants seem to thrive (цвести) next to each other, it may

not be a coincidence or proof of your superior gardening COINCIDE / PROVE

skills, but it shows the good neighbourly feelings between NEIGHBOUR/ FEEL

the two. At least that's what an Australian team of AUSTRALIA

researchers believes. RESEARCH

The evolutionary ecologist states that plants use some kind of ECOLOGY

acoustic signaling to communicate with each other and it may

allow the weaker plant to thrive or die. What's even more interesting INTEREST

is that the scientist believes the communication happens SCIENCE/ COMMUNICATE

at a very early stage. Monica, who published her findings in FIND

the 7th online edition of BMC Ecology, reached this conclusion CONCLUDE

following an interesting study she conducted with some chili pepper, INTEREST

basil and fennel plants. So farmers may be able to use sound to encourage FARM/ COURAGE

or discourage the growth of certain plants, COURAGE/GROW

helping to reduce their dependence on fertilizers and pesticides. DEPEND

8.

Some French scientists have been recently able to reproduce BE/RERODUCE

and actually hear the sounds trees make, when they are in ACTUAL

a drought situation and trying to extract as much water as TRY

they can, from the ground.

This fascinating discovery was made by Grenoble University MAKE

physicist Philippe Marmottant. They began their experiment BEGIN

by taking slivers (щепки) of a dead pine tree and bathing it TAKE

in hydrogel - essentially creating the conditions of a living tree. CREATE

They then exposed the branch to an artificially dry environment EXPOSE

and recorded the sounds. What they heard were popping RECORD/HEAR

(хлопающий) or gasping sounds made by the tree. In fact, MAKE

the sounds move 10 times faster than what the human ear can hear. FAST

They are now developing sensors that will be able to detect DEVELOP/BE

these sounds which may help in saving many trees from dying. SAVE

So be sure that your garden is filled with friendly plants and if FILL

you are one of those who constantly forget to water BE

the houseplant, you will have to change your habits. HAVE

9.

On February 8th 2013, scientists from European Space SCIENCE/EUROPE

Agency (ESA) announced that their weather satellite

with an instrument designed to sense ozone concentrations CONCENTRATE

made it clear that the seasonal ozone 'hole' above the SEASON

Antarctica had shrunk to record levels! The scientists are SCIENCE

quite enthusiastic about the information because ozone ENTHUSIASM/ INFORM

forms a protective layer about 12-19 miles up in the PROTECT

stratosphere, and is a natural sunscreen which prevents NATURE

the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays from reaching the Earth's HARM

surface. Without it, humans would be even more exposed

to sunburn and skin cancer. Though it will take years to

restore the world's ozone concentration to the level it was CONCENTRATE

in the 1960's, scientists believe that the hole over the Antarctica SCIENCE

will be completely repaired within the next few decades COMPLETE

if we change our destructive habits and refuse to use DESTRUCT

chlorofluorocarbons in aerosols and refrigeration.

10.

The US multimillionaire Dennis Tito, a very ambitious man, AMBITION

announced in February 2013 that his non-profit organization

was planning to sponsor a flight to Mars in 2018. This FLY

announcement may arouse some skepticism, but his ANNOUNCE/SCEPTIC

Inspiration Mars Foundation has begun to receive hundreds of FOUND

applications from people interested in the journey. APPLY/INTEREST

It is just a flyby so after suffering from a lot of discomfort COMFORT

the astronauts will not even get to walk on the Red Planet.

Morover, it could be dangerous as no space vehicle has DANGER

re-entered theatmosphere at such a rapid pace. So why is

Tito doing it? He wants to prove that humans can explore

deep space. To make the mission successful the spacecraft SUCCESS

will have to be ready by January 2018.

11.