Uebungsmaterial Read On

Worksheet by Jennifer Kerr

Humpback whales like to sing and to take up the songs of other whales

Read On • February 2023 • page 5 Page 1 of 8

Pre-reading

1. The article you are about to read is about humpback whales. How much do you know

about whales? Take this quiz and find out! Work in pairs and discuss which answers you

think are correct.

a) Which kind of whale is the largest animal that has ever lived?

Ο

Ο

Ο

humpback whale

blue whale

orca

b) The biggest species of whale can weigh as much as …?

Ο

Ο

Ο

4 elephants

14 elephants

24 elephants

c) Bowhead whales are one of the longest-living whale species. How long do you think bowhead

whales can live?

Ο

Ο

Ο

less than 50 years

around 100 years

more than 200 years

d) Grey whales travel very far during their annual migrations, further than most other mammals.

How far do they travel?

Ο

Ο

Ο

around 16,000 km

around 20,000 km

around 24,000 km

e) Humpback whales sing complex songs. Up to how many minutes can these songs last?

Ο

Ο

Ο

5 minutes

15 minutes

30 minutes

© 2023 Carl Ed. Schünemann KG. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.



2. Now brainstorm as many different whale species as you can. Work in pairs and note them

down in the space below.

Grammar

Change the following sentences to make them negative. Work individually and then check

with your partner.

Here is an example:

Humpback whales like to sing.

Humpback whales do not like to sing.

a) Grey whales travel very far for their annual migrations.

________________________________________________

b) Killer whales are highly social animals, and they usually travel in groups.

__________________________________________________________________

c) Bowhead whales and killer whales can live for a very long time.

_____________________________________________________________

d) Humpback whales can be found living in all the oceans around the world.

________________________________________________________________




Reading comprehension

1. Read the article once all the way through.

a) Write down five key points from the article. Work individually.

1) __________________________________________________________________________

2) __________________________________________________________________________

3) __________________________________________________________________________

4) __________________________________________________________________________

5) __________________________________________________________________________

b) Now compare your five key points from the article with those of your partner. Did you write down

similar points?

2. Look at the article again and scan read to find the following numbers and terms. What does

each number or term refer to? Insert them into the sentences below.

Note: there is one extra number in the table.

30 75 1990s

a few 14,000 3

a) The songs of humpback whales can last up to ________ minutes.

b) The first song revolution noticed by scientists was at the end of the _______.

c) Dr Garland used underwater microphones to record whale songs in French Polynesia and

Ecuador for _______ years.

d) Dr Garland’s research showed that a whale song had travelled more than __________

kilometres from Australia to Ecuador.

e) This whale song travelled very fast, taking only _______ years to travel thousands of

kilometres.




3. Decide if the following statements are true (T), false (F), or not mentioned in the article (N).

Statement T F N

a) New research shows that humpback whales borrow and pass on

songs from other humpback populations.

Ο Ο Ο

b) All species of whales make sounds to communicate. Ο Ο Ο

c) Only male humpback whales sing. Ο Ο Ο

d) Scientists are not sure why humpback whales sing songs. Ο Ο Ο

e) Humpback songs usually evolve slowly. Ο Ο Ο

f) Dr Ellen Garland is a marine biologist at a university in America. Ο Ο Ο

g) Dr Garland has spent her whole life researching whales. Ο Ο Ο

h) Researchers think it is unlikely that whale songs can travel

across the Southern Hemisphere.

Ο Ο Ο

4. Working individually, write a short summary of this article. Use your own words and write

in full sentences.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________




Use of English

Find synonyms (>>) in the text for the words and expressions below. The paragraphs where

you can find the words and expressions are indicated in brackets.

a) person (>>) ________________ (para. 1)

b) transference (>>) ________________ (para. 1)

c) to appeal to (>>) ________________ (para. 2)

d) abruptly (>>) ________________ (para. 3)

e) nearby (>>) ________________ (para. 3)

f) investigation (>>) ________________ (para. 4)

g) to find (>>) ________________ (para. 5)

h) in total (>>) ________________ (para. 8)

i) whole (>>) ________________ (para. 10)

j) probable (>>) ________________ (para. 10)

Post-reading

1. Discuss the following questions in small groups of three or four. Make sure everyone gets

a chance to share their opinion.

a) Did you find this article interesting? Why / why not?

b) Did you learn something new from this article? Share one thing you learnt with the group.

c) Do you think it’s important to do this kind of research into whales and other animals?

Why / why not?

d) In the last paragraph of the article, it says that new discoveries about whale songs might tell us

more about the evolution of human language. What do you think about this? How could it relate to

humans?

e) Can you think of any other research into animals which helps us learn about human behaviour and

evolution?




Now think of a couple of your own questions about this topic to ask the group.

- ________________________________________________________________ ?

- ________________________________________________________________ ?

2. You are going to make a quiz about an animal of your choice.

a) Start by doing some research to find interesting facts about animals and then decide which

animal you want to focus your quiz on. Note down five to ten interesting facts about your

animal of choice.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

b) Then use the template below to make at least five questions, each with three answer

options. Remember to keep a note somewhere of the correct answers.

Question 1

___________________________________________________________?

Ο

Ο

Ο

______________

______________

______________




Question 2

___________________________________________________________?

Ο

Ο

Ο

______________

______________

______________

Question 3

___________________________________________________________?

Ο

Ο

Ο

______________

______________

______________

Question 4

___________________________________________________________?

Ο

Ο

Ο

______________

______________

______________

Question 5

___________________________________________________________?

Ο

Ο

Ο

______________

______________

______________

c) Now get into small groups. Take it in turns to ask each other your quiz questions.




Answer key

Pre-reading

1. a) blue whale • b) 24 elephants (blue whale) • c) more than 200 years • d) around 16,000 km • e) 30 minutes

Grammar

a) Grey whales do not travel very far for their annual migrations. • b) Killer whales are not highly social

animals, and they do not usually travel in groups. • c) Bowhead whales and killer whales cannot live for a very

long time. • d) Humpback whales cannot be found living in all the oceans around the world.

Reading comprehension

2. a) 30 • b) 1990s • c) 3 • d) 14,000 • e) a few

3. a) F (para. 1) • b) N (-) • c) T (para. 2) • d) T (para. 2) • e) T (para. 3) • f) F (para. 4) • g) N (-) • h) F (para. 10)

Use of English

a) human(s) • b) transmission(s) • c) to attract • d) suddenly • e) neighbouring • f) study • g) discover(ed) • h)

altogether • i) entire • j) likely

Hinweis: Die Zugangsdaten zu Ihrem persönlichen Abo dürfen Sie nicht an Dritte weitergeben.


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