Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.0 Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions: English For Academic Study Lecture 1 (Worksheet)
1.0 Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions: English For Academic Study Lecture 1 (Worksheet)
Lecture 1 (Worksheet)
1. For a long time, scientists have speculated that birds might actually be descendants from
dinosaurs; but they have had no proof, at least not until recently. In 1998, diggers in
Chinas fossil-rich earth found dinosaur bones bearing feather- like markings. According
to paleontologist Philip Currie, the fossils are the evidence needed to prove the dinosaurbird connection. However, Larry Martin, a paleontologist at the University of Kansas, is
less convinced that the impression on the bones come from feathers. Still, he, like almost
everyone else who tries to reconstruct the past, is anxious to see the new fossils when
they go on display. From his point of view, seeing just may be believing.
Theme:________________________________________________________________
Main Point:_____________________________________________________________
2. The plant known as Kudzu was introduced to South America in the 1920s. At the time, it
promised to be a boon to farmers who needed a cheap and abundant food crop for pigs,
goats, and cattle. However, within half a century, kudzu had overrun seven million acres
of land, and many patches of the plant had developed root systems weighing up to three
hundred pounds. Currently, no one really knows how to keep kudzu under control, and it
is creating problems for everyone from farmers to boaters.
Theme:________________________________________________________________
Main Idea:______________________________________________________________
3. The web of some spiders contains drops of glue that hold their prey fast. Other webs
contain a kind of natural Velcro that tangles and grabs the legs of insects. Then, too,
spider webs do not always function simply as traps. Some webs also acts as lures. Garden
spiders use a special silk that make their intricate decorations stand out, and experiments
have shown that the decorated parts attract more insects. Other kinds of spiders, like the
spitting spiders, use webs as weapons. The web is pulled taut to snap shut when a fly
enters.
Theme:________________________________________________________________
Main Point:_____________________________________________________________
4. Cleveland child psychologist Sylvia Rimm interviewed 5,400 children in eighteen states
about their worries, fears, relationships, and confidence. She also talked to another 300
children in focus groups. She discovered that overweight children felt less intelligent and
less confident than their normal-weight peers. Overweight children also worry more than
their slimmer peers. Rimm discovered as well, that heavier children are lonelier and
sadder than other kids, describing family relationship more negatively than averageweight children describe theirs. Unfortunately, most overweight kids are forced to endure
their peers hurtful taunts and ridicule much more frequently than normal-weight kids do.
Theme:________________________________________________________________
Main Point:_____________________________________________________________