The Plesiosaur

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35115195 : 18/12/2015

200-year-old fossil mystery resolved

Scientists have reconstructed how an ancient reptile swam in the oceans at the time of the dinosaurs.

Discussion

1. What dinosaurs do you know of?
2. What's your favourite dinosaur?
3. When were they alive on earth?
4. Have you ever been to a dinosaur museum?
5. What's your favourite dinosaur movie?
6. What do you know of the Loch Ness Monster?

New Words:

plesiosaur (n)   a limb (n)  gait (n)

unveil (v)  palaeontologist (n)  Jurrassic (adj)

hind (adj)  forelimb-dominated (adj)

manoeuvrability (n)  palaeobiology (n) 

 ferocious (adj)

Read the article and answer this question:

1. What is it about? 

Read it again in detail and answer the questions at the end.

Computer simulations suggest the plesiosaur moved through the water like a penguin, using its front limbs as paddles and back limbs for steering.

The creature's swimming gait has been a mystery since bones of the first known specimen were dug out of a Dorset cliff 200 years ago.

Watch the video of how it moved here.

The plesiosaur was discovered by the fossil hunter Mary Anning in 1821.

At the time even the name dinosaur had not been invented.

A scientific paper unveiling Anning's find a few years later raised the question of how the marine creature swam, given its unusual pairs of wing-like flippers.

The debate has continued until today, with a computer simulation based on a Jurassic fossil specimen providing evidence in favour of penguin-like motion.

Dr Adam Smith of Nottingham Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall, worked on the study.

He explained that palaeontologists were divided on whether the marine creature used its four limbs in a rowing action like the oars of a boat; a flight stroke similar to modern penguins and turtles; or some sort of combination of the two.

"Our study shows the up-and-down movement is more likely," he told BBC News.

"That's how turtles and penguins swim today.

"Penguins are literally flying through the water."

The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, is based on a computer simulation of a Jurassic fossil from Germany.

The fossil is unusual in being an almost complete skeleton with all four limbs preserved.

It is smaller than many other members of the plesiosaur family, at about 3m long.

The computer model shows the animal's hind limbs provided "relatively weak thrust", say Dr Smith and co-researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, US.

"We conclude that plesiosaurs were forelimb-dominated swimmers that used their hind limbs mainly for manoeuvrability and stability," they report.

The plesiosaurs were predatory marine reptiles that lived at the time of the dinosaurs.

They are unique in the animal kingdom for having two pairs of large wing-like flippers.

Palaeobiology expert Dr David Martill of the University of Portsmouth said the new work suggested that in the small plesiosaur at least, the forelimbs did all the work.

He said it remained to be seen if the same was true of the largest plesiosaurs, which were ferocious marine predators.

"These beasts probably fed by twist feeding like the large crocodiles of today," he said.

"If this were the case, then the hind limbs may have been used to spin the animal on its long axis."

Questions:

1. When were the bones of the first specimen found?

2. Who found them and where?

3. Why is the time of this finding especially interesting?

4. What two ways of swimming were suggested to be the way of motion through water of the dinosaur?

5. Which way is chosen by Dr Adam Smith of Nottingham Natural History Museum?

6. What is special about the fossil found in Germany?

7. What does the computer model show?

8. Is this the same for small and large plesiosaurs?

9. How is it thought that they feed?

Discussion / Writing Ideas

1. Write a story abut a dinosaur set in modern day. How did it get here? What happens? How many people does it eat? Can it get home? Happy or sad ending?

2. Do you think we will ever be able to clone dinosaurs like in the movie Jurassic Park? Do you think we should, or not?

3. Do you think the Loch Ness Monster may have been a plesiosaur?

The Hallowe'en Plagiarist

This is a short story I wrote on 31/10/2017 for an Upper Intermediate student to practice Academic Vocabulary. It's from the great book Destination C1 & C2 Grammar & Vocabulary by Malcolm Mann & Steve Taylor-Knowles, published by Macmillan. Unit 2 Page 12 Topic Vocabulary : Learning.

Check the following words in your dictionary and then read the story and answer the questions below.

academic (n,adj)  cloisters (n)  conscientious (adj) 

cram (v)  curriculum (n)  extra-curricular (adj)

distance learning (n)  graduate (v,n)  ignorant (adj)

inattentive (adj)  intellectual (adj)  intelligent (adj)

intensive (adj)  knowledgeable (adj)  lecture (n,v)

mock exam (n)  plagiarise (v)  a plagiarist (n)

self-study (n)  seminar (n)  social implications (n)

special needs (n)  spontaneous combustion (n)  tuition (n)

a tutorial (n)

The Hallowe'en Plagiarist

I wasn't a very conscientious student.

At Oxford the extra-curricular activities took priority over my coursework, so I rarely attended lectures, often opting for 'distance learning' from my unmade bed via my room-mate's hastily scribbled notes.

Bernard was an intellectual with black curly hair drifting down past the smudged lenses of his John Lennon spectacles. Imagine. We'd been thrust together at the whim of some administrative assistant, who'd thought that if we shared one course and the same initials then we'd at least have that in common.

Bernard was, how shall I put it, of a delicate persuasion. The persuasion that made meeting other undergrads late at night in velvet gowns in the cloisters of the chapel to stand around a pentagram drawn in warm chicken blood on the cold stone floor chanting Latin sound like the makings of a good Saturday night. I on the other hand was happy with popcorn and a drive-in. Call me old-fashioned.

The mid term mock exams were soon upon us and I had done no studying whatsoever. I hadn't attended any tutorials and my copies of Bernard's notes were in complete disarray.

“You off out Bernie?” It was the night before Hallowe'en.

He turned at the door, his dark slender form silhouetted by the corridor light. “Ye – yes,” he stammered. “Quite a biggie tonight.” He attempted a smile which came out more like a nervous grimace. Even the irises of his eyes seemed black.

“Not worried about the Social Implications essay due in on Monday? Worth half the mark.”

“Done it,” he said, nodding towards his desk.

I followed his gaze. “Oh?” His desk was relatively in order.

There was an awkward silence.

“Well,” I said, “Have a good night. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.”

He gave me an odd look then. Pale. One that I will remember for ever.

And then he was gone.

The next morning, dead.

Shock, tears, investigations, police, parents, packed things.

What happened? Nobody knew. His body had been discovered in the river, his skin slit by countless non-fatal knife marks. Non-fatal individually. Not together.

That evening, when things had quietened down, I sat on my bed wrapped in a blanket staring red-eyed, high and paranoid, at the glowing red numbers of the digital clock on the desk on his side of the room.

As I watched, 11:47 changed to 11:48.

I slowly stood up, walked shakily over to the desk, and pulled open the top drawer.

“Social Implications, by B. R.”

I reached inside, my joint hanging from my mouth.

Some ash fell on the papers.

11:59 changed to 00:00.

“Sorry Bernie,” I whispered.

They found me the next morning. Or at least my charred skeleton, my lower legs and my hands. I'd spontaneously combusted, my right hand still clutched the papers in a rigor mortis death grip.

So that's me - a ghost - left here to wander forever through the dark, lonely university corridors, my only amusement frightening the odd undergraduate or lecturer on their way home late at night.

Something like this must surely affect the entire community, but how? I don't know. I never studied the social implications.

The End

1) What do you think were the 'extra-curricular activities' that Bernie was taking part in?

2) How do you think he died?

3) Why do you think the narrator died at the end?

Discussion/Writing Questions

4) Is it ever acceptable to copy someone else's work?

5) Have you ever been to university or college? Tell us about that.

6) Have you ever cheated on an exam? Tell all.

7) Have you ever had a ghostly experience? Tell us all about it! :)

8) What did you think of the story? Like? Dislike? Why?

9) Now your turn! Write a short ghost story using the above new vocabulary :)

Image Credit : https://www.flickr.com/photos/artiomp/4061353880/

© Chris Young 2017

Sports Discussion

You don't always need a teacher in the room to practice speaking English. Get a few friends together of about the same level and discuss the below questions. Help each other with vocabulary and try to keep the discussion going as long as possible. Try to use a wide range of grammar and vocabulary. If any of your friends/classmates makes a mistake, tell them.

Comparing and contrasting photos is a common exercise used in many speaking exams, especially Cambridge English : First. When talking about how photos are different, try to use the word 'whereas', EG, "In the first picture they are playing inside, whereas in the second picture they are playing outdoors."

1. Do you know the names of all the above sports in English?
2. Talk about a sport that you do/ used to do.
3. Ask each other questions about their sport.
4. Why is it important / beneficial to do a sport these days?
5. Do you think people do more or less sport than before these days? Why?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. What do you think about international sport, eg the World Cup, The Olympics, etc.?
7. Which do you prefer, to do sport or to watch sport? Why?
8. What do you think are the mental / psychological benefits of regular sport?
9. Can technology help us / encourage us to do sport?
10. Whats the difference between sport and exercise?
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Whats the difference between team sports and individual sports?
12. What do you think about blood sports? (Boxing, Cage fighting etc)
13. What are your opinions on betting on the outcome of matches/competitions?
14. Is there much corruption in sport?
15. What do you know about doping in sports?
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
16. Do you think professional sports people get paid enough? Too much? Why?
17. Have you heard any sports news recently?
18. Why is it important to encourage sports on young people?
19. What sports are unique to your country?
20. Choose two photos on this page and compare and contrast them, saying which sport you would prefer to do and why.

If you'd like to practice writing, all you need to do is sit down and write out your answers to the above questions :) Microsoft Word will help you know if you've made a grammar spelling mistake. Feel free to write some answers in the comments and if I or maybe if someone else has time I or we can give you some feedback.

Photo credits  : 

wikinews sports  - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Acagastya

Beach volleyball : http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Team-Sport-Volley-Ball-Sports-Sport-Volleyball-2639700 

Rugby : https://health.mil/News/Articles/2016/09/28/Do-the-benefits-of-sports-participation-outweigh-the-risks

Soccer : https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/01/06/sports-vandalism-on-wikipedia/

Parachuting : https://pixnio.com/sport/extreme-sports/parachute-lake-mountain-extreme-sport-reflection