ON THE EDGE  2

THINK AND DISCUSS

Answers will vary. Possible answers:

1. Some species I know that are endangered include the green sea turtle, the snow leopard, the monarch butterfly, the giant panda, the rhinoceros, the orangutan, and the gorilla.

2. Some reasons these animals are endangered include loss of habitat, poaching, and disease.

EXPLORE THE THEME

A 1. the tiger; its status is listed as endangered and there are fewer than 4,000 remaining in the wild

2. These animals play an important role in nature and the food chain, in addition to being important cultural assets in many countries.

B predators, prey, poaching, feasible, secretive

Reading

PREPARING TO READ

A 1. assessed

2. lethal

3. resolve (Note: The vocabulary word is the noun form of resolve.)

4. project (Note: The verb project is stressed on the second syllable when pronounced: project. However, the noun is instead stressed on the first syllable: project.)

5. dedicated

B 1. authority

2. apparently

3. acknowledge

4. hypothetical

5. priority

C Answers will vary. Possible answers:

1. Some organizations I know that are dedicated to protecting wildlife include the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, and the Jane Goodall Institute.

2. I think the animals that are most endangered should be a priority, such as the rhinoceros. Sadly, once a species disappears, we will never get it back.

D Answers will vary. Actual answers:

A physical description of tigers; reasons why they are endangered; tiger conservation efforts; the future for tigers

UNDERSTANDING THE READING

A 1, 3, 4

B 1. e (Paragraph E)

2. g (Paragraph E)

3. i (Paragraph F)

4. b (Paragraph F)

5. f (Paragraph G)

6. a (Paragraph M)

7. j (Paragraph M)

C Problem: Tigers are endangered.

Possible Reasons: Past conservation efforts were not successful; growth of human populations [E]. Tigers’ rareness is part of their mystique, so

people accept it [D]; poaching [E]; loss of habitat [E]; black market demand for tiger parts [E]; infrastructure projects [H]; “mission drift” with conservation agencies [K]

Possible Solutions: Tiger reserves need recognized corridors of land for safe passage between them [G]; safeguarding core breeding

populations [K]; systematic patrolling and monitoring of sites [L]

D a. 3 (Paragraph E)

b. 5 (Paragraphs I–M)

c. 1 (Paragraphs A–C)

d. 4 (Paragraphs F–H)

e. 2 (Paragraph D)

E Answers will vary. Possible answers:

1. I found the opening effective; it made me want to read on. I felt like I was there watching the tiger, and it communicated how majestic these

animals are, which is one reason why they’re worth protecting.

2. Perhaps the article could have started with reasons that tigers are endangered and ended with a description of the power and mystery of

tigers.

F 1. c (Then she turns to regard us with a look of bored indifference.)

2. h (The tiger is powerful enough to kill and drag prey five times its weight, yet it can move through high grass, forest, and even water in

unnerving silence.)

2. b (The tiger has been a threatened species for most of my lifetime, and its rareness has come to be regarded—like its dramatic coloring—as a defining attribute.)

4. d (In the early 21st century, tigers in the wild face complete annihilation.)

5. f (Less acknowledged are decades of botched conservation strategies.)

6. e (The tiger population, dispersed among Asia’s 13 tiger countries, … )

7. a (An unwelcome revelation of the new census is that nearly a third of India’s tigers live outside tiger reserves, … )

8. g (Central to this approach is the need for systematic patrolling and monitoring of sites assessed as harboring defensible core tiger

populations.)

G Answers will vary. Possible answers:

I feel it’s very important to protect endangered species. The planet benefits from having balance in the natural world, and when species become extinct, this balance begins to wobble. Eventually, it will have devastating effects on the natural world and our lives as well.

DEVELOPING READING SKILLS

A 1. Appositive: one of 40 in India; refers to: Ranthambore Tiger Reserve

2. Appositive: co-founder of Panthera, refers to: Tom Kaplan; Appositive: an organization dedicated to big cats, refers to: Panthera

3. Appositive: here-and-now, flesh-and-blood tigers, refers to: tigers

4. Appositive: the kind of development that often destroys habitat, refers to: infrastructure projects

5. Appositive: the Year of the Tiger, refers to: 2010

B Answer will vary. Possible answers:

(Paragraph A) The conference chairman kept referring to the Holocene, the epoch that began 11,500 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, and that—officially, at least—continues to this day.

Video

BEFORE VIEWING

A Answers will vary. Possible answers:

habitat loss, expanding human populations, poaching, botched conservation efforts, black market for parts

B 1. They mostly live in forested areas in the very cold climate of the Russian Far East. The low population density means the tigers are more

remote from humans.

2. Answers will vary. Possible answers: poaching, black market for parts, logging

C 1. stabilize

2. dominant

3. food chain

WHILE VIEWING

A a

B 1. It has a longer, thicker coat (to survive the extreme cold).

2. Female: 200 square miles; Male: 500 square miles

3. logging and poaching

4. The decline has stabilized since the mid-1990s.

AFTER VIEWING

A Answers will vary. Possible answer:

Maybe they need a larger territory for hunting. Also, perhaps because the male tigers are more dominant than females, they take more territory.

B Answers will vary. Possible answers:

The Siberian tiger is endangered just like other species of tiger. Unlike some other species of tiger, the Siberian tiger lives far away from people

and towns. However, these tigers are still losing habitat as a result of logging. While the Siberian tiger population has stabilized in recent decades, Siberian tigers still face a threat of extinction because their numbers are still low.

Writing

EXPLORING WRITTEN ENGLISH

A 1. Funding

2. threatened

3. Components

4. exacerbated

5. Initiatives

6. Safeguarding

7. strategy

8. sacrifice

LANGUAGE FOR WRITING

B Answers will vary. Possible answers:

1. The Bengal tiger, India’s national animal, is one of India’s most popular attractions.

2. In addition to tigers, other animals—monkeys, deer, wild boars, owls, and parakeets—live in Ranthambore.

3. Ranthambore, a former private hunting estate, is home to 41 tigers.

4. Fateh Singh Rathore, the assistant field director of the reserve, used to work at Ranthambore when it was a hunting estate.

5. Zaw Win Khaing, the head ranger of a tiger reserve in Myanmar, once saw a tiger in 2002.

WRITING SKILL

C 1. a (Explanation: It presents opinions and expresses the ideas that will be explained in the body paragraphs.)

2. a (Explanation: It presents an opinion/position and includes a reference to the reason for it.)

D Answers will vary. Possible answer:

My opinion: Governments should spend more money to protect tigers.

Reason 1: Tigers are an important cultural asset for the countries in which they live.

Reason 2: Tigers help bring visitors to countries, which helps support a country’s economy.Thesis statement: Governments need to spend

more money to protect tigers because these animals are not only a cultural asset, but also a way to bring money into the nation’s economy.

WRITING TASK

A Answers will vary. Possible answers:

Animals: sea turtles, lemurs, rhinos

Natural places: Amazon Rain Forest, Great Barrier Reef

B Answers will vary. Possible answers:

Introduction:

Information about the animal/habitat/place: rain forest in Borneo, world’s third largest island How is it valuable? home to Sumatran tiger,

Sumatran rhinoceros, pygmy elephant, Bornean orangutan, plus other species of animal and plant life Why is it in danger? logging, forest fires, and development

Thesis Statement: We need to protect Borneo because it is home to so many different species and because the rain forest helps reverse damage

from climate change.

Body Paragraph 1

Topic Sentence: It is important to protect Borneo so that we can save all the different forms of life that live on the island.

Supporting Detail: thousands of species of plants, animal, and insect life; wildlife like the pygmy elephant unique to the island; new species still

being found that can have medicinal use

Body Paragraph 2

Topic Sentence: We also need to protect Borneo in order to protect the globe from climate change.

Supporting Detail: One of the last rain forests in the world; we need rain forests to counter climate change; rain forests absorb carbon dioxide and

produce rain

Conclusion: What can be done to protect it? With a combination of international and local efforts, Borneo may be saved from destruction.

REVISING PRACTICE

1. c, b, a

2. a. Visitors to Borneo can enjoy its beautiful beaches and mountains.

b. Answers will vary. Possible answer: We also need to protect Borneo—home of one of the world’s last remaining rain forests—in order to protect the globe from climate change.

c. Answers will vary. Possible answer: The Borneo Project, an international organization, provides support to local communities.

EDITING PRACTICE

1. Tigers, they are an endangered species, live throughout Asia.

2. Ranthambore, a tiger reserve, is in India.

3. Tiger conservationists, people who protect tigers, are looking for new solutions. / Tiger conservationists—people who protect tigers—are

looking for new solutions.

4. Corridors, are paths for safe travel, may help tigers survive in wild areas.

5. There are fewer than 4,000 tigers—the biggest cats in the world.

UNIT REVIEW

1. Answers will vary. Possible answers: loss of habitat, poaching, killing

2. Answers will vary. Possible answers: safeguard breeding areas; establish safe corridors for animals to pass between the reserves; better patrolling and monitoring of tiger population

3. a position on a topic and references to reasons for that position

4. Answers will vary.