2a: A source of life

Discuss:

1. What facts do you know about water?

I know that a big part of our bodies is water. I also know that it's healthy to drink lots of water every day.

2. What do you like learning facts about?

Science and technology.

3. Where do you get information from?

From encyclopaedias and the Internet.

1. Read

A. Read and match the questions with the answers. Then, listen and check your answers.

1. C I read somewhere that the human body is 75% water. Is that true?

2. B Is it true that the Earth and Mars are the only planets in our solar system with water?

3. A Where’s the deepest point in the sea?

4. D A boy at school said that he could survive without water for more than a month. Is this possible?

Comprehension questions:

1. How much water does the Pacific Ocean contain?

It contains 30% of all the water on Earth.

2. What's the deepest point in the sea?

The Marianas Trench.

3. How deep is it?

It's 10,918m.

4. What have scientists discovered under the surface of Mars?

Ice.

5. Where is it?

At the north and south poles.

6. Why can you easily spot Mars in the sky?

Because of its position and because it's a bright planet.

7. How much of the Earth is covered by water?

72%.

8. How much water is there in the human body?

50-65%.

9. How long can you survive without food?

For more than a month.

10. And without water?

For about a week.

11. How much water should you drink to stay healthy?

8 glasses a day or more if you exercise.

12. What does it mean if your mouth feels dry?

That you've lost between 6-10% of the water in your body.

13. What can that cause?

It can make you dizzy or give you blurred vision.

B. Read again and write T for True or F for False.

1. A person who weighs 40kg contains 70 litres of water. F

2. Mars is also called the Red Planet. T

3. There is water at the poles of Mars. F

4. The Marianas Trench is in the Pacific Ocean. T

5. When your mouth feels dry, you have probably exercised too much. F

C. Read the questions and the text again. Find words and match them with the meanings below.

1. a place in an area (answer a): Point.

2. the top part of an area of sea or land (answer b): Surface.

3. show that what you are saying is true (answer b): Proved.

4. see where something is (answer b): Position.

5. something that can happen (question 4): Possible.

2 Grammar

Complete the sentences with the or —.

1. The River Nile is one of the longest rivers in the world.

2. Jeff goes – to work early in the morning.

3. I buy – Earth Matters every Thursday.

4. Tom went to – Riyadh and visited the Kingdom Tower.

5. Everybody knows that we can’t live without – food and – water for long.

6. – Lake Superior is to the north-east of – Minnesota.

7. Robert walks to – school every day.

3. Pronunciation

B. Read the following words. Underline the stressed syllable or syllables in each word. Then listen and check your answers.

1. a'pproximately

2. 'telescope

3. 'disad'vantage

4. 'disa'ppear

5. 'temperature

6. 'infor'mation

7. 'compe'tition

8. com'parison

9. di'scover

4 Listen

B. Listen again and complete the sentences.

1. The Orinoco is a river.

2. Maracaibo is South America’s largest lake.

3. Tourists can visit the waterfalls and the national parks.

4. The hills of the Andes have a wide variety of colourful flowers.

5. Pabellon is made of black beans,

rice, meat and fried.

bananas.

5. Write

Write a paragraph about your country. Use some of ideas below.

My country is Saudi Arabia. It has a very important position in the Middle East and it's got the Red Sea to the West and the Arabian Gulf to the East.

Saudi Arabia has the largest sand desert in the world, which is the Rub Al-Khali.

It also has a big mountain range in Asir Province which is nearly 3,000 metres high.

There are a few lakes but there aren't any rivers.