L21 - F3 (Reading)

Learning Standards

Reading 3.1.6 Recognise with support typical features at word, sentence and text levels of a range of genres
Speaking 2.1.1 Paraphrase short simple texts

Unit Opener

Name ONE place you consider to be one of the Wonders of Nature.

Pre Reading

Word Focus

coral polyp

a small animal that lives in the sea

limestone

a rock that is made of calcium carbonate

cement

a grey powder that is mixed with sand and water to make concrete

Equator

an imaginary line drawn around the middle of the earth

mollusc

an animal that has a soft body and is often covered with a shell

stun

make unconscious and unable to move for a short time

Find meaning of these words in your own language.

A - Work with a partner. What do you usually read? Look at the ideas below. Which ones do you read the most?

books
ebooks
magazines
text messages
newspapers
notices and posters
websites
blogs
adverts
postcards

B - Look at the ideas in A again. With a partner, decide if the information you read in each ...

gives facts
entertains the reader
is educational
gives personal opinions

While Reading

Cities Beneath the Sea

Coral polyps are truly the animals that helped make the world. For millions of years, tiny coral polyps have been building underwater cities. The polyps create something called limestone which they then live on top of. There are huge amounts of limestone under the ocean in islands and mountains. These limestone islands and mountains are called coral reefs. Some reefs are bigger than anything people have ever made. The Egyptians used it to build the Great Pyramids. We have used limestone to build many buildings, and crushed limestone is used to make cement.

A Variety of Life

Living coral reefs are amazing ‘cities beneath the sea’ that are full of life. The reefs develop well in the warm oceans near the Equator. Among the world’s most colourful places, coral reefs are full of brightly-coloured fish. Reef fish are an important food source for humans and many are caught for food around the world.

The Biggest of Them All

The Great Barrier Reef, in Australia, is the largest reef in the world. It is 2,000 kilometres long. Over 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and approximately 4,000 types of mollusc live in, on and around the reef. Each year, thousands of visitors come to see this remarkable world beneath the waves. However, there are rules - visitors can only visit 5% of the reef. In this way, they can still enjoy the reef while it remains protected for future generations.

Threats to Coral Reefs

In recent years, a number of dangers have threatened coral reefs and the life that depends on them. One of the biggest threats is an illegal way of fishing that explodes bombs in the water to kill as many fish as possible. It kills most living things and causes great damage to the reef’s structure.

Fishing with an extremely dangerous chemical called cyanide is another threat to reefs, particularly in the Philippines. Fishermen put this poisonous chemical into the reef water because it stuns the fish and they can’t move. They catch the fish easily and then sell them for big money to aquariums or restaurants. The chemical they use kills coral polyps, and causes large areas of the reef to die.

Water pollution also damages reefs. In addition, warmer water in the oceans has been causing many areas of the reefs to turn white. Biologists are worried that further warming may damage coral reefs even more.

Reasons for Hope

Threats to coral reefs are serious, but there is reason to hope that they will survive. Coral reef conservation can help these tiny coral polyps, which have survived natural threats for millions of years, to rebuild the damaged reefs that so many ocean creatures and plants depend on.

C - Read the text quickly. Where could you read this type of text? What type of information does it have in it?

Reflection

Share ONE new information you have learned from this article with a friend.

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