5
We followed the wrong path.
6
We opened the app.
7
Suddenly, the car slowed down and stopped.
8
My little brother noticed some lions.
3.12 Lesson 6D, Exercise 1
Max
Were you on holiday last week?
Molly
Yes, I was. I was on safari.
Max
Lucky you! Was it fun?
Molly
Yes, it was amazing. We travelled to Cape Town
to visit my uncle and the next day we were in
a jeep in the middle of the African plains!
Max
Wow!
Molly
From the jeep we could see giraffes, elephants
and zebras.
Max
Could you see any lions?
Molly
No, we couldn’t. Not there.
But later we crossed
the plain to a river and there were lions and
hippos. It was fantastic. And I wasn’t scared!
Max
It sounds incredible. Were there any tigers?
Molly
No, there weren’t. There aren’t any tigers in
Africa!
3.13 Lesson 6F
Real animals that were once a myth
1 Giant squid
In
Ancient Greek times, there were stories about huge sea
monsters with very long arms. Similar stories appeared in
the Middle Ages. These monsters lived in very deep water
but sometimes they attacked sailors. However, were these
creatures real or were they a myth?
For hundreds of years,
scientists were not sure. But that changed in 1873. a giant
squid attacked a small boat near the east coast of North
America. The fishermen in the boat used an axe to cut off
two of the giant squid’s arms. They were six metres long!
They showed the arms to the scientists at a local museum.
The scientists were amazed! Today, everyone knows that
giant squid are real but people very rarely see them. In fact,
only one video exists of a giant squid in its natural habitat.
2 Gorillas
About 2,500
years ago, an Ancient Greek explorer called
Hanno travelled to Africa. On one island near the coast,
there was a group of strange people with black hair on their
faces and bodies. He asked the local people for information
about them: they were ‘gorillae’, they answered. These
‘people’
were violent, bad-tempered and very strong. And for
hundreds of years, there were similar stories about strange
creatures – half human and half animal – in the forests of
Africa. The first scientific description of gorillas only
appeared in the 19th century. And
mountain gorillas were
a complete mystery until a German soldier discovered them
in 1902!
3 Okapi
The Ancient Egyptians were familiar with the okapi,
a strange creature from the forests of Africa. It looked like
a mix between a zebra and a horse. In the 19th century, the
famous British journalist and explorer Henry Stanley
described the same animal. But was it all a myth?
an English politician
in central Africa, Henry Johnston, was
very interested in Stanley’s description. He decided to find
the animal. It was not easy, but in 1901 Johnston finally
managed to get a complete okapi skin.
He sent it to London
and the scientists there were amazed. Later, they realised
that the okapi is not a type of zebra – in fact, it is a relative
of the giraffe.
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