Interactive Vocabulary - Amy E. Olsen 2017

Chapter 7. Amazing Animals
Part II. The Unusual

Special Abilities

Cats

It isn't evident today what attracted the Egyptians to cats, but they believed cats had divine qualities. The penalty for killing a cat was death. Several cat temples and graveyards have been discovered in Egypt. Today the nimble cat is often seen jumping surprising distances, but it also has an ability that isn't as widely known. Some cats have demonstrated the aptitude to find their way back to their owners when lost or left behind. In 1951 a cat named Sugar had to be left in Anderson, California, when he wouldn't travel in the car for the family's move to Oklahoma. A neighbor adopted the cat, but within three weeks he disappeared. Thirteen months later, Sugar showed up at the Woods' house in Oklahoma. At first Mrs. Woods thought it was another Persian cat that looked like Sugar, but she was able to verify that it was Sugar because this cat had the same unusual hipbone deformity as Sugar. It seems implausible, but Sugar had traveled 1,500 miles to be reunited with his family.

Elephants

Animal communication has many remarkable qualities. A method that baffled humans was how elephants could talk to each other over several miles. The answer proved elusive until 1985 when researcher Katherine Payne sensed movement in the air while watching elephants at the zoo. She surmised that this movement was related to the fluttering of the elephant's forehead she had just noticed. Using recording equipment, she discovered that the elephants were using low-frequency sounds that humans can't hear. By using this low-frequency sound, which travels well, elephants with their keen sense of hearing can warn distant mem­bers of the herd about approaching dangers or locate a mate miles away.

Porcupine Fish

The tenacious nature of animals is evident in how they face danger—they don't just give up. To cope with the various dangers of their environments, animals have to have a continuous awareness of their surroundings, and the oceans supply as many threats as the land. To thwart an attacker, the porcupine fish has developed an efficient method. The fish puffs itself up with water if caught under­water or with air if trapped on the surface. Its spines become erect and can tear the mouth of its attacker. When the danger has passed, the porcupine fish takes a few minutes to let the water or air out and then swims away.

Predicting

For each set, write the definition on the line next to the word to which it belongs. If you are unsure, return to the reading on page 48, and underline any context clues you find. After you've made your predictions, check your answers against the Word List on page 53. Place a checkmark in the box next to each word whose definition you missed. These are the words you'll want to study closely.

Set One

clear

unlikely

hard to get hold of

to confirm

quick and light in movement

□ 1. evident (line 1) ...

□ 2. nimble (line 3) ...

□ 3. verify (line 11) ...

□ 4. implausible (line 12) ...

□ 5. elusive (line 16) ...

Set Two

tough

to stop

alertness

guessed

extremely alert or sensitive

□ 6. surmised (line 18) …

□ 7. keen (line 23) …

□ 8. tenacious (line 25) …

□ 9. awareness (line 27) …

□ 10. thwart (line 29) …

Self-Tests

1 For Set One, match each term with its synonym. For Set Two, match each term with its antonym.

Synonyms

Set One

1. surmise  a. mysterious

2. evident  b. quick

3. elusive  c. suspect

4. nimble  d. doubtful

5. implausible e. clear

Antonyms

Set Two

6. awareness   f. weak

7. keen    g. dull

8. thwart    h. inattention

9. tenacious   i. allow

10. verify    j. question

2 Circle the word that best completes each sentence.

1. It sounded (implausible, nimble), but my daughter assured me that a squirrel had eaten the note from her teacher.

2. The Tennessee state quarter I have been looking for has proved to be quite (elusive, keen).

3. My brother's (elusive, keen) mind enables him to comprehend new duties at work quickly.

4. My (surmise, awareness) of why I was in the hospital was slow to come until I remembered the skiing accident.

5. The storeowner hoped to (verify, thwart) thefts by installing bars on all the windows.

6. Erikson was (tenacious, nimble) and finally beat his brother at basketball after losing ten straight games.

7. I want to (verify, surmise) your address so that I can send you a postcard.

8. It is 7:20, and my appointment is at 7:30 twenty miles away. It is (awareness, evident) that I will not make it there on time.

9. Laura is excellent at yoga because her body is so (nimble, implausible).

10. I thought I could (surmise, thwart) what my birthday present was after my boyfriend gave me three clues.

3 Answer the questions about each example. Use each word once.

VOCABULARY LIST

verify elusive  awareness  evident  implausible

keen surmise  tenacious  nimble  thwart

1. During her solo, Toni's fingers danced over the piano keys to the delight of the audience. What can be said about her fingers?

2. Alexander calls the store to confirm that it is open. What does he want to do?

3. Fluffy trotted into the kitchen when he heard the lid of the cat-food can being opened. What is Fluffy showing his owner?

4. The windshield was crackeq, and the bumper smashed. It didn't take long for Ramon's friends to figure out that he had been in an accident because it was what?

5. A hamster has avoided being caught for two weeks. What has the hamster proven to be?

6. Connie can hear her kids talking two rooms away. What kind of hearing does she have?

7. Zhu tried to learn the tango, but she kept stumbling during one step. What was that move doing to her?

8. Karl, who lives in Los Angeles, said he was late because a herd of elephants was blocking his driveway. What would most people call his reason?

9. Marin and Anders were so hungry that they spent most of the afternoon trying to guess what their mom was going to make for dinner. What did the kids spend their time doing?

10. Kris refused to quit fishing though he had been out for six hours and hadn't gotten one bite. What word would describe his behavior?

Identify the two vocabulary words represented in the drawings.

4 Complete the following reading by using the vocabulary words. Use each word once.

Vocabulary list

awareness evident   verify   thwarts  elusive

implausible tenacious  surmised  keen   nimble

It is usually (1)... that animals have special skills, but some of them aren't so obvious. For example, it seems (2)... that an animal can survive after eating cyanide, but the

golden bamboo lemur does just that. It eats the shoots of a bamboo in Madagascar that contain cyanide. It eats about 18 pounds a day, which is equal to 12 times the deadly dose for humans. Scientists have not been able to (3)... how the golden bamboo lemur can survive on such a diet. However, they have (4)... different theories. One theory is that eating the iron-rich soil of the area (5)...the ill effects of the cyanide.

After years of observation, researchers developed a(n) (6)... that chimps and gorillas could be taught American Sign Language. It was discovered that it was difficult for chimps to form words using speech, but with their (7)... fingers, apes have been able to talk to humans. Through the (8)... efforts of researchers, chimps and gorillas have been taught hundreds of words.

Koko, a gorilla, is especially (9)... She has learned more than one thousand signs. A word was never (10)... for the chimp Lucy. She made up her own words such as "candy drink" to describe watermelon. Animals certainly have amazed humans with what they are capable of doing.

Interactive Exercise

Answer the following questions in the spaces provided.

1. What are two activities you are keen on doing?

2. What animal do you think is especially nimble?

3. What is something you are tenacious about?

4. How could you thwart an animal from eating your plants?

5. Name a situation where you would need to surmise something;

6. How would you verify the statement that chimps can use tools?

7. Create an implausible reason for not doing your homework.

8. What are two situations today that you think people need a greater awareness about?

9. What is something that has been elusive in your life?

10. Name one evident way that animals are important to people.

Word Part Reminder

Below are a few exercises to help you review the word parts you have been learning. Fill in the missing word part from the list, and circle the meaning of the word part found in each sentence. Try to complete the questions without returning to the Word Parts chapter, but if you get stuck, look back at Chapter 4.

Example: I need to my boss something, but he looks busy, so I will save my question for later.

man    dis   clar  re

1. If someone moves away from you, they have increased the ...tance between you.

2. I need to go over my notes again because it is helpful to ...view before a test.

3. If you get your hand worked on by having the nails shaped and polished, you are getting a ...icure.

4. I told Katia she had to be clear on what time she would arrive because Tuesday was going to be busy for me; she said she would check her weekly planner to ...ify her schedule.

Words to Watch

Which words would you like to practice with a bit more? Pick 3-5 words to study, and list them below. Write the word and its definition, and compose your own sentence using the word correctly. This extra practice could be the final touch to learning a word.