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To beat about the bush.
Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm.
Unit 5
CLIMATE
Topical Vocabulary
The Weather - Describing the Weather
breeze
breezy
bright
clear
cloud
cloudy
damp
drizzle
drizzly
dry
dull
fog
foggy
hailstone
lightning
rain
raindrop
rainfall
rainy
shower
showery
snow
snowfall
snowflake
snowy
storm
stormy
sun
sunny
sunshine
thunder
wet
wind
windy
The Weather - The Temperature
chilly
cold
freezing
hot
mild
scorching
warm
The Weather - Verbs
glow
freeze
Погода - Описание погоды
бриз, легкий ветерок
свежий, прохладный, живой
ясно, яркий
безоблачный
облако, туча, небеса
облачный, хмурый, неясный, пасмур-й
влажный, сырой, сырость, влажность
мелкий дождь, изморось, дождь
моросящий
сухой, сушь, засуха, сухая погода
пасмурный, тусклый
густой туман, мгла, морской туман
туманный, мглистый, темный
град
молния
дождь
дождевая капля
дождевые осадки, дождь, ливень
дождливый, ненастный
ливень, литься ливнем, душ
дождливый, ливневый
снег
снегопад
снежинка
покрытый снегом, заснеженный
буря, гроза, ураган, град
бурный, грозовой, штормовой
солнце
солнечный
хорошая, солнечная погода
гром, грохот, молнии, греметь
влажность, мокрый, влажный
ветер
ветреный
Погода - Температура
холодный, прохладный, зябкий, ледяной
холодный, холод, стужа, замерзший
замерзание, заморозки, леденящий
горячий, жаркий
мягкий, умеренный, несуровый
палящий, раскаленный, обжигать
теплый, жаркий, нагретый
Погода – Глаголы
накаляться до красна или добела, светиться, сверкать
замерзать, превращаться в лед, морозить
hail
pour (with rain)
rain
shine
Climate
altitude
biome
climate
climatic
desert
drought
humidity
hurricane
latitude
monsoon
precipitation
rainforest
savanna
steppe
westerly
идти (о граде), сыпаться градом
лить, литься (о дожде)
идти (о дожде)
светить (о солнце)
Климат
высота над уровнем моря
биом
климат
климатический
пустыня
засуха
влажность
ураган
широта
муссон
осадки
тропический лес, влажные джунгли
саванна
степь
западный ветер
Vocabulary Exercises
Exercise 1
Make all possible derivatives from the following words:
Sun, rain, snow, freeze
Exercise 2
Chose the words from the topical vocabulary to match the definitions:
- a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air;
- a feathery ice crystal, typically displaying delicate sixfold symmetry;
- small balls of ice that fall like rain from the sky;
- a thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface that obscures or restricts visibility;
- a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow;
- the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder;
- a waterless, desolate area of land with little or no vegetation, typically one covered with sand;
- a severe, often destructive storm, esp. a tropical cyclone.
Exercise 3
Use the words from the topical vocabulary to fill in the gaps.
1. Suddenly rain … down.
2. Heavy … made travel absolutely impossible this winter.
3. The sky became dark with … and it began to … heavily.
4. The sun was …. brightly in the … sky.
5. When there is …, there are tiny drops of water in the air which form a thick cloud and make it difficult to see things.
6. The … is of concern to environmentalists because of its role as a source of biodiversity, and as a sink for large volumes of carbon dioxide.
Climate
Climate (from Ancient Greek klima, meaning inclination) is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period. The standard averaging period is 30 years, but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations.
The difference between climate and weather is usefully summarized by the popular phrase "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get." Over historical time spans there are a number of nearly constant variables that determine climate, including latitude, altitude, proportion of land to water, and proximity to oceans and mountains. These change only over periods of millions of years due to processes such as plate tectonics. Other climate determinants are more dynamic: the thermohaline circulation of the ocean leads to a 5 °C (9 °F) warming of the northern Atlantic Ocean compared to other ocean basins. Other ocean currents redistribute heat between land and water on a more regional scale. The density and type of vegetation coverage affects solar heat absorption, water retention, and rainfall on a regional level. Alterations in the quantity of atmospheric greenhouse gases determines the amount of solar energy retained by the planet, leading to global warming or global cooling. The variables which determine climate are numerous and the interactions complex, but there is general agreement that the broad outlines are understood, at least insofar as the determinants of historical climate change are concerned.
Climate classification
There are several ways to classify climates into similar regimes. Originally, climes were defined in Ancient Greece to describe the weather depending upon a location's latitude. Modern climate classification methods can be broadly divided into genetic methods, which focus on the causes of climate, and empiric methods, which focus on the effects of climate. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on the relative frequency of different air mass types or locations within synoptic weather disturbances. Examples of empiric classifications include climate zones defined by plant hardiness, evapotranspiration, or more generally the Köppen climate classification which was originally designed to identify the climates associated with certain biomes. A common shortcoming of these classification schemes is that they produce distinct boundaries between the zones they define, rather than the gradual transition of climate properties more common in nature.
Exercise 1
Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
ежегодные колебания; средний период; промежуток времени; близость океана и гор; тектоника плит; океанический бассейн; глобальное потепление и похолодание; поглощение солнечного тепла; влагоудержание; типы воздушных масс; эвапотранспирация.
Exercise 2
Complete the sentences:
1. The standard averaging period of climate is …
2. Climate is …, weather is … .
3. The density and type of vegetation coverage affects …
4. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on …
5. Examples of empiric classifications include …
Exercise 3
Answer the questions:
1. What is climate?
2. What is the difference between climate and weather?
3. What are the constant variables that determine climate?
4. What are the two main methods of modern climate classification?
5. What is the Köppen climate classification associated with?
World Climate Zones
Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate.
Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years). This includes the region's general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are air temperature and precipitation.
World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a biome.
Köppen Climate Classification System
The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used for classifying the world's climates. Most classification systems used today are based on the one introduced in 1900 by the Russian-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen. Köppen divided the Earth's surface into climatic regions that generally coincided with world patterns of vegetation and soils.
The Köppen system recognizes five major climate types based on the annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation. Each type is designated by a capital letter.
A - Moist Tropical Climates are known for their high temperatures year round and for their large amount of year round rain.
B - Dry Climates are characterized by little rain and a huge daily temperature range. Two subgroups, S - semiarid or steppe, and W - arid or desert, are used with the B climates.
C - In Humid Middle Latitude Climates land/water differences play a large part. These climates have warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
D - Continental Climates can be found in the interior regions of large land masses. Total precipitation is not very high and seasonal temperatures vary widely.
E - Cold Climates describe this climate type perfectly. These climates are part of areas where permanent ice and tundra are always present. Only about four months of the year have above freezing temperatures.
Further subgroups are designated by a second, lower case letter which distinguish specific seasonal characteristics of temperature and precipitation.
f - Moist with adequate precipitation in all months and no dry season. This letter usually accompanies the A, C, and D climates.
m - Rainforest climate in spite of short, dry season in monsoon type cycle. This letter only applies to A climates.
s - There is a dry season in the summer of the respective hemisphere (high-sun season).
w - There is a dry season in the winter of the respective hemisphere (low-sun season).
To further denote variations in climate, a third letter was added to the code.
a - Hot summers where the warmest month is over 22°C (72°F). These can be found in C and D climates.
b - Warm summer with the warmest month below 22°C (72°F). These can also be found in C and D climates.
c - Cool, short summers with less than four months over 10°C (50°F) in the C and D climates.
d - Very cold winters with the coldest month below -38°C (-36°F) in the D climate only.
h - Dry-hot with a mean annual temperature over 18°C (64°F) in B climates only.
k - Dry-cold with a mean annual temperature under 18°C (64°F) in B climates only.
The Köppen classification depends on average monthly values of temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used form of the Köppen classification has five primary types labeled A through E. These primary types are A, tropical; B, dry; C, mild mid-latitude; D, cold mid-latitude; and E, polar. The five primary classifications can be further divided into secondary classifications such as rain forest, monsoon, tropical savanna, humid subtropical, humid continental, oceanic climate, Mediterranean climate, steppe, subarctic climate, tundra, polar ice cap, and desert.
Rain forests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1,750 millimetres (69 in) and 2,000 millimetres (79 in). Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.
A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months, ushering in a region's rainy season. Regions within North America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and East Asia are monsoon regimes.
A tropical savanna is a grassland biome located in semiarid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes, with average temperatures remain at or above 18 °C (64 °F) year round and rainfall between 750 millimetres (30 in) and 1,270 millimetres (50 in) a year. They are widespread on Africa, and are found in India, the northern parts of South America, Malaysia, and Australia.
The humid subtropical climate zone where winter rainfall (and sometimes snowfall) is associated with large storms that the westerlies steer from west to east. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms and from occasional tropical cyclones. Humid subtropical climates lie on the east side continents, roughly between latitudes 20° and 40° degrees away from the equator.
A humid continental climate is marked by variable weather patterns and a large seasonal temperature variance. Places with more than three months of average daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) and a coldest month temperature below −3 °C (27 °F) and which do not meet the criteria for an arid or semiarid climate, are classified as continental.
An oceanic climate is typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia, and is accompanied by plentiful precipitation year round.
The Mediterranean climate regime resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, parts of western North America, parts of Western and South Australia, in southwestern South Africa and in parts of central Chile. The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
A steppe is a dry grassland with an annual temperature range in the summer of up to 40 °C (104 °F) and during the winter down to −40 °C (−40 °F).
A subarctic climate has little precipitation, and monthly temperatures which are above 10 °C (50 °F) for one to three months of the year, with permafrost in large parts of the area due to the cold winters. Winters within subarctic climates usually include up to six months of temperatures averaging below 0 °C (32 °F).
Tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt, including vast areas of northern Russia and Canada.
A polar ice cap, or polar ice sheet, is a high-latitude region of a planet or moon that is covered in ice. Ice caps form because high-latitude regions receive less energy as solar radiation from the sun than equatorial regions, resulting in lower surface temperatures.
A desert is a landscape form or region that receives very little precipitation. Deserts usually have a large diurnal and seasonal temperature range, with high or low, depending on location daytime temperatures (in summer up to 45 °C or 113 °F, and low nighttime temperatures (in winter down to 0 °C or 32 °F due to extremely low humidity. Many deserts are formed by rain shadows, as mountains block the path of moisture and precipitation to the desert.
Exercise 1
Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
метеорологические условия; температура воздуха и осадки; экстремальные погодные условия; образцы растительности и почвы; полушарие; годовая температура; обильное выпадение осадков; вечная мерзлота; ледниковый покров; дневные температуры; низкая влажность.
Exercise 2
Complete the sentences:
1. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are …
2. World biomes are controlled by …
3. The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used for classifying the …
4. Moist Tropical Climates are known for their …
5. The five primary classifications can be further divided into secondary classifications such as …
6. Tundra occurs in …
7. A desert is a landscape form or region that receives …
Exercise 3
Answer the questions:
1. What are the most important factors determining an area's climate?
2. What is the most widely used climate classification system?
3. How many major climate types does the Köppen system recognize?
4. What are they based on?
5. What are the five primary types of climate classifications? Can you describe them?
6. What are the secondary classifications of these primary groups?
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time.
Weather is driven by density (temperature and moisture) differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the sun angle at any particular spot, which varies by latitude from the tropics. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the jet stream. Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow. Because the Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane, sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (100 °F to −40 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by the Earth and influence long-term climate and global climate change.
Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes due to differences in compressional heating. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. The atmosphere is a chaotic system, so small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout human history, and there is evidence that human activity such as agriculture and industry has inadvertently modified weather patterns.
Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind.
Exercise 1
Find in the text the English equivalents of the following words and expressions:
Природные явления; струйное течение (в атмосфере); внетропические ураганы; температура поверхности; нагрев при сжатии; прогнозирование погоды; солнечный ветер; земная ось; солнечная система; космические тела; плоскость орбиты; прогнозировать состояние атмосферы.
Exercise 2
Complete the sentences:
1. Most weather phenomena occur in …
2. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to …
3. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range …
4. Surface temperature differences in turn cause …
5. Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in …
Exercise 3
Answer the questions:
1. Where do most weather phenomena occur?
2. What gives rise to the jet stream?
3. What is weather forcasting?
4. In what way does human activity influence weather patterns?
5. What is solar wind?
Discussion
Do yon agree or not? Comment on the following statements.
1. Everything is good in its season.
2. If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun.
3. Rain at seven, fine at eleven.
Unit 6
TYPES OF FISH
Topical Vocabulary
anadromous
flank
belly
cartilage
catadromous
caudal fin
dorsal fin
ecosystem
egg
fin
gill
headwaters
milt
pelvic fin
predator
redd
scale
spawn
spinal column
swim-bladder
tributary
vertebrate
Types of Fishes
bass
bream
carp
catfish
cod
crab
crawdad, crayfish
dace
eel
flat-fish
garfish
goldfish
grass carp
hagfish
halibut
hake
herring
ling
lobster
lungfish
oyster
perch
pilchard
pike
rockfish
анадромный, проходной
бок, боковая сторона
живот, брюшко
хрящ
катадромный, полупроходной
хвостовой плавник
спинной плавник
экосистема
яйцо, икринка
плавник
жабры
воды с верховьев, истоки
молоки (рыб); оплодотворять икру
брюшной плавник
хищник
бугор (гнездо лососевых)
чешуя; чистить (рыбу)
икра; метать икру
позвоночник
плавательный пузырь
приток (реки)
позвоночное животное
Виды рыб
бас
лещ
карп
сом
треска
краб
рак
плотва
угорь
плоская рыба, камбала
морская щука
серебряный карась
белый амур
миксина
палтус
хек
сельдь
морская щука, морской налим
омар
двоякодышащая рыба
устрица
окунь
сардина
щука
морской еж, морской окунь
salmon
sardine
sea-horse
shark
shrimp
silver carp
smelt
sprat
sterlet
sturgeon
tadpole
tench
trout
tuna
swordfish
лосось
сардина
морской конек
акула
креветка
толстолобик
корюшка
килька, шпрот
стерлядь
осетр
головастик
линь
форель
тунец
рыба-меч
Vocabulary Exercises
Exercise 1
Name fresh-water (salt-water) fish.
Exercise 2
Chose the words from the topical vocabulary to match the definitions:
- a fish born in fresh water, that spends most of its life in the sea and returns to fresh water to spawn;
- the large single fin located along the back bone of a fish;
- one of the movable parts that look like wings, sticking out from the body of a fish. A fish uses its fins to swim and balance itself in the water;
- the waters from which a river begins;
- organisms living in a particular environment, such as a forest or a coral reef, and the physical parts of the environment that affect them;
- what a fish breathes with;
- paired fins located about halfway down the length of a fish along the abdomen;
- one of the hard, flat structures that cover the body of fish, snakes, and lizards.
Exercise 3
Use the words from the topical vocabulary to fill in the gaps.
1. A fish's … are the flat objects which stick out of its body and help it to swim and keep its balance.
2. He … the fish and removed the innards.
3. When fish or animals such as frogs …, they lay their eggs.
4. A … is a large sea fish with a very long upper jaw.
5. The skeleton of sharks and rays is composed of … rather than bone.
Fish
Fish are vertebrate animals that live in almost every part of the ocean, from the surface to the bottom of the deepest trenches, and even at the very edge of the sea. By 2004 over 20,000 species, including the 200 or so edible species, had been described. Since about 100 new species are being described each year, the total number of fishes may exceed 30,000 species.
About 60% of all vertebrate animals (animals with backbones) are fishes. About half the described species are marine, and approximately 75% of them live in shallow coastal waters. The types range from hagfish (Myxine spp.) to lungfish (Dipnoi), but here the discussion will centre on the bony fishes, which are by far the most diverse and species-rich group of fishes. They are distinct from the cartilaginous fishes, i.e. sharks and their relatives, by having bony rather than cartilaginous skeletons, gills covered with a flap, and mouths that are usually on the front of the head. The mouths of some fishes are armed with teeth that are used to rasp soft tissue, grind up molluscs, or scrape algae off rocks. Others, such as the seahorses, have no teeth and have tubular-shaped mouths adapted to suck up individual plankton.
The rich diversity of fishes is partly the result of their having adopted a great variety of ways of feeding. Their basic body form is spindle shaped, with dorsal fins on the back, two pairs of lateral fins, the pectorals and the pelvics, a ventral anal fin, and a large tail, or caudal fin that is usually symmetrical. The fins are composed of fine bones, or fin rays that normally are webbed. These fin rays can be developed into long sensory structures or hard spiny structures that may be armed with poison glands. The spindle shape gives a good hydrodynamic shape that slides through the water with minimum resistance when the posterior region of the body, and the tail, beats from side to side. However, this basic body shape has been greatly modified in different families of fish, especially in those families that live around the seabed. Eels have lost most of their fins and developed long sinuous bodies and a serpentine mode of movement, ideal for moving in and out of crannies in, reefs, but less effective for swimming in midwater.
The coloration of fishes is almost as diverse as their habits. Some, like flatfishes, can change their colour at will, either to blend in with different backgrounds or to flash warnings to would-be predators. In many shallow coral reef species, males display bright colours to guard their territories, but generally fishes use their coloration as camouflage. The commonest colour pattern in the fishes that swim in midwater is a countershading, with dark backs and pale bellies and flanks that may be banded with a disruptive pattern, often silvery or, in deep-sea species, lined with light organs. The brightness of light changes with depth, and its colour also changes—red light being absorbed very quickly – so the range of colours used by fish is restricted. Also, fish see only monochromatic blue-green light, which is the colour of light that penetrates furthest in water. In very deep water many fish species do not have functional eyes, since that there is almost nothing to see in the permanent darkness below about 1,000 metres (3,250 ft).
Another important sensory feature of fishes is their lateral line system. This is a chain of sense organs, similar to those in our ears, that can either be open to the water or semi-enclosed. With this system the fishes feel the water, sensing currents and the low-frequency vibrations transmitted by the movements of other animals. Many deep-sea fishes have long filamentous tails that, by extending the length of the lateral line organ, enable them to feel the direction from which any movements are coming.
Fishes' blood is about half as salty as sea water – that is why thirsty shipwrecked mariners can safely drink it to slake their thirst – so fish continually have to get rid of salt from their bodies across their gills. Although this helps to make fishes less dense, many still have systems for adjusting the density of their bodies to be much the same as the sea water, so when they stop swimming they do not sink. Above the gut of many fishes is a swim-bladder that is filled with gas. In some fishes this is filled by gulping in air at the surface, but the vast majority never approach the sea surface, so the swim-bladder is filled by a special gland that extracts dissolved gases from the blood. Some fishes that swim continuously, like tunas and marlin, have no swim-bladder. Instead, they have rigid pectoral fins that act like hydroplanes to generate lift as they swim. Swim-bladders do not occur in many deep-sea fishes, because the greater the hydrostatic pressure (i.e. depth) the greater the energy required to fill them, so at depths below about 500 metres (1,625 ft) it becomes physiologically too expensive. In these fishes either the swim-bladder is filled with oily fats, or it disappears. Deep-sea fishes tend to have very watery tissues, and their bones contain very little calcium, which reduces their density. However, some still retain gas-filled swim-bladders in very deep water which are connected by bones to sensory organs, and function as hearing organs. They also often have drumming muscles attached to them for the fish to produce sounds for communication. During the Cold War when hydrophones were deployed in deep water to listen for the movements of submarines, it was found that the deep ocean is quite noisy, especially during the breeding season for deep-sea fishes and when whales migrate.
Exercise 1
Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
прибрежные воды; тело вытянутой формы; изменять окраску по желанию; сливаться с фоном, окружением; подавать предупреждающие знаки потенциальным хищникам; защитная окраска; глубоководные рыбы; утолить жажду; гидростатическое давление; период размножения.
Exercise 2
Complete the sentences:
1. The total number of fishes may exceed …
2. The rich diversity of fishes is partly the result of …
3. The fins are composed of …
4. The coloration of fishes is almost as diverse as …
5. The commonest colour pattern in the fishes that swim in midwater is …
Exercise 3
Answer the questions:
1. What is fish?
2. What is the difference between bony fish and cartilaginous fish?
3. What can you tell about the body form of the fish?
4. What role does the coloration of fishes play in their life?
5. What is another important sensory feature of fishes?
6. Do all fishes have swim-bladders? What for?
classes of fish
There are three classes of fish. Fish that don't have jaws belong to the jawless fish class. Fish that have skeletons made of tough, flexible cartilage belong to the cartilage fish class. Most of the fish you're familiar with belong to the bony fish class. These fish have skeletons made of bone.
Jawless fish such as lampreys and hagfish don't look like fish. They have no jaws with which to open and close their mouths. Jawless fish have no scales and their skeletons are made of cartilage. Lampreys are parasites that live in fresh and salt water. Their round mouths are filled with small curved teeth. With these teeth lampreys cut holes in other fish's bodies. Lampreys attach themselves and suck the body liquids and blood out of the holes. Hagfish live only in the oceans. They have fewer teeth than lampreys. But hagfish do have slit-like mouths that help them cut holes in other fish. Once holes are made, the hagfish crawl inside and feed.
Like the jawless fish, the cartilage fish also has skeletons made of cartilage. Unlike the jawless fish, the cartilage fish have jaws and scales. Sharks are one example of cartilage fish. They are the fastest-swimming fish.
The mouths of the sharks are filled with rows of sharp teeth that slant backward. These teeth help sharks hold their prey. As sharks' teeth are lost or broken, other teeth move forward to replace the lost ones.
Another type of cartilage fish, the rays, has a flat body and lives on the ocean bottom. Some rays have strong jaws that crush the shells of clams and oysters. Other rays, such as the stingray, have poisonous spines near their tails. Their poison causes pain and even death to their prey.
Most fish known today belong to the class of bony fish. Bony fish are the fish you know best – bass, flounder, cod, sole, trout, and so on. Bony fish are covered with scales that are smooth and slimy. The slimy covering helps fish glide through the water. It also helps protect them from parasites. The scales of bony fish grow larger as the fish grow older. Growth rings on the scales show the age of the fish.
Most bony fish have an air bladder which enables them to swim at a certain depth. Gases from the blood move into the air bladder. As the bladder fills with gases, the fish rises in the water. If gases move out of the bladder, the fish will sink deeper in the water.
Many bony fish have well-developed fins which make these fish excellent swimmers. Sailfish and tuna can swim for long distances at fast speeds. Other fish have different kinds of fins. Flying fish have winglike fins that help the fish to leap above the water. The walking catfish has muscular fins that help it move on the land. Instead of separate fins, eels have fins that are continuous and joined.
Most fish reproduce by external fertilization. This means that eggs and sperm join outside the bodies of the fish. Female fish usually release their jelly-coated eggs in the water. Some species lay eggs in nests made from weeds, twigs, or mud. Male fish release sperm to fertilize the eggs. Most fish lay thousands and even millions of eggs at a time. Why aren't the waters overcrowded with fish? First, not all of the eggs are fertilized. Second, other eggs are eaten by predators before they hatch. Some of the young fish will be eaten before they become adults.
Bony fish provide food for the world's population, that is high in protein and low in fat. Some countries, such as Norway and Japan, rely on fish as their main food. Fish are also used to make animal feed and glue. Sharks' skins are used to make shoes. Oil from fish is used in making paints and varnishes and in tanning leather.
Exercise 1
Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
бесчелюстные рыбы; хрящевые рыбы; костные рыбы; щелевидное ротовое отверстие; удерживать добычу; быть покрытым шелухой; оплодотворение вне организма; оплодотворять яйца; с высоким содержанием белка и низким содержанием жиров.
Exercise 2
Complete the sentences:
1. Fish that don't have jaws belong to …
2. Fish that have skeletons made of tough, flexible cartilage belong to …
3. Fish that have skeletons made of bone belong to …
4. Sharks are one example of …
5. Most fish reproduce by …
Exercise 3
Answer the questions:
1. What are the major classes of fish?
2. What are the examples of jawless and cartilage fish?
3. How do bony fish look like?
4. How do most fish reproduce?
5. Where is fish used?
Дата: 2019-02-24, просмотров: 211.