Biology I
Biology is the science of life and people who are engaged in it are called biologists.
They study the secrets of living things. Their discoveries are of great value to
all mankind.
Biology tells us about our body: how it is constructed and how it functions. It
gives us important information about other living things and how their lives affect
mankind. A knowledge of biology will help you to keep healthy.
It will be your guide in solving many of everyday living and scientific problems.
Biologists have made a great contribution to science. They have increased our food
supply, they have developed new and better varieties of plants and animals. Scientific
methods of farming have given us much more food. Biologists control many diseases.
They have saved millions of lives by discovering the causes of these diseases and
methods of prevention and cure. Vaccines, penicillin and sulfa are products of the
biological laboratory.
Biologists have solved many mysteries of the body. They have discovered how
blood circulates, how food is digested and many other secrets of life. They are now
working in different fields of biology and their studies may lead to a solution of many
problems.
A biologist's laboratory is a fascinating place. In it you may find a variety of
plants and animals, some of which are invisible to the naked eye. There are powerful
microscopes and other instruments. One of the most important tools of a scientist in
his laboratory is his notebook. He always keeps very complete and accurate records
of his observations and experiments.
In carrying out the work biologists use the scientific method that is:
1. They find out everything that is known about the problem by reading or by
discussing the matter with others.
2. They think of several possible explanations or solutions. Some of these will
prove to be wrong. One or more of the others may be right.
3. They test all the possibilities by experiments. They repeat the experiment several
times. They make every effort to prevent errors.
4. When they have reached a conclusion, they inform other scientists who may
repeat the work.
Answer the following questions:
1. What is biology?
2. Why are the discoveries of biology very important?
3. What contribution did the biologists do for our health (for farming)?
4. Why is a biologist's laboratory considered a fascinating place?
5. What scientific methods do they use?
Read and translate the text and reproduce it:
I am a student of the biological faculty. Our faculty is one of the important faculties
of the University. We study different subjects: Botany, Anatomy, Microbiology and
many others. Besides these subjects we study Political Economy, Philosophy and
English. We study English to be able to read scientific books on biology. There are
many departments in our faculty: of botany, of zoology, of microbiology, of physiology
of man and animals, of physiology, of plants, of genetics, of soil science, of conservation
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of nature, of bionics, etc. Besides there are research laboratories and a museum.
Every student has an opportunity to work in modern, well-equipped laboratories,
where different problems of biology are under investigation.
Students are acquainted with all branches of biology. They are lectured in various
subjects of natural science, namely botany, zoology, anatomy, microbiology, biophysics,
biochemistry, soil science, bionics, genetics. Besides attending lectures they
may join some scientific circle and choose a problem to work on according to their
bents. All of them know that biology is the science of glorious past and great future.
They do their best to acquire as much knowledge as possible.
Graduates of the biological faculty are assigned to work at laboratories, schools,
research institutes. Those who have a bent for research work may apply for a postgraduate
course of study.
Biology II
Biology is the science of living things. The word biology" comes from two
Greek words: bio "life" and logos "discourse" or "study". Biology includes all
the facts and principles which have been derived from a scientific study of living
things. The special study of plants, called Botany, and of animals, called Zoology, are
the two great subdivisions of the science of biology. Plantsand animalsare called
organisms, so biology may also be defined as the scienceof organisms.
Life existsin many places on the earth, often in spite of very difficult conditions.
In the Arctic regions, the temperature may fall to 60 degrees below zero, while
in deserts it may climb to over 120 degrees. Some animals live under the immense
pressure of the deep sea, and others live near the tops of the highest mountains. But
no matter where they exist, all living things must have certain necessary conditions.
Let us see what these are: living things need oxygen, living things must have the right
amount of pressure, living things must have water, living things need the proper
temperature, living things must have food.
Most people think that plants are not alive in the same sense that animals are, or
that there is some fundamental difference between plant and animal life. But this is
not so.
Plants and animals have much in common. Their more important points of resemblance
are:
1)The living substanceof plants and animals is organized into protoplasm.
Protoplasm is the basic material of all living systems and its general properties are
fundamentally the same in each system both in plants and animals.
2) The living matter is organized in both plants and animals into microscopic
units called cells.
3) Certain vital processestake place in plant bodies in the same manner as in
animal bodies. These processes are respiration, digestion, assimilation, growthand
reproduction.
4) Both animals and plants cannot live without water, air, food, light and moderate
amountof heat. They both are of different shapes, sizes and colours. In fact,
the differences are not so many as the likenessesalthough they are more apparent, for
only three are important, namely: plants are not conscious, they are unableto move
about, they make their own food.
Answer the following questions:
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1. What is the origin of the word biology?
2. What are the great subdivisions of this subject?
3. What is necessary for living organisms?
4. Do plants and animals have much in common?
5. What is protoplasm?
6. Do plants and animals differ greatly from each other?
Translate the text without a dictionary trying to guess the meaning of the
unfamiliar words from the context:
Biology gives us an acquaintance with the world of living things and an understanding
of some of the great fundamental laws and processes of nature. There are
many special fields of knowledge and many phases and principles to which elementary
training in general biology is essential. These include medicine, physiology, agriculture,
horticulture, forestry, sanitation, hygiene and many others.
Because man is an organism subject to the same laws which govern all living
things and is built according to the same plan as other higher animals, an elementary
knowledge of biology gives us a basis for an understanding of our own body.
Translate the text into Russian; say what new information about plants
and animals you have got from it:
Biology is the study of living things. In studying them we learn the relations of
plants and animals to one another, with the world about them and how we can control
them. Biology is commonly divided into two branches botany and zoology. Both
animal and plant life is continually changing and there are great differences and likenesses
between them.
All organisms are capable of responding to changes in the environment by reacting
to external stimuli. In animals this coordination and response to stimuli are accomplished
by sense organs and the endocrine and nervous systems.
Plants lack a nervous system, and specific sense organs, but they respond to external
stimuli and their chemical coordination in somewhat analogous to that regulated
by the endocrine system of animals.
Both plants and animals have hormones. Thus substances are produced in one
part of the organism and in very small amounts influence specific physiological
processes when transported to another part of the organism. Plant hormones, however,
are not produced in specific glands as animal hormones are, and they differ
chemically from the hormones of animals, being in general simpler substances.
Other substances which act like hormones but are not known to be produced by
the plant are called plant regulators. The study of plant hormones and these synthetic
substances is one of active fields of plant physiological research and their use in agriculture has become very important.
Animals and plants
No one knows how many different kinds of plants and animals there are. Some
scientists estimatethe number at three million. Many of them provide us with food,
clothing, shelter and medicines. Some, including several kinds of insects, pierce our
skin and feed on the blood.
Others, both plants and animals, even live and grow inside our bodies. In this
way they may cause disease. You can see why scientists study living things with
great care.
Our lives may depend on how much we have learned about the living things
around us.
Because there are so many different kinds of plants and animals, the task of the
biologists is not an easy one.
Up to the present time it was named and described more than 840,000 kinds of
animals and 345,000 kinds of plants, to keep track of this great number of living
things a system of classification has been set up. Plants and animals are sorted into
groups according to the way they are built. For example, the tiger, the leopard, and
the lion will be all grouped together. All of them belong to the cat family. All the
members of the cat family, in turn, belong to a larger group that includes such meat-eating
animals as the dog, the bear. They have teeth that are built for tearing and cutting
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flesh.Their sharp clawshelp them to captureand eat their prey. In this way, all
plants and animals were classified by their structure. All living plants and animals
were divided into two kingdoms: the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom.
Among the smallest and simplest living things there are some that are difficult
to classify. There are tiny plant-like cellsthat can swim about actively in the water.
In some cases, the classification of these is still in doubt. The animal kingdom,
as we have seen, includes many thousands of different animals. Scientists classify
them further as follows:
Animal kingdom:
A. Invertebrates (Animals without backbones)
One-celled animals
Sponges
3. Cup animals (jelly-fishes and corals)
4. Spiny-skinned animals (starfishes and their relatives)
Worms
6. Molusks (oysters, snails, squids)
7. Join ted-legged animals (lobsters, spiders, insects)
B. Vertebrates (Animals with backbones)
Fishes
2. Amphibians (frogs, salamanders)
3. Reptiles (snakes, lizards and turtles)
Birds
5. Mammals
The plant kingdom includes tiny one-celled plants that can be seen only with a
powerful microscope and the great redwood and sequoia trees of the Pacific coast, the
oldest and the largest living things on earth. Down through the ages, man has relied
upon plants for many of his needs. The beauty of plants enriches our lives. Most important
of all is the fact, that the other living things in our world could not exist very
long without their plant neighbors.
Some plants have no roots, stems or leaves. Some of them consist of only one
cell. Others, like the giant seaweeds may be more-than 100 feet long. They are divided
into two main groups. The algaehave green chlorophyll.They can make their
own food. The fungi have no chlorophyll. They must get their food from other plants
and animals.
Vocabulary:
Cup animals -
Spiny-skinned -
Worms -
Join ted-legged -
Fungi ,
Algae
Answer the following questions:
1. How many animals and plants were named by the scientists?
2. What kingdoms are they sorted into?
3. What classification does the animal kingdom have?
4. How can you describe the plant kingdom?
LINNEAN SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION
Carolus Linneus was born in Sweden in a small wooden, house painted red with
a roof of live turf. It was like many other houses in the village. But the house had a
garden around it, so that Linneus used to say later that it was a good place for a naturalist
to be born.
All the boy's teachers at school thought him stupid. But one of his father's
friends observed that Carl took an unusual interest in plants and that he could identify
a great many. He suggested sending Carl to study natural history. His father could
give him only about forty dollars for his education, but it was thought that he could
work his way. So he set off for the University of Lund. After a year he transferred to
the University of Uppsala, since Uppsala had a very fine course of botany. His professor grew very fond of him and saw a great promise in his work. After Linneus had finished his studies at the University with his professor's encouragement he made application to the Royal Society of Sweden to send him on a scientific expedition to Lapland. The Royal Society agreed to the commission. So on May 12, 1732 Linneus set out on foot on the road leading north. He travelled mostly on foot over bad roads and through wild country for nearly a thousand miles. When he got back to Uppsala he gave a careful account of the things he had seen. The main thing among
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them was his new system of classification for plants and animals which he had
worked out on his journey. Three years later this system was published under the title
Systema Naturae". This system has brought in order out of confusion. It was the system of nomenclature that has been used ever since.
According to Linneus system, every plant and every animal was given a double
Latin name.The first word whose initial letter was capitalized would indicate to
what " genus" or general class it belonged, the second word indicatea particular
species. The naming of plants and animals in this way was a fascinating task. Linneus
announced that everything in nature should be classified.. So science as orderly classified
knowledge was coming into its own. The first edition of "Systema Naturae"
was published in 1735. It contained only twelve pages, but its influence was enormous. Linneus is therefore considered the founder of taxonomy
the study of the classification.
All the known animal species were grouped into six classes: mammals, birds,
reptiles, fishes, insects and worms. The shortcomings were patched up easily enough
later on.
This form of binominal nomenclaturehas given the biologist an international
language for life forms that has eliminated incalculable amounts of confusion. He
even supplied the human species with an official name; one that it has retained ever
since homo sapiens.
Answer the following questions:
1. Who suggested sending young Carl to study natural history?
2. Why did he transfer to the University of Uppsala?
3. Where was he sent in 1732?
4. Did he work out a system of classification for plants and animals?
5. Why is Linneus considered the founder of taxonomy?
6. Were all animal species grouped into classes?
7. What has given the biologists an international language for life forms?
