CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5 A: THE DNA TRAIL

Vocabulary & Phrases

Decent-descendant	campfire	conquest	proof	scattered	artifact
refine	ancestry	Genome-genetic code	bulk	mutation	Pass down to
indicate	Rough idea	trace	Virtually certain	stall	indigenous
bury	peninsula	expose	immense	mainland	vanish

1. What is the reading mainly about?

a. the first people who emerged in Africa

b. the mtDNA and Y chromosomes used to explain the links between different groups of people

c. the use of genetics in explaining the story of human migration

d. genetic mutations used to trace ancestral connections

2. The word “refined” on line 22 is closest in meaning to:

a. primitive                  c. nonprogressive

b. developed               d. steady

3. What makes scientists believe that all human beings are linked to a “mitochondrial Eve” who lived in Africa about 150,000 years ago?

a. Scientists discovered a 150,000 year-old body in Africa

b. All the genetic mutations are traced back to Africa

c. All modern humans share the same genetic mutations with the women in Africa

d. The rate of genetic mutations among women in Africa is two times higher than the rest of people

4. Which area was the second to be populated by human migrants?

a. Europe         c. Southeast Asia

b. Australia      d. the Middle East

5. What does “they” on line 98 refer to?

a. the archeological findings

b. genetic traces

c. genetic mutations

d. the human migrants

6. What kind of information do scientists gather by comparing the mtDNA and Y chromosomes of different groups of people?

7. Explain how and when humans started to inhabit the Americas?

ANSWER KEY

1. C     2.B      3.D      4.D      5.B                 

8. information about where and when those groups separated in the migrations around the planet

9. in the last ice age through a land bridge between continents exposed thanks to low sea levels and they used a coastal route

CHAPTER 5B: BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON


Vocabulary & Phrases

Revered hero	endure	feat	expansion	Stretch over	interval
outdo	boundary	stubborn	analogous	intact	archipelago
conceivable	disrupt	Reverse direction	atoll	mystery	horizon

1. What is the text mainly about?

a) A canoe race

b) Lapita and Polynesia civilizations

c) How ancient Pacific peoples explored the Pacific

d) History of the canoe race

2. The word “this” on line 8 refers to …

a. a Polynesian canoe.

b. a canoe race in Hawaii.

c. the Hawaiki Nui Va’a.

d. a canoe champion.

3. The word “launch” on line 38 can be best replaced by…

a. start

b. finish

c. stop

d. postpone

4. What does Irwin mean by “All we can say for certain is that the Lapita has canoes that were capable of voyages and they had the ability to sail them” on lines 61-64?

a) There is not enough evidence to understand the Lapita’s sailing skills.

b) There are not enough insights about the Lapita’s navigation skills.

c) The ancient sailors’ great exploration skills are fully understood.

d) Scientists are able to present some theories about the sailors’ exploration success.

5. How did trade winds help the Lapita and Polynesian sailors?

a) They sailed in the direction of the wind to explore the east.

b) The wind provided them a safety net.

c) The wind caused them to get lost.

d) The wind provided them a swift ride back home.

6. Which statement below is not true about “El Nino”?

a) Thanks to “El Nino”, the sailors developed the technique “tacking”.

b) One of the causes of “El Nino” is dramatically high surface temperatures of the sea.

c) “El Nino” reverses the direction of the trade winds.

d) “El Nino” used to occur more often in ancient times.

7. What is true about the Ancient Polynesians?

a. They explored the Pacific from about 1300 to 800 B.C.

b. They reached South America around 1000 A.D.

c. They colonized New Caledonia and Samoa.

d. Their navigation techniques are fully understood.

ANSWER KEY

1. C      2.C       3.A      4.C       5.D      6.B      7.B


QUIZ

CHAPTER 4

UNIT 4A: BIOMIMETICS

Vocabulary and Phrases

Concrete x abstract	Inspire- inspiration	apply	Kneel-knelt	Baking heat
Drenched-wet	In essence	thorny	vital	riddle
Precise-precisely	Pure-purely	device	trap	amber
Phase-stage	colleague	insight	merely	ultimately
utility	humpback	generate	nest	surveillance
Simple-simplify	replicate	vertical	fund	monitor
seed	Stick-stuck	Inherent-inherently	reproduce	gradually

BIOMIMETICS

1. Why is the example of the thorny devil given in the 1st paragraph?

a. To show how a lizard can live with very little water.

b. To show how lizards are more competitive than other animals.

c. To show an example of how human scientists can learn from animals.

d. To show that animals are good at finding water in the desert.

2. Robert Cohen believes that…

a. the biology of the world is fascinating.

b. the forms of the natural world can never be improved by scientists.

c. studying the natural world is a waste of time.

d. the best reason to study nature is to create something useful.

3. Which statement is NOT true about biomimetic robots?

a. The stickybot cannot climb up every type of surface.

b. Mark Cutkowsky mostly sees the stickybot as a military tool.

c. The robot made by Fearing is not nearly as complex as a real fly.

d. The fly and stickybot robots are not yet fully functional.

4. Which of these problems is mentioned in the article?

a. Biomimetic research is too slow for investors who want to make money quickly.

b. Cutkowsky and the U.S. military disagree about the use of the stickybot.

c. Biomimetics will probably never be a completely successful field of research.

d. Velcro is not a profitable product.

5. For each type of biomimetics research, what type of natural design is being copied?

a. improvement of windmill parts            ___________

b. cell phone brightness                          ___________

c. building design                                   ___________

d. solar panels                                       ___________

6. The word “them” on line 68 refers to ___ .

a. scientists around the world

b. Parker, Rubner, and Cohen

c. nature’s design secrets

d. biomimetics

7. The sentence from paragraph 2 can best be restated by which of the following sentences?

     “This combination of biological insight and engineering pragmatism is vital to success in biomimetics,

      and has led to several promising technologies.”

a. Biomimetics researchers promise to work together with engineers in order to develop new technologies.

b. The key to the progress that has been made in biomimetics is that scientists who understand biology cooperate with engineers.

c. The only way that new biomimetic technologies can develop into successful products is if biologists and engineers work together.

d. The fact that engineers are more practical than biologists is shown by the fact that they have managed to create many useful devices.

8. Based on the article, which of the following newspaper headlines would you expect to read in the future about b  

    biomimetics research?

a. “Car manufacturers have just developed a new aerodynamic car”

b. “MIT scientists develop desert-based water collection technique”

c. “Aristotle amazed at the gecko’s abilities”

d. “Biomimetics researchers create a perfect robotic fly”

9. For the wrong answers in question 8, explain why they wouldn’t be future newspaper headlines.

BIOMIMETICS

Answer Key:

1c 2d 3b 4a

5 a – humpback whale fins  b – butterfly and beetle bodies c – termite nests d – fly’s eye surface

6c 7c 8b

9 a and b are wrong because the events are already past (before the article was written), so they wouldn’t be a future news article, and d is wrong because the article infers that a robotic fly can never be perfect.


UNIT 4B: DREAM WEAVERS

Vocabulary and Phrases

Computer-generated	thread	Breed-bred	fiber	steel
Natural x synthetic	suspended	floating	Pop into	Bullet-proof
vest	rope	forthcoming	absorb	vibration
Water soluble	dip	Farm (v)	thereby	dangle
pioneer	apron	innovation	hood	collar
Keep track of	overnight	invisible	portable	fraction
defy	gravity	forecee