II. Listen to fragment B again and fill in the gaps in the text below
The metabolic definition is still popular with many biologists. It describes (1)_______________ as an object with a (2)_______________, continually exchanging (3)_______________ with its surroundings, but without altering its (4)_______________, at least (5)_______________. But again there are exceptions. There are (6)_______________ that remain, so far as is known, perfectly dormant and totally without (7)_______________ at low temperatures for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years but that (8)_______________ upon being subjected to more clement conditions.
SPEAKING
Speak about Life covering the following issues:
A) The variety of approaches to the problem of life: the physiological, metabolic, biochemical, and genetic definitions of life.
B) Metabolism, growth, reproduction, responsiveness, and adaptation as the main functional activities performed by living organisms.
Lesson 3
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
PRE-READING TASKS
I. Answer the following questions
· In all cultures there are legends explaining the origin of the Earth and life on it. Which legends do you know? Tell them to your group-mates.
· The scientific and religious views on the problem of origin of life are quite contradictory. Which of them do you support? Do you believe that a compromise between religion and science in relation to this problem will ever be possible?
II. Listen to the following words and practice their pronunciation
I. Match each word on the left to its correct definition on the right
1) relevant, adj
2) site, n
3) subsequent, adj
4) catalyst, n
5) template, n
6) diverse, adj
7) eliminate, v
8) descendant, n
9) ancestor, n
10) abundance, n
a) a large quantity of something;
b) happening or coming after something else;
c) to completely get rid of something that is unnecessary or unwanted;
d) directly relating to the subject or problem being discussed or considered;
e) something that is used as a model for another thing;
f) a place where something important happens;
g) a living form that lived in the past, that modern living forms have developed from;
h) something that has developed from something else;
i) a substance that makes a chemical reaction happen more quickly without being changed itself;
j) very different from each other.