IV. Reconstruct the text below putting the extracted fragments (a-i) into their correct places (1-9). Make a written translation of the text into Ukrainian

From the prehistoric beginnings of agriculture until recent times, only a few of the total plant species have (1)……………. . This process of plant cultivation and breeding began largely by accident, possibly as the seeds of wild fruits and vegetables, gathered near human habitations, sprouted and were crudely cultivated. Plants such as wheat, which possibly originated in the eastern Mediterranean region more than 9,000 years ago, were (2)……………. . This selective process took place with no prior knowledge of plant breeding but, rather, through the constant and close familiarity (3)……………. .

Today, however, the human relationship with plants is nearly reversed: an increasing majority of people have little or no contact with plant cultivation, and the farmers that (4)……………. . The breeding process, on the other hand, has been greatly accelerated, largely through advances in genetics. Plant geneticists are now able to develop, in only a few years, such plant strains (5)……………. .

At the same time, humans have accelerated the demand for food and energy to the extent that entire species and ecosystems of plants are (6)……………. . Most species remain little known; those that seem to offer the greatest hope for providing new sources of food, drugs, and other useful products exist in tropical rain forests and other areas (7)……………. . According to the World Conservation Union, about 34,000 species of plants are (8)……………. . This amounts to about one of every eight known species of ferns, flowering plants, and conifers and related plants. Increased knowledge of plants and attention to their survival are needed to (9)……………. .

a) …where rapidly growing human populations can quickly reduce the land to arid, sandy wastes.

b) …selected and replanted year after year for their superior food value; today many domesticated plants can scarcely be traced back to their wild ancestors or to the original plant communities in which they originated.

c) …solve many of the problems confronting the human world today.

d) …do have such contact are becoming more and more specialized in single crops.

e) …at risk of becoming extinct.

f) …been taken from the wild and refined to become primary sources of food, fibre, shelter, and drugs.

g) …solve many of the problems confronting the human world today.

h) … being destroyed before scientists can develop an understanding of which plant species have the potential to benefit humanity.

i) … as wind-resistant corn, thus greatly increasing crop yields.

V. Read the following texts on animal rights. One of the texts is an article from the official website of an American animal protection organization called PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the other is an extract from a summary on cruelty to animals from the free encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Answer the questions in the Discussion section

WHY ANIMAL RIGHTS?

Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. Many of us bought our beloved “pets” at pet shops, had guinea pigs, and kept beautiful birds in cages. We wore wool and silk, ate McDonald’s burgers, and fished. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?

Australian philosopher, Princeton professor, and author of numerous ground-breaking books — including 1975’s Animal Liberation, Peter Singer states that the basic principle of equality does not require equal or identical treatment; it requires equal consideration. This is an important distinction when talking about animal rights. People often ask if animals should have rights, and quite simply, the answer is “Yes!” Animals surely deserve to live their lives free from suffering and exploitation. Jeremy Bentham, the founder of the reforming utilitarian school of moral philosophy, stated that when deciding on a being’s rights, “The question is not ‘Can they reason?’ nor ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’” In that passage, Bentham points to the capacity for suffering as the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration. The capacity for suffering is not just another characteristic like the capacity for language or higher mathematics. All animals have the ability to suffer in the same way and to the same degree that humans do. They feel pain, pleasure, fear, frustration, loneliness, and motherly love. Whenever we consider doing something that would interfere with their needs, we are morally obligated to take them into account.

Supporters of animal rights believe that animals have an inherent worth — a value completely separate from their usefulness to humans. We believe that every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering. Animal rights is not just a philosophy — it is a social movement that challenges society’s traditional view that all nonhuman animals exist solely for human use. As PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has said, “When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fights the knife.”

Only prejudice allows us to deny others the rights that we expect to have for ourselves. Whether it’s based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or species, prejudice is morally unacceptable. If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a pig? Dogs and pigs have the same capacity to feel pain, but it is prejudice based on species that allows us to think of one animal as a companion and the other as dinner.

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

Cruelty to animals refers to treatment or standards of care that cause unwarranted or unnecessary suffering or harm to animals. There are many different reasons why individuals abuse animals. Animal cruelty covers a wide range of actions (or lack of action), so one blanket answer simply isn’t possible. Each type of abuse has displayed certain patterns of behaviour that we can use to help understand more about why people commit the crimes we encounter today. Animal cruelty is often broken down into two main categories: active and passive, also referred to as commission and omission, respectively. Passive cruelty is typified by cases of neglect, where the crime is a lack of action rather than the action itself. Examples of neglect are starvation, dehydration, parasite infestations, allowing a collar to grow into an animal’s skin, inadequate shelter in extreme weather conditions, and failure to seek veterinary care when an animal needs medical attention.

Active cruelty implies malicious intent, where a person has deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal, and is sometimes referred to as NAI (Non-Accidental Injury). Acts of intentional cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and should be considered signs of serious psychological problems. This type of behaviour is often associated with sociopathic behaviour and should be taken very seriously.

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