What does 
extinct - Topical News Lessons

What does
extinct
mean? Choose the best answer:
a. very large
b. no longer existing
c. interesting
Look in the text and correct the information in these sentences.
1. 50% of land animals and plants will become extinct during the next 60 years.
2. More than 10 million plants and animals will become extinct by 2080.
3. More than 20% of all plants and animals will become extinct.
4. They studied 12 species of butterfly in Australia.
5. 80% of the species in the Kruger National Park will die out.
6. They studied 70 species of tree in Brazil.
7. They studied 2,870 species in Mexico.
8. We will not know the true results for 50 years.
©Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Taken from the News section in
www.onestopenglish.com
Global warming
threatens to kill off a
million species
The earth is getting warmer.
People burn coal, oil and gas
and this produces carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane and nitrous
oxide. These gases, called
‘greenhouse gases’, stop the
heat of the sun from leaving the
earth’s upper atmosphere and
this makes the earth warmer, a
process called ‘global warming’.
A few weeks ago a group of
scientists produced a report
about global warming and the
natural world. They wanted to
find out if global warming was
dangerous for plants and
animals. The scientists were
shocked by what they found.
They say that during the next 50
years about 25% of land animals
and plants will become extinct.
More than 1 million plant and
animal species will become
extinct by 2050.
The head of the research team,
Chris Thomas, who is professor
of conservation biology at Leeds
University, said the results of
their research were “terrifying”.
More than 10% of all plants and
animals will become extinct. It is
too late to save many plants and
animals because of the
greenhouse gases that are
already in the atmosphere. But
the scientists say if we control
greenhouse gases now, we
could save many more plants
and animals from extinction.
The scientists studied some
regions of the world with a very
rich biology. These regions were
Europe, Australia, Central and
South America, and South
Africa. Their studies showed that
species living in mountainous
areas had a better chance of
survival because they could
move uphill to get cooler. In flat
areas, such as deserts, plants
and animals would have to move
very long distances to get cooler,
so they are in greater danger of
extinction.
The scientists found many
shocking things. For example,
they found that half of the 24
species of butterfly they studied
in Australia would soon become
extinct. 60% of the species in the
Kruger National Park in South
Africa would also die out, and
more than 100 of the 300 South
African plant species they
studied would also become
extinct. One of the plants in
danger of extinction is the
national flower of South Africa,
the King Protea.
They studied 163 tree species in
the Cerrado region of Brazil and
found that 70 would become
extinct. Many of the plants and
trees that live in this region live
nowhere else in the world. In
Mexico, they studied 1,870
species and found that more
than 30% of these were in
danger of extinction.
Global warming is getting worse.
Many countries, particularly the
USA and the European
countries, are continuing to
produce greenhouse gases. We
will not know the true results of
this for 25 years but if people
continue to burn oil, coal and gas
at the same rate as today, about
30% of all life forms will become
extinct by 2050.
The Guardian Weekly, page 3
©Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Taken from the News section in
www.onestopenglish.com
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