Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов биологических факультетов вузов. Казань: Казанский университет, 2012. 196 с. Основная цель пособия “Essential English for Biology Students”

UNIT I. WHAT IS BIOLOGY? 4

Text 1.1 The Characteristics Of Life 4

Text 1.2. What Do Biologists Do? 13

Unit II. СELL 25

Text 2.1 Cell Theory 25

Text 2.2. Introduction To Cell Division 31

Text 2.3. Microscopes 37

UNIT III. MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE GENE 45

Text 3.1. DNA Structure 45

Text 3.2 Chromosomes 52

INIT IV. INHERITANCE 61

Text 4.1. Variation 61

Text 4.2. Down's Syndrome And Genetic Screening 71

UNIT V. NERVOUS AND HORMONAL COORDINATION 79

Text 5.1. Nerves And Hormones 79

Text 5.2. Setting up a nerve impulse 85

UNIT VI. EVOLUTION 93

Text 6.1. Theories Of Evolution 93

Text 6.2. Natural Selection 100

Text 6.3. Artificial Selection 107

Text 6.4. Human Evolution: Primate Ancestors 114

UNIT VII. PHOTOSYNTHESIS 123

Text 7.1. Photosynthesis: An Overview 123

Text 7.3. Photosynthesis In Different Climates 135

UNIT VIII. STRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT IN PLANTS 144

Text 8.1 The Leaf 144

Text 8.2. The Stem 151

SUPPLEMENTARY READING 157

Suggested Answers and Solutions 181

Glossary of Biological Terms 191

Appendices 195

References – Список использованной литературы 199

Web – Resources and Support 200

UNIT I. WHAT IS BIOLOGY?

Text 1.1 The Characteristics Of Life

■ Essential targets:

By the end of this text you should be able to:

• 
  discuss the main features of living things;
  
• 
  discuss the stages of development of the science of biology.
  

Pre-reading

■With your partner try to match the definition with the correct word. Guess if you are not sure! Then scan the text quickly to see if you were right.

Exercise A.

1.	feature	A.	a substance in general that everything in the world consists of
2.	matter	B.	a useless material or substance
3.	heat	C.	natural world in which people and animals live
4.	chemical	D.	the smallest unit of living matter
5.	cell	E.	outer form or outline
6.	environment	F.	a form of energy
7.	shape	G.	substance used in chemistry
8.	waste product	H.	something important or typical of a place or thing

■ Read the given text and make your essential assignments:

Biology is the study of life and living organisms. For as long as people have looked at the world around them, people have studied biology. Even in the days before recorded history, people knew and passed on information about plants and animals.

Modern biology really began in the 17^th century. At that time, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, in Holland, invented the microscope and William Harvey, in England, described the circulation of blood. The microscope allowed scientists to discover bacteria, leading to an understanding of the causes of disease, while new knowledge about how the human body works allowed others to find more effective ways of treating illnesses. All these new knowledge needed to be put into order and in the 18^th century the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus classified all living things into the biological families we know and use today.

In the middle of the 19^th century, unnoticed by anyone else, the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel, created his Laws of Inheritance, beginning the study of genetics that is such an important part of biology today. At the same time, while traveling around the world, Charles Darwin was formulating the central principle of modern biology – natural selection as the bases of evolution.

It is hard to believe, but the nature of viruses has become apparent only within the last half of the 19^th century and the first step on this path of discovery was taken by the Russian botanist Dmitry Ivanovsky in 1892.

In the 20^th century biologists began to recognize how plants and animals live and pass on their genetically coded information to the next generation. Since then, partly because of developments in computer technology, there have been great advances in the field of biology; it is an area of ever-growing knowledge.

During the past few hundred years biology has changed from concentrating on the structure of living organisms to looking more at how they work or function. Over this time biologists have discovered much about health and disease, about the genes which control the activities of our bodies and how humans can control the lives of other organisms. We need to understand how our activities affect the environment, how humans can take responsibility for their own health and welfare and how we must be careful to make appropriate rules for the use of our genetic information.

Nowadays biologists are making fantastic discoveries which will affect all our lives. These discoveries have given us the power to shape our own evolution and to determine the type of world we will live in. Recent advances, especially in genetic engineering, have dramatically affected agriculture, medicine, veterinary science, and industry, and our world view has been revolutionized by modern developments in ecology. There has never been a more exciting nor a more important time to study biology.

Biology is the scientific study of life. But what is life? When we see a bird on a rock it may seem obvious that the bird is alive and the rock is not, but what precisely makes the bird alive and the rock not? Throughout history, thinkers in many fields tried to define life. Although they have failed to provide a universally accepted definition, most scientists agree that all living things share certain basic characteristics:
■ Living things are made of organized structures.

■ Living things reproduce.

■ Living things grow and develop.

■ Living things feed.

■ Living things respire.

■ Living things excrete and waste.

■ Living things respond to their surroundings.

■ Living things move.

■ Living things control their internal conditions.

■ Living things are able to evolve.

Non-living systems may show some of the characteristics of living things, but life is the combination of all these characteristics.

Organization. All things are made of chemicals, but in living things the chemicals are packaged into highly organized structures. The basic structure of life is the cell. Cells themselves contain small organelles that carry out specific functions. A cell may exist on its own or in association with other cells to form tissues and organs. Because of their highly organized structure, living things as organisms.

Reproduction. Reproduction is the ability to produce other individuals of the same species. It may be sexual or asexual. Reproduction involves the replication of DNA. This chemical contains genetic information which determines the characteristics of an organism, including how it will grow and develop. The continued existence of life depends on reproduction, and this is perhaps the most characteristic feature of living things. Reproduction allows both continuity and change. Over countless generations this has allowed species to become well suited to their environment, and life to evolve gradually to more complex forms.

Growth and development. All organisms must grow and develop to reach the size and level of complexity required to complete their life cycle. Growth is a relatively permanent increase in size of an organism. It is brought about by taking in substances from the environment and incorporating them into the internal structure of the organism. Growth may be measured by increases in linear dimensions (length, height, etc.), but is best measured in terms of dry weight as this eliminates temporary changes due to intake of water which are not regarded as growth. Development involves a change in a shape and form of an organism as it matures. It is usually accompanied by an increase in complexity.

Feeding. Living things are continually transforming one form of energy into another to stay alive. Although energy is not destroyed during these transformations, heat is always formed. Heat is a form of energy which cannot be used to drive biological processes, so it is sometimes regarded as `wasted energy`.

Living things have to renew their energy stores periodically from their environment, to continue transforming energy and to replace the `wasted energy`. They also have to obtain nutrients – chemicals that make up their bodies or help them carry out their biological processes. Living things acquire energy and nutrients by feeding, either by eating other organisms, or by making their own food out of simple inorganic chemicals using energy from sunlight or from chemical reactions.

Respiration. Living things need energy to stay alive and to do work. Although food contains energy, this is not in a directly usable form. It has to be broken down.

The energy released during the breakdown is used to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in a process called respiration. ATP is an energy rich molecule and is the only fuel that can be used directly to drive metabolic reactions in living organisms.

Excretion. The energy transformations that take place in an organism involve chemical reactions. Chemical reactions that occur in organisms are called metabolic reactions.

Waste products are formed in these reactions, some of which are poisonous, so they must be disposed of in some way. The disposal of metabolic waste products is called excretion.

Responsiveness. All living things are sensitive to certain changes in their environments (stimuli) and respond in ways that tend to improve their chances of survival.

The degree of responsiveness depends on an organism`s complexity: a bacterium may be limited to simple responses, such as moving towards favorable stimuli or away from harmful ones; people can make highly sophisticated responses to a wide variety of stimuli which they may perceive either directly or with the aid of technological devices.

Movement. Responses usually involve some form of movement. Movement of whole organisms from one place to another is called locomotion. Plants and other organisms that are fixed in one place do not display locomotion, but they can move parts of their bodies. Movements of living things differ from those of non-living things by being active, energy-requiring processes arising from within cells.

Homeostasis. All living things are, to some extend, able to control their internal conditions so that their cells have a constant chemical and physical environment in which they can function effectively. The regulation and maintenance of a relatively constant set of conditions within an organism is called homeostasis. Homeostasis is a feature of all living systems, from a single cell to a whole biosphere (the part of Earth containing life).

Evolution. Living things are able to change into new forms of life. This evolution usually takes place gradually over successive generations in response to changes in the environment.

■ Glossary of essential terms for you to know

№	English term	Russian equivalent
1.	to accept	принимать
2.	to accompany	сопровождать
3.	to acquire	приобретать
4.	advance	продвижение (вперед), прогресс
5.	to allow	позволять
6.	apparent	очевидный , явный
7.	to arise	возникать; появляться
8.	arrangement	устройство; расположение
9.	to arrange	располагать; устраивать
10.	because of	из-за, вследствие
11.	blood	кровь
12.	to bring about	вызывать
13.	capacity	способность
14.	to carry out	выполнять; осуществлять
15.	cause (n.)	причина
16.	to cause (v.)	вызывать
17.	certain	определенный; некий; некоторый
18.	circumstance	обстоятельство
19.	coded information	закодированная информация
20.	to complete (v.)	заканчивать; завершать;
21.	complete (adj.)	полный
22.	to contain	сoдержать
23.	to define	определять
24.	to determine	определять; решать; устанавливать
25.	to develop	развивать
26.	to describe	описывать
27.	to destroy	уничтожать; разрушать
28.	dimension	размер, величина; измерение
29.	to display	показывать; проявлять; обнаруживать
30.	to dispose	избавляться от чего-либо; располагать
31.	due to	из-за, вследствие
32.	either … or	или…или; либо…либо
33.	to eliminate	уничтожать
34.	internal	внутренний
35.	to evolve	развивать
36.	to fail	отсутствовать; не хватать
37.	feature	особенность; характерная черта
38.	to govern	регулировать; управлять
39.	to grow	расти, увеличиваться
40.	gradually	постепенно
41.	generation	поколение
42.	height	высота, вышина, рост
43.	harmful	вредный
44.	inheritance	наследственность
45.	to involve	включать; вовлекать
46.	to increase	увеличивать; усиливать
47.	in terms of	исходя из; на основании чего-либо
48.	input of sth.	потребление чего-л.
49.	to include	включать
50.	law	закон
51.	matter	вещество, материя
52.	to move	двигать, передвигаться
53.	to occur	случаться, происходить
54.	to pass	1.проходить; переходить; 2. (on) передавать
55.	to put into order	привести в порядок; упорядочить
56.	to perform	выполнять, совершать
57.	to possess	обладать
58.	starch	крахмал
59.	to survive	выжить; пережить
60.	way	способ

■ Your Essential Assignments

I. Quick check

A. Decide if the following statements are true or false.

1.) The earliest people must have known about plants or

they would have died.

2.) The microscope allowed biologists to treat illnesses.

3.) Darwin`s theory was one of the most important in biology.

4.) The study of biology has not changed at all over the centuries.

B. What is the difference between:

1.) the growth of a crystal and the growth of a plant

2.) the movement of a cloud and the movement of an animal?

II. Fill in the missing words:

Term (verb)	Noun
respond	.......
transform	.......
move	.......
develop	.......
respire	.......
create	.......
define	.......

III. Use monolingual English dictionary and write down what could

the words given below mean:
nutrient; sunlight; poison; breakdown; harmful.
IV. Find English equivalents to the following word combinations:

№	Russian term	English equivalent
	общепринятое определение
	выполнять (проводить) специальные функции
	тот же самый вид растения; животного
	постоянное увеличение размера
	исходя из (на основании) сухого веса
	из-за количества потребляемой воды
	ускорять обмен веществ
	улучшать шансы на выживание
	с помощью технологических приборов
	до некоторой степени
	поддерживание постоянных условий
	происходить постепенно
	определять характеристики организма
	реагировать на условия окружающей среды
	известен как

V. Give Russian equivalents to the following English terms:

№	English term	Russian equivalent
1.	living things share certain basic characteristics
2.	to reach the size and level of complexity
3.	to measure by increase in linear dimensions (length; heights)
4.	temporary changes
5.	transform one form of energy into another
6.	to obtain nutrient chemicals
7.	to make their own food
8.	energy–rich molecule
9.	sensitive to certain changes in their environment
10.	degree of responsiveness
11.	moving toward favourable stimuli
12.	wide variety of stimuli
13.	energy–requiring processes
14.	to be known as

VI. Find synonyms among the pool of words:

Pool of words	Synonyms
1) 1.determine/2.start/3.change/4.alter/5.define/6.begin
2) 1.breath/2.initiate/3.happen/4.respiration/5.occur/6.start
3) 1.investigation /2.dimension /3.research /4.size
4) 1.due to/2.possess/3.ruin/4.because of/5.have/6.destroy

VII. Answer the following questions. Use all information given before:

1. 
   Have scientists provided a universally accepted definition of life?
   
2. 
   What is a living thing?
   
3. 
   What is a non-living thing?
   
4. 
   What can living things do that non-living things can not?
   
5. 
   What do cells contain?
   
6. 
   What does genetic information determine?
   
7. 
   How is growth brought about?
   
8. 
   Can heat be used to drive biological processes?
   
9. 
   How do living things acquire energy and nutrients?
   
10. 
    What do living things need to stay alive?
    
11. 
    What does the degree of responsiveness depend on?
    
12. 
    How do movements of living things differ from those of non-living?
    
13. 
    What is homeostasis?
    

VIII. Match the sentence halves. Make complete sentences:

1.	Biologists are making discoveries	A.	those of non-living things by being energy-requiring processes arising from within cells.
2.	Growth is accompanied by	B.	one of the main features of living things.
3.	DNA contains genetic information which	C.	are transforming one form of energy into another.
4.	Movements of living things differ from	D.	all living things share certain basic characteristics.
5.	Reproduction is	E.	chemicals are packed into highly organized structures.
6.	To stay alive living thing	F.	an increase in complexity.
7.	Most scientists think that	G.	determines the characteristics of an organism, including how it will grow and develop.
8.	In living things	H.	which will affect all our lives.

IX. Read and translate the short text without any dictionary:

Fact of life:

The continued existence of life depends on reproduction, and this is perhaps the most characteristic feature of living things. Reproduction allows both continuity and change. Over countless generations this has allowed species to become well suited to their environment, and life to evolve gradually to more complex forms.

X. Food for thought:

a) You might be familiar with the mnemonic (memory aid) `Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain` for remembering the colors of the spectrum – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Suggest a mnemonic for the ten characteristic features of living things described in this unit. You can change the order of the features.

b) Robots can move and respond, and require energy to maintain their organization and a constant internal environment. How would you argue that robots are non-living objects? A robot could be made that has all the characteristic features of living things. Would it still be non-living?

XI. Translate into English using all the active possible:

1. 
   Биологическая наука изучает все живые организмы, населяющие нашу планету.
   
2. 
   Даже в самые отдаленные времена люди пытались понять окружающий их мир и обладали довольно обширными знаниями о растениях и животных.
   
3. 
   Современная биология начала развиваться в XVII веке.
   
4. 
   Микроскоп, изобретенный Левенгуком, позволил ученым обнаружить мир микроорганизмов.
   
5. 
   В XVIII веке Карл Линней заложил основы современной классификации живых существ.
   
6. 
   Законы наследственности и принцип естественного отбора были сформулированы в XIX веке.
   
7. 
   В наши дни знания человека в области биологии растут очень быстро благодаря компьютерным технологиям.