The truth about bears

The wildlife biologist, John Rogers, had spent thousands of hours studying North America’s black bears. He shot them with tranquilisers before fitting them with radio collars. He took their blood and studied their DNA. And he tracked their movements and marked them on maps. But none of that had allowed him to really know the creatures. Rogers finally decided that he couldn’t hope to know bears unless he won their trust. And so he abandoned scientific detachment and took the controversial step of forming relationships with his study animals, using food to gain acceptance among an extended bear family in Minnesota. Now, he has abandoned almost everything he knew, or thought he knew, about bears. They do not like honey. They are not even that crazy about berries or nuts, if they have a choice of larvae in a tree trunk. And they are not dangerous. “In all my 42 years of working closely with bears, I have not found a way of getting a bear to attack. The more I push, the more they try to get away. If they wave their arms aggressively, it’s just a

way to keep me at a distance while they find a way to escape. It’s humans who are the more dangerous animals”, he said. “If you look at statistics, one black bear out of a million kills somebody. Among humans, it’s one persona) The biologist collected factual information about bears, like the area where they

Do not copy from the text.

2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions.

a)

What has the biologist discovered about the bear’s diet?

b)

Why does he think humans are dangerous?

(Puntuación máxima:

2 puntos)

3.- Find the words or phrases in the text that mean:

a) animals (paragraph 1)

b) confidence (paragraph 2)

c) distance (paragraph 2)

d) move (in the air) (paragraph 3)

(Puntuación máxima:

1 punto)

4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets

when given.

a)

b) If we want to know the real facts _____ animals, we _____ study them in action.

Everybody_____ (believe) that bears love _____ (eat) honey.

Rewrite the sentences starting with the words given:

c) It’s not necessary to dissect an animal to know a lot about it.

You ….

d) When Rogers went near the bear, he called to it “Don’t worry, bear!”

Rogers told….

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2 puntos)

5.-

Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.Pets in city flats? Argue for or against

out of 18,000 who kills somebody. So you could see why I would feel a lot

less comfortable in the city than in the woods next to a bear.”

1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text.

lived and travelled around.

b) Making close contact with your object of study is normal in scientific research.