main point texts
TRANSCRIPT
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Worksheet 1
Has the elixir of youth come of age?
It is one of the oldest jokes in the gerontologists' book if you
want to live to a grand age, choose your parents carefully. Jeanne
Calment, who had the longest confirmed human life span in
history, attributed her longevity she died in 1998 aged 122 years,
five months and 14 days to a diet rich in olive oil, regular glasses
of port and her ability to "keep smiling". But destiny undoubtedly
played the most important part.
We spend millions of pounds each year on anti-ageing tonics,
potions, vitamins and creams, trying to stave off the ravages of theyears. But our genetic inheritance trumps all other factors in
determining how well we age and how long we live. By
unravelling the genetic determinants of longevity, scientists believe
they will be able to manipulate them to add not only years to life, but also life to years. An elixir of youth
remains a distant dream but medicines to help us live longer and better are moving closer.
At a conference this week, Turning Back the Clock, organised by the Royal Society, researchers described
the progress that has been made in the science of ageing. At least 10 gene mutations have been identified
that extend the lifespan of mice by up to half, and in humans several genetic variants have been linked with
longevity. They include a family of genes dubbed the sirtuins, which one Italian study found occurred more
commonly in centenarian men than in the general population.
Developments such as these herald a new era of longevity research and drugs based on them will "probably
be available for testing from 2012", Professor Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in
New York told the conference. His "vision" was of a once-daily pill that would stave off the effects of old
age and would probably be taken when a person reached their forties or fifties. But to achieve it, ageing
would need to be classed as a treatable condition in order to stimulate the research funds needed to develop
it. Drugs regulators in the US and Europe would only licence medicines for specific illnesses, not for
something as general as ageing. "[Ageing] is something that is very important in the background. It needs to
be defined as a disease," he said.
What worries most people about ageing is losing their faculties and the ability to perform the daily tasks ofliving eating, dressing, bathing and getting around. But despite increases in cancer and chronic conditions
such as diabetes and arthritis, disability has been falling. This apparent paradox is explained by earlier
diagnosis and improved treatments which have rendered these conditions less disabling. In the future, more
of us will fall ill, but the illnesses will affect us less. The result is that we may live to see our great-
grandchildren and even our great-great-grandchildren. Within a couple of generations living to be 100 could
be as routine as collecting a bus pass is today. Some scientists go further and believe the first person to live
to 150 may already have been born.
Increased longevity is one of the modern world's great successes, but long life without health is an empty
prize. As Jeanne Calment indicated on her 122nd birthday: those who live moderately live long.
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Worksheet 2
It's official: Men really are the weaker sex
The male gender is in danger, with incalculable
consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling
scientific research from around the world reveals.
The research to be detailed tomorrow in the most
comprehensive report yet published shows that a host
of common chemicals is feminising males of every classof vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including
people.
Backed by some of the world's leading scientists, who say that it "waves a red flag" for
humanity and shows that evolution itself is being disrupted, the report comes out at a
particularly sensitive time for ministers. On Wednesday, Britain will lead opposition to
proposed new European controls on pesticides, many of which have been found to have
"gender-bending" effects.
It also follows hard on the heels of new American research which shows that baby boysborn to women exposed to widespread chemicals in pregnancy are born with smaller
penises and feminised genitals." This research shows that the basic male tool kit is under
threat," says Gwynne Lyons, a former government adviser on the health effects of
chemicals, who wrote the report.
Many have been identified as "endocrine disrupters" or gender-benders because they
interfere with hormones. These include phthalates, used in food wrapping, cosmetics
and baby powders among other applications; flame retardants in furniture and electrical
goods; PCBs, a now banned group of substances still widespread in food and theenvironment; and many pesticides.
But Britain has long sought to water down EU attempts to control gender-bender chemicals
and has been leading opposition to a new regulation that would ban pesticides shown to
have endocrine-disrupting effects. Almost all the other European countries back it, but
ministers backed by their counterparts from Ireland and Romania are intent on
continuing their resistance at a crucial meeting on Wednesday. They say the regulation
would cause a collapse of agriculture in the UK, but environmentalists retort that this is
nonsense because the regulation has get-out clauses that could be used by British
farmers.
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Worksheet 3
Oregon's monster mushroom is
world's biggest living thing
The largest living organism ever found
has been discovered in an ancient
American forest. TheArmillaria
ostoyae, popularly known as the honey
mushroom, started from a single spore
too small to see without a microscope.It has been spreading its black
shoestring filaments, called
rhizomorphs, through the forest for an
estimated 2,400 years, killing trees as it
grows. It now covers 2,200 acres (880 hectares) of the Malheur National Forest, in eastern
Oregon.
The discovery came after Catherine Parks, a scientist at the Pacific Northwest Research
Station in La Grande, Oregon, in 1998 heard about a big tree die-off from root rot in the
forest east of Prairie City. Using aerial photos, Ms Parks staked out an area of dying trees
and collected root samples from 112. She identified the fungus through DNA testing. Then,
by comparing cultures of the fungus grown from the 112 samples, she determined that 61
were from the same organism, meaning a single fungus had grown bigger than anything
anyone had ever described before.
On the surface, the only evidence of the fungus are clumps of golden mushrooms that pop
up in the autumn with the rain. "They are edible, but they don't taste the best," said Tina
Dreisbach, a botanist and mycologist with the US Forest Service in Corvallis, Oregon. "I
would put lots of butter and garlic on them."
Digging into the roots of an affected tree, something that looks like white latex paint can be
seen. These are mats of mycelium, which draw water and carbohydrates from the tree to
feed the fungus and interfere with the tree's absorption of water and nutrients. The long
rhizomorphs that stretch into the soil invade tree roots through a combination of pressure
and enzyme action.
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Worksheet 4
Success isn't written in the stars, it's in the length of
your fingers
It is the simplest hands-on experiment and, for once, it is
safe to try this at home. Compare the length of your fingers
and predict your own future.
Everything from sporting prowess to academic ability,
sexual orientation to susceptibility to disease can beassessed on the twin measurements of the length of the ring
and index fingers. It is science's answer to palmistry.
Researchers at Cambridge University have found that
finger length can point to success in the City. Traders with longer ring fingers made the
most money up to six times more than those whose ring fingers were relatively short.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found finger
size accounted for 20 per cent of the difference. Though the finding provoked scepticism
one blogger tartly responded, "Scientists with little else to do than measure fingers shouldpull their own out" the Cambridge boffins are not alone. The significance of finger length
has been investigated by research groups worldwide with surprising results.
The ratio between index and ring finger is believed to be linked to exposure to the male
hormone testosterone in the womb. On average, men tend to have longer ring fingers and
women longer index fingers. The higher the testosterone, the greater the length of the ring
finger and the more "masculine" the resulting child whether male or female. The longest
ring finger is known as the "Casanova pattern".
Professor John Manning, author of The Finger Book, said the ratio was a "living fossil" of
the early period of pregnancy a measure of past exposure to testosterone, and future
potential.
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Worksheet 1
Has the elixir of youth come of age?
What is the main point of each paragraph in this text?
What is the overall main point of this article?
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Worksheet 2
It's official: Men really are the weaker sex
What is the main point of each paragraph in this text?
What is the overall main point of this article?
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Worksheet 3
Oregon's monster mushroom is world's biggest living thing
What is the main point of each paragraph in this text?
What is the overall main point of this article?
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Worksheet 4
Success isn't written in the stars, it's in the length of your fingers
What is the main point of each paragraph in this text?
What is the overall main point of this article?
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Worksheet 5
Main Point Checklist
Does your written text include the following?
Topic sentences
Repeated words
Title
Headings/Subheadings
Implied Meaning