IELTS Real Reading Test Pre 2025 - Vol 2 Test 3 with Practice Test, Answers And Explanation
Luyện tập đề IELTS Real Reading Test Pre 2025 - Vol 2 Test 3 được lấy từ cuốn sách Real Test Pre 2025 - Vol 2 với trải nghiệm thi IELTS trên máy và giải thích đáp án chi tiết bằng Linearthinking, kèm answer key và list từ vựng IELTS cần học trong bài đọc.
IELTS Real Reading Test Pre 2025 - Vol 2 Test 3 with Practice Test, Answers And Explanation
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 1
Question 1 - 7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1
Early European settlers made detailed studies of the morepork.
2
The Polynesian rat had a negative effect on the number of laughing owls.
3
The laughing owl was larger than the morepork.
4
Rats pose a risk to young moreporks.
5
The New Zealand Department of Conservation is hoping to limit the population of moreporks.
6
Other bird species are frightened when they hear the morepork’s cry.
7
In Maori tradition, the low call of the morepork had negative associations.
Question 8 - 13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ND/OR NMBER from the passage for each answer.
The Morepork
Appearance
– Approximately
8.
in length.
– Large yellow eyes.
– Feathers with fringes to enable quiet flight.
Nesting
– Nests in trees, plants, or spaces in roots and
9.
.
– After about 35 days, baby moreporks are capable of leaving the nest.
Hunting
– Transports its prey using its
10.
.
– Can be chased away by other birds during the
11.
.
– Attacked
12.
that had been introduced to Motuora Island.
Threats
– Predators such as stoats and possums.
– May be exposed to
13.
in their prey.
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 2
Question 14 - 18
Reading Passage has eight paragraphs A-H
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H
14
A description of a teaching aid used in the 18th century.
15
Reference to a promotion arising from the misfortune of a close family member.
16
How a handicap may have resulted in a girl being given the opportunity to study.
17
Mention of a restriction placed on where a woman could teach.
18
Reference to an important academic text.
Question 19 - 22
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Women's education in 18th-century Europe
During the 18th century, Italy was the only country in Europe to give women the chance to study at university. The most notable of the institutions which opened their doors to women was the University of Bologna. Although it was originally intended to teach the subject of , many of its most famous women students worked in the field of .
Laura Bassi was the first woman teacher at the University of Bologna, and as well as teaching her students she also at times addressed people outside the university on the subject of . Of all her studies, Bassi gave least importance to the subject of .
Question 23 - 26
Look at the following statements and the list of women scholars below.
Match each statement with the correct woman scholar, A-D.
Write the correct letter, A-D.
List of Findings
A
Laura Bassi
B
Anna Morandi
C
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
D
Maria Dalle Donne
23
She offered tuition to those who could not afford the normal fee.
24
Her example helped others to obtain a right she did not have herself.
25
She devoted a long period of her life to charitable work.
26
She was put in charge of creating teaching materials.
Passage
❓ Câu hỏi passage 3
Question 27 - 30
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes on your answer sheet.
27
The researchers involved in the Pokémon experiment
A
were encouraged by how quickly children were able to learn creatures' names.
B
had anticipated that children would be able to identify many of the fantasy animals.
C
felt there was a clear reason why the children recognised so few natural species.
D
were pessimistic about trying to reconnect children with nature.
28
Why does the writer quote the example of a condor and a wren in the second paragraph?
A
to illustrate children's lack of interest in birds
B
to give examples of species that are in decline
C
to suggest birds that might stimulate an enthusiasm for nature
D
to highlight the importance of knowing about local species
29
The writer refers to George Monbiot in order to
A
highlight the difficulty of remembering plant and animal names
B
provide support for the idea that names are important
C
explain why some names have disappeared forever
D
argue that people have a genuine desire to name things
30
What is the writer's attitude to technology and the nature deficit?
A
There is no clear connection between technology and a lack of nature knowledge.
B
Technology can have a positive impact on children's relationship with nature.
C
Technology is more important to children in cities than in the countryside.
D
There is no point in trying to keep children away from technology.
Question 31 - 35
Complete each of the following statements with the best ending A-G from the box below.
List of Endings
A
children are reluctant to spend time outdoors
B
Britain’s wildlife was declining dramatically
C
there are many issues contributing to children’s lack of knowledge about wildlife
D
adults were aware of their lack of contact with nature
E
most adults were able to identify common species
F
people knew less about bird species than trees
G
children’s familiarity with wildlife was limited
The Pokémon study concluded that
31
The Bird Knowledge study aimed to discover whether
32
The Wildlife Trust's report highlighted the fact that
33
The State of Nature report revealed that
34
The Connecting with Nature report pointed out that
35
Question 36 - 40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In following statements below, choose
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
36
Most people are unconcerned about research findings that show our lack of contact with nature.
37
The deterioration in children's knowledge of nature is only to be expected.
38
Developing a 'literacy of nature' will make very little difference to people's attitude to species loss.
39
There is a strong relationship between the decline in people's 'literacy of nature and recent social changes in Britain.
40
It is understandable that parents are unwilling to allow their children to spend time outdoors alone.
DOL IELTS Đình Lực
05/05/2026
📖 Bài đọc passage 1
A Survivor's Story
One native bird in New Zealand that has managed to survive the introduction of non-native species. As an island country with a fauna dominated by birds, New Zealand was once home to an owl species which is now extinct, the 'laughing owl', named for its distinctive cry. This bird was widespread throughout the islands when European settlers arrived in the middle of the 19th century, and it remained in good numbers for some years thereafter. Where other native birds suffered from predation by the Polynesian rat, the laughing owl turned the tables and adapted its diet to include the rodent. It was also capable of catching and killing the other New Zealand owl, the morepork, and even larger birds, such as the weka. However, the laughing owl was wiped out around the beginning of the 20th century, its demise caused by specimen collectors, habitat changes, and non-native predators including cats and stoats. Surprisingly, it is the smaller owl, the morepork, that has managed to survive until this day.
Speckled dark brown, with yellow eyes and long tails, they are around 29 centimetres long from head to tail and 175 grams in weight. Moreporks have fringes on the edge of their feathers, so they can fly almost silently and not alert potential prey. They have acute hearing, and their large eyes are very sensitive to light.
Moreporks nest in tree hollows, in clumps of plants, or in cavities among rocks and roots. In the wild, moreporks usually start nesting in October, although zoo specimens have been recorded nesting in midwinter, possibly stimulated by an ample food supply. The female lays up to three white eggs, which she incubates for 20 to 30 days. During this time, she rarely hunts, and the male brings food to her. Once the chicks hatch, she stays mainly on the nest until the young owls are fully feathered. When hatched, chicks are covered in light grey down, and have their eyes closed. The eyes do not open until the eighth day after hatching. They can fly at around 35 days.
By day, moreporks sleep in roosts. By night, they hunt a variety of animals, mainly large invertebrates, including scarab and huhu beetles, moths, caterpillars and spiders. They also take small birds and mice. They can find suitable food in pine forests as well as native forest. A morepork uses its sharp talons to catch or stun its prey, which it then carries away in its bill. Moreporks are clever hunters, and birds such as robins, grey warblers and fantails can end up as their prey. In the day, these small birds sometimes mob drowsy moreporks and chase them away from their roosts. They force the sleepy predators to search for a more peaceful spot.
Moreporks have proved to be ungracious hosts. Scientists trying to establish a population of plovers on Motuora Island in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf were mystified as to why only two birds survived out of 75 placed there. The culprits turned out to be five pairs of moreporks that ate or chased away the new arrivals.
Although moreporks are still considered to be relatively common, it is likely that numbers are in gradual decline due to predation and loss of habitat. As the female is a hole-nester, she is vulnerable to predators such as stoats and possums during the breeding season, and eggs and chicks will also be at risk from rats. The use of pesticides is another possible threat to the owls, though not a direct one. As moreporks are at the top of the food chain, they could be affected by an accumulative poison by consuming prey that has ingested poison.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation is taking steps to ensure the preservation of New Zealand's only native owl. The department is involved in measuring the population of moreporks and has put transmitters on a number of birds to determine survival and mortality. As well as being New Zealand's only native owl, the morepork has symbolic and spiritual importance, so in monitoring the birds it is hoped that the morepork will continue to survive and thrive.
At dusk, the melancholy sound of the morepork can be heard in forests and parks as it calls to other moreporks and claims territory. Its Maori name (ruru) echoes its two-part cry. In the tradition of the Maori people of New Zealand, the morepork, or ruru, was often seen as a careful guardian. A number of sayings referred to the bird's alertness. As a bird of the night, it was associated with the spirit world. Moreporks were believed to act as messengers to the gods in the heavens, flying along spiritual paths in the sky. They were the mediums used to communicate with the gods. The occasional high, piercing call of the morepork signified bad news, but the lower-pitched and more common "ruru" call heralded good news.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 1
1
Not Given
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài True / False / Not Given
Step 01: Read the question to understand (main idea + detail)
Simplified: Early European settlers made detailed studies of the morepork
-------
Step 02: Locate relevant information
🔍 Từ khóa: “European settlers”, “morepork”
-> Tìm đoạn nói về European settlers hoặc thời điểm họ đến. Có thể là các đoạn đầu mô tả bối cảnh lịch sử, loài cú ở New Zealand khi người châu Âu đến.
-> Dựa vào các từ khoá trên, có thể tìm được trích dẫn ở đoạn 1.
-------
Step 03: Read relevant information to understand (main + detail)
📌 Trích dẫn: “This bird was widespread throughout the islands when European settlers arrived in the middle of the 19th century, and it remained in good numbers for some years thereafter.” (Đoạn 1)
Simplified: This bird (the morepork) was widespread throughout the islands when European settlers arrived
Main idea: Loài cú (laughing owl) → phân bố rộng khắp New Zealand khi người châu Âu đến → tiếp tục tồn tại nhiều năm sau đó. Không hề nhắc đến morepork hay việc nghiên cứu chi tiết.
-------
Step 04: Compare meaning with meaning
Trong bài đọc: Người châu Âu đến NZ vào thế kỷ 19 → cú laughing owl vẫn còn phổ biến. Không nói về morepork, không nói nghiên cứu chi tiết.
Trong câu hỏi: Người châu Âu đầu tiên → nghiên cứu chi tiết về morepork.
⇒ ✅ Chọn: NOT GIVEN
-------
Lưu ý chung:
Nếu đáp án là True: Bài phải nói rõ European settlers đã nghiên cứu chi tiết morepork.
Nếu đáp án là False: Bài phải khẳng định settlers KHÔNG hề nghiên cứu morepork, hoặc nghiên cứu nhưng không chi tiết.
A. The 18th century was a time of logic and experimentation, and many of the sciences had their beginnings at that time. But throughout most of Europe, these studies were reserved exclusively for men. Few options were available to European women with an inclination to study. A university education was off-limits to women almost everywhere in Europe, with one notable exception: Italy. In Italian universities, women competed equally with men, and among those liberal Italian universities, one in particular stands apart.
B
The University of Bologna was founded in 1088 as a law school and is the oldest university in Europe. During the 18th century, intellectually gifted women from the upper classes, and sometimes even from the less economically advantaged classes, had access to a level of education not available in most Western nations until the 20th century. Most of these women, as the following short biographies demonstrate, flourished in various areas of science.
C
Among the women professors of the University of Bologna, Laura Bassi (1711 - 1778) was the pioneer. She was the first woman to earn a PhD, and the university's first female professor. At the age of 21, Bassi became Professor of Physics. However, the university was not so liberal as to allow her to give lectures there; this remained a right reserved solely for men. Bassi was therefore obliged to conduct her lectures and her experiments in her home. She conducted physics tutorials and experiments for her students throughout her academic career, and for over thirty years offered an annual public lecture on experimental physics.
She also continued her own studies in literature as well as science, but considered only science as truly valuable, focusing on mechanics, hydraulics, and anatomy. But perhaps her most enduring achievement is the legacy she left to the women who followed her. Bassi's scholarship and life-long achievement in both research and teaching made it easier for other women to obtain university appointments. Most importantly, her successors were accorded full professorial privileges without restrictions based on gender.
D
In the 18th century, anatomy stood at the vanguard of medical research, and in 1742 Ercole Lelli, a painter and sculptor, became the first person to make a detailed reconstruction of the human skeleton and muscles in wax. These models were used to familiarize students with the human body. Lelli was assisted in his work by Giovanni Manzolini, who later became a professor at the University of Bologna. In turn, Manzolini was assisted by his wife, Anna Morandi (1716 - 1774), who came to be considered the finest practitioner of artistic anatomy.
E
Morandi did not set out to become an anatomist. Her early education focused on drawing and sculpting, but she later combined her keen observations and her artistic talent to produce very faithful reproductions of anatomical systems. When her husband fell ill and could no longer teach, Morandi was officially charged with delivering his lectures. After he died in 1760, Morandi was elected to a professorship at the university and, nine years later, was also named the anatomy department's chief model maker.
F
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718 - 1799) The daughter of Pietro Agnesi, a professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna, was both a brilliant linguist and a talented mathematician. She mastered French by the time she was five years old, and a number of ancient languages by the age of nine. Later, Agnesi focused her attention on mathematics. She devoted herself to algebra and geometry in her studies, and compiled the book that made her famous - Instituzioni Analitiche (Analytical Institutions), which for the first time provided a synthesis of many different branches of mathematics. The work became well known because its terminology constituted a basis for subsequent scientific works, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. The French Academy of Sciences offered the highest praise it could, noting in a letter that 'if the regulations permitted it, Mademoiselle Agnesi would be admitted to the Academy'. Agnesi may have been denied admission to the French Academy, but she was admitted into the Academy of Sciences in Bologna. Upon her father's death in 1752, Agnesi abandoned mathematics and the academy to care for the elderly, the poor, and the sick until her death in 1799.
G
Maria Dalle Donne (1778 - 1842) Was born into an average family in the small village of Roncastaldo on the outskirts of Bologna. A peasant girl from such a modest background would not normally have been encouraged to study, but Dalle Donne was born with a physical deformity; this may have led her family to think she would never marry. Under these circumstances, the family might have felt more inclined to educate the girl. In any event, Dalle Donne's cousin recognized her talents and took charge of her education. He enlisted the help of Luigi Rodati, a physician, who taught her himself and later recruited other professors of physics, surgery, and pathology to instruct her. In 1799, Dalle Donne passed her examinations with the highest honors, and became the first female doctor of medicine.
H
Several years later, Dalle Donne became the Director of one of the Departments of Medicine at the University of Bologna, where she gained a reputation as a stimulating lecturer. She was emphatic about the need to educate young women in areas of medicine, and accepted girls into her program without regard for their ability to pay.
Perhaps because of her own modest origins, she assisted talented but financially deprived girls, bringing some measure of democracy to the education of women.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 2
14
D
Giải thích chi tiết
Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Matching Information
📌 Dạng Matching Information chúng ta nên làm cuối cùng, sau khi đã làm các dạng câu hỏi khác nhé DOLBIES, bởi vì lúc này mình đã đọc và hiểu nội dung của bài rồi → sẽ nhanh chóng tìm được vị trí đáp án hơn!!
-------
✅ Step 1: Phân tích câu hỏi (Matching Information) A description of a teaching aid used in the 18th century .
Dự đoán thông tin cần tìm (SPECIFY):
“teaching aid” = đồ vật / mô hình / tài liệu được dùng để giúp dạy và học (ví dụ: models, diagrams, instruments, specimens, etc.)
“used in the 18th century” = đoạn đúng sẽ có mốc thời gian 18th century hoặc ngữ cảnh rõ ràng là thời kì đó
“a description” = đoạn sẽ mô tả teaching aid đó (nó là gì / làm bằng gì / dùng để làm gì)
-------
✅ Step 2: Locate bằng chứng
Đoạn D có câu bằng chứng trực tiếp nói về một “teaching aid” trong bối cảnh thế kỉ 18:
In the 18th century , Ercole Lelli became the first person to make a detailed reconstruction of the human skeleton and muscles in wax . These models were used to familiarize students with the human body .
-------
✅ Step 3: Đối chiếu paraphrasing (để chắc chắn match đúng)
a teaching aid ⇔ These models / a detailed reconstruction ... in wax (mô hình giải phẫu bằng sáp)
used ⇔ were used to familiarize students (= dùng để giúp sinh viên làm quen/hiểu cơ thể người)
in the 18th century ⇔ In the 18th century
⇒ Đoạn D đúng vì vừa mô tả teaching aid, vừa nói rõ nó được dùng để dạy học, lại đặt trong bối cảnh thế kỉ 18.
-------
❌ Những đáp án “bẫy” hay dính
Bẫy đoạn E: có “delivering his lectures” (giảng bài) nên skim/scan dễ tưởng liên quan “teaching”. Nhưng E nói về việc Morandi thay chồng giảng và được bổ nhiệm, không mô tả một teaching aid cụ thể.
Bẫy đoạn C: có “public lecture” và “tutorials” nên dễ bị hút bởi từ khoá dạy học. Nhưng C tập trung vào sự nghiệp giảng dạy của Laura Bassi, không có mô tả đồ dùng/mô hình hỗ trợ giảng dạy như câu hỏi yêu cầu.
The nature deficit - How children are losing touch with nature
Children's unfamiliarity with the natural world was first highlighted in 2002 by researchers from Cambridge University who surveyed a cohort of four- to eleven-year-old children in Britain. They showed the children pictures of common species of British wildlife and also fantasy creatures from the very popular Pokemon game. Pokemon was originally invented by Satoshi Tajiri in Japan as a way of giving urban children the opportunity to collect pictures of insect-like animals. Participants in the study were shown a sample of pictures and asked to identify the names of the Pokemon creatures and natural species. The results were striking.
Children aged eight and over were substantially better at identifying Pokemon creatures than natural species. The researchers published their paper in the journal Science. Their conclusions were unusually direct and forthright - reflecting the depth of their concern. 'Young children clearly have tremendous capacity for learning about creatures (whether natural or man-made), ' they wrote, but they are presently more inspired by synthetic subjects than by living creatures'. They pointed to solid evidence linking loss of knowledge about the natural world to growing isolation from it. We need, the paper concluded, 'to re-establish children's links with nature if we are to win over the hearts and minds of the next generation', for 'we love what we know ... What is the extinction of a magnificent bird of prey such as the condor to a child who has never seen a tiny wren in their back garden or local park?'
Subsequent research has confirmed the Pokemon paper's broad findings. In their recent Bird Knowledge study, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) smartly shifted the focus, assessing basic knowledge of nature in parents rather than children. Of 2,000 participants, half couldn't identify a house sparrow, a quarter didn't know a blue tit or a starling, and a fifth thought a red kite wasn't a bird - but nine out of ten said they wanted children to learn about common British wildlife. Similarly, a survey by The Wildlife Trust found a third of adults unable to identify a barn owl, three-quarters unable to identify an ash tree - and two-thirds feeling that they had 'lost touch with nature'.
Most of us are likely to react to the results of these surveys with a mixture of consternation and insecurity. But it should hardly come as a surprise that awareness of the natural world is vanishing from children's consciousness, for nature itself is vanishing. The RSPB's most recent State of Nature report found Britain to be 'among the most nature-depleted countries in the world', with a 53% drop in numbers of what were once common British species - among them barn owls, newts, sparrows, and starlings. Despite the growing interest in this problem, even the names of some of the most common bird and plant species are quickly being forgotten. Where have these lost names gone and does their vanishing matter? If so, how might we invigorate what anthropologist Beth Povinelli calls 'a literacy of nature ' in ourselves and our children?
Improving people's literacy of nature will undoubtedly help in the struggle to protect our vanishing species. As the environmentalist George Monbiot wrote recently, 'words possess a remarkable power to shape our perceptions.' Without names to give it detail, the natural world can quickly blur into a generalised wash of green - a disposable backdrop like wallpaper. But the right names, well used, can act as a key into the world of birds, animals, trees and insects. Leaming their names can trigger a thirst for further knowledge, greater respect and a sense of wonder.
Clearly the lack of nature literacy - especially of local nature - is associated with the major developments that have occurred in countries such as Britain, where children are now more likely to live in urban environments. Online culture has boomed and screen time has soared In Britain, the roaming range (the area within which children are permitted to play unsupervised) has shrunk by more than 90% in 40 years. Parental anxieties about traffic growth and the decrease of available green space are among the factors that have limited wild play and the knowledge it brings. "The children out in the woods, out in the fields, enjoying nature on their own - they're extinct, ' says Chris Packham, the presenter of the TV programme Nature Watch. The attention-grabbing headline of a recent report was that British children spend less time outdoors than prisoners.
Such headlines disguise a complex picture, though. Access to nature is hugely uneven across the population, with class, income and ethnicity playing strong determining roles. It's too easy to blame 'nature deficit', the gap in children's knowledge of the natural world, on the rise of technology, although that has certainly played its part. Technology is not an inherently bad thing, as it can provide a wealth of information for urban children who are disconnected from nature and help to generate further interest.
The RSPB's Connecting with Nature report, based on a three-year research project, sensibly recognised 'nature deficit' as a complex problem. Dismayingly, it found only one in five British children to be positively connected to nature. It emphasised 'nature connection' as not only a 'conservation' issue, but also one closely involved with education, physical health, emotional well-being and future attainment: what's good for nature is also good for the child.
Nature deficit needs structural and political fixes. Hearteningly, hundreds of organisations are striving to close the gap between childhood and nature, including working with schools to get more children regularly learning outdoors. Most of these organisations specifically aim to help children at risk of social exclusion, or who are otherwise unlikely to reach green places. There are promising signs presently visible in Britain and beyond.
🔥 Đáp án & giải thích 3
27
C
Giải thích chi tiết
☺️ Ứng dụng Linearthinking để giải quyết dạng bài Multiple Choice
Step 01: Read the question to understand
Simplified: The researchers involved in the Pokémon experiment ___ ?
Main idea: Hỏi về thái độ / quan điểm của những nhà nghiên cứu trong thí nghiệm Pokémon.
-------
Step 02: Locate relevant information
🔍 Từ khóa: “researchers”, “Pokémon experiment”, “children”, “natural species”
-> Dựa vào các từ khoá trên, có thể tìm được trích dẫn ở đoạn 2.
-------
Step 03: Read relevant information to understand
📌 Trích dẫn:
“Children aged eight and over were substantially better at identifying Pokémon creatures than natural species. The researchers published their paper in the journal Science. Their conclusions were unusually direct and forthright – reflecting the depth of their concern. ‘Young children clearly have tremendous capacity for learning about creatures (whether natural or man-made),’ they wrote, but they are presently more inspired by synthetic subjects than by living creatures. They pointed to solid evidence linking loss of knowledge about the natural world to growing isolation from it.” (Đoạn 2)
Simplified: Children were better at identifying Pokémon creatures than natural species .
→ Reason:The researchers pointed to loss of knowledge + growing isolation from nature .
Main idea: Trẻ học tốt về Pokémon hơn loài thật → Nguyên nhân: bị cô lập khỏi thế giới tự nhiên → nhà nghiên cứu lo lắng và cho rằng đây là lý do trẻ ít nhận biết động vật thật.
-------
Step 04: Compare meaning with meaning
❌ A. were encouraged by how quickly children were able to learn creatures' names.
→ Sai vì các nhà nghiên cứu không “encouraged” mà “concerned” (lo lắng). “Their conclusions were unusually direct and forthright – reflecting the depth of their concern.”
❌ B. had anticipated that children would be able to identify many of the fantasy animals.
→ Sai vì không có bằng chứng họ expected điều này. Họ chỉ observed sau khi làm khảo sát.
✅ C. felt there was a clear reason why the children recognised so few natural species.
→ Đúng. Họ “pointed to solid evidence linking loss of knowledge about the natural world to growing isolation from it” → họ thấy nguyên nhân rõ ràng là do trẻ ngày càng tách khỏi tự nhiên.
❌ D. were pessimistic about trying to reconnect children with nature.
→ Sai vì họ đề nghị phải “re-establish children’s links with nature” → thể hiện hy vọng, không bi quan.
One native bird in New Zealand that has managed to survive the introduction of non-native species. As an island country with a fauna dominated by birds, New Zealand was once home to an owl species which is now extinct, the 'laughing owl', named for its distinctive cry. This bird was widespread throughout the islands when European settlers arrived in the middle of the 19th century, and it remained in good numbers for some years thereafter. Where other native birds suffered from predation by the Polynesian rat, the laughing owl turned the tables and adapted its diet to include the rodent. It was also capable of catching and killing the other New Zealand owl, the morepork, and even larger birds, such as the weka. However, the laughing owl was wiped out around the beginning of the 20th century, its demise caused by specimen collectors, habitat changes, and non-native predators including cats and stoats. Surprisingly, it is the smaller owl, the morepork, that has managed to survive until this day.
Speckled dark brown, with yellow eyes and long tails, they are around 29 centimetres long from head to tail and 175 grams in weight. Moreporks have fringes on the edge of their feathers, so they can fly almost silently and not alert potential prey. They have acute hearing, and their large eyes are very sensitive to light.
Moreporks nest in tree hollows, in clumps of plants, or in cavities among rocks and roots. In the wild, moreporks usually start nesting in October, although zoo specimens have been recorded nesting in midwinter, possibly stimulated by an ample food supply. The female lays up to three white eggs, which she incubates for 20 to 30 days. During this time, she rarely hunts, and the male brings food to her. Once the chicks hatch, she stays mainly on the nest until the young owls are fully feathered. When hatched, chicks are covered in light grey down, and have their eyes closed. The eyes do not open until the eighth day after hatching. They can fly at around 35 days.
By day, moreporks sleep in roosts. By night, they hunt a variety of animals, mainly large invertebrates, including scarab and huhu beetles, moths, caterpillars and spiders. They also take small birds and mice. They can find suitable food in pine forests as well as native forest. A morepork uses its sharp talons to catch or stun its prey, which it then carries away in its bill. Moreporks are clever hunters, and birds such as robins, grey warblers and fantails can end up as their prey. In the day, these small birds sometimes mob drowsy moreporks and chase them away from their roosts. They force the sleepy predators to search for a more peaceful spot.
Moreporks have proved to be ungracious hosts. Scientists trying to establish a population of plovers on Motuora Island in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf were mystified as to why only two birds survived out of 75 placed there. The culprits turned out to be five pairs of moreporks that ate or chased away the new arrivals.
Although moreporks are still considered to be relatively common, it is likely that numbers are in gradual decline due to predation and loss of habitat. As the female is a hole-nester, she is vulnerable to predators such as stoats and possums during the breeding season, and eggs and chicks will also be at risk from rats. The use of pesticides is another possible threat to the owls, though not a direct one. As moreporks are at the top of the food chain, they could be affected by an accumulative poison by consuming prey that has ingested poison.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation is taking steps to ensure the preservation of New Zealand's only native owl. The department is involved in measuring the population of moreporks and has put transmitters on a number of birds to determine survival and mortality. As well as being New Zealand's only native owl, the morepork has symbolic and spiritual importance, so in monitoring the birds it is hoped that the morepork will continue to survive and thrive.
At dusk, the melancholy sound of the morepork can be heard in forests and parks as it calls to other moreporks and claims territory. Its Maori name (ruru) echoes its two-part cry. In the tradition of the Maori people of New Zealand, the morepork, or ruru, was often seen as a careful guardian. A number of sayings referred to the bird's alertness. As a bird of the night, it was associated with the spirit world. Moreporks were believed to act as messengers to the gods in the heavens, flying along spiritual paths in the sky. They were the mediums used to communicate with the gods. The occasional high, piercing call of the morepork signified bad news, but the lower-pitched and more common "ruru" call heralded good news.
was widespread throughout the islands
European settlers
arrived
Main idea: Loài cú (laughing owl) → phân bố rộng khắp New Zealand khi người châu Âu đến → tiếp tục tồn tại nhiều năm sau đó. Không hề nhắc đến morepork hay việc nghiên cứu chi tiết.
B. The University of Bologna was founded in 1088 as a law school and is the oldest university in Europe. During the 18th century, intellectually gifted women from the upper classes, and sometimes even from the less economically advantaged classes, had access to a level of education not available in most Western nations until the 20th century. Most of these women, as the following short biographies demonstrate, flourished in various areas of science.
C. Among the women professors of the University of Bologna, Laura Bassi (1711 - 1778) was the pioneer. She was the first woman to earn a PhD, and the university's first female professor. At the age of 21, Bassi became Professor of Physics. However, the university was not so liberal as to allow her to give lectures there; this remained a right reserved solely for men. Bassi was therefore obliged to conduct her lectures and her experiments in her home. She conducted physics tutorials and experiments for her students throughout her academic career, and for over thirty years offered an annual public lecture on experimental physics.
She also continued her own studies in literature as well as science, but considered only science as truly valuable, focusing on mechanics, hydraulics, and anatomy. But perhaps her most enduring achievement is the legacy she left to the women who followed her. Bassi's scholarship and life-long achievement in both research and teaching made it easier for other women to obtain university appointments. Most importantly, her successors were accorded full professorial privileges without restrictions based on gender.
D. In the 18th century, anatomy stood at the vanguard of medical research, and in 1742 Ercole Lelli, a painter and sculptor, became the first person to make a detailed reconstruction of the human skeleton and muscles in wax. These models were used to familiarize students with the human body. Lelli was assisted in his work by Giovanni Manzolini, who later became a professor at the University of Bologna. In turn, Manzolini was assisted by his wife, Anna Morandi (1716 - 1774), who came to be considered the finest practitioner of artistic anatomy.
E. Morandi did not set out to become an anatomist. Her early education focused on drawing and sculpting, but she later combined her keen observations and her artistic talent to produce very faithful reproductions of anatomical systems. When her husband fell ill and could no longer teach, Morandi was officially charged with delivering his lectures. After he died in 1760, Morandi was elected to a professorship at the university and, nine years later, was also named the anatomy department's chief model maker.
F. Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718 - 1799) The daughter of Pietro Agnesi, a professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna, was both a brilliant linguist and a talented mathematician. She mastered French by the time she was five years old, and a number of ancient languages by the age of nine. Later, Agnesi focused her attention on mathematics. She devoted herself to algebra and geometry in her studies, and compiled the book that made her famous - Instituzioni Analitiche (Analytical Institutions), which for the first time provided a synthesis of many different branches of mathematics. The work became well known because its terminology constituted a basis for subsequent scientific works, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. The French Academy of Sciences offered the highest praise it could, noting in a letter that 'if the regulations permitted it, Mademoiselle Agnesi would be admitted to the Academy'. Agnesi may have been denied admission to the French Academy, but she was admitted into the Academy of Sciences in Bologna. Upon her father's death in 1752, Agnesi abandoned mathematics and the academy to care for the elderly, the poor, and the sick until her death in 1799.
G. Maria Dalle Donne (1778 - 1842) Was born into an average family in the small village of Roncastaldo on the outskirts of Bologna. A peasant girl from such a modest background would not normally have been encouraged to study, but Dalle Donne was born with a physical deformity; this may have led her family to think she would never marry. Under these circumstances, the family might have felt more inclined to educate the girl. In any event, Dalle Donne's cousin recognized her talents and took charge of her education. He enlisted the help of Luigi Rodati, a physician, who taught her himself and later recruited other professors of physics, surgery, and pathology to instruct her. In 1799, Dalle Donne passed her examinations with the highest honors, and became the first female doctor of medicine.
H. Several years later, Dalle Donne became the Director of one of the Departments of Medicine at the University of Bologna, where she gained a reputation as a stimulating lecturer. She was emphatic about the need to educate young women in areas of medicine, and accepted girls into her program without regard for their ability to pay.
Perhaps because of her own modest origins, she assisted talented but financially deprived girls, bringing some measure of democracy to the education of women.
were used to familiarize students with the human body
a teaching aid
These models / a detailed reconstruction ... in wax
used
were used to familiarize students
in the 18th century
In the 18th century
Children's unfamiliarity with the natural world was first highlighted in 2002 by researchers from Cambridge University who surveyed a cohort of four- to eleven-year-old children in Britain. They showed the children pictures of common species of British wildlife and also fantasy creatures from the very popular Pokemon game. Pokemon was originally invented by Satoshi Tajiri in Japan as a way of giving urban children the opportunity to collect pictures of insect-like animals. Participants in the study were shown a sample of pictures and asked to identify the names of the Pokemon creatures and natural species. The results were striking.
Children aged eight and over were substantially better at identifying Pokemon creatures than natural species. The researchers published their paper in the journal Science. Their conclusions were unusually direct and forthright - reflecting the depth of their concern. 'Young children clearly have tremendous capacity for learning about creatures (whether natural or man-made), ' they wrote, but they are presently more inspired by synthetic subjects than by living creatures'. They pointed to solid evidence linking loss of knowledge about the natural world to growing isolation from it. We need, the paper concluded, 'to re-establish children's links with nature if we are to win over the hearts and minds of the next generation', for 'we love what we know ... What is the extinction of a magnificent bird of prey such as the condor to a child who has never seen a tiny wren in their back garden or local park?'
Subsequent research has confirmed the Pokemon paper's broad findings. In their recent Bird Knowledge study, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) smartly shifted the focus, assessing basic knowledge of nature in parents rather than children. Of 2,000 participants, half couldn't identify a house sparrow, a quarter didn't know a blue tit or a starling, and a fifth thought a red kite wasn't a bird - but nine out of ten said they wanted children to learn about common British wildlife. Similarly, a survey by The Wildlife Trust found a third of adults unable to identify a barn owl, three-quarters unable to identify an ash tree - and two-thirds feeling that they had 'lost touch with nature'.
Most of us are likely to react to the results of these surveys with a mixture of consternation and insecurity. But it should hardly come as a surprise that awareness of the natural world is vanishing from children's consciousness, for nature itself is vanishing. The RSPB's most recent State of Nature report found Britain to be 'among the most nature-depleted countries in the world', with a 53% drop in numbers of what were once common British species - among them barn owls, newts, sparrows, and starlings. Despite the growing interest in this problem, even the names of some of the most common bird and plant species are quickly being forgotten. Where have these lost names gone and does their vanishing matter? If so, how might we invigorate what anthropologist Beth Povinelli calls 'a literacy of nature ' in ourselves and our children?
Improving people's literacy of nature will undoubtedly help in the struggle to protect our vanishing species. As the environmentalist George Monbiot wrote recently, 'words possess a remarkable power to shape our perceptions.' Without names to give it detail, the natural world can quickly blur into a generalised wash of green - a disposable backdrop like wallpaper. But the right names, well used, can act as a key into the world of birds, animals, trees and insects. Leaming their names can trigger a thirst for further knowledge, greater respect and a sense of wonder.
Clearly the lack of nature literacy - especially of local nature - is associated with the major developments that have occurred in countries such as Britain, where children are now more likely to live in urban environments. Online culture has boomed and screen time has soared In Britain, the roaming range (the area within which children are permitted to play unsupervised) has shrunk by more than 90% in 40 years. Parental anxieties about traffic growth and the decrease of available green space are among the factors that have limited wild play and the knowledge it brings. "The children out in the woods, out in the fields, enjoying nature on their own - they're extinct, ' says Chris Packham, the presenter of the TV programme Nature Watch. The attention-grabbing headline of a recent report was that British children spend less time outdoors than prisoners.
Such headlines disguise a complex picture, though. Access to nature is hugely uneven across the population, with class, income and ethnicity playing strong determining roles. It's too easy to blame 'nature deficit', the gap in children's knowledge of the natural world, on the rise of technology, although that has certainly played its part. Technology is not an inherently bad thing, as it can provide a wealth of information for urban children who are disconnected from nature and help to generate further interest.
The RSPB's Connecting with Nature report, based on a three-year research project, sensibly recognised 'nature deficit' as a complex problem. Dismayingly, it found only one in five British children to be positively connected to nature. It emphasised 'nature connection' as not only a 'conservation' issue, but also one closely involved with education, physical health, emotional well-being and future attainment: what's good for nature is also good for the child.
Nature deficit needs structural and political fixes. Hearteningly, hundreds of organisations are striving to close the gap between childhood and nature, including working with schools to get more children regularly learning outdoors. Most of these organisations specifically aim to help children at risk of social exclusion, or who are otherwise unlikely to reach green places. There are promising signs presently visible in Britain and beyond.
Simplified: Children were better at identifying Pokémon creatures than natural species .
The researchers
pointed to
loss of knowledge + growing isolation from nature
Children's unfamiliarity with the natural world was first highlighted in 2002 by researchers from Cambridge University who surveyed a cohort of four- to eleven-year-old children in Britain. They showed the children pictures of common species of British wildlife and also fantasy creatures from the very popular Pokemon game. Pokemon was originally invented by Satoshi Tajiri in Japan as a way of giving urban children the opportunity to collect pictures of insect-like animals. Participants in the study were shown a sample of pictures and asked to identify the names of the Pokemon creatures and natural species. The results were striking.
Children aged eight and over were substantially better at identifying Pokemon creatures than natural species. The researchers published their paper in the journal Science. Their conclusions were unusually direct and forthright - reflecting the depth of their concern. 'Young children clearly have tremendous capacity for learning about creatures (whether natural or man-made), ' they wrote, but they are presently more inspired by synthetic subjects than by living creatures'. They pointed to solid evidence linking loss of knowledge about the natural world to growing isolation from it. We need, the paper concluded, 'to re-establish children's links with nature if we are to win over the hearts and minds of the next generation', for 'we love what we know ... What is the extinction of a magnificent bird of prey such as the condor to a child who has never seen a tiny wren in their back garden or local park?'
Subsequent research has confirmed the Pokemon paper's broad findings. In their recent Bird Knowledge study, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) smartly shifted the focus, assessing basic knowledge of nature in parents rather than children. Of 2,000 participants, half couldn't identify a house sparrow, a quarter didn't know a blue tit or a starling, and a fifth thought a red kite wasn't a bird - but nine out of ten said they wanted children to learn about common British wildlife. Similarly, a survey by The Wildlife Trust found a third of adults unable to identify a barn owl, three-quarters unable to identify an ash tree - and two-thirds feeling that they had 'lost touch with nature'.
Most of us are likely to react to the results of these surveys with a mixture of consternation and insecurity. But it should hardly come as a surprise that awareness of the natural world is vanishing from children's consciousness, for nature itself is vanishing. The RSPB's most recent State of Nature report found Britain to be 'among the most nature-depleted countries in the world', with a 53% drop in numbers of what were once common British species - among them barn owls, newts, sparrows, and starlings. Despite the growing interest in this problem, even the names of some of the most common bird and plant species are quickly being forgotten. Where have these lost names gone and does their vanishing matter? If so, how might we invigorate what anthropologist Beth Povinelli calls 'a literacy of nature ' in ourselves and our children?
Improving people's literacy of nature will undoubtedly help in the struggle to protect our vanishing species. As the environmentalist George Monbiot wrote recently, 'words possess a remarkable power to shape our perceptions.' Without names to give it detail, the natural world can quickly blur into a generalised wash of green - a disposable backdrop like wallpaper. But the right names, well used, can act as a key into the world of birds, animals, trees and insects. Leaming their names can trigger a thirst for further knowledge, greater respect and a sense of wonder.
Clearly the lack of nature literacy - especially of local nature - is associated with the major developments that have occurred in countries such as Britain, where children are now more likely to live in urban environments. Online culture has boomed and screen time has soared In Britain, the roaming range (the area within which children are permitted to play unsupervised) has shrunk by more than 90% in 40 years. Parental anxieties about traffic growth and the decrease of available green space are among the factors that have limited wild play and the knowledge it brings. "The children out in the woods, out in the fields, enjoying nature on their own - they're extinct, ' says Chris Packham, the presenter of the TV programme Nature Watch. The attention-grabbing headline of a recent report was that British children spend less time outdoors than prisoners.
Such headlines disguise a complex picture, though. Access to nature is hugely uneven across the population, with class, income and ethnicity playing strong determining roles. It's too easy to blame 'nature deficit', the gap in children's knowledge of the natural world, on the rise of technology, although that has certainly played its part. Technology is not an inherently bad thing, as it can provide a wealth of information for urban children who are disconnected from nature and help to generate further interest.
The RSPB's Connecting with Nature report, based on a three-year research project, sensibly recognised 'nature deficit' as a complex problem. Dismayingly, it found only one in five British children to be positively connected to nature. It emphasised 'nature connection' as not only a 'conservation' issue, but also one closely involved with education, physical health, emotional well-being and future attainment: what's good for nature is also good for the child.
Nature deficit needs structural and political fixes. Hearteningly, hundreds of organisations are striving to close the gap between childhood and nature, including working with schools to get more children regularly learning outdoors. Most of these organisations specifically aim to help children at risk of social exclusion, or who are otherwise unlikely to reach green places. There are promising signs presently visible in Britain and beyond.
