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Listen&Learn: Pando

Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock

Learn about the thousands of trees that share the same roots.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• aspen: a type of tree
• organism: a living being
• identical: exactly the same
• disrupt: to cause something to stop functioning properly
• ecosystem: a group of living things that interact with each other
• predator: an animal that hunts other animals for food
• overpopulation: too much of a certain species in an area

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

Pando is an aspen grove in Utah. It is one of the largest and organisms in the world. Pando is considered a single organism because all of its trees grow from shared under the ground. The DNA of every tree is identical. Scientists believe that Pando’s first roots grew out of a single seed over 80,000 years ago. However, the organism’s life may now be in danger. Pando’s trees are dying faster than they can grow. Human has disrupted the ecosystem, harming the populations of predator animals. This causes overpopulation of deer, who feed on the aspen trees. Some parts of the grove now have for protection.

Comprehension questions

1. Pando is considered
   a. an entire ecosystem
   b. a single organism
   c. a family of plants
   
2. The grove is believed to be
   a. made up of 80,000 trees
   b. 80,000 years old
   c. home to 80,000 species
   
3. Pando is at risk because of
   a. deer overpopulation
   b. human overpopulation
   c. predator overpopulation

See answers below

Discussion/essay questions

1. Do you think it’s possible for humans to reverse the damage we have done to ecosystems?

Transcript

Pando is an aspen grove in Utah. It is one of the largest and oldest organisms in the world. Pando is considered a single organism because all of its trees grow from shared roots under the ground. The DNA of every tree is identical. Scientists believe that Pando’s first roots grew out of a single seed over 80,000 years ago. However, the ancient organism’s life may now be in danger. Pando’s trees are dying faster than they can grow. Human activity has disrupted the ecosystem, harming the populations of predator animals. This causes overpopulation of deer, who feed on the aspen trees. Some parts of the grove now have fences for protection.

Answers to comprehension questions

1b 2b 3a

Written and recorded by Jaksyn Peacock for EnglishClub

© EnglishClub.com

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14 comments

• English Club Indonesia says:
  

  It’s possible for humans to reverse the damage we have done to ecosystems. Firstly, we need to find the cause of the damage. After that, we can take care of it, and the situation will be under control.

• Claude says:
  

  Do you think it’s possible for humans to reverse the damage we have done to ecosystems?
  For me, I think it’s not possible for humans to reverse the damage we have done to the nature.It’s too severe and too late, unfortunately.Perhaps we will be able to limit the damage, perhaps, but I am too old to see this results.

  Sincerely

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