Kostenko
Rebecca: and me, Rebecca Byrne.
Dima: Today we'll have some useful words and phrases used in science and
environmental studies as we talk about the loneliest creature on the planet. But
first - Rebecca, can I ask you a question?
Rebecca: Responds
Dima: If you were asked to put yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 means a
very sociable person who hates being on her own and 1 means a complete
loner, where do you reckon your place would be?
Rebecca: Responds
Dima: Responds. OK, in that case I'd like to stretch your imagination a bit. Imagine
always living completely on your own. How would you feel about that?
Rebecca: Responds
Dima: And if on top of that you had to live in darkness, deep underground?
Rebecca: Responds
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009
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Dima: Well, it may be hard to imagine but there is a creature on Earth that lives
exactly like that: no light, no company - it reproduces by dividing itself - and
even no oxygen! It's not a human being of course, it's only a tiny little bug, but
the fact that it exists came as a big surprise to a group of scientists who
discovered it only a few months ago.
Rebecca: I think I remember that story… Wasn't it somewhere in South Africa?
Dima: That's right, deep in a gold mine. In a moment we'll hear from one of those
scientists, Dr Dylan Chivian, and I hope you can help me with the language
Rebecca.
Rebecca: Responds
Dima: But first, as usual, a question to you: You remember that the lonely bug lives
without oxygen. So how do you think it gets its energy? Is it from:
a) gold
b) sulphate, or
c) iron?
What do you think Rebecca?
Rebecca: Answers
Dima: We'll check your answer later but first let's hear from Dr Chivian, and here is
Rebecca with some words and expressions to help you understand him better.
Rebecca: 'To speculate on something', meaning to suggest, or to guess that something is
a possible. 'A blueprint' - that's a full and detailed plan of something.
'Ecosystem', a word that describes living organisms and the environment where
they live. And 'genome' - in other words, a complete set of genes, or full
genetic information.
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Dima: So, as you listen, look out for these words and expressions:
Rebecca: Speculate on. Blueprint. Ecosystem. Genome.
Dima: Are you ready? Here's Dr Chivian:
Clip 1 0'13"
It's something we've speculated on before, but to really find it happening here on Earth is
confirmation of that idea, that you could in fact pack the blueprint for an entire ecosystem into
a single genome.
Rebecca: Dr Chivian says scientists have suspected that an organism like this might
exist. And now their idea has been confirmed. The lonely bug is in fact a
reflection, or a plan of a whole natural system, hiding in a single set of genes.
Dima: And that's not all: Dr Chivian says the bug could even help in the search for
extraterrestrial forms of life.
Rebecca: 'Extraterrestrial' - meaning coming from outer space, from planets other than
Earth.
Dima: Listen to him again and this time try to find the answer to this week's question:
How does the lonely bug get its energy? Here's a tip for you: try and catch the
name of a certain chemical. And what's your language point Rebecca?
Rebecca: I've got a couple in fact: the verb 'to evolve', which is to develop slowly, and a
very common phrase 'it may well be', meaning it's quite possible. Shall we
listen?
Clip 2 0'20"
Early Earth and other planets didn't have a lot of oxygen on them, so life has evolved to use
oxygen in order to get its energy, you know. If we ever discover life on other planets, it may
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very well be that they live without oxygen and instead potentially use chemicals like sulphate
to get their energy.
Dima: That was scientist Dr Dylan Chivian. Now, before we talk about the answer to
this week's question, could you go through some of today's vocabulary again
Rebecca?
Rebecca: Responds. First of all we talked about the phrase to speculate on something,
meaning to suggest, or to guess that something is possible. Then there was the
word blueprint - a full and detailed plan of something. We defined
ecosystems, a word that describes living organisms and the environments
where they live. And then, genome - a complete set of genes, or full genetic
information. We mentioned the adjective extraterrestrial, meaning coming
from outer space, from planets other than Earth. And then we heard the verb to
evolve, which is a shorter way of saying to develop slowly. And finally, my
favourite: a very common expression that means 'it's quite possible'. Can you
remember what it is Dima?
Dima: 'It may well be'?
Rebecca: That's exactly right. Or, as Dr Chivian put it, 'it may very well be'.
Dima: Thanks Rebecca. Finally, back to our question. Which chemical does the lonely
bug get its energy from?
Rebecca: Responds (the choice was gold, sulphate or iron and I said… which was
correct/wrong…)
Dima: I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Until next week.
Both: Goodbye!
