questions sur un texte

[melek]

Bonjour,

je vous soumets le texte avec les questions : ceci est un exercice pour nous pour s'entraîner

text :

Human ancestor had 'modern' feet 3.7 million years ago, study says

New research suggests that our ancestors' feet took on modern features nearly 2 million years earlier than previously thought - literally laying the groundwork for hominin migration beyond Africa.

Nearly four million years ago, our human relatives were very different from modern man. Australopithecus afarensis had a longer torso, a smaller brain and significantly stubbier legs - but we did have one thing in common: our feet. After examining the ancient species' footprints using a new type of analysis, a team of British scientists concluded that the "human" gait emerged 3.7 million years ago. The study challenges previous research, which suggests that human-like walking did not develop in homonin species until nearly 2 million years later.

In the report, which was published online Wednesday by the Royal Society Journal Interface, scientists said the species presumed responsible for those tracks had feet that were strikingly similar to those of modern humans, and less like those belonging to chimpanzees or gorillas. Since the footprints were found in Laetoli, Tanzania more than three decades ago, they have polarized the scientific community - pitting researchers who describe the footprints as more "ape-like" against those who see in them the origins of modern bipedal motion.

Robin Crompton of the University of Liverpool, the study's lead author, said his team's research could deal a decisive blow to that debate: "They are more human prints than ape prints, and I don't think that can be debated anymore," he told Deutsche Welle.

The Liverpool scientists, who also collaborated with experts at Bournemouth University and the University of Manchester, arrived at that conclusion with the help of a very modern method: three-dimensional averaging. Instead of analyzing each print separately, the team generated 3-D averages of all 11 and compared them to data sets generated in other studies. This mapping technique had previously been used to analyze blood flow in the brain. Researchers argued that this method also served as an objective way to analyze the prints. "In this paper, we simply substitute footprints for brains, and depth for blood flow," the study reads. The result is a statistical image. "We've been very, very careful about how we've done this study," Crompton said.

Nevertheless, William Sellers, one of the co-authors of the study from the University of Manchester's life sciences department, said the team was pleasantly surprised by the results. "I think we were always on the side thinking they were more human than other people had thought," he told Deutsche Welle. "But we weren't expecting quite so much similarity with modern humans."

Those similarities include functional features, ranging from a medial arch to a gait driven by the toes. Taken together, the study said, those characteristics add up to a combination that is "very unusual, if not absent, in any living non-human ape."

Chimpanzees and gorillas exhibit big toes that are better suited for climbing than walking - a feature that our human ancestors lost as they transitioned from a life in the treetops to a life on the ground.

"If you look at primates as a whole, most primates have the sort of feet that you can peel bananas with," Sellers said. "They've got big, grasping toes that reach out sideways - because if you live in a tree, it's very, very useful to be able to grip with your feet."

The team's research suggests that the feet of mankind's ancient relative, Australopithecus afarensis, had developed to accommodate both an arborial lifestyle and bipedal motion. Yet though the species' feet were made for walking, he couldn't get very far; from an evolutionary standpoint, A. afarensis was still waiting for his body to catch up. The species had a long torso with short legs and small feet - a combination that was not well-suited for traveling long distances.

Had it been easier for A. afarensis to get from point A to B, he still wouldn't have been able to bring much with him. "It makes it very difficult to carry loads," Crompton said, referring to the species' anatomy.

Though the study suggests that our ancestors had very modern foot function 3.7 million years ago, Sellers said the size of their brains did not begin to increase until about 2 million years ago. By that time, their bodies had already grown much larger.

Without those advantages, it appears that the maker of the Laetoli footprints still had a while to wait before his descendants would make their way out of Africa and into parts of the world yet unknown.

- Amanda Price, DW-world.de, July 20th, 2011.

I / Understanding the text

1/ Right or Wrong? Answer by reformulating the text

a) The Australopithecus afarensis’s feet and our own are nothing alike.

b)Chimpanzees and gorillas use their feet mostly for climbing.

c) Scientists have stopped arguing about Laetoli’s footprints.

d) The research took thirty years to complete.

e) Our ancestors had feet suited both to walk and to climb.

f) The differences between the footprints are the same as the differences in blood flow.

g) The Australopithecus afarensis’s feet and those of modern ape are very similar.

2/ Reformulate and clarify :

a) How was the scientist’s discovery made ?

b) What do they disagree about ?

c) What was their reaction to their discovery ?

d) Explain the following sentence : “We’ve been very, very careful about how we’ve done this study, “ Crompton said.”

e) What is “three-dimensional averaging” ?

f) Explain the following sentence: “Nevertheless, William Sellers, one of the co-authors of the study from the University of Manchester’s life sciences department, said the team was pleasantly surprised by the results.”

g) Develop on the following fragment: “Had it been easier for Australopithecus afarensis to get from point A to B, he still wouldn’t have been able to bring much with him. “It makes it very difficult to carry loads,” Crompton said, referring to the species’ anatomy. “

3/ Vocabulary

Find synonyms in the text for the following words / expressions :

a) of the same family :

b) traces in the ground :

c) walking on two feet :

d) taking the intermediate :

e) a characteristic :

f) a way of walking :

g) (2 answers) to catch on something :

h) living in the trees :

Now find your own synonyms for the following words / expressions :

a) to take on :

b) stubbier :

c) laying the groundwork :

d) strikingly :

e) to polarize :

f) to pit against :

g) a decisive blow :

h) to exhibit :

i) a standpoint :

II / Summarizing the important points :

a) Why is the scientists’ discovery important ?

b) What is left to discover, according to the article’s conclusion ?

III / Essay questions :

1 / What can the study of our ancestors reveal about the modern human ?

(300-350 words).

2 / Imagine you are a scientist charged with presenting the discovery at a press conference. Write the speech you would give to journalists.

(350 words).

voici ce que j'ai fait pour le début des questions mais je n'arrive pas du tout pour le résumé et les deux essais , svpp ?

I / Understanding the text

1/ Right or Wrong? Answer by reformulating the text

a) false because our feet is the common point with the Australopithecus afarensis.

b) False because chimpanzees and gorillas exposed big toes for climbing.

c) False because thanks Laetoli’s footprints, scientists have polarized the scientific community.

d) False because new research took on modern features nearly 2 million years.

e) False because our ancestors are better suited for climbing than walking.

f) False because researches replace footprints for brains and depth for blood flow.

g) True because « those similarities include functional features ».

2/ Reformulate and clarify :

a) Scientists discover that our ancestors’ feet employed modern features.

b) They disagree about the human –like who did not develop in hominin species.

c) Scientists thinks that ancestors are more human prints than ape prints.

d) Researches are been careful to the study because they replaced footprints for brains and depth for blood flow.

e) « three-dimensional averaging » is a comparison of each print generated in other studies.

f) William Sellers remarked that the team was surprised by the results.

g) Australopithecus afarensis can travel long distances.

3/ Vocabulary

Find synonyms in the text for the following words / expressions :

a) of the same family : our human ancestors

b) traces in the ground : footprints

c) walking on two feet : human-like walking

d) taking the intermediate : traveling long distances

e) a characteristic : similarity

f) a way of walking : a gait driven by the toes

g) (2 answers) to catch on something : to catch up / to grip

h) living in the trees : a life in the treetops

Now find your own synonyms for the following words / expressions :

a) to take on : to hire / to employ

b) stubbier : stackier

c) laying the groundwork : throwing the bases

d) strikingly : amazingly, extraordinarily, surprisingly

e) to polarize : to focus

f) to pit against : to oppose / to put in opposition

g) a decisive blow : an absolute knock

h) to exhibit : to expose / to display

i) a standpoint : a point of view

pourriez vous me corrigez ?

svp

[melek]

svp, j'ai besoin de votre aide pour cet exo svp ????

[Jean B]

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