1. ____“Species” is another word for kinds of plants and animals. “endangered” means they are in danger of becoming extinct. “extinct” means that a species no longer exists. For example, we can say that dinosaurs are extinct.
2. ____For millions of years, since people began to live on the earth, they have used animal furs to keep warm. Today women pay a lot of money for expensive fur coats, as they want to be fashionable. Another example is the elephant. Many centuries ago, people discovered that they could use the ivory of elephant tusks. Tusks are used for making teeth, statuettes, bracelets and otherornaments ... and even for decorating the walls of palaces.
3. ____Thirty years ago the bald eagle was a disappearing species. It was an endangered species. Then people stopped killing and began protecting it.
4. ___Plants and animals are important on our planet. If any plant or animal disappears, this will disturb everything else - other species will also disappear.
5. ____Even predators, which kill and eat other animals are necessary for nature. They hunt and kill those animals which are weak. So, only healthy and strong animals keep living. In this way nature selects healthy individuals to continue the life of the species. This is called “natural selection”.