BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Animals 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocabulary!

Hello this is Six Minute English from BBC 

Learning English. I'm Rob.

And I'm Sam.

Having your photograph appear on the cover of a magazine makes you

famous around the world, but imagine if that photo showed you hugging and

playing with wild chimpanzees.

That's exactly what happened to Jane  Goodall, who shot to fame in 1965,

when she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine.

Jane introduced the world to the social and emotional lives of the wild chimpanzees

of Gombe in Eastern Tanzania.

Jane spent years living among families of wild chimpanzees. Her observations

changed the way we view our closest animal relatives and made us think about

what it means to be human.

In this programme, we'll be hearing from the iconic environmentalist, Jane Goodall.

She reflects on how attitudes have changed as science has uncovered the

deep connections between humans and the great apes. Large primates,

including chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, who are closely related 

to humans.

And of course we'll be learning some related vocabulary along the way.

As well as Dr Goodall, the National Geographic photographs also made the

chimpanzees of Gombe famous. People around the world became

interested in the lives of a family of chimps living in a remote corner

of Africa.

When Gombe's alpha female died in 1972, she was so well loved that she

had an obituary in The Times newspaper.

But what was her name? That's our quiz question. Which chimpanzee's

obituary appeared in The Times?

Was it a) Frodo b) Flo or c) Freud?

Well, 1972 is a bit before my time, Rob. I wasn't even born then but I think it's

b) Flow.

OK, Sam, we'll find out later if you were right.

Now, when Jane first visited Tanzania in the 1960s, most scientists believe

the only animals capable of making and using tools were humans.

But what Jane witnessed about the behaviour of one chimpanzee, who she named

Greybeard, turned this idea on its head. Here she recalls that famous day, to

Jim Al-Khalili, for the podcast of BBC Radio 4's discovery program, The Life Scientific.

I could see this black hand picking grass stems and pushing  them down

into the termite mound and pulling them out with termites clinging on with their

jaws and the following day I saw him pick a leafy twig and strip the lead so

not only was he using objects  as tools but modifying those objects to

make tools.

Jane observed the chimpanzee, Grey Beard, finding small wooden branches,

called twigs, and modifying them -changing them slightly in order to

improve them.

By stripping away the leaves from twigs and using them to collect ants

and termites to eat, Greybeard had made a tool - an instrument or simple

piece of equipment, for example a knife or hammer, that you hold in your

hands and use for a particular job.

Previously, it was believed that  animals were incapable of making

tools on their own. What Jane saw was proof of the intelligence of  wild animals.

Jane Goodall's studies convinced her that chimps experience the same

range of emotions as humans. As she explains here to BBC Radio 4's, The Life Scientific.

I wasn't surprised that chimps  had these emotions. It was fascinating to

realise how many of their gestures are like ours, so you can watch them

without knowing anything about them. And when they greet with a kiss and

embrace. they pat one another in reassurance, they hold hands, they

seek physical contact to alleviate nervousness or stress, you know, it's so

like us - holding hands, embracing and kissing were some of the chimpanzee's

gestures - movements made with hands arms or head to express ideas

and feelings.

In the same way as  humans. The chimpanzees would pat

each other - touch someone gently and repeatedly with their hand held flat.

Much of their behaviour was human-like- -

just as I would hug a friend to reassure them, the chimps used physical contact to

alleviate stress -

make pain or problems less intense or severe.

In fact, chimps are so alike us that sometimes they even get their name in the

newspaper.

Yes, Sam - you mean the quiz question I asked you earlier: Which chimpanzee

had their obituary published  in The Times?

And I guessed it was b) Flow.

And that's absolutely right, well done  Sam. Give yourself a pat on the back!

OK, in this programme we've been hearing about legendary zoologist and

activist, Jane Goodall, and her experiences living among

great apes - primates like chimpanzees who are humans closest

animal relatives.

Jane witnessed the chimpanzees of Gombe modify, or slightly alter, objects

like leaves and twigs to make tools - hand-held instruments used for a

particular job.

Many of the chimpanzees gestures - body movements made to communicate

and express emotions like kissing and patting, touching someone gently

and repeatedly with a flat hand, were almost human

And just like us, the chimps sought physical contact to alleviate or reduce the

severity of nervousness and stress.

And that's all for this programme.

Bye for now.

Bye-bye.

Hello this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English, I'm Neil.

And I'm Rob.

Do you think there are big differences  between men and women, Neil?

Apart from the old stereotypes we sometimes hear, like that men

can't express emotions.

I suppose, biologically there are differences, Rob - I mean men and

women's bodies are different.

Right. And it takes both a man and a woman to make a baby.

Well, that's true in humans anyway, but in this programme, we'll be

hearing about creatures in the wild, where the classic boy meets girl love story,

doesn't apply.

Yes, we'll be meeting some female animals who don't need a male to

make babies.

These creatures reproduce by parthenogenesis, also called

virgin birth - this is the process where the female can reproduce without a

mate - the term used for an animal's sexual partner.

All animal species survive by making babies - reproducing to make

copies of themselves. But amazingly the female of some species can do it

all by herself.

But before that, it's time for my quiz question. In Britain's Chester Zoo

in 2006, Flora laid 11 eggs  that developed into healthy babies.

Her zookeepers were mystified because Flora had only been kept

with other females and had never been near a male.

But what type of animal was Flora? Was she a) a python b) a zebra shark or,

c) a komodo dragon?

Well, pythons are pretty unusual creatures, so I'll say Flora was a python.

OK, Rob, we'll find out later if you're right. Actually, it's not only reptiles

who behave this way - the females of many animal species are able to

reproduce without sex.

By doing this they gain several advantages. They can rapidly spread,

colonise and control large areas. And they don't waste time and energy

looking for a mate. But, if a world without sex is so much better,

why bother with males at all?

Good question, Neil, and one which BBC World Service programme,

Discovery, asked evolutionary biologist, Chris Wilson.

Well, absolutely and there are other advantages. I mean, if you're an all-female

population, you don't have to waste time searching and competing

for mates. There are no more sexually transmitted diseases and so it seems

like the easiest decision and yet, less than one percent of all animal species

are completely celibate and that's a huge fundamental puzzle in

evolutionary biology, that we're still not entirely sure we understand.

It's called sometimes, the paradox of sex.

Despite the advantages of going without sex, in reality fewer than

one percent of all animals are celibate - live without having sex.

This begs the question, why is sex so common when it seems so inefficient?

Chris calls this 'the paradox of sex'. A paradox is a situation which seems

contradictory because it contains two opposite facts. For example,

the existence of males, if we can reproduce without them.

As a male myself, I have to say I'm feeling a little under appreciated right now, Rob.

Yeah, well don't worry, Neil, because it turns out there might be a use for

males after all.

It seems the sex paradox has been solved by  one of nature's most ingenious

insects - aphids. Here's ecologist, Amber Wright, explaining how,

to the BBC World Service's Discovery programme.

See if you can hear the strategy American aphids use to reproduce.

The aphids we have in the US, when spring comes around the eggs hatch

and they'll be all female for several generations and then at the end of the summer,

they will hatch out males and females and mate and then create eggs that

wait till next year. Kind of, best of both worlds. Hedging their bets basically,

using cloning to rapidly colonise and then using sex to mix up the genes.

In the spring, female aphids lay eggs which hatch - break open allowing the

young to come out.

The young aphids that hatch are all female.

But later, at the end of the summer, both female and male aphids hatch out

and start to reproduce by mating. So, the aphids have the best of both worlds -

they enjoy the advantages of very different things at the same time.

Or to put it another way - the aphids hedge their bets - they follow two

courses of action instead of choosing between them. By cloning themselves

with virgin births and reproducing  sexually, aphids maximize their

chances of survival.

Gardeners around the world will be upset to hear that those young aphids

just love eating tomato plants.

But on the plus side, it seems being  male can be useful after all.

But not if you're Flora - the female you asked about in your quiz question.

So, what type of animal was she?

Right, I asked whether the virgin Flora was a) a python b) a shark or, c)

a komodo dragon?

I guessed a) python.

Well, Rob you're right that some female pythons can reproduce by themselves,

and sharks too, but the correct answer is that Flora was c) a komodo dragon.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary, starting with 'mate' - an animal's sexual partner.

Something you don't have if you are celibate - living without sex.

Animal eggs hatch or break open to let the young out.

And a paradox is a situation which seems contradictory because it contains

two opposite facts.

Species which reproduce parthenogenetically and sexually have the

best of both worlds - enjoy the advantages of very different things

at the same time.

And if you hedge your bets, you follow two courses of action instead of

choosing between them, so you don't miss out.

Well that's all there's time for. Bye for now.

Goodbye.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.  I'm Neil.

And I'm Sam.

For centuries, the relationship between humans and bats has been complex.

In some cultures, bats are depicted as vampires, associated with Halloween,

witches and dark scary places. In others they're considered messengers

of the gods.

Bats play an important part in stories and myths from around the world and a

large illuminated bat signal shining in the night sky can mean only  one thing -

a call for help to the superhero Batman.

So, do we love or hate these furry flying animals. And with some newspaper

headlines identifying bats as the possible source of Covid-19,

should we think of them as friend or enemy?

We'll be answering all these questions soon but first, Neil, time for another

interesting bat fact.

Did you know that bats account for one-in-five of all mammal species?

There's a huge variety of them, from tiny fruit-eating bats that fit into the

palm of your hand, to giant carnivals, or meat-eaters.

That's right. In fact it's the variety of bat types that might explain our complex

feelings towards them. So, Sam my quiz question is this: Roughly how

many different species of bat are there worldwide? Is it a) one and a half thousand,

b) two and a half thousand or, c)

three and a half thousand?

I'll say b) two and a half thousand.

OK, Sam, we'll come back to that later in the programme. Maybe not everyone

likes them, but bats do have  some friends. Farmers love them for

pollinating their plants.

And medical scientists study  them hoping to discover the secrets of

their anti-aging and long life.

Dr Winifred Frick is the  chief scientist at Bat Conservation International -

a group of environmentalists working to protect bats.

Here she is telling BBC World Service programme, The Documentary, about

another useful service provided by bats in the United States.

Most bats are insectivorous, in they're really important consumers of different

kinds of insect pests and here, in the United States, it's been estimated that

bats provide billions of dollars every year to the US agricultural industry,

through their voracious  consumption of agricultural pest insects.

Most bats eat only insects they're insectivores.

And that's good news for farmers, because they eat many pests -

insects or small animals that are harmful or damage crops.

Even better, bat's appetite for these annoying insects is voracious -

very strong  and eager.

So far so good, in the friendship between humans and bats, but then

along came the coronavirus pandemic and with it newspaper reports

that bats might be to blame.

Before we get into this, we need to explain some terms.

The Covid which people around the world have been suffering from,

is the outbreak virus, but if you go backwards there's an intermediary

known as the progenitor virus. Between this and the ancestral virus,

which is decades or centuries older.

99 per cent of scientists would agree that the ancestral virus of Covid 19,

came from bats, but it's the go-between progenitor virus that everyone

is searching for now. One of the scientists leading this search  is

Linfa Wang, a professor at Duke Medical School, who is known as the

Batman of Singapore. Here he is explaining his work to BBC World Service's,

The Documentary.

Of course, you know the Holy Grail  right now for Covid-19, is to discover

where is that progenitor virus and also in which kind of animals or human right,

and usually the progenitor virus has to be 99.9 per cent identical to the

outbreak virus and so our study was set up but to do that. If you can catch

that virus and you demonstrate  the genomic sequence is 99.9, then

that's brilliant.

Professor Wang thinks that finding the source of Covid-19's progenitor virus

would be like finding the Holy Grail - this expression 'The Holy Grail',

is associated with a cup believed to have been used by Jesus Christ at

his last meal. It means something extremely difficult to find or get.

If you can discover the progenitor virus, then in the words of Professor Wang,

that's brilliant. An exclamation meaning 'that's very good or amazing'.

So, although bats are sometimes wrongly blamed for causing Covid,

they are good friends to farmers, environmentalists and scientists,

as well as vampires.

So, anyway what was the answer to your quiz question, Neil?

Ah yes, I asked Sam how many different species of bat there are

around the world. What did you say?

I said there were b) two and a half thousand different species of bat, and

was I right?

You were close, Sam, but the correct answer was a) there are one and a half thousand

different species of bat around the world.

Let's recap the vocabulary from this programme about the relationship

between humans and bats, starting  with carnivores - which are animals

that eat meat.

Insectivores meanwhile are animals, like most bats, that eat only insects.

A pest is an insect or small animal that is harmful or damages crops.#

Bats eat pests voraciously or very eagerly.

The Holy Grail refers to something that's extremely difficult to find or get.

And finally, you can use the phrase 'that's brilliant' to say that's great

or amazing.

Once again our six minutes are up. See you again soon for more topical chats

and trending vocabulary here at 6 Minute English.

And don't forget you can download our app to find programmes on many more

topics from African animals to zodiac signs and zombies, all here on the BBC

Learning English website. Bye for now.

Bye-bye.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Catherine.

Catherine, what's the connection between hierarchies, managers and chickens?

Well, I don't know Neil, but I'm sure you're going to tell me.

First of all could you explain for our listeners what a hierarchy is?

Of course. A hierarchy is a way of organising people. For example, in a company

where there are people working at different levels, you've got bosses,

managers and workers. The workers do the work and the managers have

meetings that stop the workers doing the work.

But where do the chickens come in?

We'll find out shortly but first, here is today's question. And it is, surprise surprise,

about chickens. What is the record number of eggs laid by one chicken in a year?

Is it a) 253 b) 371 or c) 426. What do you think Catherine?

Well, I think most chickens lay an egg once a day, so I think it's 371.

Well, we will have an answer later in the programme.

Now, for hierarchies and chickens. In the radio programme, The Joy of Nine

to Five, produced by Something Else for the BBC, entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan

described an  experiment. In this experiment,

researchers compared the egg production of a group of average

chickens to a group of super chickens, that's chickens with an above average

egg production. Which was the most  successful? Here's Margaret Heffernan,

and by the way, the noun for a group of chickens is a flock.

He compares the two flocks over six generations. The average flock just

gets better and better and better. Egg production increases dramatically.

The super-flock of super chickens, at the end of six generations, all

but three are dead because the other three have killed the rest.

They've achieved their individual productivity by suppressing the

productivity of the rest, and that's what we do at work.

Which flock was most successful?

Well, the super-flock actually killed each other, so it turned out that the

average flock laid more eggs in total  and was more successful.

Yes, but why was that?

Well, the super chickens must have seen their other flock members, not as

colleagues but as competitors.

Now, to understand this we have to start with the word 'productivity'.

This noun refers to the amount of work that's done. So, on an individual level

the super chickens achieved productivity because they suppressed

the productivity of their flock  members. 'Suppressed' here means

they stopped the other chickens from being productive by killing them.

So, what do we learn from this experiment?

Well, Margaret Heffernan suggests that we see this kind of behaviour in the

human workplace.

When everyone's equal, productivity is high, but as soon as there's a hierarchy -

as soon as there are managers- -

things can go wrong because not all managers see their role as making life

easier for the workers. They demonstrate their productivity as managers

by interfering with the productivity of the workers.

But there are other experiments which show that chickens are productive in a hierarchy.

How are those hierarchies different though? Here's Margaret Heffernan again.

So, chickens have an inbuilt, or if you like an inherited hierarchy,  that's

where we get the term 'pecking order' from. But it's one that they create

among themselves, rather than one that's imposed upon them.

So, which hierarchy works at least for chickens?

Well, the best hierarchy is one that isn't imposed. That means a good hierarchy isn't

forced on the chickens. They do well when they create the hierarchy

themselves naturally. They work out  the pecking order themselves.

Ah, 'pecking order' is a great phrase. We use it to describe levels of

importance in an organisation. The more important you are, the higher in

the pecking order you are. Where does this phrase originate?

Well. 'pecking' describes what chickens do with their beaks. They hit or bite

other chickens with them and the most important or dominant chickens

peck all the others. The top chicken does all the pecking, middle level

chickens get pecked and  do some packing themselves,

and some chickens are only pecked by other chickens. So, there's  a definite

pecking order in chickens.

Right, time to review this week's vocabulary but before  that,

let's have the answer to the quiz. I asked what the record number of eggs

laid by a single chicken in a year was?

The options were a) 253 b) 371 or c) 426. What did you say Catherine?

I said 371.

Well, lucky you you're definitely top of the pecking order....

because you are right.

That's a lot of eggs.

Indeed. Now, the vocabulary. We are talking about hierarchies -

a way to organize a society  or workplace with different levels of

importance.

An expression with a similar meaning is pecking order, which relates to how

important someone, or a chicken, is within a hierarchy.

A group of chickens is a flock - it's also the general collective noun for birds as well -

not just chickens.

Another of our words was the noun productivity, which refers to the amount

of work that is done.

And if you suppress someone's productivity you stop them from being

as productive as they could be.

And finally, there was a verb 'to impose' - if you impose something you force it

on people - for example the  government imposed new taxes on fuel.

Well, that is the end of the programme. For more from us though,

check out Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and of course our app.

Don't forget the website as  well - bbclearningenglish.com.

See you soon bye.

Bye.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Georgina.

Of all the weird and wonderful creatures living under the sea,

perhaps the strangest are jellyfish. Those rubbery cone-shaped creatures

found floating in the water - their long tentacles trailing behind.

Some jellyfish species have a bad reputation for scaring away tourists,

clogging up fishing nets  and even blocking power station pipes.

But with more and more plastic rubbish ending up in the sea, these days you're as

likely to swim into a plastic bag as a jellyfish.

Now, scientific research  is discovering that these rubbery sea

creatures might provide an answer - a sticky solution to the problem of

plastic pollution.

In this programme, we'll be learning how jellyfish mucus could  provide

the answer to plastic waste in the seas,

and of course we'll be learning some related vocabulary along the way.

But first it's time for my quiz question. Georgina, you mentioned  jellyfish

scaring away beachgoers with their sting, but what is the best way to treat

jellyfish stings? Is it a) with ice b) with salt or, c) with vinegar?

Well, Neil, I have been stung by jellyfish  before and I think the best way to treat

them is c) with vinegar.

OK, Georgina we'll find out later if that's right. Now as, I mentioned in recent

years, tiny pieces of plastic called microplastic, have been a significant

problem for the world seas and oceans. They've been found all over

the world, in Arctic ice, at the bottom of the sea and even inside animals,

including humans.

Slovenian scientist, Dr Anna Rotter, heads Go Jelly, a European research

team of jellyfish ecologists, looking  into the problem. Here she is speaking

to BBC World Service programme, People Fixing the World.

Microplastics, plastics in general are being an increasing problem. They're

everywhere. When I was a little girl, we were more environmentally friendly

not knowing, so, we never used plastic bags to go shopping. We always went

with the cloth bags. We never used plastic to put our vegetables in it. The

single-use spoons or forks, knives this is for me

something unheard of when I was a little girl.

Dr Rotter says when she was a child, people were more environmentally friendly -

not harmful to the environment or having the least possible impact on it.

At that time there were very few single-use plastics - plastic items like spoons

and forks, designed to be used just once then thrown away.

Single-use plastic bags, for example, were unheard of. Surprising or  shocking

because they were not previously known about or commonly used.

The situation since then has changed dramatically. In fact there's been such

an increase in microplastics that today, the UN lists plastic pollution as one of

the world's top environmental threats. But how do jellyfish fit into the story?

Well, it's the jelly part of jellyfish and specifically their sticky jelly-like mucus,

that is key. Here's Dr Rotter again, explaining more to BBC World Service

programme, People Fixing the World.

The mucus - this is, uh, like, um, by this viscose substance, that is

being excreted from a jellyfish, might have that they are called the

absorptive, uh, properties, so it means that the particles, various particles,

can attach to this mucus, so could we use jellyfish and their mucus

as a magnet for the microplastic particles?

Jellyfish produce a thick sticky liquid called mucus. Dr Rotter has discovered that

this mucus has strong, absorptive properties. It can absorb, take in liquids

and other substances, and hold them in.

One of the substances jellyfish mucus absorbs, are the particles that make up

microplastics. By trapping these tiny pieces of floating plastic, the mucus

acts like a magnet - an object that attracts certain materials, like metal

or in this case, microplastic waste.

As rising sea temperatures  and overfishing of their natural

predators have boosted jellyfish numbers, this novel way of using

their mucus couldn't have come at a

better time.

Dr Rotter's research is still in the early stages but it's hoped that jellyfish

mucus could hold the key to a future free of microplastic polluted  oceans.

Which is a big prize for the cost of a few jellyfish stings. Speaking of which,

Neil, what was the correct answer to your quiz question?

Right, I asked you the best way to treat jellyfish stings? What did you say,

Georgina?

I said it's c) with vinegar.

Which is the right answer, well done! Vinegar inactivates the sting's venom.

So, remember to pack a bottle of vinegar the next time you head

to the beach.

In this programme, we've been hearing how scientists are using jellyfish

mucus - a thick  sticky liquid produced in their bodies -

to break down microplastics in the sea.

Our addiction to single-use plastics - plastic items which are used only once

then thrown away, and which often  get washed out to sea, has created a

situation which is definitely not environmentally-friendly - that means

having a minimal impact on the environment.

Until quite recently the problems of micro pollution and single-use plastic

were unheard of - surprising or shocking because of not having been

previously known about.

Scientists are hoping that the mucus's absorptive qualities - its ability to

absorb liquids and other substances and hold them - will allow it to trap

particles of plastic floating in the sea, making jellyfish mucus a magnet for

pollution - an object that attracts  certain materials, usually metals but in this

case microplastic waste.

That's all for this programme, but  to hear more about how these amazing

sea creatures could help clean our oceans, why not check out

People Fixing the World from the BBC World Service.

And to hear more interesting items on trending topics, why not join us again

soon here at Six Minute English. Bye for now.

Bye.