NATURE. THE GREEN SEA TURTLE / THE 9-TH FORM

Read the text and mark if the statements are true or false.

THE GREEN SEA TURTLE

The green sea turtle is a large turtle which is found in warm coastal waters around the world, but the largest populations today are in Florida, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Borneo. In all these areas the turtles are at risk. Although in the past there were probably several million green sea turtles in the world, today scientists believe that fewer than 200,000 adult females are remain. Below we list some of the reasons why numbers of this and other sea turtles have declined.

People around the world have used the meat of the green sea turtle for food since ancient times and it is the main ingredient in turtle soup. The eggs, which the female turtles bury on sandy beaches, are also collected by hunters. Unfortunately, although laws banning the hunting have been passed in many countries, people continue to do so illegally.

Every year, more than 10,000 sea turtles are accidently trapped in fishing nets. Unable to breathe, these turtles soon drown. Many of these deaths could be avoided if the fishermen made minor changes to their equipment that would allow the turtles to escape. For some reason, many fishermen seem unwilling to do this, although the law requires them to do so.

The seas are littered with rubbish which can prove deadly to the turtles. They can become entangled in old fishing lines and nets or they may mistake pieces of plastic for food. When the turtles swallow the plastic, it can block their digestive systems and then the turtles starve to death.

More and more beaches, used by the turtles as nesting areas, are lost every year as tourist areas are developed. This means that the females do not have a familiar place in which to lay their eggs and as a result some females may not nest at all. 

1. There are more than two million green sea turtles in the world. 

2. The number of green sea turtles is getting smaller.

3.  A lot of countries do not allow peopre to hunt the turtles. 

4. Fishermen do their best to avoid catehing the turtles. 

5. The turtles are sometimes caught in old fishing lines. 

6. The turtles like to eat plastic. 

7. There are not enough beaches for turtles to lay their eggs.

Mark the correct variant to fill in the blanks.

8. - Those flowers ___ lovely. What are they?"

- They are orchids.

9. Alaska is ___ largest state in the USA.

10. Before farming started, people used to go to the forest ___ plants or fruit they could eat.

11. Dolphins are one of the cleverest animals and are just ___ clever ___ dogs.

12. In some parts of the world, there are now parks ___ crocodiles may live safely, ___ laws to protect them.