main point texts

7/31/2019 Main Point Texts

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Worksheet 1

Has the elixir of youth come of age?

It is one of the oldest jokes in the gerontologists' book if you

want to live to a grand age, choose your parents carefully. Jeanne

Calment, who had the longest confirmed human life span in

history, attributed her longevity she died in 1998 aged 122 years,

five months and 14 days to a diet rich in olive oil, regular glasses

of port and her ability to "keep smiling". But destiny undoubtedly

played the most important part.

We spend millions of pounds each year on anti-ageing tonics,

potions, vitamins and creams, trying to stave off the ravages of theyears. But our genetic inheritance trumps all other factors in

determining how well we age and how long we live. By

unravelling the genetic determinants of longevity, scientists believe

they will be able to manipulate them to add not only years to life, but also life to years. An elixir of youth

remains a distant dream but medicines to help us live longer and better are moving closer.

At a conference this week, Turning Back the Clock, organised by the Royal Society, researchers described

the progress that has been made in the science of ageing. At least 10 gene mutations have been identified

that extend the lifespan of mice by up to half, and in humans several genetic variants have been linked with

longevity. They include a family of genes dubbed the sirtuins, which one Italian study found occurred more

commonly in centenarian men than in the general population.

Developments such as these herald a new era of longevity research and drugs based on them will "probably

be available for testing from 2012", Professor Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in

New York told the conference. His "vision" was of a once-daily pill that would stave off the effects of old

age and would probably be taken when a person reached their forties or fifties. But to achieve it, ageing

would need to be classed as a treatable condition in order to stimulate the research funds needed to develop

it. Drugs regulators in the US and Europe would only licence medicines for specific illnesses, not for

something as general as ageing. "[Ageing] is something that is very important in the background. It needs to

be defined as a disease," he said.

What worries most people about ageing is losing their faculties and the ability to perform the daily tasks ofliving eating, dressing, bathing and getting around. But despite increases in cancer and chronic conditions

such as diabetes and arthritis, disability has been falling. This apparent paradox is explained by earlier

diagnosis and improved treatments which have rendered these conditions less disabling. In the future, more

of us will fall ill, but the illnesses will affect us less. The result is that we may live to see our great-

grandchildren and even our great-great-grandchildren. Within a couple of generations living to be 100 could

be as routine as collecting a bus pass is today. Some scientists go further and believe the first person to live

to 150 may already have been born.

Increased longevity is one of the modern world's great successes, but long life without health is an empty

prize. As Jeanne Calment indicated on her 122nd birthday: those who live moderately live long.


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Worksheet 2

It's official: Men really are the weaker sex

The male gender is in danger, with incalculable

consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling

scientific research from around the world reveals.

The research to be detailed tomorrow in the most

comprehensive report yet published shows that a host

of common chemicals is feminising males of every classof vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including

people.

Backed by some of the world's leading scientists, who say that it "waves a red flag" for

humanity and shows that evolution itself is being disrupted, the report comes out at a

particularly sensitive time for ministers. On Wednesday, Britain will lead opposition to

proposed new European controls on pesticides, many of which have been found to have

"gender-bending" effects.

It also follows hard on the heels of new American research which shows that baby boysborn to women exposed to widespread chemicals in pregnancy are born with smaller

penises and feminised genitals." This research shows that the basic male tool kit is under

threat," says Gwynne Lyons, a former government adviser on the health effects of

chemicals, who wrote the report.

Many have been identified as "endocrine disrupters" or gender-benders because they

interfere with hormones. These include phthalates, used in food wrapping, cosmetics

and baby powders among other applications; flame retardants in furniture and electrical

goods; PCBs, a now banned group of substances still widespread in food and theenvironment; and many pesticides.

But Britain has long sought to water down EU attempts to control gender-bender chemicals

and has been leading opposition to a new regulation that would ban pesticides shown to

have endocrine-disrupting effects. Almost all the other European countries back it, but

ministers backed by their counterparts from Ireland and Romania are intent on

continuing their resistance at a crucial meeting on Wednesday. They say the regulation

would cause a collapse of agriculture in the UK, but environmentalists retort that this is

nonsense because the regulation has get-out clauses that could be used by British

farmers.


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Worksheet 3

Oregon's monster mushroom is

world's biggest living thing

The largest living organism ever found

has been discovered in an ancient

American forest. TheArmillaria

ostoyae, popularly known as the honey

mushroom, started from a single spore

too small to see without a microscope.It has been spreading its black

shoestring filaments, called

rhizomorphs, through the forest for an

estimated 2,400 years, killing trees as it

grows. It now covers 2,200 acres (880 hectares) of the Malheur National Forest, in eastern

Oregon.

The discovery came after Catherine Parks, a scientist at the Pacific Northwest Research

Station in La Grande, Oregon, in 1998 heard about a big tree die-off from root rot in the

forest east of Prairie City. Using aerial photos, Ms Parks staked out an area of dying trees

and collected root samples from 112. She identified the fungus through DNA testing. Then,

by comparing cultures of the fungus grown from the 112 samples, she determined that 61

were from the same organism, meaning a single fungus had grown bigger than anything

anyone had ever described before.

On the surface, the only evidence of the fungus are clumps of golden mushrooms that pop

up in the autumn with the rain. "They are edible, but they don't taste the best," said Tina

Dreisbach, a botanist and mycologist with the US Forest Service in Corvallis, Oregon. "I

would put lots of butter and garlic on them."

Digging into the roots of an affected tree, something that looks like white latex paint can be

seen. These are mats of mycelium, which draw water and carbohydrates from the tree to

feed the fungus and interfere with the tree's absorption of water and nutrients. The long

rhizomorphs that stretch into the soil invade tree roots through a combination of pressure

and enzyme action.


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Worksheet 4

Success isn't written in the stars, it's in the length of

your fingers

It is the simplest hands-on experiment and, for once, it is

safe to try this at home. Compare the length of your fingers

and predict your own future.

Everything from sporting prowess to academic ability,

sexual orientation to susceptibility to disease can beassessed on the twin measurements of the length of the ring

and index fingers. It is science's answer to palmistry.

Researchers at Cambridge University have found that

finger length can point to success in the City. Traders with longer ring fingers made the

most money up to six times more than those whose ring fingers were relatively short.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found finger

size accounted for 20 per cent of the difference. Though the finding provoked scepticism

one blogger tartly responded, "Scientists with little else to do than measure fingers shouldpull their own out" the Cambridge boffins are not alone. The significance of finger length

has been investigated by research groups worldwide with surprising results.

The ratio between index and ring finger is believed to be linked to exposure to the male

hormone testosterone in the womb. On average, men tend to have longer ring fingers and

women longer index fingers. The higher the testosterone, the greater the length of the ring

finger and the more "masculine" the resulting child whether male or female. The longest

ring finger is known as the "Casanova pattern".

Professor John Manning, author of The Finger Book, said the ratio was a "living fossil" of

the early period of pregnancy a measure of past exposure to testosterone, and future

potential.


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Worksheet 1

Has the elixir of youth come of age?

What is the main point of each paragraph in this text?

What is the overall main point of this article?


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Worksheet 2

It's official: Men really are the weaker sex




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Worksheet 3

Oregon's monster mushroom is world's biggest living thing




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Worksheet 4

Success isn't written in the stars, it's in the length of your fingers




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Worksheet 5

Main Point Checklist

Does your written text include the following?

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