Reading

The Medusa and The Snail

Working with Words

A. Read the text and tick the best alternative to fill in the gaps.

a. Persons who are related to you, and who live after you, such as your child or grandchild are called ______.
Ans: descendants

b. ‘______’ means to turn or spin around and around quickly.
Ans: twirl

c. ______ are proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains (glycans) attached to amino acid side-chains.
Ans: Glycoproteins

d. ______ are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar groups that are part of other molecules and so cause agglutination of particular cells.
Ans: Lectins

e. ______ are abnormal tissue growths that mos often look like small, flat bumps or tiny mushrooms like stalks found in the phylum Cnidaria and the medusa.
Ans: Polyps

f. ______ is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey.
Ans: Predation

g. ______ is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family.
Ans: Anemone

h. A/An ______ person is extremely or excessively particular, exacting, or meticulous in taste or standards.
Ans: finicky

i. ______ is a group of soft-bodied, marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage.
Ans: Nudibranch

j. A ______ is a free-swimming sexual form of a coelenterate such as a jellyfish, typically having an umbrella-shaped body with stinging tentacles around the edge.
Ans: medusa

B. Look up a dictionary and write the meanings of the following words then use them in your own sentences.

arthropod : an invertebrate animal of the large phylum Arthopoda

Ants and their fellow travellers come under arthopod.

gastropod : a mollusc of the large class Gastropoda

Very few gastropod species transmit animal diseases.

biomass : the total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area or volume

Energy from biomass is a growing source of renewable energy in the Medwest.

calcification : the hardening of tissue or other material by the deposition of or conversion into calcium carbonate or some other insoluble calcium carbonate

Smoking is associated with increased calcification in the heart and major arteries.

metamorphosis : a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one

The government has undergone political metamorphosis since his election.

sturgeon : a very large primitive fish with bony plates on the body

Many sturgeon were caught and brought into the fish market so their eggs could be turned into caviar.

Comprehension

Answer the following questions.

a. What are the indicators of the fact that we are very self-conscious about ourselves these days?
Ans: Self-development, self-awareness, self-help, seld-respect are the indicators of the fact that we are very self-conscious about ourselves these days.

b. How have we celebrated the fact that we have our individual identity?
Ans: We have celebrated the fact that we have our individual identity by giving our own real name.

c. Are we, human beings, really unique? Why/Why not?
Ans: Yes, we human beings unique but not so because we can think appropriately and uniquely than other creatures living in this planet. We can do every work efficiently rather than other living creatures.

d. How do fish recognize each other?
Ans: Each fist has their own smell. So, fish recognize each other by the smell of self.

e. What is the function of individuality?
Ans: The function of individuality is to recognize that every person is valuable and should be treated with respect.

f. What does the mix-up of two selves tell us about our identity?
Ans: The mix-up of two selves tell us about our identity that they are a single organism and they need cooperation and unity to each other for existence or survival.

g. What does the author illustrate with the tale of the nudibranch and the medusa?
Ans: The author illustrate with the tale of the nudibranch and the medusa is it shows the dependence between each other for the survival and existence.

h. Why is the author disturbed by the thought of the creatures like the nudibranch and medusa?
Ans: The author disturbed by the thought of the creatures like the nudibranch and medusa because every creature in this world is unique and it confuses him in with vague and bizarre concept.

i. What does the writer mean by “they remind me of the whole earth at once?”
Ans: The writer means by “they remind me of the whole earth at once” is it is difficult to clarify the relationship between the creatures and the non-living things in the world. If he/she wants to go in depth and tries to understand, he/she gets many confusion.

Critical Thinking

a. How does the author make satire on the modern idea of the ‘self’ based on individuality, independence and uniqueness?
Ans: The essay “The Medusa and the Snail” written by Lewis Thomas in which the author satires the importance of self-based on individuality, independence and uniqueness.

Here, in this chapter, the relationship between medusa and nudibranch is shown. As the two creatures begin working happily together in the Bay of Naples, Thomas describes a slowly developing relationship that turns into symbiosis. At the first, he shows to build the relationship between them. The author justifies the fact that the pride of modern man in the concept of personality, independence and uniqueness doesn’t apply in real and practical life. Every creatures in this world cannot live without each other’s help. There is the dependency among all the creatures in the world.

Therefore, there should be feeling of interdependence among all the creatures. The author depicts the values of co-existence, co-operation, support and unity with the story of Nudibranch and Medusa.

b. Analyze the essay as a creative defense of the interdependence observed in the ecosystem.
Ans: The essay “The Medusa and The Snail” is focused on the interdependence among all the creatures of the world for their existence. The dependence on the ecosystem among all the living beings is shown in this essay.

Here, in this essay there is shown about the importance among jellyfish and snails for their survival and existence. The essayist wants to show the importance of each other of all creatures of the world for their survival through the interdependence among jellyfish and snail which is  shown is this essay. It raises a notion that people are not alone in their efforts for mental development and growth, but that they support each other to grow socially.  The balancing of ecosystem is related to the protection of the living and non-living beings. So, if there is interdependence among the creatures then, there will be balanced ecosystem which helps all to survive.

Hence, there is dependency among all the creatures for their survival which helps to balance the ecosystem and protect all the creatures. There is no existence of any creatures without balanced ecosystem.

Writing

A. Write an essay on “Independence vs. Interdependence” in about 250 words.
Ans: An essay on independence vs interdependence is a topic that has been of interest to philosophers and thinkers for centuries. In this essay, we will explore the meaning of independence and interdependence, how they have changed over time and what this means for our future.

The world is changing. We are in the age of globalization, where everyone is interconnected. This has led to a shift from independence to interdependence. The world is now one giant community with no boundaries and everyone contributes to the society as a whole. The idea of independence is something that has been ingrained in Americans from the beginning of our country. We have always been a country that prides itself on being able to take care of ourselves without help from others. Independence is something we are very familiar with and it has served us well for many years.

This idea of independence is not new, nor should it be considered a bad thing. It was this sense of self-reliance that made America great in the first place. However, some people feel like this idea needs to change because it can only serve us so long before we need help from others to survive. The world is changing and the society is becoming more and more independent. We are more likely to meet a person who has traveled solo to a foreign country than someone who has never left their hometown. In the past, people were mostly relying on one another for help. But now, we are not as dependent on others as we used to be. For example, we don’t rely on our parents as much anymore because we have other sources of income or because we can earn money from working online from home.

We are also less dependent on each other in terms of relationships because people can easily find somebody else online if they break up with their partner or if they want to cheat on them. The current world is more interdependent than ever before. With the advent of globalization, it is necessary for one country to depend on other countries for resources and goods. This has also led to the emergence of a global economy. The dependence on each other has led to a decrease in nationalism and an increase in patriotism.

However, there are some disadvantages that come with this interdependence. For example, with globalization and increased dependence on each other, there is an increased risk of terrorism and war between countries. There is also the risk that one country’s natural disaster can lead to another country’s crisis because they are tied together in a global economy.

Some people believe that independence is better than interdependence. They think that being independent means you do not have to rely on anyone and can do anything by yourself. But, there are many benefits of interdependence. For example, it allows people to share their skills and knowledge with others and collaborate to achieve a goal.

B. Write a newspaper article, highlighting the increasing individualism in the modern Nepali society.
Ans:

Increasing individualism in the modern Nepali society

The Himalayan Times

February 30, 2022

Nepal is the developing country. It is the most beautiful country in the South Asia. In the modern Nepalese society, there is increasing individualism among people. Nepalese people are being self-dependent and self-reliant.

Simply, individualism means being independence or self dependence. Individualism leads the people to achieve individual status and innovations. It helps to choose our path by ourselves and pursue our goal without depending to others which helps to know about ourselves. If we follow individualism, we can be known about ourselves like our strong and weak point and how to improve it. We should take individualism in the positive way rather than negative way. If someone does something independently, then we should encourage them to do so to help them to choose the correct way. There should be individualism to people to choose their future and destiny.

In Nepal, individualism is increasing. There is the feeling of independent. In today’s Nepalese society, there is the individualism in the gender that women can do anything what they like to do like men. There is no gender discrimination. Every Nepalese can choose their career by heir own need. They pursue success or goals by the help of individualism. In Nepal, many organization is working for the freedom and individualism of people.

Grammar

A. Make passive sentences from the following information as in the example.

a. volleyball/every/country/play
Ans: Volleyball is played in every country.

b. spaghetti/boiling water/cook
Ans: Spaghetti is cooked in boiling water.

c. each lesson/an exercise/follow
Ans: Each lesson is followed by an exercise.

d. taxes/the price/include
Ans: The price is included with taxes.

e. extensive information/the internet/find
Ans: Extensive information is found in the internet.

f. our order/the waiter/took
Ans: Our order was taken by the waiter.

g. the schedule/the participants/will disturb
Ans: The schedule will be distributed to the participants.

h. the police/footprint/found
Ans: Footprint was found by the police.

i. the children/the sandcastles/built
Ans: The sandcastles were built by the children.

j. the father/the window/not going to open
Ans: The window isn’t going to be opened by the father.

B. Rewrite the following sentences in the passive voice using the correct form of verbs in the brackets.

a. Call the ambulance! Two boys have been injured (injure) in a motorbike accident.

b. The clock has been used (use) since the 17th century.

c. I had to wait outside the classroom while the classroom was being cleaned (clean).

d. The problem is being discussed (discuss) by the subject specialists at the moment.

e. By the time I came back, the task had been finished (finish).

f. Women are said (say) to be happier than men.

g. Look! The house is being destroyed (destroy) by the fire.

h. The other three reports will have been submitted (submit) by next month.

 i. Many people have been rescued (rescue) from the floods by the security persons this year.

j. The state of Florida was hit (hit) by a hurricane that did serious damage.