[1] Newspaper Reading-Science
Sloths are one of the slowest moving animals on earth. These drowsy tree-dwellers sleep up to 20 hours a day! Even when they are awake, they don’t do much. They can live in the same tree for years. Sloths are so incredibly sluggish, actual greenish algae grow on their fur. This is actually beneficial to sloths because it helps them blend into the trees, hiding from predators.
Sloths live in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. They have long arms and shaggy fur. They resemble monkeys, but they are actually related to armadillos and anteaters. They have a small head and ears, and large eyes surrounded by dark masks.
Due to facial coloring around their mouths, they look like they’re always smiling. Sloths have long, sharp, and curved claws. They use their claws to climb trees and hook themselves onto tree branches. The claws are also their only natural defense against predators.
Sloths mostly eat leaves that do not give them a lot of energy. So these animals are very slow-moving and can spend hours hanging onto branches without any movement. Sloths have a four-part stomach that very slowly digests the tough leaves; it can sometimes take up to a month for them to digest one meal.
Sloths usually only leave the tree they live in to go to the toilet once a week on the ground. This is when they are most vulnerable to being attacked by their main predators such as jaguars, harpy eagles, and snakes. While a sloth is very slow on the ground, it is an excellent swimmer. Sometimes a sloth may drop into a river from the tree and cross it with confident breaststrokes!
[2] words
sloth 나무늘보 / sluggish 느릿 느릿 움직이는 / drowsy 졸린 / dweller 거주자 / incredibly 믿을 수 없는 / algae 녹조, 조류 / fur 털 / beneficial 득이 되는 / blend 섞이다 / predator 포식자 / tropical rainforest 열대 우림 / shaggy 덥수룩한 / resemble 닮다 / related 연관이 있는 / armadillo 아르마딜로 / anteater 개미핥기 / curved 굽은, 곡선의 / claw 발톱 / hook 갈고리로 걸다 / defense 방어 / stomach 위장 / digest 소화시키다 / meal 식사 / vulnerable 취약한 / attack 공격하다 / confident 자신 있는 / breaststroke 평영
[3] Vocabulary
1 dweller
2 anteater
[4]Comprehension Questions
1 Where do sloths live?
2 How do sloths use their claws?
1 Have you ever seen a sloth in person? What can you say about them? Explain your answer.
2 Do you like animals? If you are allowed to, would you like to have a sloth as a pet? Explain your answer.
dweller is a person who lives in a city.
Anteater is one of the animals that eat ants.
You can not see sloths in Korea.
I have looked through the internet.
I hate pets.
I have raised three dogs in the past.