Task 1. Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.

Animals and plants survived in a wide variety of habitats, from the frozen Arctic to tropical rainforests near the equator. The areas immediately around the North and South poles are frozen deserts, but if you move a little farther out, you will find plenty of animals live on the ice. Then there are parts of the world which have seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter. Trees flourish there. As for the areas near the equator, they are called tropical rainforests. The climate there is hot and humid. Tropical rainforests are full of colourful plants and animals.

The relatively warm areas where trees do not grow are called grasslands. Huge areas of grasslands attract various grass-eating animals, which, in their turn, attract predators. Finally, one-seventh of all land is desert. At first sight it may seem barren, but desert plants and animals have developed surprising ways of surviving, too.