Listening exercise
Minnesota Public Radio
Black manes rule among lions in the Serengeti
Reported by by Mike Edgerly
September 17, 2004
Click here to listen (RealPlayer)

Vocabulary:
scientific breakthrough
life-sized
toy lions
Africa
Serengeti plain
dress
mane
blond
dummy
Romeo
Lothario
Fabio
Julio
researcher
Dr. Craig Packer
experiment
determine
purpose
involved
in the midst of
custom built
International Bon Ton Toys
Holland
delighted
view
basically
artistic
tired of
stereotypical		 cubs
replicas
real cool
challenge
length
Peyton West
graduate student
under s.o's supervision
to be fooled by
while
observation
female
to prefer
male
to rule
lioness
to approach
excited
glamorous
to disgrace oneself
to invite
to mate with
unresponsive
is really kind of like...
to get s.o's attention
choice between
sexy
to turn on

decade
to conclude
healthy
testosterone
blood
to sample
ability
to withstand
to be wounded
to get bitten
fight
to have a better chance
from...point of view
survive
offspring
to get s.t. out of s.t.
transaction
flamboyant
to indicate
species
according to
areas
to be hit by
global warming
showy
marker
to be under stress
to experience

Listening comprehension questions:
1. In what country is Serengeti National Park? How large is it? (Use the Internet)
2. Who are Romeo, Lothario, Fabio and Julio, and why were the lion decoys given these names?
3. How did the people at International Bon Ton Toys feel about the special order they filled for this research study? Why?
4. Why did the reporter say a lioness "disgraced herself"?
5. What does having a dark mane indicate in a male lion?
6. What effect does the length of the mane of a male lion have on lion mating?
7. What do female lions gain by mating with dark-maned lions?
8. How long has Packer been working on this study?
9. Why are lions' manes becoming less showy these days?
10. Where are the results of this research study being showcased (give the institution, city and state)?
11. List all the synonyms or near-synonyms for 'copy' that you can find in this report. What others can you think of that weren't mentioned in the report?


For fun: Try to identify sounds of the Serengeti with this game:
http://www.serengeti.org/game_2.html



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