Pleistocene Park

In Arctic Siberia, Russian scientists are working to turn back time by resurrecting an Ice Age environment complete with lab- grown woolly mammoths. Pleistocene Park is a radical geoengineering scheme whose goal is to combat climate change. It’s named for the geological epoch often known as the Ice Age, which ended 12,000 years ago. At that time, huge sections of the earth were covered in grasslands. When the Ice Age ended, many of the grasslands disappeared, along with most of the giant species who called them home.

The purpose of Pleistocene Park is to slow the thawing of the permafrost. Research suggests that grasslands reflect more sunlight than forests, which causes the Arctic to absorb less heat. In winter, the short grass enables the season’s freeze to extend deeper into the Earth’s crust, cooling the frozen soil.

Large herbivores are needed to test these landscape-cooling effects. While Pleistocene Park is currently home to bison, musk oxen and wild horses, hundreds of thousands of woolly mammoths are necessary to keep the trees back.

Mammoths are cold-adapted members of the elephant family. Geneticist George Church is working on editing the genomes of Asian elephants and switching in mammoth traits. In 2016, he had succeeded in editing 45 of the Asian elephant’s genes, and he hopes to deliver the first woolly mammoth to Pleistocene Park within a decade.

While it might seem like the stuff of mythology, Pleistocene Park provides us with the chance to bring another era back to the Arctic and may even have a shot at saving the planet.

Q1 Choose an alternative title for the text.

A Ice Age Is Not Just a Cartoon for Kids B Saving the Planet, One Mammoth at a Time C Russians Try to Reenact the Jurassic Park Movies D Should We Freeze the Planet Again?

Q2 Why did the grasslands give way to the forests?

A with the extinction of mammoths, trees could grow again unhindered B the warming of the planet helped the forests grow C the softening of the permafrost allowed for larger roots to take hold D all of the above

Q3 What is one possible way in which these attempts may not go as planned?

A the cooling of the Earth might lead to the extinction of species that adapted to the new environment B the reintroduction of mammoths may disturb the balance of the ecosystem C researchers and scientists may not be able to keep Pleistocene Park under their control D all of the above

www.english.best 1 / 3 Welcome to Pleistocene Park

Q4 Which of the following is not true, according to the text?

A elephants and mammoths share similar DNA B during the Ice Age, forests dominated the Arctic area C the thawing of the permafrost has accelerated in the past twelve millennia D herbivores are more important than carnivores in the park

www.english.best 2 / 3 Welcome to Pleistocene Park

ANSWERS: Welcome to Pleistocene Park

Q1 Choose an alternative title for the text.

B Saving the Planet, One Mammoth at a Time

Q2 Why did the grasslands give way to the forests?

D all of the above

Q3 What is one possible way in which these attempts may not go as planned? p D all of the above o h s Q4 Which of the following is not true, according to the text? t/ B during the Ice Age, forests dominated the Arctic area s e .b h s li g n e m ro f F D P is th t e G