The Koala and Its Amazing Features

It may seem unbelievable to you but we hardly drink any water. This is why our name is said to derive from a word of the aboriginal language meaning " no drink. " This is mainly due to our diet because our need for water is provided by the eucalyptus leaves we eat, which contain 40-60% water, enough for our bodies.

Do not be misled by my appearance into thinking I am a type of bear. Although we koalas may resemble bears, we have been created with quite different characteristics. Our birth, diet, habitation and development bear no comparison with those of the bear. Do not misunderstand me. The assertions I make are not because I do not like bears. I was just pointing out that we have been granted various distinct attributes. Although some of the abilities and habits of my species that I will describe may seem a bit uncommon, I am totally aware that these unusual abilities are a divine blessing bestowed upon us by our Creator to make our lives easier and more convenient.

We are endowed with many fascinating characteristics in the features of our diet and process of reproduction to enable us to live within the ecological stability and principles of adaptation in our natural environment. I will try to explain some of these features to the best of my ability to give you a brief but significant idea of our unique and amazing creation.

Unlike humans, for whom the total development of the fetus and organs takes around 280 days in the womb, we remain in our mother's womb for a much shorter period. Following a 34-36 day pregnancy, we are born into the world around the size of a bean, blind and earless. As soon as our mothers give birth to us, we crawl by divine inspiration into a pouch created for our protection and development on our mother's belly. This pouch is why you define both us and kangaroos among the animal kingdom as marsupials. If we did not climb into the pouch created for us to complete the process of our development, we would not be able to live for the first five months of our lives. We feed by sucking the taps of nourishment, the two teats found within the pouch, for the first five months of our lives without leaving this cozy place of security. After about five months hidden in the pouch, we gradually begin to stick our heads out to learn how to benefit from the other substances God has created for us in the universe. While the younger mothers of our species can give birth every year, the older females only give birth every two years or so.

After the first six months we obtain sustenance from our mothers which contains the bacteria and nutritional weaning supplement our digestive system requires to enable us to make the transition from our mother's milk to the nutrient which becomes the main provision we depend on for the rest of our lives, eucalyptus leaves. In the eighth month of our lives we become a bit more active and sometimes leave our pouch and ride on our mother's back, but we climb back into our pouch at the first sign of danger. We begin to fend for ourselves and eat the eucalyptus leaves with no help from our mothers a year after our birth. We have our very own eucalypnis tree, sometimes even more than one, and we mark the tree by scratching it with our claws, a kind of signature that defines which of us lives in a certain tree.

It may seem unbelievable to you but we hardly drink any water. This is why our name is said to derive from a word of the Aboriginal language meaning "No drink." This is mainly due to our diet because our need for water is provided by the eucalyptus leaves we eat, which contain 40-60% water, enough for our bodies. As well as this our digestive system and kidneys have been created with a stntcture that takes the maximum benefit from die water in eucalyptus leaves and wastes the least possible amount of water. The rate of our metabolism is quite low compared to that of other mammals. This is another factor which greatly reduces the loss of water from our bodies, so we do not have to constantly climb down from the trees we live in to find water.

Those who call us lazy because we sleep a lot, an average of twenty hours a day, unfortunately do not know very much about us. Sleep is necessary for us because fibrous eucalyptus leaves contain very little protein and very few other nutrients. This means they provide us with a low energy diet so we have to optimize our use ot this energy. The Creator adapted us so that we sleep for 18-20 hours a day to save energy. So never compare us with those who have the ability or energy to be active but waste their valuable lives in unnecessary actions or idleness.

The high content of aromatic oils and various chemical components of cyanide found in eucalyptus leaves are extremely poisonous to many plant-eating animals but we are an exception. We are created with a unique digestive system because the main ingredient of plants, cellulose, is such a hard substance to digest that we have been created with a caecum, a section of intestine much longer (200 cm) than that of other mammals, which acts as a chamber of fermentation. Here the high-cellulose eucalyptus leaves are easily broken down by bacteria and microorganisms living in our caecum, a process which then enables our digestion of the leaves. Some of the harmful oils and components (phenol compounds) in the leaves are refined by our liver, which works in an excellent manner, and then these oils are excreted from our body. The creation of our liver, which acts like a special laboratory that can even transform the most dangerous of poisons into harmless substances, has been referred to by evolutionists ludicrously as "a coincidence" or "unaware mutation."

There are certain things that we must be wary of in our diet. Out of around six hundred different kinds of leaves we can only ear twenty of them, so from around nine kilos of leaves that we pick every day, we only eat one kilo of the least poisonous ones. We usually choose the fresher leaves, and we detect the amount of poison in each leaf by its odor. This is why our noses are one of the most sensitive organs of our bodies. Sometimes we eat earth to obtain the minerals lacking in our bodies. This sharpens our teeth at the same time.

Our bodies are also created to meet our every requirement. We are created with arms and paws so we can easily climb up into the eucalyptus trees we use as our homes, our places of habitat. The soles of our paws that are covered in a thick skin, and our arms and legs, which are equipped with strong muscles, and our hook shaped claws enable us to grip onto the trunk and branches of the tree. We can even sleep while we are hanging from a branch. We have five claws on each of our front paws and two of these claws are placed like the thumbs on your hands. These claws enable us to grip and keep a hold on branches. The second and third claws on our hind paws are joined together to enable a stronger grip. We can grip with all four of our paws just like a human grasps with his or her hand and this helps us to walk up the branches and move around in the tree with great ease.

Our body temperature is perfectly adjusted for outdoor life, and our rainproof fur also protects us from the cold, heat and wind. Our fur changes and adapts every season in length and thickness according to our temperature requirements, Australia is situated in the southern hemisphere, so those of us who live in the south have been created with a longer more bristly fur than those in the north so we can cope with the harsh winter conditions. Our fur has patches of different colors on different parts of our bodies; the darker fur on our backs has been created to absorb and preserve heat while the fur on other parts of our bodies is relatively light in color.

To protect ourselves from strong winds we roll our ears up into a kind of ball and turn our backs, the most insulated part of our bodies towards the wind. The fur on our backs is as protective as that of the animals that live in the Arctic. If you see us curled up on a branch in the winter, don't worry. Due to our incredible fur coat we are as warm and comfortable as you are in your homes.

Unfortunately, we have been subjected to the never-ending desires and ambitions of humankind. The dingoes, iguanas, and some of the eagles and owls that live in Australia do cause us harm from time to time but the massacre inflicted on us by humans in the nineteenth century was heartless and barbaric. Especially from about 1910 to the 1930s my ancestors were killed for our fur and around 80% of our main source of nutrition was destroyed by cutting down eucalyptus trees. In 1927 our species was subjected to the largest massacre ever. They say that over two and a half million of my brothers and sisters were barbarically killed then. It is reported that there are between two and eight thousand of us living today, and the drop in our population is mainly due to agriculture, urbanization and the destruction of the trees we depend on for our habit and nutrition. There has been a huge increase in deaths among us from contagious diseases and attacks by domestic animals like dogs. In recent years by the great efforts of some foundations and organizations we have been placed under a conservation order.

Make two-way translation of the text. То answer some of these intricate questions, you will have to show the ability to think laterally:

Що ви знаєте про літальні апарати?	What do you know about aviation?
1. З уcix птахів на Землі тільки цей уміє літати "заднім ходом".	I What is the only bird on Earth that can fly ‘in reverse’?
2. Кому з видатних винахідників епохи Відродження належить ця думка: якщо людина має шатро з накрохмаленого полотна зав-ширшки 12 ліктів, вона може без жодного ризику для свого життя стрибнути з будь-якої висоти?	2. Who was the great inventor from the Renaissance period who came up with the idea that a man holding a starched cloth tent 12 cubits wide could jump from any height without any risk to his life?
3. Перший в історії повітряний бій завершився тараном. Як звали австрійського пілота, яко-го збив знаменитий російський льотчик Петро Нестеров?	3. The first dogfight in history ended in a ram attack. What was the name of the Austrian pilot downed by the famous Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov?
4. Столиця якої великої латино-американської країни має в плані обриси літака?	4. The capital of which Latin American country has the outline of an airplane?
5. Професор Симон Ньюкомб став відомим завдяки тому, що математично спростував цю найважливішу властивість усіх літальних апаратів, важчих за повітря. Що він довів?	5. Professor Simon Newcomb became famous when he mathe-matically refuted the most impo-rtant property attributed to all heavier-than-air flying vehicles. What did he demonstrate?
6. Поява маленького зробила революцію у текстильній проми-словості а поява велетенського – у космонавтиці. Що це таке?	6. The invention of the small one signalled a revolution in the tex-tile industry, the advent of the large one – in space exploration. What is it?
7. Який пристрій створив англієць Джордж Стефенсон ще у 1829 році під назвою «Ракета»?	7. What kind of device did the Englishman George Stephenson create in 1829 and call 'Rocket'?
8.Який літальний апарат запро-понував використати генераль-ний директор паризької пошти Рампон, для того, щоб доставити пошту з Парижа під час його облоги німцями? Цей героїчний переліт здійснив легендарний Фелікс Турнашон на прізвисько Надар.	8. What kind of flying device did the postmaster general of Paris propose to use in order to deliver mail from the French capital when it was under German siege? This heroic flight was made by the famous photogra-pher Gaspard-Felix Tournachon, who was also known as Nadar.

Make two-way translation of the text:

Many, many more…	Багато й ще більше...
A few decades ago the world's population ballooned to 6 billion. Is this more than just a round figure?	Декілька десятиліть назад населення світу збільшилося до 6 мільярдів. Чи означає це щось більше, ніж кругла цифра?
The 6 billion mark is, definitely, cause for celebration. We are healthier and living longer than ever before (global life expectancy has grown from 46 years in 1950 to 66 today). No one in history could have dreamt that it would be possible to reach this number with the planet still intact. They predicted ecological collapse, famine, diseases and nuclear war, but we are doing rather well, and that's an enormous achievement. There is even some millennial feel about the figure. Just imagine – a tenth of all the people who have ever lived are alive today.	Шестимільярдний рубіж – це, ясна річ, гідний привід для святкування. Ми помітно поздоровішали й живемо довше, ніж будь-коли в минулому (середній світовий показник тривалос-ті життя зріс з 46 років у 1950-му до нинішніх 66). Ніхто й ніколи не міг навіть мріяти про можливість досягне-ння такого показника, не завдавши істотної шкоди планеті. Нам віщували екологічну катастрофу, голодомор, епідемії та ядерну війну, а ми тим часом живемо досить непогано, й одне це вже є величезним досягненням. Ця цифра навіть викликає певні епохальні відчуття. Тільки уявіть собі! Кожна десята людина з тих, які будь-коли жили на Землі, живе сьогодні.
Some statistics What's more, statistics state that the global population has doubled in less than four decades. And the growth will not stop with this round figure. Each year a population the size of Germany is being added to the world. Future forecasts, according to U.N. demographers, project that 2.8 billion people will be added to the planet in the next half-century, fewer than the 3.6 billion added during the past 5O years. So, the rate of population growth has slowed since alarm about the conscquences of overpopulation began sounding in the 1960s. One of the main reasons is that fertility rates are declining faster than expected, as the U.N. noted in its "State of the World's Population 1999" report.	Трохи статистики Більше того, статистика твердить, що населення Землі встигло подвоїти-ся менш ніж за останні сорок років. І його приріст не зупиниться на цій круглій цифрі. Кожного року світ буде поповнюватися населенням цілої Ні-меччини. За прогнозами демографів ООН протягом наступних п'ятдесяти років населення планети збільшиться на 2,8 мільярда чоловік. Це дещо менше, ніж 3,6-мільярдний приріст за попередні п'ять десятиліть. Отже, тем-пи приросту населення уповільнилися після того, як у 1960-х роках пролуна-ли перші сигнали занепокоєння мож-ливими наслідками перенаселення планети. Як відзначає ООН у своїй доповіді "Народонаселення світу 1999", однією з головних причин цьо-го явища є зменшення народжуваності швидшими, ніж передбачалося, темпами.
Geography What about the geography? 5O years ago population figures were rising everywhere, and now this occurs primarily in developing countries. Specialists state that most growth occurs in poor regions such as sub-saharan Africa and southern Asia, mostly among the poorest families. But do they have the resources of another Germany? Concerns centre on what a growing population in these regions in particular will mean for the environment and for the general quality of life, with the most pressing issues being freshwater shortages and unemployment.	Географія А як з географними факторами? П'ятдесят років тому населення зрос-тало всюди й скрізь, тим часом як тепер його приріст має місце лише в країнах, що розвиваються. За тверд­женнями фахівців, найбільш стрімки-ми темпами зростає населення в бід-них районах світу, приміром, у краї-нах Північної Африки (район пустелі Сахара) та Південної Азії, причому здебільшого в найбідніших сім'ях. Але чи мають вони ресурси ще однієї Німеччини? Основне занепокоєння викликає те, як позначиться на стані довкілля та загальному рівні життя приріст населення саме в цих регіо-нах, які потерпають від нестачі пріс-ної води та масового безробіття.
Quality and Quantity It took from the year dot until 1804 for the world's human population to reach 1 billion. But at the population's current growth rate, it will only take about 12 years to add an extra billion people to the planet. Despite the slowing rate of growth since the 1960s, net population growth since World War II means that even though people are multiply-ing at a slower rate, there are so many more people multiplying that the total number of people on the planet continues to grow. Demographers call this phenome-non population momentum and compare it to having a big amount of money in a bank - even if interest rates are low, your money there will still grow. The U.N. estimates that this momentum will not expire until around 2050, when declining birth rates will stabilise the world's population.	Якість і кількість З незапам'ятних часів до 1804 року населення Землі сягнуло ледве І мільярда чоловік. Проте в міру збільшення темпів приросту наступ-ний мільярд людей з'явився на планеті лише протягом 12 років. Незважаючи на поступове вповільнення темпів народжуваності, починаючи з 1960-х років чистий приріст народонаселення після другої світової війни все ж означає, що хоча люди й повільніше розмножуються, проте тих, хто роз-множується, стало настільки більше, що загальна чисельність населення планети продовжує зростати. Демо-графи називають це явище "популя-ційною інерцією", порівнюючи його з великим банківським вкладом, – навіть при низьких відсоткових став-ках грошей у вас дедалі більшає. За оцінками ООН ця інерція згасне не раніше 2050 року, коли зниження показників народжуваності стабілізує чисельність населення світу.
How many are too many? One of the key questions is how many people our planet can support. This raised debate between ecologists and economists as far back as the 1960s. Ecologists look at it in terms of natural restraints, while economists have consistently emphasised mankind's ingenuity. The disagree-ment hinges on the idea that there is a maximum number that the earth can support, known among ecologists as carrying capacity. Some are sure that our current population level is three times what it should be while the earth's optimal population size is around 2 billion. Ecologists say that the idea of a carrying capacity doesn't apply to the human world because humans aren't passive with respect to their environment, and they will always create new resources. Others believe that while trends can grow upwards infinitely, natural systems don't behave in the same way. There are thresholds in terms of natural systems. This makes sense in that we can't replace oceans with other resources, for example. Whoever is right, one thing remains obvious: the notion of a carrying capacity depends on how we want to live.	Забагато - це скільки? Одним із ключових питань є те, скільки людей здатна "прогодувати" наша планета. Ще в 1960-і роки воно викликало серйозні дебати між еколо-гами та економістами. Екологи розг-лядають цю проблему з точки зору природних обмежень, тим часом як економісти постійно роблять наголос на винахідливості роду людського. Розбіжності в думках базуються на тому, що існує певний максимум насе-лення, який здатна прогодувати Земля, що його екологи називають "місткіс-тю". Дехто переконаний у тому, що нинішній рівень населення планети втричі перевищує допустимі норми, оскільки оптимальна чисельність людей на Землі становить близько 2 мільярдів. Екологи вважають, що ідея "місткості" не може поширюватися на людство, оскільки мислячі створіння не є пасивним елементом навколиш-нього середовища й завжди будуть вишукувати та створювати нові ресурси. На думку інших, якщо тенденції росту можуть посилюватися до нескінченності, цього не можна сказати про природні системи. Для них існують певні межі розвитку. І це має певний сенс, тому що ми не можемо замінити, приміром, океани якимись іншими ресурсами. Утім, хто б не був правий у цій суперечці, очевидно одне: ідея "місткості" нашої планети залежить не від того, скільки нас, а як ми хочемо жити.
What's next The UN Population Fund desig-nated 12 October 1999 as “The Day of 6 Billion”, and we may have the chance to celebrate “The Day of the next billion”, quite soon.	Що далі? Фонд народонаселення ООН визначив 12 жовтня 1999 року як "День 6 мільярдів", але вже невдовзі ми матимемо нагоду відсвяткувати "День наступного мільярда".