How to tell if your cat wants to kill you

Do you have a cat? Could you say with total certainty that it is not plotting to kill you?

Read this and find out. Does your cat do any of these suspicious activities? Should you be worried?

http://www.catswhothrowupgrass.com/kill.php

PS. Notice the meaning of "tell" in the title: "How to tell if...". In this case, "tell" means "distinguish", "guess" or "understand". But it would be translatable as something like "Cómo saber si...".

A boat = she?

Several of you have asked me about the use of the pronoun "she" to refer to a boat, and if it's a mistake.

Nope, no mistake. The Wikipedia says:

The pronoun "she" is sometimes used to refer to things which contain people such as countries, ships, and cars, or to refer to machines. (...) This usage is (...) in decline.

Basically, it's an exception to the general rule of objects being "it".

More about gender pronouns on Wiki (scroll down to the "Gender in English" part).

I love you-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Constant listening + repetition will definitely improve your pronunciation, as demonstrated here:

Przewalski horse video (Intermediate level)

We've already done this video in class (3rd year), but in case you missed it or want to try it again:

Watch the video about the Przewalski horse and choose the option that you hear.

1. The Przewalski horse
a) worked on Mongolian farms
b) has always been wild
c) was domesticated by the Chinese

2. The horses almost became extinct
a) because of humans
b) due to a defective chromosome
c) due to the freezing weather conditions

3. In the 70’s they survived thanks to
a) zoos
b) ecologists
c) scientists

4. The Przewalski horse and the “P” horse
a) have a different number of chromosomes
b) are very different
c) are the same thing

5. At present the horses are
a) finding it difficult to adapt to conditions on the Mongolian plains
b) increasing their numbers
c) being crossed with domesticated horses




The complete transcipt:

Can a species be saved from extinction? With its rough coat and spiky mane, this looks like something from a cave painting. But it’s the Przewalski horse, the last of its kind. “They’re what we call the last truly wild horse, because they were never domesticated.”

At one point the Przewalski horse ranged across Asia and Europe, but it became a victim of encroaching civilization and was actually extinct in the wild. In the 1970s there were only twelve horses left, all in zoos, like the Smithsonians National Zoo in Washington. Zoos are a learning environment, where visitors can study animals, and animals are protected. Life for the horses is good, says chief vet, Suzan Murray.

“Przewalski horses are a great species of horse and I don’t think anything’s tougher than them. They’re very hardy horses and if they can live in a desert in freezing temperatures in Asia, being here in captivity where they get their food brought to them, where they have a nice warm place to stay. No, I don’t think it’s hard for them at all; I think they have a great life.”

But here’s where the Przewalski horse belongs: on the wild plains of China and Mongolia. To the rescue, the Conservation and Research Centre in Front Royal, Virginia, also part of the Smithsonian. The CRC is one of several research facilities with a captive breeding programme to ensure the survival of endangered species like the Przewalski horse, also called the P horse.

Melissa Songer is a Smithsonian research ecologist. “When a species is endangered one of the top priorities is to increase the population, whether it’s in captivity or in the wild. Now that’s our best sort of insurance against extinction.”

Unlike the domesticated horse, which has 64 chromosomes, the P horse has 66. Why save this genetic oddity?

“To me it gets back to, I guess, saving all the pieces. The biodiversity, really, of the Earth, it’s been declining so rapidly, and this is kind of another piece to that puzzle that we’re losing, actually that we already have lost in the wild.”

The Smithsonians’ goal: to create genetic diversity, making more likely the conception and birth of healthy foals. This colt was born in July. Now he’s one of a herd of 21 horses at the centre and several horses from US facilities have been returned to the Kalamaili refuge in China. Using satellite tracking, the horses will be studied to find out exactly how much territory they need to survive. The P horse is still endangered but now there are an estimated 2,000 horses in zoos and reserves around the world.

“We’re working to increase the number of species that are still in the wild, that are still in their natural environment, so to me that’s kind of an amazing opportunity, to be able to take it that step further.” And in Virginia, the P horse is able to live and thrive until it can go home.

Wendy Jones, NBC News, Front Royal, Virginia.

Answer key: 1b 2a 3a 4c 5b

PS. Cute, aren't they? ♥