Descriptive Essay and Exercises

The name of this animal, when translated into English is ‘man of the woods’. This man of the woods [MOW] is the only great ape that lives in Asia. It’s about 1 m tall and is the world’s biggest tree dweller. It’s just a little bit smaller than gorilla. MOWs live in the rain forest of Kalimantan and Sumatra. However loggers are destroying their homes and this animal now is in danger of becoming extinct.
Every day MOWs climb trees and look for food. Most of the time MOWs walk on all fours, they measure nearly 3m from hand to hand. How long are your arms? They use these long climbs to swing through trees and hold the branches with their hands and feet. Swinging is a hard work, so they never travel more than a few hundred meters a day.
MOWs sleep in the trees too – on a platform made from sticks. They make a new nest every few nights. Heavy adult males sometimes sleep on the ground. When it’s cold they cover their body with leaves.
Answer the following questions
1. How is the size of the animals compared to the size of gorillas and to your own size?
2. Is it possible to find these animals in the jungles of Africa? Why do you think so?
3. Why do you think the English translation of the name of these animals is ‘man of the woods’?
4. How is the length of the animals’ arms compared to yours?
5. Do you think that these animals really need that size of arms? Why do you think so?
6. How do these animals move?
7. How do they travel to different places? Can they travel long distance? Why do you think so?
8. What do they frequently make?
9. How do they keep their body warm when they feel cold?


Komodo Dragons
Komodo Dragons are the largest lizards in the world. They live just on few small islands in Indonesia. Komodo dragons can be 3m long. That’s very long – as long as a car.
Komodo dragons are very greedy. They eat almost anything, but their favourite food is wild pigs and deer. They can swallow a small animal, such as monkey, in one gulp.
Adult komodo dragons hide in long grass, then jump out and grab their prey. They grab their prey in their strong jaw. They can also chase the prey. Adult dragons can move faster than a human can run. Young komodo dragons are good climbers. They climb trees to catch and eat small lizards and birds.

Answer the following questions briefly!
1. In which paragraph can you find information about how they catch their prey?
2. In which paragraph can you find information about the size?
3. In which paragraph can you find information about their eating habit?
4. How big are adult komodo dragons?
5. How is the size of the animal?
6. What would happen if you threw a rabbit in front of them?
7. How do the young komodo get their food?
8. Who could run faster, komodo or you?
9. How is the size of the mouth of an adult komodo?
10. What does the word ‘they’ in the last sentence of paragraph 3 refer to?

A. find these words in the dictionary

1. biggest
2. derived
3. gave
4. built
5. botany
6. plant
7. begins
8. blooms
9. leaves
10. stem
11. main roots
12. fibrous roots
13. unpleasant smell
14. bottom
15. trunk

B. Complete the short paragraph with suitable words or phrase
The Rafflesia Arnoldi is the 1)...............flower in the world. The name Rafflesia is 2) ...........from the British governor general, Sir Thomas Stamford raffles, a man who 3) .................high attention to the study of botany and 4) ..................the botanical garden in Bogor.
The rafflesia plant 5) ...................to flower in its tenth year. It 6) ................three or four times in a year. Before it begins to flower, the 7) ...................and 8) ...............become dry and look death, but the main root in the ground is still alive. When it blooms, it has 9) ....................smell which attract insects. But when they touch the 10) ..................part, they die.

a. an unpleasant d. Bottom g. Biggest j. Flower
b. leaves e. Stem h. Blooms k. Built
c. begins f. Gave i. Derived

C. Arrange these following sentences into the good paragraph !
1. It consists of two parts, the stick and the pettals
2. It blooms three or four times in a year
3. The Rafflesia Arnoldi is the biggest flower in the world
4. It has a flower almost a meter in diameter and 1,40 meters in height
5. It is derived from British Governor General, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles