The 1,000-Year Bird Song

These tasks extend the textbook's reading work by moving from literal understanding into inference, paragraph function, and evidence evaluation.

Exercise 1.1 - Reading Between the Lines

Skill focus: deciding whether a claim is supported, contradicted, or not addressed.

Read the statements below. Decide if each statement is strongly supported by the text (Yes), contradicted by the text (No), or not directly addressed (Not Given).

Statement	Yes	No	Not Given
The swamp sparrow's ability to learn songs supports the idea that animals can have culture.
Robert Lachlan believes that conformist bias is unique to humans.
The research team studied swamp sparrows in both the United States and Canada.
Lachlan's findings suggest that young sparrows could create different song traditions if they chose to.
Scientists previously believed that only humans passed down traditions over long periods.

Exercise 1.2 - Text Organisation: Paragraph Function

Skill focus: recognising how an English informational text moves from introduction to method, findings, and implications.

Match each paragraph (A-E) with its primary function. One function is not used.

Paragraph	Function
A - Paragraph 1 (introduction about sparrow songs)	1. Present research methodology
B - Paragraph 2 (Lachlan's research design)	2. Introduce topic and context
C - Paragraph 3 (recording 615 male sparrows)	3. Present findings and data
D - Paragraph 4 (2% variation and conformist bias)	4. Discuss implications and future research
E - Paragraph 5 (Lachlan's conclusion and Farnsworth's response)	5. Provide historical background

Write the correct number (1-5) for each paragraph. One number is extra.

• A: _______
• B: _______
• C: _______
• D: _______
• E: _______

Exercise 1.3 - Evidence Evaluation: Fact, Interpretation, or Not Stated?

Skill focus: distinguishing directly stated evidence from interpretation and unsupported claims.

Label each statement as Fact (F), Interpretation (I), or Not Stated (NS).

1. ____ Between 2008 and 2009, Lachlan's research team recorded the calls of 615 male sparrows.
2. ____ The fact that sparrows have sung the same songs for 1,000 years proves they have conformist bias.
3. ____ Only 2 percent of male sparrows sang a sufficiently different song from the standard tune.
4. ____ Lachlan's study shows that animal traditions can last just as long as human traditions.
5. ____ The sparrow's brain contains neurons that help it remember songs.

Exactly three grammar points drawn directly from the reading text, with guided discovery and practice.

Grammar Point 1 - Modal Verbs: Can / Could (情态动词)

Discovery

Discover the Rule

Look at these sentences from the text:

1. "Sparrows can copy these songs, even though they live across a huge area."
2. "They could change their songs but choose not to."

Questions:

1. What does can express in sentence 1 - ability, permission, or possibility?
2. In sentence 2, does could refer to past time or present ability?
3. Why does the writer use could (not can) in sentence 2? What does this suggest about the sparrows?

Practice 1A - Form: Complete the Rules

Complete the rules about can and could using the words in the box.

ability	couldn't	past	possibility

Rules:

1. We use can + verb to express present _______________.
2. We use could + verb to express _______________ ability or present _______________.
3. The negative form of can is cannot or can't.
4. The negative form of could is could not or _______________.

Practice 1B - Contextual Choice

Choose the correct modal verb. Sometimes both are possible, but choose the better answer for the context.

1. Swamp sparrows _______ (can / could) remember hundreds of different songs throughout their lives.
2. Before Lachlan's study, scientists _______ (can / could) not explain why bird songs remained stable.
3. If young sparrows are isolated, they _______ (cannot / could not) learn the correct songs.
4. With further research, we _______ (can / could) discover similar behaviour in other bird species.
5. The sparrows _______ (can / could) change their songs tomorrow, but they probably won't.

Grammar Point 2 - Past Simple for Narratives (一般过去时)

Discovery

Discover the Rule

Look at these sentences from the text:

1. "Between 2008 and 2009, Lachlan's research team recorded the calls of 615 male sparrows across ten northeastern states in the United States."
2. "The research revealed that only 2 percent of male sparrows sang a sufficiently different song from the standard tune."
3. "Until recently, this was thought to be something that only humans did."

Questions:

1. Which verbs are in the past simple form? Underline them.
2. Sentence 3 contains two past simple verbs. Which one is regular? Which one is irregular?
3. Why does the writer use past simple here (not present simple)? What does this tell us about the time of these events?

Practice 2A - Form: Regular and Irregular Verbs

Write the past simple form of these verbs. Mark each as Regular (R) or Irregular (I).

Base Verb	Past Simple	R or I?
record
reveal
sing
think
study
find
pass
teach

Practice 2B - Rewrite the Research

Rewrite this summary of Lachlan's research. Put all verbs into the past simple tense.

Lachlan is a scientist who works at Queen Mary University of London. He wants to understand how sparrows learn their songs. His team records 615 birds across the United States. They find that most birds sing the same songs that their ancestors sing 1,000 years ago. This discovery shows that sparrows have a strong conformist bias.

Grammar Point 3 - Relative Clauses with That / Who (定语从句)

Discovery

Discover the Rule

Look at these sentences from the text:

1. "The songs that male sparrows sing"
2. "Scientists who study bird song"

Questions:

1. In sentence 1, what noun does that refer back to? What information does that male sparrows sing add?
2. In sentence 2, why do we use who instead of that?
3. Both sentences can be written as two separate sentences. Try writing sentence 1 as two sentences:

Practice 3A - Form: Combine the Sentences

Join each pair of sentences into one sentence using who or that.

1. The sparrows live across a huge area. They sing the same songs.
2. Robert Lachlan is a researcher. He studies animal communication.
3. The team recorded 615 birds. The birds lived across ten states.
4. Young sparrows learn from adults. The adults live nearby.

Practice 3B - Error Correction

Each sentence contains one error with the relative clause. Find and correct it.

1. ✗ The man who I met him was a scientist.
2. ✗ The songs that the sparrows sing them are very old.
3. ✗ Lachlan is a researcher that he works in London.
4. ✗ The birds who songs are stable live across a huge area.

Both tasks require students to recycle all three grammar points from Section 2 rather than writing loosely around the topic.

Exercise 3.1 - Scaffolded: Summarise the Research

Write a summary of Lachlan's research (60-80 words). Use the structure below and include all three grammar points from this lesson.

Structure:

1. Introduction (who, where, when)
   • Robert Lachlan, a researcher _____________ (relative clause), studied _____________.
2. Method (what they did)
   • Between 2008 and 2009, his team _____________ (past simple).
3. Finding (what they discovered)
   • They found that sparrows _____________ (modal verb).
4. Implication (why it matters)
   • This shows that animals _____________ (relative clause) can _____________ (modal verb).

Exercise 3.2 - Open: Your View on Animal Culture

Write a short paragraph (80-100 words) responding to this question:

Lachlan says that sparrows show "conformist bias" - they copy others to fit in. Do you think humans also have conformist bias? Give examples.

Requirements:

• Use at least one relative clause (who / that)
• Use at least two past simple verbs
• Use can or could at least once
• Include at least one example from your own experience or observation
• Use at least one idea or phrase from the reading text

These are teacher-facing extension ideas, not full student-facing exercises. Use them only if they support the lesson flow and the teacher's style.

Listening Idea 1 - Expert Interview Retell

Adapt the reading into a short interviewer-and-scientist dialogue, then ask students to note key numbers, main findings, and one quote that shows uncertainty or interpretation. This works well because the content is already familiar, so students can focus on detail and connected speech rather than building topic knowledge from zero.

Speaking Idea 1 - Think-Pair-Share: Culture in Animals

Ask students to brainstorm other examples of animals learning from each other, then compare those examples with the swamp sparrow study. This works because the topic extends naturally from the reading and encourages students to test whether the word culture can be applied more broadly.

Speaking Idea 2 - Information Gap: The Research Process

Split the key research facts across Student A and Student B so they must ask each other for missing details such as dates, numbers, and conclusions. This works because it turns article content into genuine information exchange instead of passive repetition.