The question of why animals behave the way they do has attracted the interest of scientists from many fields – psychologists, zoologists, ecologists, geneticists, endocrinologists – to name a few.
What is Behaviour? Simply defined, behaviour is activity in response to an internal or external stimulus. All animals make adjustments to information or stimuli, from their external and internal environments. These adjustments may be voluntary or involuntary, and may range from a simple, single act to a complex and elaborate sequence of activities.
Taxis, Kinesis, Reflex. A very important behavioural response in the lives of many invertebrates and some vertebrates is the taxis. This is a directional movement in response to a specific type of environmental stimulus. The taxis response is inborn, and need not be learned; but it is fixed, and cannot be altered to suit unusual conditions.
For example, a moth navigates in a straight line by keeping at a constant angle to the parallel rays of the sun (or more often the moon, since most moths are nocturnal). This taxis works well under natural conditions. However, it can cause trouble2 when the light source is so
near that it produces diffused instead of parallel rays, as in the case of a candle (свеча) or a light bulb3. In this case, instead of a straight path, the constant angle may lead the moth into a spiral, so that it circles
ever inward toward the light source and is eventually burned to death.
Another involuntary behaviour pattern, best known in simple organisms, is kinesis. This is an increase or decrease in the movement of an animal in proportion to the intensity of a stimulus. Such movements are not directional like the taxis. Instead, they consist of increases in the rate of turning from side to side, or in other body movements. Planarians, for instance, when placed in the light, do not swim directly back to the darker areas where they normally stay. Instead, they continue weaving from side to side, but they turn more strongly toward the side where they encounter less intense light. This turning eventually bring them back to the dark area.
A third behaviour pattern involving relatively simple, innate responses to stimuli is reflex. A reflex is the involuntary movement of some part of the animal's body in response to a stimulus. A familiar example is the kicking motion you make when the tendons below your kneecap are struck by a doctor's hammer. Unlike the taxis and kinesis, the reflex does not involve a complete body movement.
Notes
1. a source of fascination – источник восхищения
2. trouble – неприятность, беда
3. a light bulb – электрическая лампочка
THE FACULTY OF GEOGRAPGY
The Face of Britain
From south to north Great Britain stretches for over 900 km and from east to west,in the widest part, only for about 500 km. But despite its small area Britain has a great diversity of physical characteristics. It contains rocks of nearly all geological periods. There is a contrast between the relatively high relief of eastern and northern Britain and the lowland areas of the south and east. In general, the oldest rocks appear in the highland regions and the youngest in the lowland regions.
ENGLAND. Though England cannot be considered as a very hilly country still it is far from being flat everywhere. The most important range of mountains is the Pennine range, regarded as "the backbone of England". It stretches from the Tyne valley in the north to the Trent valley in the south —a distance of about 250 km. The whole range forms a large table-land the highest point of which is Cross Fell (893 m). Being an upland region the Pennines form a watershed separating the westward-flowing from the eastward-flowing rivers of north England. They also form a barrier between the industrial areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire on their opposite sides. Rainfall in the Pennines is abundant, and today the area is used for water storage: reservoirs in the uplands supply water to the industrial towns on each side of the Pennines.
Across the north end of the Pennines there are the grassy Cheviot Hills. The highest point is the Cheviot (816m), near the Scottish border. The Cheviot Hills serve as a natural borderland between England and Scotland. The region is noted for sheep-breeding. In north-west England, separated from the Pennines by the valley of the river Eden tlie the Cumbrian mountains. These mountains form a ring round the peak of Helvellyn (950 in). The highest peak of the Cumbrians is Scafell (978 m). The valleys which separate the various mountains from each other contain some beautiful lakes (Windermere, Grasmere, Ullswater, Hawswater, and others). This is the famous Lake District, the favourite place of holiday-makers and tourists. It is here that the great English poets Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and Quincey lived and wrote. The Lake District, or Cumberland is sparsely populated and sheep rearing is the main occupation of the farmers. A typical farmhouse here is built of stone. Around it are a number of small fields, separated from one another by stone walls. The Lake District is exposed to the westerly winds and rainfall is exceptionally high. The region is claimed to be the wettest inhabited place in the British Isles.
The South-West Peninsula of Great Britain includes the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. The region is made up of a number of upland masses separated by lowlands. The uplands of the South-West Peninsula are not ranges of mountains or hills, but areas of high moorland, rising to 600m.
The South-West region is mostly an agricultural area, because there are many fertile river valleys on the lower land between the moors, both in Cornwall and Devon.
South-West England is noted for two other interesting things: the most westerly point of Great Britain - Land's End, and the most southerly point of the largest island - Lizard Point, are to be found here. The South-West Peninsula presents attractions for the holiday-makers and the artists, and tourism is one of the most important activities of the region.
WALES. Wales is the largest of the peninsulas on the western side of Britain. It is a country of hills and mountains deeply cut by river valleys. The mountains cover practically all the territory of Wales and are called the Cambrian mountains. The highest peak, Snowdon (1,085 m),is in the north-west. The lowland is confined to the relatively narrow coastal belt and the lower parts of the river valleys.
In the south the Cambrian mountains include an important coalfield, on which an industrial area has grown. Two-thirds of the total population live in South Wales. Two relief divisions may be distinguished in South Wales: a coastal plain which in the south-eastern part around Cardiff becomes up to 16 km wide and the upland areas of the coalfield proper, which rises between 245 and 380 metres. These divisions formed by the physical landscape are clearly reflected in the use of agricultural land. In the upland areas sheep are the basis of the rural economy, and in the low-lying parts near the coast and in the valleys dairy farming predominates. But in general South Wales is dominated by the coalmining and heavy industries.
SCOTLAND. Geographically Scotland may be divided into three major physical regions: the Highlands, the Southern Uplands and the Central Lowlands.
The Highlands lie to the west of a line from Aberdeen to the mouth of the river Clyde. The mountains are separated into two parts by the long straight depression known as Glen More, running from north-
east to south-west. To the south are the Grampian mountains, which are generally higher than the Northwest Highlands, including the loftiest summits such as Ben Nevis (1,347 m), the highest peak in the British Isles, and Ben Macdhui (1,309 m). An observatory has been erected at the very top of Ben Nevis.
Glen More contains several lakes, including Loch Ness, which is said to be the home of a "monster". In the early I9th century the lochs (lakes) were joined lo form the Caledonian Canal which connected the two coasts.
The Highlands comprise forty-seven per cent of the land area of Scotland, andthe region has the most severe weather experienced in Britain. The population is sparse.
The economy of the region has traditionally been that of crofting or Jife supporting farming, in which the farmer (crofter) and his family consume all the produce. The crofter grows crops on a patch of land near his cottage, the main crops being potatoes, oats and hay. His sheep graze on the nearby hill slopes, and he may have one or two cows, to keep the family supplied with milk, and some poultry.
The Southern Uplands extend from the Central Lowlands of Scotland in the north to the Cheviot Hills and the Lake District in the south. The Uplands form a broad belt of pastoral country. The hills rise to 800-900 m, but for the most part they lie between 450 and 600 metres.
The present-day economy of the region is dominated by agriculture. The region is clearly divided between the sheep pastures of the uplands and the more diversified farming areas of the lowlands.
The Central Lowlands of Scotland form the only extensive plain in Scotland. The name is given especially to the plains along the Clyde, the Forth and the Tay. The region lies between the Highlands and theSouthern Uplands. The Central Lowlands have the most fertile soil, the most temperate climate, the best harbours and the only supply of coal. They occupy about fifteen per cent of Scotland's area, but contain about eighty per cent of its people. This is the leading industrial area of Scotland.
Geographically Ireland is an island and a single unit, but politically it is divided. As a whole, Ireland forms a large extensive plain surrounded by a broken belt of mountains, or the uplands.
IN NORTHERN IRELAND the chief mountains are: in the extreme north-east the Antrim mountains, which rise above 400 m and are composed of basalt, in the centre of Ulster — the Sperrin mountains (500 m), and in the extreme south-east the Mourne mountains, including the highest summit Slieve Donard (852 m). Off the north coast is the famous Giant's Causeway, where the basalt solidified in remarkable hexagonal columns.
There is a fairly wide network of rivers in the British Isles. Though generally short in length, they are navigable but in their j lower reaches especially during high tides. Mild maritime climate keeps them free of ice throughout the winter months.
The largest river of Great Britain is the I Severn (350 km), which follows a very! puzzling course from central Wales andflows to the Bristol Channel. The courses of the Trent (274 km) and the upper Thames (346 km) also show many changes of direction and keep their way to the North Sea. Among other important rivers, which flow eastwards, to the North Sea, are the rivers Tyne, Tees, Humber, Ouse in England, and the rivers Tweed, Forth, Dee and Spey in Scotland.
A number of streams flow down to the west coast, to the Irish Sea, including the Mersey, the Eden (in England) and the Clyde in Scotland.
The longest river of the British Isles is the river Shannon (384 km), flowing from north to south of Ireland.
The largest lake in Great Britain and the biggest inland loch in Scotland is Loch Lomond, covering a surface area of 70 sq km, but the largest fresh water lake of the British Isles is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland — 391 sq km.
THE FACULTY OF PHYSICAL CULTURE
Sports and Money
Intercollegiate sports and money have always been a hotly debated topic. Rules prevent any college athlete from accepting money. Whenever some basketball player is found to have accepted "a gift," the sports pages are full of the scandal. As a result, some college teams whose members have violated the rules are forbidden to take part in competitions. Several universities, like the highly respected University of Chicago, do not take part in any intercollegiate sports whatsoever. Many others restrict sports to those played among their own students, so-called intramural sports and activities.
Those who defend college sports point out that there are no separate institutions or "universities" for sports in the U.S. as there are in many other countries. They also note that many sports programs pay their own way, that is, what they earn from tickets and so on for football or basketball or baseball games often supports less popular sports and intramural games at the university. At some universities, a large portion of the income from sports, say from TV rights, goes back to the university and is used also for academic purposes. Generally, however, sports and academics are separated from one another. You cannot judge whether a university is excellent or poor from whether its teams win or lose.
In the United States, however, there are attitudes towards the mixing of commercialism, money, and sports, or professionals and amateurs, which often differ from those of other nations. The U.S. was, for example, one of only 13 countries to vote in 1989 against allowing professional basketball players to compete in the Olympics. Similarly, American professionals in football, baseball, and basketball are not allowed to wear jerseys and uniforms with advertising, brand names, etc. on them. The National Football League does not allow any team to be owned by a corporation or company. And when a city wants to build a new stadium or arena, voters get the chance to vote (and "no" is not uncommon).
Most Americans think that government should be kept separate from sports, both amateur and professional. They are especially concerned when their tax money is involved. The citizens of Denver, Colorado, for example, decided that they did not want the 1976 Winter Olympics there, no matter what the city government and businessmen thought. They voted "no" and the Olympics had to be held elsewhere. The residents of Los Angeles, on the other hand, voted to allow the (Summer) Olympics in 1984 to be held in their city, but they declared that not one dollar of city funds could be spent on them. Because the federal government doesn't give any money either, all of the support had to come from private sources. As it turned out, the L.A. Olympics actually made a profit, some $100 million, which was distributed to national organisations in the U.S. and abroad.
Leisure Sports
The attention given to organised sports should not overshadow the many sporting activities, which are a part of daily American life. Most Americans who grow up in the North, for example, also grow up with outdoor winter sports and activities. Skating, certainly, is one widespread activity, with most cities, large and small, flooding areas for use as skating rinks. Skiing, sledding and tobogganing are equally popular. Students at snow-covered campuses "borrow" the metal or fibreglass trays used in dining halls and race downhill standing up on them (or trying to).
Fishing and hunting are extremely popular in all parts of the country and have been since the days when they were necessary activities among the early settlers. As a consequence, they have never been thought of as upper-class sports in the U.S. And it is easy to forget how much of the country is open land, how much of it is still wild and filled with wildlife. New Jersey, for example, has enough wild deer so that the hunting season there is used to keep the herds smaller. Wild turkeys have also returned to the East and Midwest in great numbers. In Washington, D.C., commuters driving along the Potomac River can often see them flying overhead. Even more remarkable is the return of the black bear in the Northeast, as the forests grow thicker again. New York State has about 4,000 with most of them in the Adirondack, Allegheny, and Catskill mountain areas. In the states of the Midwest and West, of course, there is much more wild game, and hunting there is even more popular.
Hunting licenses are issued by the individual states, and hunting is strictly controlled. Some hunters don't actually hunt, of course. They use it as a good excuse to get outdoors in the autumn or to take a few days or longer away from the job and family. Indoor poker games are rumoured to be a favourite activity of many hunters who head for cabins in the woods.
There are many more fishermen (around 50 million in 1991) than hunters (17 million), and many more lakes and rivers than bears. Minnesota advertises itself on its license plates as the "land of 10,000 lakes." This, of course, is not quite true: there are more. Aerial photographs and maps show that there are about twice that number (each larger than 25 acres). Fishing is so popular in Minnesota that when a recent survey showed that 97 percent of all kids in the state went fishing, a newspaper asked, "What on earth went wrong with the other three percent?" Michigan not only has a long coastline from the Great Lakes, it also has what official descriptions simply call, without counting, "thousands of lakes." From Oregon to Southern California, Maine to Florida to Texas there are the ocean beaches. Finding enough water is no problem for most Americans, and where there's water, there are boats.