BEFORE YOU READ

1. Spend 60 seconds writing words you associate with OCEANS and SEAS.


2. Guess whether the statements are true (t) or false (f) before you read the text.

The newly-found sea creatures live in a brightly-lit reef.
Deep-sea divers swam near the creatures and took photos of them.
Australia's deep-sea environment is larger than Australia itself.
The scientists do not want to share the photos yet.
The scientists were not surprised at the creatures' appearance – they knew what to expect based on previous experience in zoology.
Some of the creatures may be new species.
The coffin fish has red eyes and blue fins.
Scientists found 200-year-old rubbish on the seafloor.

READING COMPREHENSION

Scientists have found dozens of strange-looking deep-sea creatures off the coast of Australia. The underwater beasts live in total darkness four kilometres below the surface of the ocean. The researchers used a special submarine that could cope with the crushing pressure of being so deep in the ocean. The difficult environment and conditions mean it is a difficult place to explore. Researcher Dr Tim O'Hara said: "Australia's deep-sea environment is larger in size than the mainland, and until now, almost nothing was known about life [there]. We're really excited about the discoveries that we've made and are thrilled that we can now share them with the Australian and international public."

The scientists are surprised at how odd-looking many of the sea creatures are. The research team gave them some similarly odd names. They discovered a red coffin fish, a cookie cutter shark, zombie worms, tripod fish and sea pigs. Some of these creatures may be new species. Researchers are particularly interested in the coffin fish. They say it has blue eyes, red fins, and a unique method for catching prey in the dark. The scientists said it uses a "fishing rod tipped with a fluffy bait on top of its head". The researchers also found, "highly concerning levels of rubbish" including, "debris from the days when steamships plied our waters". They said: "The seafloor has 200 years of rubbish on it."

otsikon teksti

1) How many odd-looking sea creatures did scientists find?
a few
6
26
more than 12

2) How far below the ocean's surface do the sea creatures live?
14 kilometres
4000 metres
400 metres
40,000 metres

3) What did a submarine have to cope with being so deep?
scuba divers
giant killer jellyfish
oil slicks
crushing pressure

4) What is Australia's deep-sea environment larger than?
the metropolitan (urban) area of Sydney
the Great Barrier Reef
Australia
The Indian Ocean

5) Who will the scientists share the photos with?
the World Wildlife Fund
sea creature lovers
other photographers
everyone

6) What was the reaction of the scientists to the sea creatures?
awe
shock
surprise
horror

7) How old is the rubbish on the seafloor?
two centuries
two millennia
two decades
158 years

VOCABULARY

Match the synonyms. You'll find the word list below.

strange
total
cope with
explore
thrilled
similarly
catch
fluffy
concern
debris

Palauta Peruuta