상문고 2025 고1 1학기 기말 · 공통영어1

We, human beings, have a 'diving reflex', like other marine mammals. This means that special nerve endings on our faces, around the mouth and nose, trigger this reflex only when the facial region goes under water. If we are in the water, with our head out in the air, there is no diving reflex. But if we sink just our face in a bowl of water, while the whole of the rest of our body is in the dry air, the diving reflex is triggered. It automatically closes down the airway, reducing the risk of swallowing water, and it narrows the small air-passages in the lungs. At the same time the heart rate is slowed down to half speed and blood is shunted to the vital organs, protecting them from the effects of the brief stop in breathing. By contrast, if a chimpanzee or a gorilla found itself in water with its face below the surface, it would panic, its heart would race and it would quickly drown.

Every species has certain climatic requirements — what degree of heat or cold it can endure, for example. When the climate changes, the places that satisfy those requirements change, too. Species are forced to follow. All creatures are capable of some degree of movement. Even creatures that appear immobile, like trees and barnacles, are capable of dispersal at some stage of their life — as a seed, in the case of the tree, or as a larva, in the case of the barnacle. A creature must get from the place it is born — often occupied by its parent — to a place where it can survive, grow, and reproduce. From fossils, scientists know that even creatures like trees moved with surprising speed during past periods of climate change.

In many sports, people realized the difficulties and even impossibilities of young children participating fully in many adult sport environments. They found the road to success for young children is unlikely if they play on adult fields, courts or arenas with equipment that is too large, too heavy or too fast for them to handle while trying to compete in adult-style competition. Common sense has prevailed: different sports have made adaptations for children. As examples, baseball has T ball, football has flag football and junior soccer uses a smaller and lighter ball and (sometimes) a smaller field. All have junior competitive structures where children play for shorter time periods and often in smaller teams. In a similar way, tennis has adapted the court areas, balls and rackets to make them more appropriate for children under 10. The adaptations are progressive and relate to the age of the child.