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Session 3
Penguins have a distinctive walk, or ‘waddle’. Today we discover the scientific theory that explains why penguins waddle.
ፔንጉዊኖች ለየት ያለ አረማመድ ነው ያላቸው፤ ሲራመዱ ድክ ድክ ይላሉ። ዛሬ ፔንጉዊኖች ለምን ድክ ድክ እንደሚሉ ሳይንሳዊ ማብራሪያ እናዳምጣለን።
Activity 1
Why do penguins waddle?
Penguins are lovable creatures that can instantly be recognised by their distinctive walk, or ‘waddle’. Today we discover the scientific theory that explains why Penguins waddle.
ፔንጉዊኖች ለየት ባለ አረማመዳቸው ወይም ድክ ድክ በማለታቸው በቀላሉ የሚለዩ ተወዳጅ እንስሳት ናቸው፤ ሲራመዱ ድክ ድክ ይላሉ። ዛሬ ፔንጉዊኖች ለምን ድክ ድክ እንደሚሉ ሳይንሳዊ ማብራሪያ እናዳምጣለን።
Before you listen/Pre-listening
1) How many words can you think of that describe penguins and the way that they walk?
2) How can scientists compare animals today to animals in the past?
Listen to the audio and take the quiz.

ምህረተስላሴ
ጤና ይስጥልን፤ የእንግሊዘኛ ዜናዎችን ለመረዳት የሚያስችል ቋንቋ ወደምናስተምርበት Listen Here! – መሰናዶ እንኳን በደህና መጡ። ምህረተስላሴ እባላለሁ።
Tom
And hello again everyone, I’m Tom. Good news for animal lovers! Today, we are discussing penguins and asking the question ‘why do penguins waddle?’
ምህረተስላሴ
‘To waddle’ የእርምጃ ዓይነት ነው። ፈገግታ ለማጫር ወይም መውደድን ለማመላከት እንጠቀምበታለን። በብዛት የምንገለገለው ከጨቅላ ሕፃናት እና ከልጆች ጋር አያይዘን ነው።
Tom
Let’s listen to the first part of today’s clip! The reporter is in the zoo.
ምህረተስላሴ
ጥሩ ኃሳብ! አቅራቢዋ በለንደን መካነ አራዊት በሚገኝ የፔንጉዊኖች ክፍል ውስጥ ሆና ድክ ድክ ስለማለት ስለተሰራ ጥናት መሰናዶ እያቀረበች ነው። ፔንጉዊኖች እንዴት እንደሚራመዱ ለመግለፅ የትኞቹን ቃላት ተጠቀመች?
Presenter
With its tiny legs and stiff, upright posture, a penguin has a waddle that's more than a little ungainly. But by installing a high-tech track in London Zoo, scientists will measure every tiny movement the birds make.
Tom
Did you hear that penguin? She mentions posture.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘Posture’ አቋቋም ማለት ነው። ይህ ቃል ብዙ ጊዜ የሚያገለግለው ስለሰዎች አቋቋም ለመግለጽ ነው። የፔንጉዊኖችን አቋቋም ለመግለፅ ‘stiff’ጠንክር ያለ እና ‘upright’ቀጥ ያለ የሚሉቱን ቃላት ተጠቅማለች።
Tom
And she also describes the waddle as ‘ungainly’.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘ungainly ’ የተደናበረ ማለት ነው። ‘awkward’ የተወዛገበ እንዲሁም ‘clumsy’ የሚተረማመስ ከሚሉት ጋር ተመሳሳይ ትርጉም አለው።
Tom
The presenter actually uses a phrase before ‘ungainly’. But, what is it? Listen again after ‘the penguin has a waddle’…
Insert
With its tiny legs and stiff, upright posture a penguin has a waddle that's more than a little ungainly.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘More than a little’ በዚህ አውድ ‘quite’ ማለት ነው። አቅራቢዋ ሳይንቲስቶች የፔንጉዊኖችን እንቅስቃሴ በመሳሪያ እየለኩ እንደሆነ ተናግራለች። ያገኙትን መረጃ ካለፈው ጊዜ መረጃ ጋር ያነፃፅራሉ።
Tom
We can find stones or rocks with animal remains inside them. What’s the name for these? Let’s listen again!
Insert
But by installing a high-tech track in London Zoo, scientists will measure every tiny movement the birds make. The researchers will then compare this data with penguin fossils.
Tom
Aha! She said penguin fossils!
ምህረተስላሴ
‘A fossil’ ቅሪተ አካል ማለት ነው። የዘመኑ ፔንግዊኖች ጠንካራ ‘stiff’ ቀጥ ያለ አቋቋም ‘upright posture’እና ቀጫጭን እግሮች ‘tiny legs’ እንዳሏቸው ሰምተናል። የዘመናችን ፔንጉዊኖች ከድሮ ፔንጉዊኖች ጋር ተመሳሳይ ናቸው ብለው ያስባሉ?
Insert
The researchers will then compare this data with penguin fossils. They think that the ancient birds didn't waddle and had a more horizontal posture with different leg anatomy. The scientists suspect that as modern-day penguins became better adapted to swimming, they became more clumsy on land.
Tom
So, they aren’t the same! We’ve heard how modern penguins have an upright posture. Penguins in the past were the opposite! They had a horizontal posture.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘Horizontal’, አግዶሞሽ ማለት ነው።, which means they were lying flat!
Tom
Right! Their legs have probably adapted over time as their posture changed.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘To adapt’ መላመድ ማለት ነው። ብዙ ጊዜ ‘adapt to’ የምንጠቀመው ከስም ወይም ከግስና አይኤንጂ ጋር ነው። የመጨረሻውን አረፍተ ነገር እናዳምጥ። ፔንጉዊኖች የተላመዱት ነገር ‘adapt to?’ ምንድን ነው?
Insert
The scientists suspect that as modern-day penguins became better adapted to swimming, they became more clumsy on land.
Tom
So, penguins adapted to swimming. This means the anatomy, or structure, of their legs changed to become more suitable for water.
ምህረተስላሴ
And that’s why they’re ‘clumsy’,’clumsy’ ትርምስምስ ያለ ማለት ነው።
Tom
Exactly! So, have you adapted to presenting Listen Here yet?
ምህረተስላሴ
I think I’ve adapted by now! And we hope your ears are adapting to our show!
Tom
Bye everyone! See you next time!
Language features
horizontal / upright posture
Posture relates to position. It describes someone’s position when they are standing or sitting.
- You should sit up straight at your desk! A bad posture can cause back pain.
Horizontal describes something which lies flat or level with the ground. The opposite of horizontal is vertical. Upright is a synonym of vertical. It’s commonly used when referring to posture.
to adapt
To adapt means ‘to change in accordance with something’.
- After I had a baby I adapted my bike – it now has two seats instead of one!
To become adapted describes the process of changing when change is influenced by important factors.
- Otters have become adapted to cold water. They have thick fur which keeps them warm.
anatomy
Anatomy is a noun used to refer to the structure of the body.
- The anatomy of a shark is perfect for hunting in the sea. They have sharp teeth and can breathe underwater using gills.
The subject name for the study of bodily structure is also anatomy.
- I need to leave or I will be late for my anatomy class!
Why do penguins waddle?
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Hint
አንደኛው ቃል አቋቋምን የሚገልፅ ነውQuestion 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Hint
የተሳሳተው መልስ በጥቅሉ የሰውነትን ቅርፅን ይገልፃል።Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Hint
ቃል በዛሬው ክፍል ሁለተኛ ምሳሌ ሆኖ ተጠቅሷል።Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
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Join us for our next episode of Listen Here! when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ተጨማሪ ጠቃሚ የቋንቋ መሰረታዊያን ለመማር እና የማዳመጥ ክህሎትዎን በመለማመድ ለማዳበር በቀጣዩ ሊስን ሂር ክፍላችን ይጠብቁን።
Session Vocabulary
waddle
ድክ ድክ ማለትstiff
ጥንክር ያለupright
ቀጥ ያለposture
አቋቋምungainly
ድንብርብር ያለclumsy
የሚተረማመስ/የሚገጫገጭfossils
ቅሪተ አካልanatomy
ስነ አካልto adapt
መላመድ