C1CEFRVocabulary20 min

Vocabulary & Pronunciation: Biodiversity and Rewilding

Biodiversity and rewilding

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C1 ADVANCED • 20 MINS ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

Biodiversity and Rewilding

Master 10 key ecological terms, examine habitat restoration concepts, test your recall through 16 targeted practice items, and refine your speech with 12 shadowing recordings.

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How to Use This Lesson

Teacher Panel

Allocate 20 minutes for learners to study the vocabulary table and work through the four practice stages independently.

Review tricky collocations together as a class, check the answers on screen, and monitor the individual audio recordings in the final shadowing stage.

Learner Panel

Scan all 10 core words, sample sentences, and quick memory tips in the table before starting any exercises.

Complete the 16 interactive practice checks, then click each speaker icon to listen and record your own voice in shadowing.

Core Vocabulary Bank

10 required terms across three ecological themes

Reference Table
Theme 1: Bringing Wildlife Back
Word Meaning Common collocations Word forms Example sentence Memory tip
rewild (v) To restore an area of land to its natural uncultivated state, especially by reintroducing native plants and wild animals. rewild farmland
rewilding scheme
rewilding (n) "Conservationists worked together to rewild degraded farmland by planting indigenous oak trees." Re- + Wild: Think of handing the land back to the wild so nature runs itself.
reintroduce (v) To put a native species of plant or animal back into an ecosystem where it previously lived but died out. reintroduce predators
reintroduce species
reintroduction (n) "Biologists plan to reintroduce Eurasian beavers so that they slow the river naturally." Introduce again: Bringing back old animal residents that went missing.
corridor (n) A strip of natural habitat connecting separated wildlife populations to allow safe animal travel and seed dispersal. wildlife corridor
ecological corridor
– "A green wildlife corridor across the motorway lets elk safely reach mountain pastures." Picture an animal hallway connecting two isolated wilderness rooms.
fragmentation (n) The breaking up of a large continuous natural habitat into smaller, isolated patches, often by roads and urbanization. habitat fragmentation
forest fragmentation
fragment (v) "Severe forest fragmentation leaves songbirds trapped in small pockets with limited food." Fragment = broken piece: Like dropping a glass mirror into shattered fragments.
Theme 2: Balance and Pressure
Word Meaning Common collocations Word forms Example sentence Memory tip
keystone (adj/n) A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. keystone species
keystone predator
– "Gray wolves serve as a keystone predator whose presence keeps elk herds healthy and mobile." In a stone arch, pulling out the central keystone collapses the entire structure.
invasive (adj) Tending to spread aggressively and cause harm in an ecosystem where it is not native. invasive weeds
invasive species
invade (v), invasion (n) "Volunteers spent Saturday removing invasive weeds that choked out native wetland flowers." Invade: Like an unwanted army invading a peaceful border.
pollinator (n) An animal (such as a bee, bat, or bird) that moves pollen from the male to the female part of a flower. native pollinator
insect pollinator
pollinate (v), pollination (n) "Honeybees and hoverflies act as essential pollinators for domestic orchard blossoms." Pollen + actor: The worker delivery agent carrying yellow pollen grains.
Theme 3: Living Alongside
Word Meaning Common collocations Word forms Example sentence Memory tip
coexist (v) To live together in peace at the same time or in the same place despite differences or competition. coexist peacefully
human-wildlife coexistence
coexistence (n) "Ranchers used guard dogs so their livestock could coexist with wild carnivores." Co- (together) + exist: Living side by side without picking a fight.
cull (v) To reduce the population of a wild animal group by selective slaughter, usually to prevent overgrazing or disease. cull deer
cull herds
– "Forestry officials were forced to cull herds of deer to protect delicate saplings." Sounds like cut or collect: trimming surplus numbers to preserve the balance.
thrive (v) To grow, develop vigorously, or flourish in a supportive and healthy natural environment. thrive in habitats
thriving population
thriving (adj) "Native trout began to thrive once industrial waste was cleared from the mountain stream." Think of drive and alive: booming with green health and lively energy.
Stage 1

Stage 1: Collocation Matrix

Match each ecological verb to its most natural noun partner based on the vocabulary table.

1. Match verb: rewild + ___
____ farmland ____ a motorway ____ a salary ____ a recipe
2. Match verb: reintroduce + ___
____ motorway noise ____ predators ____ tourist crowds ____ drainage costs
3. Match verb: cull + ___
____ river water ____ stone walls ____ herds ____ meadow soil
4. Match verb: fragment + ___
____ a hot summer ____ thick fog ____ habitats ____ a sunny day
Stage 2

Stage 2: Gap-Fill with Word Bank

Choose the exact word from the word bank to complete each ecological situation.

Word Bank: pollinator thrive invasive coexist

5. Ranchers and conservation groups designed non-lethal fencing to help livestock and gray wolves ____ peacefully across open rangelands.

6. Without natural predators to check its spread, the ____ Japanese knotweed rapidly overran the river embankments.

7. The wild solitary bee is an essential ____ that sustains fruit orchards across the valley.

8. When artificial drainage ditches were plugged, native marsh ferns and water voles began to ____ again in the wetland reserve.

Stage 3

Stage 3: Choose the Correct Word

Select the term that fits the specific ecological meaning of the context.

9. Building a vegetated overpass across the highway provides a critical wildlife ______ so isolated bear groups can connect and mate.

____ a. corridor ____ b. pollinator ____ c. fragmentation

10. Marine ecologists identified the sea otter as a ______ species because its predation on sea urchins prevents the utter destruction of giant kelp forests.

____ a. keystone ____ b. invasive ____ c. corridor

11. Expanding urban road networks inevitably accelerate habitat ______, carving contiguous woodlands into vulnerable micro-patches.

____ a. coexistence ____ b. fragmentation ____ c. reintroduction

12. Where natural apex predators are absent, park authorities often face the controversial need to ______ herbivore numbers to prevent severe forest overgrazing.

____ a. rewild ____ b. cull ____ c. reintroduce
Stage 4

Stage 4: Word-Formation Practice

Use the specified word forms from the vocabulary table to fill the blanks accurately.

13. Large-scale ____ (rewild) projects create interconnected ecological corridors across historic valley landscapes.

14. The successful ____ (reintroduce) of keystone predators helped restore natural equilibrium to the highland valley.

15. Forest rangers documented an aggressive biological ____ (invasive) of non-native knotweed displacing vulnerable shrubs along the riverbank.

16. Following systematic pesticide restrictions, farmers observed a ____ (thrive) population of native pollinator species across adjacent meadows.

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Audio Shadowing Lab

Listen to each model audio cue, mimic the stress and intonation, then record your own voice.

12 Audio Challenges

Part 1: Key Collocations (Items 1–4)

Item 1 • Collocation Stress on 1st syllable
wildlife corridor /ˈwaɪldlaɪf ˈkɒrɪdɔːr/

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 2 • Collocation Compound stress pattern
keystone species /ˈkiːstəʊn ˈspiːʃiːz/

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 3 • Collocation Sharp vowel contrast
invasive weeds /ɪnˈveɪsɪv wiːdz/

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 4 • Collocation Short vowel + long vowel
cull herds /kʌl hɜːdz/

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part 2: Short Sentences (Items 5–8)

Item 5 • Short Sentence Steady pace
"We must rewild degraded agricultural lands."

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 6 • Short Sentence Focus on verb stress
"Humans and apex predators can coexist peacefully."

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 7 • Short Sentence Rising tone before clause end
"Native plants thrive when soil water returns."

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 8 • Short Sentence Clear polysyllabic pacing
"Ecologists plan to reintroduce lost beaver colonies."

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part 3: Long Complex Sentences (Items 9–10)

Item 9 • Complex Period Say it in one smooth flow; stress "corridor"
"A corridor helps animals move between fragmented habitats."

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 10 • Complex Period Stress "pollinators" and "keystone"
"Pollinators help keystone trees grow without fertilizers."

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part 4: Pronunciation Challenges (Items 11–12)

Item 11 • Polysyllabic Rhythm 4 syllables • Secondary stress on 1st
fragmentation /ˌfræɡmənˈteɪʃn/

Rhythm cue: frag-mən-TAY-shən

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____
Item 12 • Polysyllabic Rhythm 4 syllables • Primary stress on 1st
pollinator /ˈpɒlɪneɪtər/

Rhythm cue: POL-li-nay-tər

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

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