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A Do You Get It?
Multiple Matching
Reread the four passages (A-D) in the text.
Which of the four passages refers to … __B___ 1. extinct creatures? __C___ 2. two scientists? __B___ 3. written myths? __D___ 4. a survey? __C___ 5. an example? __C___ 6. an adaptation of a previous argument? __A___ 7. keeping children out of school? __B___ 8. marks caused by animals? __C___ 9. a comparison with a mechanical object? __B___ 10. a change of argument?
U6-p.60
Reading
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Denying Evolution: Arguments that Fly
in the Face of Science
It may sound hard to believe, but there are still people who dispute the theory of evolution first laid out by Charles Darwin in 1859 in his book The Origin of Species, including some scientists. In certain parts of the United States, some parents resort to homeschooling as they refuse to allow their kids to learn a scientific theory that they say is contrary to their religious beliefs. These people are known as creationists. They believe that all life was created by God, and they present various arguments for why evolution is not a proven fact. Here are some of the common claims:
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Complex Problem
A popular argument by people seeking to deny the validity of evolution is that humans are simply too complex to have evolved without some kind of creator lending a helping hand. This argument was first put forward in 1802 by the Christian philosopher William Paley, who used the analogy of a watchmaker. Something as complex as a watch, Paley argued, had to have a designer. A version of this idea was revived by creationists and is now referred to as the intelligent design argument. One proponent of this belief is the biochemist Michael Behe. In one of his books, Behe referred to the “irreducible complexity” of organisms like human beings. Such organisms are so sophisticated, the argument goes, that removing even one tiny element from them would cause them to malfunction.
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Therefore, they must have been created as they are. This argument was famously rebutted by the renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker. Dawkins gave the example of an eye, which he demonstrated as having gradually improved over a series of modifications until it got to the stage of sophistication now found in mammals. To drive home his point, Dawkins pointed out examples of animals with eyes of varying levels of complexity. While some of them possess very basic vision, it is sufficient for their needs, says Dawkins.
U6-p.62
Reading Comprehension
Based on the reading text, choose the most appropriate answer to the following questions.
c 1. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the theory of evolution? Detail a. It is laid out by Charles Darwin together with some scientists. b. It is a theory need further proving. c. It is a disputed by creationists who believe that all life was created by God. d. It is a widely accepted scientific theory by people across the United States.
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Run! Run! A Great Big Lizard!
As most creationists take the Bible literally, they advocate a “young earth” theory. This puts the age of our planet at five to 10,000 years old, rather than the 4.5-billion-year time frame supported by most credible science. There was a time when creationists outright denied that dinosaurs had ever existed. In an attempt to explain the existence of dinosaur fossils, some creationists claimed that God had created them and put them in the ground as a trick to test people’s faith. Needless to say, this argument was widely ridiculed. Next, they tried a new tack. Dinosaurs and humans had existed contemporaneously, they contended. This is why there is so much folklore about dragons in literature, the creationists continued. As evidence of their assertion that man had walked the Earth at the same time that dinosaurs were around, they pointed to a set of fossilized dinosaur tracks that appears alongside what seem to be human footprints in the limestone beds of a river in Texas. Alas, these “human” marks have now been explained: They are also dinosaur footprints that have changed shape over time due to erosion.
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Despite the overwhelming evidence that evolution is a scientific fact, creationism still holds sway. A series of polls betweend that up to 47 percent of Americans supported the notion that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. It seems some humans might have to evolve a little further before evolution is universally accepted!