Daily Reading Practice · Nonfiction passage
Any word, any time — right from this page.
Every year, billionsbillion (noun)The number 1,000,000,000.≈ Synonym: thousand millions🇺🇿UZ: milliardlar🇷🇺RU: миллиарды of birds undertakeundertake (verb)To begin and carry out a task.≈ Synonym: carry out🇺🇿UZ: amalga oshirmoq🇷🇺RU: предпринимать extraordinaryextraordinary (adj)Very unusual or remarkable.≈ Synonym: remarkable🇺🇿UZ: g'ayrioddiy🇷🇺RU: необычайный journeysjourney (noun)Acts of travelling from one place to another.≈ Synonym: trips🇺🇿UZ: safarlar🇷🇺RU: путешествия across the globeglobe (noun)The Earth; the world.≈ Synonym: world🇺🇿UZ: yer sharri🇷🇺RU: земной шар, a behaviour known as migrationmigration (noun)The seasonal movement of animals between regions.≈ Synonym: seasonal travel🇺🇿UZ: migratsiya🇷🇺RU: миграция. Driven largely by the need to find food and suitable places to breedbreed (verb)To produce offspring.≈ Synonym: reproduce🇺🇿UZ: naslini davom ettirmoq🇷🇺RU: размножаться, these journeys can cover astonishingastonishing (adj)Extremely surprising.≈ Synonym: amazing🇺🇿UZ: hayratlanarli🇷🇺RU: поразительный distancesdistance (noun)Amounts of space between two points.≈ Synonym: spans🇺🇿UZ: masofalar🇷🇺RU: расстояния, with some species travelling between continentscontinent (noun)Large continuous areas of land, such as Africa or Asia.≈ Synonym: landmasses🇺🇿UZ: qit'alar🇷🇺RU: континенты not once, but twice a year.
Perhaps the most remarkableremarkable (adj)Worthy of attention; extraordinary.≈ Synonym: extraordinary🇺🇿UZ: ajoyib🇷🇺RU: выдающийся example is the Arctic ternArctic tern (noun)A small seabird known for its extremely long migration.≈ Synonym: migratory seabird🇺🇿UZ: arktika chagalayi🇷🇺RU: полярная крачка, a small seabird that breedsbreed (verb)Produces offspring.≈ Synonym: reproduces🇺🇿UZ: naslini davom ettiradi🇷🇺RU: размножается in the Arctic during the northern summer before flying all the way to Antarctica for the southern summer, then making the return journeyjourney (noun)An act of travelling from one place to another.≈ Synonym: trip🇺🇿UZ: safar🇷🇺RU: путешествие once again. Over a lifetimelifetime (noun)The duration of a person or animal's life.≈ Synonym: life span🇺🇿UZ: umr davomida🇷🇺RU: продолжительность жизни, a single Arctic tern may fly a distance equivalentequivalent (adj)Equal in value or meaning.≈ Synonym: comparable🇺🇿UZ: teng🇷🇺RU: эквивалентный to travelling to the Moon and partway back. Other species, such as certain warblerswarbler (noun)Small songbirds known for their singing.≈ Synonym: small songbirds🇺🇿UZ: chittaklar🇷🇺RU: славки, make equallyequally (adverb)To the same degree.≈ Synonym: similarly🇺🇿UZ: teng darajada🇷🇺RU: в равной степени impressiveimpressive (adj)Causing admiration through skill or achievement.≈ Synonym: remarkable🇺🇿UZ: ta'sirchan🇷🇺RU: впечатляющий nonstop flights across entire oceans without stopping to rest or feed.
How birds manage to navigate such vast distances, often returning to the exact same nesting site year after year, remains a subject of ongoing scientific research. Evidence suggests that migratory birds use a combinationcombination (noun)A joining together of different elements.≈ Synonym: mixture🇺🇿UZ: kombinatsiya🇷🇺RU: сочетание of methods, including sensing Earth's magnetic fieldmagnetic field (noun)The area around a magnetic body affected by its force.≈ Synonym: field of magnetism🇺🇿UZ: magnit maydoni🇷🇺RU: магнитное поле, using the position of the sun and stars, and recognising landmarkslandmark (noun)Recognisable features of a landscape.≈ Synonym: recognisable features🇺🇿UZ: mo'ljal nuqtalar🇷🇺RU: ориентиры such as coastlines and mountain ranges. Some species may even be able to detect changes in air pressureair pressure (noun)The force exerted by the weight of the atmosphere.≈ Synonym: atmospheric pressure🇺🇿UZ: atmosfera bosimi🇷🇺RU: атмосферное давление that help them anticipate storms along their route.
These migratory journeys are far from easy. Birds face numerous dangersdanger (noun)Possibilities of harm or injury.≈ Synonym: risks🇺🇿UZ: xavflar🇷🇺RU: опасности along the way, including extreme weather, predatorspredator (noun)Animals that hunt other animals for food.≈ Synonym: hunting animals🇺🇿UZ: yirtqichlar🇷🇺RU: хищники, and exhaustion from flying such long distances with limited opportunities to rest. Human activity has added further threatsthreat (noun)Things likely to cause harm or danger.≈ Synonym: dangers🇺🇿UZ: xavflar🇷🇺RU: угрозы: habitat loss along traditional migration routes, collisionscollision (noun)Instances of things crashing into each other.≈ Synonym: crashes🇺🇿UZ: to'qnashuvlar🇷🇺RU: столкновения with buildings and power lines, and light pollution that can disorient birds travelling at night all pose serious risks.
Protecting migratory birds presents a particular challengechallenge (noun)A difficult task or situation.≈ Synonym: difficulty🇺🇿UZ: qiyinchilik🇷🇺RU: трудность, since a single species may depend on suitable habitats across many different countries throughout the year. This has led to increasing international cooperationcooperation (noun)The act of working together toward a goal.≈ Synonym: collaboration🇺🇿UZ: hamkorlik🇷🇺RU: сотрудничество between governments and conservation organisations, working together to protect key stopoverstopover (noun)A place where a journey is briefly interrupted to rest.≈ Synonym: rest stop🇺🇿UZ: to'xtash joyi🇷🇺RU: остановка (в пути) sites and breeding grounds. Without such coordinated efforts, scientists warn that many of these remarkable natural journeys could become increasingly difficultdifficult (adj)Not easy; hard to do.≈ Synonym: hard🇺🇿UZ: qiyin🇷🇺RU: трудный, or even impossible, to complete.