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The Real Hobbits – our tiny ancestors

The Week, 6 November, 2004,

I. Fill in each gap with the appropriate word. (12 marks)

1. The discovery of a new species of human who lived at least 12,000 years ________ has
shed new light on the history of mankind. This tiny, hairy species of human who once lived
_______ the island of Flores, 370 miles east of Bali was only a metre _______ – the height of
a modern three-year-old. She weighed only about 25 kilograms and had a brain smaller
______ most chimpanzees’. Yet her teeth _______ worn down and her skull fully knitted
together, suggesting ________ she was around 30 years old. Six more tiny skeletons, ranging
from 95,000 years old to 12,000 years old, ________ since been discovered nearby.

2. This creature was not homo sapiens ________ belonged to a separate species of human.
She was nicknamed ________ the Hobbit. The Hobbit probably evolved from a group that
migrated to Flores about 840,000 years ago and lived there in isolation. As _______ was no
land connecting Flores and other parts of south-east Asia, scientists are speculating that they
sailed there in crude boats – ________ impressive degree of seamanship which indicates an
unexpected degree ________ social organisation.

II. Take a look at the summary of the paragraph and fill in each gap with

one word only. (12 marks)

3. Dwarfing is quite a common phenomenon among mammals. On islands where resources

are limited and there are few predators, big animals tend to shrink, because it is more efficient
to be small. But the phenomenon has never been recorded before among human species. The
discovery that it has happened once suggests that it could have happened elsewhere. Henry
Gee, a fossil expert says it is not impossible that living Hobbits, or other human species, may
still be found in remote parts of rainforest. “I don’t think the likelihood of finding a new
species of human alive today is any less than that of finding a new antelope,” he says. The
team of scientists who discovered the Hobbit now plans to search other remote islands in the
Indonesian archipelago for similar species.
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Summary:
Dwarfing _______ mammals are caused by ___________ resources on isolated islands.
________ these circumstances mammals __________ since being small is a more efficient
existence. The __________ was never documented among _______ before. This evidence
_________ that it could happen __________ too. _________ to a fossil expert it is not
__________ to find other human ________ in the __________ .

III. Find the right choice. (11 marks)

4. Although/Despite/However their small brains, the Hobbits seem to have been/be/being quite
clever. Next/Near/Front the skeletons, scientists found stone implements, including a large
axe-like tool and various small, delicate items. They also/as well/too found charred animal
remains, allowing/including/suggesting the Hobbits used fire to roast food. They hunted small
animals – fish, frogs, tortoises and birds – as soon/far/well as more exotic creatures: pygmy
elephants the size of ponies, and giant rats as large than/like/as Labradors. In turn/term/stead,
they were probably hunted by the island’s giant Komodo dragons. Their long arm bones
suggest they may have held/kept/took out of danger by living partly in trees. Hobbies
say/find/prove many of our assumptions wrong about humanity. The skills that they mastered
with their tiny brains defy our understanding of/about/in intelligence. Pound by pound, it
seems, they outdid Homo sapiens intellectually.

IV. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate word from the list below. (9 marks)

struck, describe, has, appetite, correspond, repeat, raw, called, flesh

5. Local legend ________ it that little people survived on the island until relatively recently.
The locals ________ a race of cave-dwelling people, about a metre tall, with long hair, pot-
bellies, ears that ________ out and longish arms and fingers – all features which _________
with the scientists’ findings. The villagers _______ them Ebu Gogo (“grandmother who eats
everything”) because of their _________. They were said to eat everything _______:

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vegetables, meat, and even – when they could get it – human _______. They communicated
in murmurs, but were able to ________ sentences spoken by the villagers.

V. Finish the words. (8 marks – 0.5 each)

6. The villagers g___ on quite w_____ with them. They co-existed peacefully – ev_____
tolerating regular raids on their crops – un____ Ebu Gogo stole, and ate, o___ of their babies.
The angry villagers smoked them o____ of their caves at the foot of the nea____ volcano, and
so the Hobbits fled west. The l____ time they were se___ on the island, say locals, was
shortly bef____ Dutch colonists settled th____ in the 19th century. But there are rumours that
th____ interbred with t____ people of a village in the west of Flores. Is that pos____? The
skeletons sh____ help answer that qu____. Being quite recent, they should be easy to extract
DNA from.

VI. Find the title for each paragraph. There are two titles you won’t need.

(6 marks)
A) Experienced sailors
B) There might be more out there
C) Small predators
D) Seven little hobbits
E) New Homo Sapiens
F) Rewriting human history
G) Legends come true
I) Side by side

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Key:
I. ago, on, tall, than, were, that, have, but, as, there, an, of
II. among, limited, under, shrink, phenomenon, humans, suggest, elsewhere, according, impossible, species,
rainforest
III. despite, have been, near, also, suggesting, well, than, turn, kept, prove, of
IV. has, describe, struck, correspond, called, appetite, raw, flesh, repeat
V. got, well, even, until, one, out, nearby, last, seen, before there, they, the, possible, should, question
VI. 1 - D; 2 - A; 3- B; 4- F; 5- G; 6- I;

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