World News for Students of English

07-10-2024 15:00

In Australia’s Northern Territory, a course teaches students how to handle encounters with snakes, including dangerous ones like pythons and venomous king brown snakes.

The key lesson is to stay calm because snakes usually don’t want to harm humans. Former park ranger Johnny McGannon who leads the course explains that people no longer need to act recklessly around snakes, like pulling their tails. About thirty students from various fields, like military personnel and zoo workers, have completed this certified training since the beginning of the year. However, not everyone agrees with this method. Rex Narf, who runs a reptile center in Alice Springs, has caught snakes for years and feels that experience is more valuable than a formal course. Despite these differences, McGannon emphasizes that all snake educators share the same goal: teaching people to respect and behave safely around snakes, which helps protect both humans and these often misunderstood creatures.

Difficult words: encounter (an unexpected meeting), recklessly (without care or thinking of danger), reptile (an animal such as a snake, lizard, or crocodile).

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