1. Listen to the text “Scientists find oldest human ancestor” and be ready to fill in the gaps.

Scientists may at last have found the ‘1)____________ link’ in our evolution. For centuries, experts have discussed 2)____________ or not we came from apes, without any real 3)____________. The story of evolution has found a new chapter after the discovery of the world’s oldest skeleton of our ancestors. The 4)____________ of 100 bones were found in an Ethiopian village. They 5)____________ to a species called Ardipithecus ramidus. The skeleton has been given the 6)____________ Ardi. Scientists say the 7)____________ bones are 4.4 million years old. This is a million years older than a skeleton found in the 1970s called Lucy. Ardi is important because she shows an unknown 8)____________ of our evolution that happened six million years ago.

Ardi was a 50kg female. She had a 9)____________ smaller than ours and had long arms and short legs. Her teeth are more like ours than those of chimpanzees. Scientists are 10)____________ because she walked 11)____________, on two legs, not on all fours. She did not have an arched foot, which means she could not walk for long 12)____________ or run too far. Her long fingers and big toes 13)____________ she could easily climb through trees. Experts say the discovery is one of the most important 14)____________ ever. Professor Owen Lovejoy of the USA’s Kent State University was very excited at seeing Ardi. He said: “This was like discovering a time capsule from a 15)____________ and a place that we knew nothing about.” Ardi is sure to 16)____________ a few secrets to how we evolved.