Reading Comprehension

Dated: 18th of Aug, 2012

scroll on the bold to get the word meaning

Passage 01 :
Bugs causing serious urinary tract infections stay ahead of the immune system by filching copper to prevent the metal from being used against them, says a study.
The fourth largest living land animal, Gaur or the Indian Bison, is fighting a losing battle against destruction of habitat, poaching and diseases.........

Passage 02 :
It stands forlornly on the Ennore Expressway, near Kasimedu. To its rear is the belligerent sea, which has eaten away most of the land and in front, is a particularly bad stretch of road on which heavy vehicles rumble along. It is easy to miss and when you do see it, is an ugly piece of striated concrete in a shockingly bad state. In fact, if it was not practically indestructible, it would have disintegrated long ago. It is the last surviving air-raid shelter constructed during the Second World War.........

Passage 03 :
The wanton and horrifying destruction of a World Heritage site — the Sidi Yahia mosque — and several ancient tombs at Timbuktu by radical Islamist insurgents in Mali is another grim reminder of growing intolerance towards cultural symbols in conflict areas. Eleven years after the Bamiyan Buddhas were pulversised by the Taliban and 19 years on from the demolition of the Babri Masjid by Hindutva fanatics, it is clear that existing.........

Passage 04 :
It’s interesting in itself because infanticide is weird - why do you have babies and then kill them.
The mysterious behaviour of female Eclectus parrots killing their sons immediately after they hatch has been unravelled by a team of researchers from the Australian National University. In a paper published online in Current Biology, the team from the Fenner School of Environment & Society and the Research School of Biology describe the infanticide and the conditions surrounding the parrot’s choice to kill their young.........