World News for Students of English

07-07-2026 07:00

The world of fungi is huge and surprising, and scientists think there are millions of undiscovered species.

For a long time, people thought fungi were plants because they grow in the soil. But they are closer to animals, and their cell walls are made of chitin, just like insects.

Fungi play many important roles in nature. Many plants cannot live without fungi, which give them nutrients from the ground. Some fungi use strong chemicals to protect themselves, like mushrooms with hallucinogenic molecules. Others are dangerous, like the zombie fungus, which controls the bodies of ants.

Amazingly, some fungi can even live in radioactive places like Chernobyl and use radiation as a source of energy. These underground fungal networks are very important for the Earth because they store carbon and protect our climate.

Difficult words: huge (very big), nutrient (a substance or chemical that plants, animals, and people need to live, grow, and stay healthy), hallucinogenic (causing a person to see, hear, or feel things that do not exist in reality).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.