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Scientists have [unlocked / locked out] one of the secrets as to how koalas stay cool and avoid dehydration in the [intensity / intense] heat of Australian summers. They hug trees. For [decadence / decades] people thought the cuddly marsupials [clung / clinging] to trees simply because they were tired and wanted somewhere to [nap / sap] . Researchers from Melbourne University have now cast new [shadow / light] on the tree-hugging habits of the koala. Lead researcher Natalie Briscoe said there is a five-degree [differential / difference] in temperature between a tree trunk and the air. Koalas utilize the cooler [surface / surfaced] by spreading themselves [off / out] on large branches or by hugging the trunk. Ms Briscoe said: "Access to these trees can save about [half / halved] the water a koala would need to keep cool on a hot day."

Briscoe studied the behaviour of 37 koalas [on / in] an island off the Melbourne coast. She is part of a team trying to [identity / identify] how koalas might survive higher temperatures [brought / bought] by global warming. Her observations and conclusions [regaling / regarding] the cooling effects of the trees came as a [surprise / surprising] to her. She noted that the koalas sat [upright / uptight] in cooler weather, hugged branches when it became warmer, and then [wrapped / warped] themselves around the tree trunk when it got hot. The animals [even / odd] moved to different trees that had cooler trunks. She said the trees are probably cooler because of the water they [stuck / suck] up from the ground. The koala's cooling technique could be one way for humans to survive [increases / increasingly] hot summers.