Read the following passage and answer the question given at the end in your own words.
“Piecing together the story of human evolution is no easy task. The anthropologist Richard Leakey has identified four key steps in our evolution from the earliest hominid to modern humans. First, the occurrence of bipedalism between 10 and 4 million years ago. Then the evolution of Homo, with its large brain and capacity to make stone tools — the earliest examples of which are 2.5 million years old. Next, the evolution of Hemo erects almost 2 million years ago, followed by its migration out of Africa into Eurasia. And finally the appearance of modern human less than 150000 years ago”. “Through the 10 million years of human evolution, the Earth’s climate has changed considerably. During the period that Michael Sarrnthies of Kie has called the “Golden era” — up to 3 million years ago — the world was much warmer than it is now. Then conditions started to deteriorate, and there was a gradual build-up of ice at the poles. Around 2.6 million years ago the climate became cyclical: ice ages characterized by huge ice sheets covering much of North America and northern Europe were followed by interglacial, when conditions were comparable to those we see today. Elizabeth Vrba of Yale University, one of the most vigorous proponents of the idea of punctuated equilibrium, has shown that this change in the world’s climate 2.6 million years ago had sudden and dramatic effects in Africa. A predominantly warm and moist climate was transformed into one which was colder and more arid”.

1. Give dictionary meanings of the underlined words.

• Anthropologist: a person who studies the science of human beings and their societies and cultures
• Evolution: the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form
• Hominid: refers to a member of the primate family Hominidae, which includes modern humans and their extinct ancestors.
• Bipedalism: the ability to walk on two legs
• Homo: a genus of primates that includes the species Homo sapiens (modern humans), as well as extinct human species such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
• Stone tools: implements made by shaping or sharpening natural stone
• Migration: the movement of people from one place to another
• Deteriorate: to become worse in quality or condition
• Proponents: a person who supports or advocates for a particular idea or theory
• Transformed: to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose

2. How did the climate become cyclical?
The climate became cyclical due to the gradual build-up of ice at the poles and the onset of ice ages, which were characterized by huge ice sheets covering much of North America and northern Europe, followed by interglacial periods when conditions were more similar to those of today.

3. Define the term “Golden era”.
“Golden era” is defined as the time about three million years ago when temperatures were significantly higher than they are now.

4. Describe the various stages in the development of the human species.
From the earliest hominid to modern humans, researcher Richard Leakey has identified four crucial stages in human history. The first is Bipedalism, which took place between 10 and 4 million years ago. Then came the evolution of Homo, a species with a vast brain and the ability to create stone tools, the oldest of which date back 2.5 million years. The evolution of Homo erectus almost two million years ago, its exodus from Africa into Eurasia, and finally the advent of the modern human fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand years ago.