As wildlife tours are becoming increasingly popular, more and more companies are offering tours that involve land animals as well as sea life. Whale-watching tours are now available from some of the Okinawan islands, as well as the ocean around Sri Lanka. Siberian tours focus on seeing animals in their snowy habitat. And tour operating company Kuoni is operating tours to view manta rays underwater in the Indian Ocean, watching bears in Canada, and visiting zoological parks around the world. Participants can also sign up for an expedition with biologists to measure and record wildlife species in the Amazon.

fed up with…

Mr. Lopez: What happened to your car?

Eric: Well, first I got into an accident, and then after I repaired the damage, the fuel pump broke. So now I still can't drive it. I'm fed up with all of the repairs I have to make.

Explanation: The phrase "fed up with…" means that we are very frustrated and discouraged by having to go through something again and again. It is similar to the phrase "I'm sick and tired of…."

imaging agent

Dr. Phelps: If the cancer tissues are very small, can we still detect them?

Dr. Lopez: It will be hard with just a CT scan, but if we use an imaging agent to highlight the cancerous cells, we could find even small numbers of them.

Explanation: An "imaging agent" is a substance, often radioactive, that attaches to certain cells and then shows up easily on detection scanning equipment.

gloss over problems

Dear Mr. Adams:
Please tell me why your department has not increased the sales figures. We need to have a frank and honest conversation about this instead of just glossing over the problem.

Explanation: To gloss over a problem means to avoid discussion of the true problem, or to act as if the problem is very slight when in fact it is quite serious.