This manual is intended for sophomore students of biological faculties of higher educational institutions . The manual consists of three basic parts: 1) botany; 2) zoology; 3) application . Parts I and II include the texts of the curriculum in these areas of biology. A system of lexical-grammatical exercises has been developed for all texts. Lexical exercises are based on the technology of critical thinking and are aimed at the formation of a number of general cultural and professional competencies. The grammar of the texts practiced in the exercises corresponds to the grammatical phenomena characteristic of scientific biological texts. Part III contains texts on botany and zoology for self-study by students and for use in home reading classes.