  Long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are associated with the death of massive stars.
Their host galaxies therefore represent a unique class of objects tracing star
formation across the observable Universe. Indeed, recently accumulated evidence
shows that GRB hosts do not differ substantially from general population of
galaxies at high (z > 2) redshifts. However, it has been long recognised that
the properties of z < 1.5 hosts, compared to general star-forming population,
are unusual. To better understand the reasons for the supposed difference in
LGRB hosts properties at z < 1.5, we obtained VLT/X- Shooter spectra of six
hosts lying in the redshift range of 0.8 < z < 1.3. Some of these hosts have
been observed before, yet we still lack well constrained information on their
characteristics such as metallicity, dust extinction and star formation rate.
We search for emission lines in the VLT/X-Shooter spectra of the hosts and
measure their fluxes. We perform a detailed analysis, estimating host average
extinction, star-formation rates, metallicities and electron densities where
possible. Measured quantities of our hosts are compared to a larger sample of
previously observed GRB hosts at z < 2. Star-formation rates and metallicities
are measured for all the hosts analyzed in this paper and metallicities are
well determined for 4 hosts. The mass-metallicity relation, the fundamental
metallicity relation and SFRs derived from our hosts occupy similar parameter
space as other host galaxies investigated so-far at the same redshift. We
therefore conclude that GRB hosts in our sample support the found discrepancy
between the properties of low-redshift GRB hosts and the general population of
star- forming galaxies.
