IELTS test 1: The rise of exploration and science in Antarctica môn English | Đại học kinh tế Quốc dân

lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332 READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.
The Development of Exploration and Scientific
Research in Antarctica
The modern scientific age in Antarctica real y began with the introduction of aircraft in the
1920s. Aircraft transformed the possibilities of exploring the frozen continent around the
South Pole, because before that Antarctic travel had been limited to the use of dog teams
pul ing sledges. A plane could survey thousands of square kilometres an hour, equivalent to a
whole summer’s work using previous techniques. However, the first planes in Antarctica,
such as the Lockheed Vega and the Ford Trimotor, were unreliable in freezing conditions.
This made polar flying particularly hazardous, since there was little chance of rescue if a
plane was forced down in a remote region.
It was in 1928 that Herbert Wilkins hoped to make the first flight in Antarctica, attempting to
cross the continent. A further attempt in 1930 was also unsuccessful, but Wilkins’ aerial
photographs seemed to show that the Antarctic Peninsula was in fact an island, not part of
the continent as had previously been thought. This new theory caused some excitement
among geographers and cartographers. However, the British Grahamland Expedition of
1934-37 proved conclusively that the Antarctic Peninsula was attached to the rest of the continent.
In 1929, the famous American pilot Richard Byrd flew over the South Pole, and another
American, Lincoln Ellsworth, made a successful Antarctic flight in 1935. Although El sworth
claimed a sector of the continent for the USA, the American government did not follow it up.
In 1938, the German explorer, Alfred Ritscher, led an expedition south across the sea Once
Antarctica was reached, the aircraft that had been stored in pieces on the ship’s deck was
reconstructed. The aeroplane was then launched and used to stake a claim to one section of
Antarctica by dropping thousands of tiny flags from the air.
A significant motivation behind many Antarctic expeditions right up to the 1940s was simply
the spirit of adventure. Many of these expeditions had a large measure of private funding, and
often the subsequent book about the expedition was a means of clearing debts incurred. The
vast majority of Antarctic expeditions since 1940 have been funded by governments, usually
for political reasons and scientific research.
The setting up of the Research and Development Committee in Britain was a significant
development in the history of science in the Antarctic. The Committee’s report, published in
1920, focused particularly on the sea that circles the Antarctic continent. The report proposed
detailed scientific investigations of the physiology and behaviour of the whales inhabiting the
region. As a result, a shore station at
Grytviken on the island of South Georgia near Antarctica was occupied by scientists for six
years. In addition, three research ships were commissioned. They travel ed through the
Southern Ocean all year, researching physical and chemical oceanography. The high quality
of the specimens and data collected by scientists produced nearly 40 large volumes of
reports. This entire project came to be known as the Discovery Investigations. The costs of lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
the Discovery Investigations were completely covered by the proceeds of a tax that was
placed on whaling businesses operating in the area.
It was in 1875 that the idea of international scientific collaboration at the poles was first
proposed, with the aim of collecting valuable data. The result was the first Polar Year in 1882-
83. A second Polar Year was organised 50 years later, involving 44 nations and scientific
bodies. Both of these Polar Years had been timed to coincide with a period when the sun was
at its lowest level of activity, in order to monitor the impact this had. So much interest was
aroused by this process that a third Polar Year was organised 25 years later. In 1951 it was
decided that this scientific programme should be expanded to cover the globe. This new
project was renamed the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Antarctica was chosen as an
area for particular attention because of its important influence on global weather. Throughout
this period, politics were kept firmly in the background.
The IGY took place in 1957-58 and it was during this period that the last great Antarctic
journey was accomplished. Dr Vivian Fuchs’ privately-funded Trans Antarctic Expedition
final y achieved what the explorer Ernest Shackleton had first set out to do in 1914. Driving
modified tractors, Fuchs’ team traversed Antarctica from coast to coast in 99 days and
covered 2,180 miles or roughly 3,500 kilometres. But there were scientific objectives as well,
because the expedition’s measurements allowed the first estimates to be made of the volume
of ice that existed across the whole continent. So successful was the IGY that it was extended
for a further year in order to promote Antarctic science. It also led directly to the signing of a
treaty by members of the international community to regulate human conduct in Antarctica over the years ahead. Questions 1 - 6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the
statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 Until the 1920s, humans relied on animals to explore Antarctica. 2 Herbert
Wilkins failed to fly across the Antarctic continent in 1928.
3 The expedition of 1934-37 confirmed a new theory about the Antarctic Peninsula.
4 Lincoln Ellsworth was influenced by the flight of Richard Byrd. 5 The government of the
USA claimed part of Antarctica in 1935. 6 After 1940, nations rather than individuals
paid for most Antarctic expeditions. Questions 7-1 3 Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet. Scientific Research
• a 1920 report called for research into the whales in the sea around Antarctica
•researchers worked from the station at Grytviken and also from several 7................... lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
• local companies paid a 8..................... which funded the Discovery Investigations
• the first two Polar Years researched the effects of the 9......................... •
Antarctica affects the world’s 10 ......................so it was a focus for the IGY • Vivian
Fuchs’ expedition crossed Antarctica using special 11 ........................ • the total
amount of 12......................in Antarctica was calculated by Fuchs’ expedition
• one result of the IGY was the establishment of a 13....................... to control aspects of Antarctica’s future READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 on pages 6 and 7. Questions 14- 19
Reading Passage 2 has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet. List of Headings
i Do we have sufficient resources to feed the human population? ii Will
population increase pose disaster for our supply of raw materials? iii Would
population decline benefit the world? iv Is disease a key factor? v Is population
decrease good for productivity? vi What is the impact of population movement?
vii What can past events tell us about the effects of population decline? viii What can our
governments do to guarantee supplies of food and resources? 14 Section A 15 Section B 16 Section c 17 Section D 18 Section E 19 Section F
Effects of changes in world population
A. Human fertility rates around the world are dropping for a variety of complex reasons.
While the population itself continues to increase, the rate of increase is slowing, and
sometime in the next 80 years, world population wil peak somewhere in the vicinity of
nine bil ion before contracting. That raises an important question: is population contraction a bad thing?
Some think not. There is a school of thought that argues that smaller populations are
good. Population control proponents claim variously that (1) we do not have the food
to sustain higher populations; (2) our planet already suffers from overcrowding; (3) the
environmental impact of increased populations wil bring catastrophe either through
pol ution or consumption of finite natural resources; or in contrast, they argue
decreased populations wil lead to higher wages and a better quality of life as lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
available supplies exceed reduced demands. These arguments seem reasonable at
first, but do not withstand scrutiny.
B. Let’s start with food. The worry about mass starvation is a remnant of Paul
Ehrlich’s 1968 book The Population Bomb. Ehrlich, Professor of Population
Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University in California,
wrote that in the face of expanding populations, ‘the world wil undergo famines -
hundreds of mil ions of people are going to starve to death.’ As Ehrlich himself now
admits, this prediction proved faulty. Instead, the availability of food has greatly
increased, even with a growing population. Demographer Philip Longman notes that
food shortages have become ‘a political problem, related to fair distribution, not an
issue of inadequate supply’. How did this happen? In 1965, Danish economist Ester
Boserup proposed that population increase fosters agricultural innovation, which in
turn increases production. Her theories have been borne out by events, which show
that some areas of the world may lack sufficient supplies while the world has an overall surplus.
c. What about overcrowding? Everywhere you go today, you find traffic jams and sprawl,
with people packed into crowded places. But this is a problem of density, not
population. There’s plenty of land available out there. The problem is that people who
used to live in the rural areas have relocated to cities. This massive migration into
cities has caused urbanization, which is different from overpopulation, and the
problems associated with this include air pol ution, lower wages, and limited access to
healthcare and educational opportunities.
D. Environmental concerns are more interesting, but such end-of-the-world warnings are
not new. Global warming and the fact that the Earth has only finite amounts of natural
resources that we wil surely deplete, are the two main concerns of environmentalists.
This, too, is an argument we have heard before. As Massimo Livi-Bacci, Professor of
Demography at the University of Florence, Italy, explains in his
Concise History of World Population, more than 100 years ago economists ‘feared
that coal supplies would he exhausted, and about 30 years ago the Club of Rome
made similar predictions regarding other natural resources’. Instead, innovation
stepped in to provide greater efficiency. For instance, in the America of 1850, you
needed an average of 4.6 tons of petroleum equivalent to produce $1,000 of goods
and services. By 1950, you needed only 1.8 tons, and by 1978, 1.5 tons.
E. This leaves us with the economy. In 1971, Simon Smith Kuznets won the Nobel Prize
in Economics for his theory of ‘tested knowledge’. Kuznets explained, ‘More population
means more creators and producers, both of goods along established production
patterns and of new knowledge and inventions.’
Kuznets was codifying what others had noticed before. Political economist Adam
Smith remarked that ‘the most decisive mark of the prosperity of any country is the
increase of the number of its inhabitants.’ As Livi-Bacci observes, ‘Al things being
equal, population increase is followed by increased per capita production.’ So the
proposed ‘benefits’ of population decline are, at the very least, suspect. In addition,
there are worrying potential costs of population decline. Of course, this worry is
theoretical because we’ve never seen population decline on the massive scale that’s
coming our way. Or rather, we’ve never seen it in the modem world.
F. There are, however, two historical examples. Between 400 BC and AD 1, world
population increased from about 153 mil ion to 252 mil ion. For the next 200 years,
growth slowed almost to a halt. Then, between AD 200 and AD 600, the population
shrank from 257 mil ion to 208 mil ion. It took an additional 400 years for the population
to recover to the level it had attained in AD 1. lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
The other drop in population occurred between 1340 and 1400, when the Black Death,
one of the most deadly pandemics in human history, ravaged the world. Global
population fell from 442 mil ion to 375 mil ion. Neither of these drops was a particularly
pleasant period in human history. Or, as Canadian journalist Mark Steyn notes in
America Alone, Them is no precedent in human history for economic growth on declining human capital.’
It is impossible to anticipate with certainty the effects of population decline. But there
is good mason to believe it wil be bad for us. Innovation wil suffer as the demand for
nearly everything slackens. Instead of producing windfalls of excess supply,
economies wil probably contract. As Livi-Bacci observes, ‘Historical y, areas
depopulated or in the process of losing population have almost always been
characterized by backward economies.’
The real question therefore is whether or not falling populations wil lead to the
demise of civilization as we know it. Questions 20 - 22 Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet.
20 Boserup’s ideas explain why overall, the world can have a food...................... while some areas do not have enough.
21 In the last 100 years or so,....................... has led to a more efficient use of resources.
22 Adam Smith argued that a country’s ....................... is caused by a growth In population. Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet. Which TWO of the
following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
A The availability of food is greater now than previously. B A
decrease in population wil lead to a higher standard of
education. C Smaller populations result in higher wages. D
Cities wil become overcrowded if they are unsuitably located. E
People have moved from rural areas to urban centres. Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet. Which TWO
claims does the writer make about future population decline?
A Recovery may take at least 400 years.
B It may be caused by disease.
C It might mean a decrease in the number of new ideas.
D There may be an overabundance of food as a result.
E It could result in economies becoming smaller. lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332 READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 on pages 9 and 10.
The lost animals of Australia
The history of Australia’s animals over the
large marsupial herbivores (of which there
past 50,000 years has been largely one of
were about forty species) reduced the
extinction. The time has been too short for
standing crop of vegetation. Rainforest
new species of large animals to evolve
plants were widespread in the parts of
and, over this period, nearly one third of
Australia which are now very dry. The
Australia’s mammal species have become
largest marsupial species was the
extinct, along with nearly all the large
diprotodon, which, like other Australian
reptiles and many of the flightless birds.
marsupial giants, was about one-third the
The cause of these extinctions is stil hotly
weight of its ecological equivalent
debated. One school of thought suggests
elsewhere. It probably weighed between
that humans caused the extinctions, and
1,000 and 2,000 kilograms, while the
another that they were due to changes in
elephant of Afro Asia weighed about 5,0
climate. The greatest problem in evaluating
kilograms. The relatively small size of the
these theories is that we do not know
Australian marsupial giants has been
exactly when these animals became
attributed to Australia’s extraordinarily poor
extinct. Fossils from a number of well dated
soils and erratic climate, both factors which
cave and lakeside sites suggest that all the typically limit plant growth.
now-extinct species had already vanished
Judging by the teeth of extinct species,
35,000 years ago, but a few other sites
there were many specialist grazers and
suggest that giant marsupialsYnight have
browsers, paralleling the great mammal
survived until 25.0 years ago, or even as
communities of Africa today. But the late as 6.0 years ago.
Australian carnivores were very different to
One certainty is that Australia’s climate
their African equivalents. For example, the
has changed greatly over the past 40,000
Australian marsupial lion was only about
years. Between 25,000 and 15,000 years
the size of a leopard; there was no
ago, the sea level dropped by more than
equivalent of the large group of cat- and
100 metres and the continent experienced
dog-like carnivores of Africa. The
an extremely arid phase. Clearly, the
marsupial lion was Australia’s only cat like
timing of the extinctions is of critical
species; there was one dog-like species,
importance. If they can be shown to
the thylocine, which vanished from
coincide with the arrival of humans, about
mainland Australia about 3,000 years
50,000 years ago, then circumstantial
ago, but seems to have survived on the
evidence would point to humans as the
Australian island of Tasmania until the
cause. If, however, the giant marsupials
1930s, and one scavenger/carnivore, the survived until 25,000
Tasmanian devil. The larger Australian
carnivores were all reptiles. The largest of
* marsupial: a type of mammal which carries its
these, the gigantic snakes of the genus
young in a pouch years ago, the increased
Wonambi, were more than 8 metres long,
aridity would seem to be the more
and together with the 7-metre goanna and likely cause.
the 3-metre land crocodile, were the main
Before these extinctions, Australia
predators. There were never vast
was a very different place. Naturally
numbers of most species. Large, warm-
occurring fires were probably less blooded creatures were at a
frequent than they are now, because
disadvantage, their prey being limited by
the nature of the soil and the climate. The lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
cold-blooded reptilian carnivores,
that have ever existed. From the mountain
which required less energy, were
rainforests to the desert centre, eftinctions therefore able to dominate.
emptied landscape after landscape, until
final y the largest surviving mammals were
There is strong evidence to support
humans themselves. Medium-sized animal
the theory that humans were responsible
species weighing between 10 and 100
for the decline of large animals in
kilograms either also became extinct or
Australia. In their Afro- Eurasian
became smaller over thousands of years.
homeland, humans were medium-sized
Grey kangaroos are now only half the size
members of a very large community of
they once were, while koalas and
carnivores and omnivores. But by 40,000
Tasmanian devils weigh, on average, one-
years ago, they were taking a very broad
third less than they once did.
range of prey, including mammals much
larger than themselves. Studies have
In general, in Australia, the larger the
shown that when humans or other
species, the more it has reduced in size,
predators arrive in areas where there
with the exception of humans and
have previously been no ecologically
wombats; the latter may have been
equivalent species, they invariably have
protected by their burrowing habits. This a
shrinking may also be attributable to
human hunting practices. If hunters
profound impact. For example, over
claimed the largest individuals of these
the past 1,000 years, Polynesians in
species, fast-maturing small specimens
Hawaii have destroyed more than 70%
would have been more likely to survive to
of the bird species, and, during the maturity. 1800s, hunters on
Increasingly, they would have produced Questions 27 - 32
smaller offspring. Only the smallest
mammals, those weighing less than 10
kilograms, survived unaltered, although
Choose the correct letter, A, B, c or D.
some may have been restricted to a
islands close to Antarctica severely
smaller number of areas. This extinction depleted many seal species.
pattern changed with the arrival of
Australian animals were particularly
Europeans towards the end of the 18th
vulnerable to the impact of humans.
century. As a result of this, a large number
Marsupial herbivores were adapted only
of smaller species also became extinct
to avoiding predation by large but
over the course of the following century,
relatively unintelligent reptiles, while
together with 21 medium-sized mammals
humans are the most efficient predators and one large mammal species.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
27 The writer states that it is difficult to decide why prehistoric Australian animals became extinct because A
relevant fossils are scarce. B fossil evidence has been
destroyed, c the evidence is somewhat contradictory.
D there has not been enough time to carry out research.
28 The writer suggests that Australia’s larger mammals were smaller than those of Africa and Asia because A
there was an insufficient supply of food. B
the country was covered with thick forest, c smaller
animals escaped predators more easily.
D they had difficulty digesting the available food. lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
29 According to the writer, large Australian carnivores were mostly reptiles because A
mammals were less skilful at hunting. B reptiles had
faster breeding rates, c reptiles were more suited to the
environment. D mammals had to compete for territory.
30 According to the writer, the effect of the first humans in Australia was particularly great because Australian animals A were slow and awkward. B
had skins that could be used for severalpurposes, c had
little experience in escaping from such skilful hunters.
D were attracted towards human settlements because of the food available there.
31 What, according to the writer, does the wombat have in common with humans? A
Its size has remained the same. B Its diet was similar to
the human diet, c It made shelters to protect itself. D It was
able to evade reptiles easily.
32 The writer suggests that Australian mammals have become smaller because A
they were able to live underground. B
they were vulnerable to human diseases, c bigger
examples of the species were kil ed.
D their territories expanded in size. Questions 33 - 36
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below. Write the correct letter, A-F, in
boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet
A is due to the fact that not enough time has passed.
B is evidenced by the remains of their teeth.
C is responsible for the disappearance of habitat.
D is often responsible for a significant number of extinctions. E is
theoretically based on a large herbivore population. F is a crucial factor that has yet to be resolved.
33 The failure of a new species of large mammals to evolve
34 The extinction date of the large Australian animals
35 A reduction in the number of forest fires
36 The arrival of humans in a previously uninhabited area Questions 37 - 40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage
3? In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer NO if the statement
contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 37
Mass extinction in Australia was limited to giant mammals.
38 Australia’s climate became cooler about 50,000 years ago.
39 The wonambi snake was the biggest Australian carnivore.
40 Europeans caused the extinction of some smaller Australian mammals. VOL 2 TEST 1
The Development of Exploration and
The lost animals of Australia
Scientific Research in Antarctica 27. c 1. TRUE TRUE 28. A 2. 3. FALSE 4. NOT GIVEN 29. c 5. FALSE TRUE 30. c 6. 7. ships 31. A 8. tax 32. c 9. sun 33. A 10. weather 34. F 11. tractors 12. ice 35. E 13. Treaty 36. D ___________ 37. NO 38. NOT GIVEN 39. YES 40. YES
Effects of changes in world population 14. iii 15. i 16. vi 17. ii 18. V 19. vii 20. surplus 21. innovation 22. prosperity 23. A 24. E 25. C 26. E ——————— lOMoAR cPSD| 58511332 IELTS Nghĩa Phan
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