Lesson 1 Topic: The man – made environment WID: IELTS5.

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Reading: Skimming & scanning; locating
the answer quickly; paraphrasing
...... pts/10

Skills Grammar focus: present continuous &

present simple

Reading Exam skills: Short answer

...... pts/10
questions and sentence completion

Exercise 1. [Present simple vs. Present continuous] Each sentence has one mistake with the
present simple or present continuous. Correct the mistakes. The first one has been done for you.

1. How much rent you pay do you pay every month?

2. I standing outside your flat now, so can you let me in, please?

3. We aren’t planning to move house again soon, but it depend on my job.

4. I don’t want to live here, because it don’t look very nice.

5. We usually sleeping on the floor when we stay at my grandparent’s house.

6. The sofa’s in the kitchen right now because we paint the living room.

7. Do you own this flat, or are you just rent it?

8. Hey! Why am I cleaning the flat by myself? You don’t helping me at all!

Exercise 2. [Paraphrasing] Read the information. Then match the general descriptions of the
Reading passages with the passage headings.
 a. a description of another culture

b. a description of how something is getting better or worse

c. a discussion of the effect that something has on something else

d. an explanation of how one section of society is helping to bring about positive change

e. an explanation of what someone needs to do

f. an explanation of where something began and how it has developed

1. The changing fortunes of Antarctic penguins _______

2. The history of chocolate _______

3. What does it take to become an astronaut? _______

4. Matariki celebration _______

5. How young volunteers are making a difference _______

6. How birth order might affect a child’s personality _______

Exercise 3. [Skimming] Read the heading and the subheading from a Reading passage.

The changing fortunes of Antarctic penguins

Robert Gates explains how climate change has started to affect the natural habitat of the Adélie
penguin.

Think about the kinds of information that may be included in the passage. Then read the statements
below and decide whether they are likely or unlikely to appear in the Reading passage by putting a tick
(v) in the suitable column.
 No. Statements Likely Unlikely

An explanation of how the Adélie penguin population in the

1
Antarctic has increased or decreased.

2 An explanation of the best places to see penguins around the world.

A discussion of why one species of penguin is doing better or worse

3
than others.

An explanation of when people first discovered penguins and how

4
these animals caught the imagination of people around the world.

A discussion of how global warming has affected the environment in

5
which one species of penguin lives.

Exercise 4. [Skimming] Read the information. Then read the first sentence of each paragraph (a–
d) from the Reading passage. What is each paragraph about? Choose the correct answers.

The changing fortunes of Antarctic penguins

Robert Gates explains how climate change has started to affect the natural habitat of the Adélie
penguin

a.The effects of climate change are complex, with scientists constantly trying to understand how
ecosystems are affected.

b.Over the last five years, scientists have been examining the populations of different types of
penguin that inhabit the Antarctic continent.
 c. Scientists say there are two main reasons for the population decline in this part of Ross Island.

d. Elsewhere on Ross Island, in contrast to McMurdo Sound, the situation is more encouraging.

1. The first paragraph is an introduction to the whole Reading passage, which is about …

A. what experts have learnt about changes to the environment and wildlife.

B. whether or not climate change exists.

2. The second paragraph is about …

A. what scientists want to know about penguins in the Antarctic.

B. what scientists have already learnt about penguins in the Antarctic.

3. The third paragraph discusses …

A. two explanations for fewer penguins.

B. two things which should be done to prevent the decline of penguins.

4. The fourth paragraph describes …

A. a place where penguin numbers are less worrying.

B. why we shouldn’t be worried about penguins.

Exercise 5. [Skimming] Read the information. Spend two to three minutes getting a general idea
of each paragraph in the passage. Then complete the sentences.

The changing fortunes of Antarctic penguins

Robert Gates explains how climate change has started to affect the natural habitat of the Adélie
penguin

A The effects of climate change are complex, with scientists constantly trying to understand how
ecosystems are affected. Nowhere is this more so than in the Antarctic – a place where no humans live
permanently, but which nevertheless is undergoing change due to human interference.
B Over the last five years, scientists have been examining the populations of different types of penguin
that inhabit the Antarctic continent. In particular, they have been looking at penguins living on Ross
Island – a huge island connected to the Antarctic mainland by a permanent sheet of ice, and formed
from four large volcanoes, one of which is still active. On the western side of Ross Island is Cape
Royds, home to a colony of Adélie penguins. In 2000, there were estimated to be about 4,000 Adélie
nests, but a survey carried out in the last few months found that the number had fallen to 2,100. 

C Scientists say there are two main reasons for the population decline in this part of Ross Island.
Firstly, Adélies cannot lay their eggs directly onto ice or snow. However, the average winter air
temperature of the area has risen in the past half century. This causes more snow to fall, which buries
the rocks on which Adélie penguins would typically construct their nests. Secondly, after a female
Adélie lays her egg, she walks to the sea in search of food, while the male remains behind to hatch the
egg. As soon as the female reaches an area of open sea, she will dive into the water and start feeding.
When the female returns with fish for the penguin chick to eat, the hungry male also hurries off to
reach the sea. In previous centuries, the walk would have been relatively short, between 15 and 20
kilometres. But in 2000, a large iceberg blocked the mouth of McMurdo Sound, where many Adélie
penguins went to find food. At the same time, the ice in the bay at Cape Royds failed to break up as it
had done in the past. This meant the Adélies then had to walk much further over the ice – often up to
75 kilometres – before they could reach the ocean. The result was often that the parent waiting on the
nest became too hungry to wait any longer, and the eggs were abandoned. 

D Elsewhere on Ross Island, in contrast to McMurdo Sound, the situation is more encouraging. At
Cape Crozier, Adélie penguins are thriving. The colony is now thought to have an estimated 230,000
breeding pairs, an upturn of 20% over the last three decades. Penguins nesting on this part of Ross
Island may actually be benefitting from human activity, scientists suspect. In 1996, a fishing company
opened near the area, and started fishing for vast quantities of Chilean sea bass – otherwise known as
the Patagonian toothfish. As both the Adélies and the sea bass eat silverfish, competition for this food
source has now been dramatically reduced, and this may partly explain why penguin numbers have
risen at Cape Crozier.

E However, it isn’t fish, but krill – tiny, shrimp-like creatures that live just below the pieces of ice that
float on the sea – that form the largest part of an Adélie’s diet. Unfortunately, krill numbers are also
declining rapidly. Dr So Kawaguchi, a biologist working for the Australian government’s
Antarctic Division, suspects he knows the main reason behind this. He accepts that commercial fishing
is partly responsible for huge amounts of krill being removed from the sea, but he points to rising levels
of carbon dioxide as the chief cause. It is this which is making the waters of the Antarctic more acidic,
in turn preventing the krill eggs from hatching. Diminishing levels of krill not only means less food for
penguins. Digesting up to 40 million of these tiny animals per day, most whales depend on them for
survival, too. Also, thanks to their more diverse diet, Gentoo penguins, a species which eats squid and
small crab-like creatures as well as krill, have hardly been affected by this situation. In fact, their
numbers appear to be on the rise. Other species, such as the Chinstrap and Emperor penguins, however,
have the same narrow diet as Adélies.

F Scientists are now concerned that Adélie penguins will be forced to move further south in search of
more suitable breeding and feeding locations. A team made up of researchers from Stanford University,
USA, and the British Antarctic Survey have recently used geolocation sensors attached to a number of
penguins to track them in order to better understand their patterns of migration. They know that Adélie
penguins leave their nesting areas in February to begin the slow march north to avoid the darkest time
of the year. Around 480 kilometres from completely open water, they stop on the floating sea ice to
spend time feeding and increase their body weight. They then turn around, and march back to the
nesting areas – a journey of about 13,000 kilometres in total. Scientists also know that Adélies have
never lived further south of Cape Royd, and suspect that this is because they need light in order to
navigate and search for food. It also allows them to spot such predators as the skua – a large bird that
can easily kill young penguins. So, will the Adélies be able to adapt, move further south, and live in a
darker environment? Scientists doubt that this kind of evolutionary change can happen in a short time.

1. In paragraph ___, you can find information about where Adélie penguins lay their eggs.

2. Paragraph ___ gives information about why there is less food for Adélie penguins to eat.

3. In paragraph ___, you can find information about how many penguin nests are on Ross Island.

4. You can find some opinions about what Adélie penguins might need to do to survive in the future in
paragraph ___.

5. Paragraph ___ explains why one population of Adélie penguins has increased.

6. The introduction to the Reading passage is in paragraph ___.

Exercise 6. [Scanning – Short answer questions] Read the paragraph A to D in exercise 5. Then
read the questions.

A. Where can you find the information in the passage to answer the questions? Choose the correct
paragraphs.

1. What geographical features have created the land of Ross Island? ___

2. How many Adélie penguin nests were counted at Cape Royds? ___

3. On what type of surface do Adélie penguins usually choose to build their nests? ___

4. What has, in the past, prevented penguins from reaching the open sea in the McMurdo Sound? ___

5. Approximately, what distance did Adélie penguins then have to walk to reach the sea? ___

B. Answer the questions. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from
the passage for each answer.

___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

Exercise 7. [Scanning – Sentence completion] Read the passage.

Elsewhere on Ross Island, in contrast to McMurdo Sound, the situation is more encouraging. At Cape
Crozier, Adélie penguins are thriving. The colony is now thought to have an estimated 230,000
breeding pairs, an upturn of 20% over the last three decades. Penguins nesting on this part of Ross
Island may actually be benefitting from human activity, scientists suspect. In 1996, a fishing company
opened near the area, and started fishing for vast quantities of Chilean sea bass – otherwise known as
the Patagonian toothfish. As both the Adélies and the sea bass eat silverfish, competition for this food
source has now been dramatically reduced, and this may partly explain why penguin numbers have
risen at Cape Crozier.
However, it isn’t fish, but krill – tiny, shrimp-like creatures that live just below the pieces of ice that
float on the sea – that form the largest part of an Adélie’s diet. Unfortunately, krill numbers are also
declining rapidly. Dr. So Kawaguchi, a biologist working for the Australian government’s Antarctic
Division, suspects he knows the main reason behind this. He accepts that commercial fishing is partly
responsible for huge amounts of krill being removed from the sea, but he points to rising levels of
carbon dioxide as the chief cause. It is this which is making the waters of the Antarctic more acidic, in
turn preventing the krill eggs from hatching. Diminishing levels of krill not only mean less food for
penguins. Digesting up to 40 million of these tiny animals per day, most whales depend on them for
survival, too. Also, thanks to their more diverse diet, Gentoo penguins, a species which eats squid and
small crab-like creatures as well as krill, have hardly been affected by this situation. In fact, their
numbers appear to be on the rise. Other species, such as the Chinstrap and Emperor penguins, however,
have the same narrow diet as Adélies.

Scientists are now concerned that Adélie penguins will be forced to move further south in search of
more suitable breeding and feeding locations. A team made up of researchers from Stanford University,
USA, and the British Antarctic Survey have recently used geolocation sensors attached to a number of
penguins to track them in order to better understand their patterns of migration. They know that Adélie
penguins leave their nesting areas in February to begin the slow march north to avoid the darkest time
of the year. Around 480 kilometres from completely open water, they stop on the floating sea ice to
spend time feeding and increase their body weight. They then turn around, and march back to the
nesting areas – a journey of about 13,000 kilometres in total. Scientists also know that Adélies have
never lived further south of Cape Royd, and suspect that this is because they need light in order to
navigate and search for food. It also allows them to spot such predators as the skua – a large bird that
can easily kill young penguins. So, will the Adélies be able to adapt, move further south, and live in a
darker environment? Scientists doubt that this kind of evolutionary change can happen in a short time.

A. Read the passage and questions 6 – 13. Match the types of information you will need to look for in
the passage with the questions.

a. a month or season

b. a specific location on Ross Island

 c. another animal living in Antarctica

d. something that has been increasing

e. something eaten by Adélie penguins and the Chilean sea bass

f. a type of penguin

g. something that penguins do

h. something that penguins need to survive

1. The Adélie penguin population has increased in the part of Ross Island known as _____.

2. Both Adélie penguins and the Chilean sea bass feed on ______.

3. Dr Kawaguchi believes that an increase in ______ is the main reason for declining numbers of krill.

4. Not only penguins, but also ______ will be affected by smaller krill populations.

5. The ______ species of penguins have more variety in their diet than other penguins.

6. British and American scientists have used special equipment to find out more about penguin ______.

7. The British-American team know that it is in ______ that the penguins begin to walk in a northerly
direction.

8. It is now thought by the British-American team that penguins require ______ to help them avoid
threats and to find food.

B. Complete the sentences 1-8 above. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for
each answer.

C. Read the information. Then match the words in the box from the Reading passage with the phrases
in bold in the questions which have a similar meaning.

Adélie penguins are thriving diminishing diverse eat

 geolocation sensors need rising levels of slow march north

1. The Adélie penguin population has increased in the part of Ross Island known as Cape Crozier.
___________________________

2. Both Adélie penguins and the Chilean sea bass feed on silverfish. _______________________

3. Dr. Kawaguchi believes that an increase in carbon dioxide is the main reason for declining numbers
of krill. ___________________________

4. Not only penguins, but also whales will be affected by smaller krill populations. _____________

5. The Gentoo species of penguins have more variety in their diet than other penguins. _________

6. British and American scientists have used special equipment to find out more about penguin
migration. ___________________

7. The British-American team know that it is in February that the penguins begin to walk in a
northerly direction. _____________________

8. It is now thought by the Brishtish-American team that penguins require light to help them avoid
threats and to find food. ______________________

Exercise 8. [Sentence completion] Read the passage and answer the questions.

The Intersection of Health Sciences and Geography

A While many diseases that affect humans have been eradicated due to improvements in vaccinations
and the availability of healthcare, there are still areas around the world where certain health issues are
more prevalent. In a world that is far more globalised than ever before, people come into contact with
one another through travel and living closer and closer to each other. As a result, super-viruses and
other infections resistant to antibiotics are becoming more and more common.
B Geography can often play a very large role in the health concerns of certain populations. For
instance, depending on where you live, you will not have the same health concerns as someone who
lives in a different geographical region. Perhaps one of the most obvious examples of this idea is
malaria-prone areas, which are usually tropical regions that foster a warm and damp environment in
which the mosquitos that can give people this disease can grew. Malaria is much less of a problem in
high-altitude deserts, for instance.

C In some countries, geographical factors influence the health and well-being of the population in very
obvious ways. In many large cities, the wind is not strong enough to clear the air of the massive
amounts of smog and pollution that cause asthma, lung problems, eyesight issues and more in the
people who live there. Part of the problem is, of course, the massive number of cars being driven, in
addition to factories that run on coal power. The rapid industrialization of some countries in recent
years has also led to the cutting down of forests to allow for the expansion of big cities, which makes it
even harder to fight the pollution with the fresh air that is produced by plants.

D It is in situations like these that the field of health geography comes into its own. It is an increasingly
important area of study in a world where diseases like polio are re-emerging, respiratory diseases
continue to spread, and malaria-prone areas are still fighting to find a better cure. Health geography is
the combination of, on the one hand, knowledge regarding geography and methods used to analyse and
interpret geographical information, and on the other, the study of health, diseases and healthcare
practices around the world. The aim of this hybrid science is to create solutions for common
geography-based health problems. While people will always be prone to illness, the study of how
geography affects our health could lead to the eradication of certain illnesses, and the prevention of
others in the future. By understanding why and how we get sick, we can change the way we treat
illness and disease specific to certain geographical locations.

E The geography of disease and ill health analyses the frequency with which certain diseases appear in
different parts of the world, and overlays the data with the geography of the region, to see if there could
be a correlation between the two. Researchers study the interactions between humans and their
environment that could lead to illness (such as asthma in places with high levels of pollution) and work
to create a clear way of categorizing illnesses, diseases and epidemics into local and global scales.
Health geographers can map the spread of illnesses and attempt to identify the reasons behind an
increase or decrease in illnesses, as they work to find a way to halt the further spread or re-emergence
of diseases in vulnerable populations.

F The second subcategory of health geography is the geography of healthcare provision. This group
studies the availability (of lack thereof) of healthcare resources to individuals and populations around
the world. In both developed and developing nations there is often a very large discrepancy between
the options available to people in different social classes, income brackets, and levels of education.
Individuals working in the area of the geography of healthcare provision attempt to assess the levels of
healthcare in the area (for instance, it may be very difficult for people to get medical attention because
there is a mountain between their village and the nearest hospital). These researchers are on the
frontline of making recommendations regarding policy to international organisations, local government
bodies and others.

Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

1. Certain diseases have disappeared, thanks to better _________ and healthcare.

2. Because there is more contact between people, _________ are losing their usefulness.

3. Disease-causing _________ are most likely to be found in hot, damp regions.

4. One cause of pollution is _________ that burn a particular fuel.

5. The growth of cities often has an impact on nearby _________.

6. _________ is one disease that is growing after having been eradicated.

7. A physical barrier such as a _________ can prevent people from reaching a hospital.

Exercise 9. [Short answer questions] Read the passage and answer the questions.

What Do Whales Feel?

An examination of the functioning of the senses in cetaceans, the group of mammals comprising
whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Some of the senses that we and other terrestrial mammals take for granted are either reduced or absent
in cetaceans or fail to function well in water. For example, it appears from their brain structure that
toothed species are unable to smell. Baleen species, on the other hand, appear to have some related
brain structures but it is not known whether these are functional. It has been speculated that, as the
blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head, the neural pathways serving a sense of smell
may have been nearly all sacrificed. Similarly, although at least some cetaceans have taste buds, the
nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary.

The sense of touch has sometimes been described as weak too, but this view is probably mistaken.
Trainers of captive dolphins and small whales often remark on their animals’ responsiveness to being
touched or rubbed, and both captive and free- ranging cetacean individuals of all species (particularly
adults and calves, or members of the same subgroup) appear to make frequent contact. This contact
may help to maintain order within a group, and stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in
most species. The area around the blowhole is also particularly sensitive and captive animals often
object strongly to being touched there.

The sense of vision is developed to different degrees in different species. Baleen species studied at
close quarters underwater - specifically a grey whale calf in captivity for a year, and free-ranging right
whales and humpback whales studied and filmed off Argentina and Hawaii - have obviously tracked
objects with vision underwater, and they can apparently see moderately well both in water and in air.
However, the position of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales that they probably do
not have stereoscopic vision.

On the other hand, the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises suggests that they have
stereoscopic vision forward and downward. Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on
their side or upside down while feeding, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic forward
and upward. By comparison, the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen vision in water. Judging from
the way it watches and tracks airborne flying fish, it can apparently see fairly well through the air-water
interface as well. And although preliminary experimental evidence suggests that their in-air vision is
poor, the accuracy with which dolphins leap high to take small fish out of a trainer’s hand provides
anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Such variation can no doubt be explained with reference to the habitats in which individual species
have developed. For example, vision is obviously more useful to species inhabiting clear open waters
than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains. The South American boutu and Chinese beiji,
for instance, appear to have very limited vision, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to
slits that probably allow them to sense only the direction and intensity of light.

Although the senses of taste and smell appear to have deteriorated, and vision in water appears to be
uncertain, such weaknesses are more than compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed acoustic
sense. Most species are highly vocal, although they vary in the range of sounds they produce, and many
forage for food using echolocation1. Large baleen whales primarily use the lower frequencies and are
often limited in their repertoire. Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like choruses of bowhead
whales in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales. Toothed species in
general employ more of the frequency spectrum, and produce a wider variety of sounds, than baleen
species (though the sperm whale apparently produces a monotonous series of high-energy clicks and
little else). Some of the more complicated sounds are clearly communicative, although what role they
may play in the social life and ‘culture’ of cetaceans has been more the subject of wild speculation than
of solid science.

* echolocation: the perception of objects by means of sound wave echoes.

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for
each answer.

1. Which of the senses is described here as being involved in mating?

2. Which species swims upside down while eating?

3. What can bottlenose dolphins follow from under the water?

4. Which type of habitat is related to good visual ability?

5. Which of the senses is best developed in cetaceans?