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Reading Comprehenstion - Scientist

This document contains an English written test for Year 11 students in January 2017. It consists of multiple choice questions and short answer questions based on a passage about the environmental impact of human activity. The passage discusses how rising population levels and fossil fuel use are damaging the planet's resources and atmosphere. It advocates for alternative energy sources and more sustainable practices. The test questions assess comprehension of the passage and conditional tenses.

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Heidi Jha
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1K views3 pages

Reading Comprehenstion - Scientist

This document contains an English written test for Year 11 students in January 2017. It consists of multiple choice questions and short answer questions based on a passage about the environmental impact of human activity. The passage discusses how rising population levels and fossil fuel use are damaging the planet's resources and atmosphere. It advocates for alternative energy sources and more sustainable practices. The test questions assess comprehension of the passage and conditional tenses.

Uploaded by

Heidi Jha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ENGLISH WRITTEN TEST – YEAR 11 – JANUARY 2017

A. Read the following text carefully.


What is relevant is that we are destroying our planet. A
steadily rising population is placing ever-higher demands on 1. Say whether these statements are
Earth’s resources and is wiping out the wilderness and the TRUE or False. Quote from the text to
ecological balance of the planet, something on which we all support all your answers.
depend. (16p)
A steadily rising use of fossil fuels for energy is choking a. We are turning our planet into a huge
Earth’s atmosphere with gases that are slowly poisoning it. waste dump.
In addition, it allows the atmosphere to conserve heat more b. Alternative energy forms are
efficiently, so that the planet is experiencing a greenhouse environmentally damaging.
effect that may have catastrophic impact. c. Fossil fuel energy is much cheaper to
A steadily increasing production of chemical substances obtain.
that are highly toxic is poisoning the soil and water of the d. The author advises us to use throw-away
Earth, is destroying the ozone layer and is converting much products.
of the planetary surface into a garbage heap.
Since there can be nothing on Earth, simply nothing, that is 2. Answer these questions in your own
more important than saving the planet, our priorities must words as far as possible.
be to reverse these destructive tendencies.
We must find alternative sources of energy, long-lasting a. What is the general purpose of the text?
and non-polluting. We must continue the search for nuclear b. What is the impact of over-population on
fusion, in the hope that it will be a far richer and safer the environment?
source than nuclear fission. We must develop wind-power, c. Apart from polluting the air, what are
wave-power and, most of all, the direct use of solar power. carbon dioxide emissions responsible for?
All these things are highly practical, but cost more money d. Which alternative forms of energy could
than oil and coal, so that the challenge is to make them substitute fossil fuel energy?
cheaper. e. According to the author, what should
We must find ways of detoxifying toxic products produced scientific advance be used for?
by industrial plants. We must find substitutes for packaging, f. What does the author mean in the last
substitutes that are recyclable. We must find substitutes for paragraph with “necessity is now in the
chemicals that destroy the ozone layer. saddle and holds the whip”?
We must find methods of saving our forests, of saving
threatened species, of maintaining a healthy ecological 3. What do the underlined words refer to
balance on Earth. in the text?
If there is any spare effort left over from these absolute
necessities of scientific advance, we can put them into other a. ...something on which we all depend.
projects – otherwise not. b. ...that are slowly poisoning it.
I regret this, for I am emotionally on the side of the big c. ... that may have catastrophic impact.
projects, all of them, but necessity is a hard task-master, d. ... in the hope that it will be ...
and necessity is now in the saddle and holds the whip. e. ... the challenge is to make them cheaper.
Isaac Asimov (abridged and adapted) f. ... side of the big projects, all of them,...

4. Find in the text equivalents for the following words.

a. increasing b. destroying / decimating c. suffocating


d. contaminating / polluting e. disastrous / fatal f. waste
g. detrimental / harmful h. replacements / alternatives i. endangered
j. development / progress
B. Complete the text with the words from the box.

Is human overpopulation killing the planet?


We have changed the planet, and the (1) are grave. Some experts believe (2)
temperatures could render Arctic summers ice-free as early as 2018. To put that in 1. melts
perspective, that hasn’t happened to the planet in three million years. If the Arctic ice 2. waves
(3), the ocean and planet will (4) enough to dramatically alter wind flow, global 3. shortages
weather patterns, even the jet stream. We’re already experiencing the effects of 4. implications
climate change: (5) weather events are responsible for much of the crop devastation 5. scarce
in the last decade or so, including floods in the US, drought in Australia and heat (6) in 6. heat up
Russia and Europe. The future seems just as grim: a new Intergovernmental Panel on 7. warming
Climate Change report warns that unchecked climate change will exacerbate food and 8. extreme
water (7), and cause further animal extinctions, not to mention human misery and the
increased likelihood of war for (8) resources.

C. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

1. Insert the appropriate tense of the verbs in brackets.


a. Many species (not survive) if we keep destroying their natural habitats.
b. I (separate) my waste if you had told me to.
c. If people (throw) away less, less resources would be needed.
d. More waste will be created if the population (not/stop) growing.

2. Complete the sentences below with your own ideas.


a. If we used alternative sources of energy more, ...
b. More trees will be cut down, unless …

D. FUTURE

Change the verbs in brackets into an appropriate tense to express a future meaning.
1. I promise I (sort) out all the garbage next time.
2. By the end of 2050, the population in Europe (suffer) a significant decrease.
3. He’ll take the glass to the bottle bank as soon as he (have) the time.
4. “Is it true? (you/change) your diet?” – “Yes, I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time now.”
5 “I’m going out shopping for organic food.” – “Oh, are you? Wait, I (go) with you.”
6. I can’t help you because this time next week I (take) part in a Greenpeace protest at the coal plant.

E. WRITING - In about 180 words write an opinion essay using the guidelines below.

WRITING GUIDELINES:
st
1 paragraph: comment on the cartoon
(what is being criticized?)
2nd paragraph: explain how climate change
is affecting the world (supply some
examples)
3rd paragraph: put forward some solutions
to this problem
4rd paragraph: write a conclusion -
environmental protection or economic
growth?
CORRECTION OF THE WRITTEN TEST “The next frontiers for science”
A. 1.
a. T ... “and is converting much of the planetary surface into a garbage heap”.
b. F “We must find alternative sources of energy, long-lasting and non-polluting”.
c. T ”All these things ... but cost more money than oil and coal “...
d. F “We must find substitutes ... recyclable”.
A.2.
a. Its purpose is to inform (warn) us about the state/destruction of our planet and to tell
us that we must take action to change it.
b. A growing population is exhausting our resources and destroying the ecological
balance of our planet.
c. The gases are also responsible for the increase of Earth’s temperature (global
warming/greenhouse effect).
d. The alternative forms of energy are nuclear fusion, wind-power, wave-power and solar-
power.
e. Scientific advance should be used to find ways of protecting and preserving the
environment.
f. This means that it is urgent, really essential, that we change things – the need to
improve our environment is our top necessity/priority.
A.3.
a. the ecological balance of the planet
b. Earth’s atmosphere
c. greenhouse effect
d. nuclear fusion
e. alternative sources of energy (nuclear fusion, wind-power, wave-power, solar power)
f. big projects
A.4.
a. rising b. wiping out c. chocking
d. poisoning e. catastrophic f. garbage
g. destructive h. substitutes i. threatened
j. advance
B.
1. implications 2. warming 3. melts 4. heat up
5. extreme 6. waves 7. shortages 8. scarce
C.1.
a. will not survive b. would have separated
c. threw d. doesn’t stop
C.2 (suggested answers)
a. …the air would be cleaner/we wouldn’t pollute our environment so much …
b. ... we recycle our waste/save paper (...)
D.
1. will sort 2. will have suffered 3. has
4. Are you going to change 5 will go 6. will be taking

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