Подготовка к IELTS

IELTS урок 10 от RBSM

Game: scan the word in 5 seconds: choose the word and ask your partner to find it in the text as fast as possible.  

A  The Humpback whale is one of the most energetic of the rorquals*. It is known for its spectacular breaching, flipper-slapping and lobtailing. It is easily identified at close range by its knobbly head and long flippers. The black and white colouration on the underside of the flukes (tail) allows scientists to distinguish and name individuals all around the world. No two Humpback whales are exactly alike.

 B  During breeding season the Humpback males are known for singing the longest and most complex songs in the animal kingdom. Humpbacks are highly inquisitive* and will approach quite closely, showing little fear of boats. The Humpback whale has a more robust* body than other rorqual. It's back and flanks are grey or black with an area of white on the throat and belly.

C  The Humpback has exceptionally long flippers with knobs along the leading edges. While the underside of the flipper is usually white geographical differences have altered the upper side. On the flipper of Pacific Humpback the upper side is usually black whereas in populations of the Atlantic Humpback the upper side is mostly white with black markings.

 D Humpback whales are wide ranging and can be found virtually worldwide, but with apparent geographical segregation between at least ten populations. Although some mixing does occur between these populations there has probably never been any contact between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Humpbacks are strongly migratory, seasonally migrating from polar feeding grounds to warm temperate to tropical breeding grounds.  Estimated at around 10,000 individuals worldwide the Humpback is an 'Endangered Species'. The healthiest populations occur in the western north Atlantic Ocean. A few other areas, include the waters near Beguia, Cape Verde, Greenland, and Tonga.

  E Due to their tendency to aggregate* on the tropical breeding grounds and to come close to the shore on the polar feeding grounds the Humpback whales were highly vulnerable to whalers. It is likely that more than 100,000 humpbacks were killed by whalers throughout the modern whaling era and, although some stocks seem to be recovering, today's population is still a fraction of its original size. Humpback whales received protection in 1966 and again in 1985 when the International Whaling Commission instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling.

      Gentle Giants

  F   In scary movies the gigantic creature that swims in the ocean, or the huge beast that roams the streets, are evil monsters bent on harm and destruction. But in nature (in real life), the very largest of the large creatures have been virtually harmless to humans. In fact, magnificent creatures such as the great blue whale have suffered most at the hands of humans bent on destruction. Blue whales, as well as many other whale species, have been hunted to the brink of extinction by people from all over the world for centuries. It's only recently, in this century, that we as a species have begun to appreciate the value of all living creatures. We have come to feel that wiping any species of animal off the face of the earth forever is an evil thing for humans to do. Big Guys in a Big Way Blue whales diet consists mainly of krill, a tiny shrimp that lives in tremendously large schools in almost every ocean of the world. Krill is probably one of the most plentiful food species (outside of insects) anywhere on earth. It's gotta be to keep up with the blue whales' big appetite. A big blue can eat over a thousand krill at one time swallowing them with a tongue that weighs as much as an elephant! Blue whales eat the krill using a special type of filter on their mouths called a baleen*. By gulping* enormous amounts of sea water containing the live krill the blue whale closes its mouth and flushes the sea water back out through the filter leaving the krill behind for it to swallow. Small fish and plankton are also favorite food items of the whale. It takes about 8,000 pounds of fresh seafood a day to keep the blue whale well fed. Probably the most spectacular thing about blue whales that's bigger than big is the sounds they make. Scientists have measured the low-frequency (deep rumbling) sounds they make when they communicate with each other by using a decibel meter. Some of their vocalizations have been recorded as loud as 188 decibels and can be heard as far as 530 miles away. To give you an idea of just how loud 188 decibels is a commercial jet taking off makes a sound of 120 decibels. That makes whales, by far, the loudest thing anywhere on earth!

G Scientist don't really know for sure why whales are so big, but they are sure of one thing - as big as the ancient dinosaurs were they were NEVER as big as the blue whale is. One of the most important reasons that whales have become so large is they have more SPACE - more room to roam. Remember: over 70% of the earth is covered in ocean water. Another nice thing about living in the oceans, besides all the real estate, is the weightlessness effect of water. If you like to swim or SCUBA dive you know how it feels to be in the water - almost like floating in space. (In fact, NASA sometimes trains their astronauts inside huge tanks of water to get familiar with working in a zero-gravity environment.) It's the weightlessness of the ocean environment that allows a whale to maintain such huge proportions. Instead of relying on a skeleton to support the weight of its massive bulk the buoyancy of the surrounding ocean water supports the weight of the whale's body tissues. If a blue whale were to be removed from the ocean it would be crushed to death by its own weight - a result of the effects of gravity.

  Task paper:                                                                                                                                                            Name: _________________________________

Questions 1-10:  Please tick the correct box if the statement is True, False or Not Given in the passage.                                                                                                                    T                    F                NG

Questions 11-17: Match the main idea with the correct paragraph.

Questions 18-21: Choose the closest meaning of the words, according to the content of the text:

 Questions 22 – 26:  Complete the following sentences by using NOT MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text:

Whales are considered as (22) ____________________________ anywhere on earth! The whales’ habit (23) __________________ near feeding grounds make

them vulnerable for hunters. Krill are the most numerous creatures that live in (24) _________________ in every ocean.  The whales’ songs can be heard (25)

____________________ away.  Astronauts are trained in deep pools to get familiar with the (26) _______________ environment.  

Questions 27-33: Answer the following questions:

                                                                                              Yes            No            NG

 Questions 34 – 41: Choose English synonyms from the table to match the words from the paragraphs: