If Antarctica can provide necessary resources for a rapidly growing world population, then we should be able to have an intelligent debate Notes on the reading passage: O 1991:
Trang 1Task 1
Read the following passage (3 minutes)
In 1991, an international treaty (which was fully implemented in 1998) was
signed by most of the world’s nations regulating activities in Antarctica The
treaty designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and sci-
ence.” It bans all economic activity except for fishing and tourism It also
upholds the provisions of a 1959 treaty banning military activity of any kind
Should some exploration and exploitation of Antarctic resources be permit-
ted? Antarctica is a huge and almost completely unpopulated continent Only
the coastal areas support any kind of animal or plant life Well-regulated oil and
gas exploration and extraction should be allowed Yes, the conditions would be
extremely difficult Yes, precautions must be put in place to avoid environmental
problems But remember: It was once believed that oil and gas from northern
Alaska and from the North Sea could not be exploited safely, or indeed, at all
However, these two oil fields have proved to be extremely valuable sources of
energy With our current and future levels of technology, resources can be har-
vested from Antarctica with little or no danger
And yes, it would be expensive to build and maintain the infrastructure
needed to drill, pump, and transport oil and gas from Antarctica Probably at
present these operations would not pay for themselves However, as fossil fuels
become scarcer, and as demand for fossil fuels increases, it will become more
and more economical
At present, a small, elite group of scientists and environmentalists controls
the future agenda for an entire continent, declaring it entirely off-limits for eco-
nomic development If Antarctica can provide necessary resources for a rapidly
growing world population, then we should be able to have an intelligent debate
Notes on the reading passage:
O
1991: treaty regulating activin Antarctica
“nat’l reserve: neace & science” bans_all but fishing, tour’m
Antarct huge, unpop only life in.coastal areas
Gas_oil explor, extract shld be allowed w/ precautions
Alaska, N Sea difficult too, but those were devel’d
W/ current fut technol resources could be taken from Antarct
Would be expensive hut in future wid pay {or self as_prices 4
At.present elite grp scientists, environ’ists control Antarc—shld have debate
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Trang 2» Now start the Audio Program Listen to part of a lecture in an ecology class G)
Notes on the lecture:
O
Most of Antarct lifeless .but fragile
Only coast supports life—but oil & gas must be shipped from coasts danger of icebergs hitting supertanker penguins, whales, etc
Conditions in Antarct very harsh, much worse than Alas, N Sea
Spkr_has personal exper
VERY expensive
better to invest in altern source, H fuel, e.g Treaty not just agrd to by scientists—also gov’t reps from_all over world
O keeping Antarct safe from politicians, corps a good idea
Trang 3Task 2
Read the following passage (3 minutes)
All of us have seen science fiction movies about space aliens coming to Earth in
flying saucers Sometimes these aliens are nice, but sometimes they are terrible
creatures who want to invade us Or we've seen movies about Earth astronauts
who journey to other worlds and make contact with alien civilizations Some
science fiction movies would have you believe that we live in a very crowded
universe, full of races similar to us But you must remember that science fiction
is fiction, based on imagination In reality, I'm afraid, we live in a very lonely
universe indeed The only place where we are likely to find intelligent life forms
is on Earth—and even here, they are pretty rare!
When we look up at the nighttime sky, we see thousands of stars We all
want to think that some must have planets like Earth and that one of those
planets must have intelligent beings looking up at the stars from their world
However, astronomers tell us that most of those stars are very different from
ours They generate too much radiation or heat, or they are too big or too small
to have planets with earth-like conditions We've learned, in recent decades,
that there are planets around other stars, but what are the odds of discovering a
planet at exactly the right distance from its star? If our Earth were a little bit
closer to its star, a little bit farther away, a little hotter, a little colder, if it didn’t
have water or just the right type of atmosphere, then humans could never have
evolved here And even if there are planets where life has evolved, why do we
suppose it is intelligent life? There are millions of species of life on Earth, and yet
only one of them can truly be considered intelligent
lf the universe really is full of intelligent alien species, why haven’t we heard
from them? We have been broadcasting radio signals into space for almost a
hundred years and television signals for sixty years These signals move at the
speed of light Surely, if the universe is populated, there should be an intelligent
race within a hundred light years or so who has heard our radio or seen our
television shows Why haven't these aliens beamed us a message telling us to
please send some better programming?
I’m afraid it’s because no one is out there listening
Notes on the reading passage:
Trang 4
» Now start the Audio Program Listen to part of a lecture in an astronomy class 4)
Notes on the lecture:
Task 3 Read the following passage (3 minutes)
In the general Australian election of 1922, the percentage of Australian citizens who voted dropped to 59% Australians became alarmed at this low voter turnout, and by 1924, a law was passed that made it compulsory for all adult Australians to vote Today, about 94% of eligible voters in Australia vote, even though the penalty for not voting is mild Voting has simply become a habit for Australians Voting has been mandatory in Belgium since 1892, and in Argentina since 1914 It is mandatory in Greece, Luxembourg, Thailand—in fact, in about 20% of all democratic nations All countries that have compulsory voting laws enjoy high voter turnout However, in countries in which voting in non-compulsory,
such as the United States and the United Kingdom, average voter turnout in
national elections is what it was in Australia in 1922—about 60%
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Why should citizens of a country be required to vote? American president
Thomas Jefferson, who was instrumental in writing the U.S Declaration of
independence, said that government derives its authority from the consent of
the governed | believe that if you do not vote, you are not giving your active
consent to be governed In other words, if a nation’s citizens don’t vote, their
government loses its legitimacy
Voting, to me, is much like taxation Both should be considered obligations,
not privileges A nation as a whole relies on all its citizens fulfilling their obliga-
tions to pay taxes, and cannot operate without tax revenue Similarly, a nation
depends on the consent of the citizens and should be able to rely on its citizens
to vote
Notes on the reading passage:
» Now start the Audio Program Listen to part of a lecture in a political science class G)
Notes on the lecture:
Trang 6
Task 4 Read the following passage (3 minutes)
Around 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, the mammoth ele- phants of North America had it pretty good Food was plentiful, the herds were strong, the climate was favorable However, something happened and in a short time, all the mammoths disappeared What happened? These are the three main theories explaining their extinction
The most likely theory involves “man vs mammoths.” Around 11,000 years ago, the first humans, a group called the Clovis People, came across the land bridge connecting Asia and North America According to University of Arizona scientist Paul Martin, the Clovis People were clever hunters They were accom- panied by dogs and were armed with spears with sharp stone points According
to Professor Martin, the Clovis People hunted the mammoths to extinction
A second theory is that climactic changes killed off the mammoths During the Ice Age, humans may have found the climate harsh, but it was perfect for wooly mammoths The weather seldom changed; it was cold and damp all year
round, and there were no seasons Little by little, however, the climate grew
warmer, the glaciers receded, and the moist air became drier Seasons emerged, plant life changed Grassy plains became deserts, and the wooly mammoths died of starvation, according to this theory
A third theory, advanced by Ross McPhee of the American Museum of
Natural History, is that mammoths were destroyed by diseases brought by humans from the Old World The microbes may have been carried by the lice in their hair or by the fleas on their dogs The mammoths had no resistance This plague may have passed from mammoth to mammoth and from herd to herd, destroying the species
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Notes on the reading passage:
» Nowstart the Audio Program Listen to part of a lecture in a geo-science class @
Notes on the lecture:
Trang 8
Task 5 Read the following passage (3 minutes)
In 1965, President Lyndon B Johnson said, “Art is a nation’s most precious her- itage For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves and to others the inner vision which guides us as a nation.” These days, however, it is becoming more and more difficult for artists to support themselves financially This is espe- cially true for experimental artists, whose art does not have as much commercial potential as that of other artists In Europe, there is broad governmental support for the arts Here in the U.S., artists have been funded by a combination of pri- vate and governmental funds However, government funding for the arts has remained stable or even dropped in recent years
Throughout history, great artists from da Vinci to Tchaikovsky have been supported by patrons Today, few people contribute directly to individual artists, but artists still need support It takes time to create great art What is required is funds in the form of government grants for artists to live on while they develop
as artists or complete artistic projects
Besides, when the government spends money on the arts, it is making a good investment According to a study conducted by economists at the Georgia
Institute of Technology, federal, state, and local governments spent about $3 bil-
lion dollars on the arts over a ten-year period However, the arts generated $134 billion in economic revenue and $24 billion in taxes during those ten years This is
a tremendously good return on investment
Notes on the reading passage:
» Now start the Audio Program Listen to part of a lecture in an art class G)
Trang 9
Notes on the lecture:
Task 6
Read the following passage (3 minutes)
According to a 2005 study by an association of pediatricians, the overall nega-
tive effects of television on children outweigh the positive effects This comes as
no surprise to those of us in the field of juvenile psychology who have seen the
effects on children of more and more television watching
The researchers analyzed standardized test results and television viewing
habits of 1,700 children Children aged 6 to 7 who watch more than three
hours of TV a day score significantly lower on reading and short-term memory
tests than children who watch little or no television
Another study showed us that, on the average, children spend more time
watching television than doing any other activity except sleeping They spend
more time watching television than at school! All television shows, even educa-
tional shows, replace activities in children’s lives that parents value more, such as
studying, reading, and playing sports
Trang 10Another problem is that kids who watch television are physically inactive
Not only are they inactive, but they tend to snack a lot Advertisements for inap- propriate foods encourage them This leads to children being overweight and out of shape
Studies such as this one simply confirm what most psychologists already know As far as children are concerned, television viewing is harmful and should
be severely limited or altogether eliminated from their lives
Notes on the reading passage:
» Now start the Audio Program Listen to part of a lecture in a psychology class G)
Notes on the lecture:
Trang 11
EXERCISE 21.2
Focus: Connecting corresponding key points and preparing a simple outline for the
Integrated Writing task
DirEctIons:Using the notes that you took on the passages and the lectures in
Exercise 21.1, complete the outlines in this exercise The first one is done for you as
an example
Outline for Task 1
Main topic:
Treaty regulating economic activity in Antarctic
Main idea of the lecture:
No developm’t in Antarctica; continue following treaty
Main idea of the passage:
Change treaty; exploration, extraction of oil & gas should be considered
Key Point 1 + supporting information from the lecture:
Oil & gas must be shipped from coast
Dangerous because of icebergs; great damage to environ if oil tanker damaged
(penguins, whales, e.q.)
Key Point 1 + supporting information from the passage:
Antarct a huge continent; only coast has life
Key Point 2 + supporting information from the lecture:
Conditions much worse than Alas, N Sea
Spkr has personal experiences in Antarc
Key Point 2 + supporting information from the passage:
Difficult conditions, but so were Alaska, North Sea
Today & in future have better technol for extracting oil, etc
Key Point 3 + supporting information from the lecture:
Too expensive, even if oil prices go up
Better to invest in alternate fuel (H fuel, e.g.)
Key Point 3 + supporting information from the passage:
Expensive, but in the future, gas prices will go up
Conclusion (if any):
Lecture:
Not only scientists, gov’t reps from all over world agree to treaty—good idea to
protect Antarc from politicians, multi-nat’l corps
Passage:
Only scientific elite now control fut of Antarct.—devel should be debated