CAE Reading and Use of English Part 8
You are going to read the contributions to an online magazine. For questions 47-56, choose from the contributors (A-D). The contributors may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.
Which contributor?
47 explains how economic reasons have enforced certain changes?
48 rephrases terminology readers may not understand?
49 suggests that the public are unaware of the full extent of a problem?
50 describes a potential solution to a global problem?
51 refers to terminology which is no longer appropriate?
52 indicates that nature has helped reduce the rate of climate change?
53 mentions an unwanted positive effect of climate change on certain wildlife?
54 exemplifies a phrase by giving a measurement?
55 points out how current research methods aid learning?
56 refers to information only recently acquired?
Seasons come and seasons go… or do they?
Four readers give us their views on seasonal shift.
A It’s a sad news story; groups of cows stranded on small islands of grass during floods; hundreds of sheep drowned. But it’s even sadder to realise that this is only the most obvious and well-known indication of the hardship that farmers, both agricultural and dairy, have been facing for decades because of increasingly unpredictable seasons. Think about it. Farmers depend on the seasons to know when to plant, when to harvest, when to let livestock graze and when to bring them in. In parts of Rwanda, for example, farmers used to be guided by the names of the months which were taken from the weather; the name for March meaning hot and dry, for example. Now sadly, that correlation is gone. In many countries we’re getting longer and wetter, and longer and hotter periods, with extreme rainfall and drought. The knock-on effect is crystal clear. You don’t have to be a former farmer like myself to understand that you can’t plant when it’s too wet, and that droughts mean smaller crops, ravaged by increased numbers of pests and weeds that thrive in the hot conditions. Animals have less grass to graze on and need to be fed – and that costs money!
B OK, so which biome on Earth (that is – a large region on the planet with its own range of living things) has no really distinct seasons at all? Well done everyone who said the marine biome. You’re much better informed than I was before starting a project last month. Of course, conditions do change throughout the year in the oceans as a result of changing weather in different locations, but for the living organisms in this biome it is the wider global climate change that is having an enormous impact. I wasn’t aware that the oceans have been taking in extremely high amounts of carbon dioxide, which is a result of human industrial activity, and this has, in effect, slowed down global warming for us. However, it’s reaching a limit and salt water on the earth is now showing a 25 percent rise in acidity. This, combined with warmer waters and the more commonly discussed rise in sea levels, is affecting practically all sea creatures. Coral reefs are dying, fish are moving towards the poles and coastal wetlands are being ‘drowned’. We are on the brink of marine disaster, and it isn’t showing up in seasonal shifts.
C So, what do kids know about the causes of the changing seasons? Actually, quite a lot! The environment has been an important topic for us in education for a long time now. Classroom walls have been decorated with posters about recycling, surveys have been conducted, trees have been planted. Now, with movements such as that spearheaded by climate activist Greta Thunberg, the urgency for action is touching young people all over the world. In my opinion, how teachers address the topic of climate change is all about balance. It’s vital to give information but without instilling fear, instead showing how scientists are trying to find ways through the problems – such as Dr Leslie Field’s research into sprinkling a particular type of sand over the Arctic ice to prevent the shrinking. The idea of using sand to reflect the sun links ideally to basic physics lessons, too – a real life-changing application of scientific theory! Knowing that there are people actively working on solutions may even encourage some children into scientific research careers themselves. And that will help us all.
D OK, my livelihood is at stake, so I can’t be objective here, but believe me, the impact of climate change and seasonal shift on the tourist industry will be devastating. I’m a ski instructor and I’m seeing the results first hand. Snowfall used to be predictable, particularly at ‘snow-reliable’ resorts. To those not in the know, these are resorts providing a continuous 100-day ski season with at least 30 centimetres of snow on the slopes. But predictions now indicate that the Alps could lose up to 50 percent of these resorts by the 2070s and for some lower-altitude ski resorts it is already a thing of the past. Shorter seasons and the need to ‘top-up’ with artificial snow obviously involves higher costs, and smaller resorts have had to close; the business is just no longer viable. Those that remain open are looking to raise prices which will make winter sports holidays even more exclusive. Having said that, it’s not all doom and gloom. Some resorts have refocused and are promoting activities less dependent on reliable snowfall such as hiking, mountain biking and snow shoeing. I guess I’ll maybe have to refocus, too!
Answer Keys
PART 1
1 C — exceeded. If you exceed somebody’s expectations, it means you achieve more or perform better than they expected you to. This is the only verb that collocated well with the word ‘expectations’ here.
2 B — convinced. The meaning of the word ‘convinced’ here refers to one’s ideas or opinions. In other words, these writers believe that they have to come up with another piece of work right after the first one.
3 D — incapable. We are limited by the preposition ‘of’ that follows the gap. Other options need different contexts, e.g. ‘helpless in something/to do something’, ‘unable to do something’. ‘Lacking’ requires no preposition, e.g. ‘he is lacking courage for this kind of job’.
4 B — realising. To realise an ambition means to achieve what you have aspired to. Getting the collocation right is a big part of CAE Use of English Part 1.
5 C — Regardless. The preposition ‘of’ leads us to choose ‘regardless’. We could also use ‘notwithstanding’ to the same effect, but we would then need to get rid of some words in the original: ‘Notwithstanding their success’.
6 B — aspire. If you aspire to doing something, then it is your aspiration – in other words, your main goal. ‘Desire’ has a somewhat similar meaning, but cannot be used with a gerund (an -ing form of the noun).
7 D — happen. A wild collection of words with very different meaning, but ultimately only ‘happen’ works in this context. If you happen to do something, then it means you did it unintentionally, without meaning to do it. Also indicated a small chance of that happening.
8 A — coincides. To coincide is to align or to happen at the same time. In this context, they mean that the book becomes successful by chance, because it is very relevant for the period of time it is written.
PART 2
9 have. The word ‘recently’ is the one that points at a perfect tense that is needed here. We don’t use Past Perfect as there are no two actions at different times in the past.
10 as. ‘Just as individual’ is a comparison that refers to the previous sentence, where no two fingerprints are the same.
11 had. Now a case of Past Perfect, where we show that the idea of stripes being camouflage no longer exists – it is in the past.
12 if. ‘If’ here means ‘on the chance that’. If you are even remotely similar to others, then you probably have used the same passwords as everybody else.
13 been. ‘… for the last few years’ requires a continuous tense, therefore we use ‘been’ here.
14 are. Possessive pronoun relating to “they”.
15 to. ‘Likely to be’. Probably the easiest gap to fill here.
16 through/with. ‘With the help of, using’ touchscreens or other things.
PART 3
17 illogical. While the idea of the word is clear, some students might be tempted to give ‘unlogical’ as the answer, which is not the commonly used negative prefix for this word.
18 insignificant. The context hints at the idea of a negative prefix with the conjunction ‘but’.
19 interaction(s). Interaction is when we use something, e.g. ‘people interaction is difficult if you are more used to being on your own rather than with a group of others’.
20 irregular. ‘… rather than a specified time’ is a good piece of context to make us use the negative prefix -ir.
21 unnoticed. When something goes unnoticed, we fail to see that it has taken place. We don’t notice that we have lost a sock or two because they end up on the radiator or under the bed.
22 overlook. Once again, to overlook is very similar in meaning to the previous word. Overlooking something means failing to pay attention to it.
23 impossibly. A double negative is used here, with ‘not’ and a negative prefix, which leads to a positive meaning – in other words, washing shouldn’t be difficult at all.
24 underestimate. To think that something is too easy, or generally take it less seriously than you should, and suffer in one way or another because of that.
PART 4
25 are not included/do not get included. An active-to-passive voice transformation with some variation in the answer. I advise my students to avoid using shortened forms, i.e. use ‘do not’ instead of ‘don’t’, ‘I am’ instead of ‘I’m’ and so on.
26 it is/has been built into. ‘It’ here refers to the exercising routine. To build something into something means to make it an integral part.
27 was being fixed by. We use a passive continuous structure here and include the agent (the mechanic) with the help of ‘by’.
28 will be/is going to be/get dismissed from. To be dismissed from somewhere means to be fired. The biggest difficulty here is to be familiar with the key word and to know what preposition it takes in this context.
29 will be (being) talked. Avoid using ‘are going to’ instead of ‘will’ here – in CAE key word transformation task, unnecessary changes to the original sentence are punishable.
30 had not been brought up. ‘To bring somebody up’ is used in the passive form here. A Third Conditional sentence is used here – an unreal past and its unreal result. Be ready to see more of this in this part of your CAE exam.
PART 5
31 B. The word ‘grumpy’ here is to express the writer’s annoyance, not reluctance (not wanting to go) to go on her own. This is hinted at by the light-hearted ‘Well, I’ll go on my own’ that follows right after. Nothing relating to answers C or D is mentioned.
32 C. Sentence three in the second paragraph has the answer – she was very eager to prove her friends wrong, that was her main motivation. The opposite of answer A is said in the second sentence of the same paragraph. Nothing is said about her prior experience of such a holiday or fear that she might miss out on something.
33 A. We go with answer A as the writer does not give any opinion on how useful the advice is, how relevant it is for her particular destination, or what sort of traveler it is aimed at. Instead, a more general answer has to be chosen.
34 B. ‘Second thoughts’ are doubts or even regrets about decisions you have made. For dramatic effect, they add ‘third and fourth thoughts’, even though the phrase does not really go like that. The writer is not afraid to fly, she is more concerned about missing a ‘connection’ – that’s flights that take you to your next destination, as opposed to a direct flight that takes you right to where you want to be. She wasn’t worried about other passengers, she was merely trying to guess what kind of people they would turn out to be.
35 C. Understanding the meaning of ‘stung by someone’ is vital here. It means being charged unfairly, especially because you are inexperienced. Interestingly, the author only benefitted (or ‘profited’) from the experience, and she goes on to explain why in the sentences that follow. Answer D is somewhat relevant, but does not convey the idea of learning from your mistakes that the author points at. Instead, it just focuses on the language aspect.
36 D. Even though it seems like a minor point, this answer is the only fitting one. The ‘stigma’ here refers to a widely-held opinion that there is something wrong with people who travel on their own, e.g. they have no friends or they are just weird. Nothing about answer A is mentioned except for being ‘easy targets for the unscrupulous’. Both travelling on your own and in a group are said to be equally rewarding, so answer B is no good here. No benefit of the more exotic destinations is mentioned.
PART 6
37 D. Last sentence in reviewer’s D paragraph critiques the narrative order of the documentary, whereas all other reviewers praise its well-planned structure.
38 B. Reviewer C is happy with the way producers supported their ideas with some official statistical data. Reviewer B did a bit of their own research to cross-check the information mentioned in the documentary online and found that it was all true and accurate. A’s review says that the claims were not backed by any real evidence, while reviewer D mentions nothing about how credible (trustworthy) the information is.
39 A. The question is a bit tricky. The very first sentence states that the documentary is going to turn your life around, but we have to carry on reading. Conversely, the last sentence states that reviewer B believes that old habits are unlikely to be changed as a result of watching the documentary – and this is exactly what we need here. Reviewer A is the only one here believing that the film can be impactful enough to change your approach to planning and making decisions. Reviewer C shares B’s scepticism: ‘… I don’t think the programme told us anything that was very new, and certainly not life-changing for anyone’. Reviewer D voices no opinion on the matter.
40 C. D is looking forward to ‘the next instalment’ in the series. An instalment usually means the next part of the same film or series. The idea expressed in paragraph C is that the lack of originality in the series discouraged the reviewer from watching the rest of it. B is eager to carry on watching to learn what else they have to say. Reviewer A doesn’t say anything about their intentions to continue watching the series.
PART 7
41 C. The last sentence of paragraph three presents us with a set of three examples. Then, the next paragraph starts with ‘If you look at the structure of my last sentence, you’ll see an example of what is called ‘The Rule of Three’…’. This is the best connector that we can get here. Note that sometimes the ending of the extra paragraph and the beginning of the next one that is given are what help us establish a good connection.
42 E. ‘With this in mind’ that starts paragraph E refers to the very ending of the previous paragraph about one’s buying decisions. The advertising slogans mentioned in paragraph E are what we can see in the paragraph that follows. It generally continues the idea of marketing and advertising using the linguistic trick of groups of three to combine simplicity and appeal.
43 B. The beginning of the paragraph that comes after gap 43 mentions one other reason why our brains ‘shy away’ from having to deal with too much information. The situation when our mind has to deal with bigger chunks of information is the focus of paragraph B, fitting perfectly here.
44 G. ‘Thankfully without the same possible repercussions’ is the opening of paragraph G, which refers to the life or death choices and situations our ancestors had to deal with. The right choice here hinges on whether you are familiar with the word ‘repercussion’, effectively meaning ‘consequences’ here. The last part mentions the audience’s eyes ‘going vacant’, which effectively means that they lose interest of what you have to say when you give them too much information to work with – this is then expanded upon in the paragraph coming after gap 44.
45 A. At the beginning of paragraph A we have ‘public speakers like these’, referring to the previously mentioned prime minister and the cleverly used set of three words in his speech. Then the speaker refers to their own experience of giving speeches in public, with the idea continuing in the paragraph that follows this gap.
46 D. The surprising third element from the previous paragraph is the humorous example presented in paragraph D here. Unfortunately, no visible connection can be established between this paragraph and the last one, as sometimes the conclusion mostly focuses on summing up the general idea of the text.
PART 8
47 D. Global warming led to shorter skiing seasons, and the owners now also have to invest in artificial snows, which led to many smaller ski resorts to going out of business.
48 В. The very beginning of the paragraph explains a rather technical term of ‘biome’, which would be unknown to the general reader.
49 A. ‘But it’s even sadder to realise that this is only the most obvious and well-known indication of the hardship…’ is the part that points out that people are generally unaware of the scale of environmental issues.
50 С. Dr Leslie Field suggests using special type of sand to shield the Arctic glaciers from the sun – one practical example of helping avert the global environmental crisis.
51 A. The name of the months in Rwanda used to have a literal meaning to describe what the month is like in terms of the weather, but this has become irrelevant as the climate is very different from what it used to be.
52 B. The oceans acted like sponges for carbon dioxide, which is the by-product of human existence, which effectively slowed down the environmental decline.
53 A. Hot conditions make the perfect environment for the undesirable things like pests and weeds – definitely now a welcome change!
54 D. The ‘snow-reliable’ resort is later explained as one that gets at least 100 days of snow with 30 centimetres of it on the slopes.
55 C. Most of the paragraph focuses on learning methods and how they are interconnected with environmental awareness, so the answer is quite obvious here.
56 B. This one is a bit misleading and refers to the author, not knowing until recently that the marine biome is the one with no distinct seasonal changes.
Click to download this CAE Reading and Use of English worksheet in PDF