Part 6

You are going to read an article about trips for school children. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. 

Field trips for school children

For many years, school children in the US have been taken on ‘field trips’ to cultural institutions such as museums of art and of science, as well as theatres, zoos and historical sites.

Despite these trips involving some expense and disruption to class timetables, educators arrange them in the belief that schools exist not only to teach economically useful skills, but also to produce civilised young people who appreciate the arts and culture. 37 __. So you could say that taking school students on field trips is a means of giving everyone equal access to their cultural heritage.

However, there have been increasing signs in recent years that the attitude towards field trips is changing, with the number of tours organised for school groups falling significantly in museums all around the country. Take the Field Museum in Chicago, for example. It used to have over 300,000 students each year through its doors. That number has dropped to below 200,000 more recently. 38 __. A survey exploring the trend carried out by a group of school administrators found that over half the schools they asked had decided to cancel trips planned for the next academic year.

So what are the reasons for this change? The most obvious one is the issue of finance. Because there are increasing demands on their funds (computers and sports facilities aren’t cheap), schools are forced to make a difficult choice about how to spend the limited money they have. 39 __. A significant number of school heads also consider days spent away from school a waste of time, believing that the only worthwhile use of students’ time is spent preparing for exams in the classroom.

Although school trips do still happen, the nature of these field days is also changing. Schools increasingly use trips as a treat for students who work hard, rather than as an opportunity for cultural learning. They are taken to amusement parks or sporting events instead of to museums and historical sites. 40 __. In a recent survey, 500 Arkansas teachers were asked about the purpose of trips they organised. Older teachers were significantly more likely to believe the primary purpose of a field trip was to provide a learning experience than younger teachers, who mostly saw the main point of a trip as fun.

But why should anybody worry if school children go on fewer trips? Those that believe this is a negative development in education would say that cultural field trips contribute to the development of students into well-educated adults who have a healthy interest in history and the arts. 41 __.

One exception is the research led by Jay P. Greene at Arkansas University. His team found that students who received a tour of an art museum significantly improved their knowledge of and ability to think critically about art. 42 __. The researchers warn that if schools cut field trips or switch from ‘reward’ trips to less educational destinations, then valuable opportunities to broaden and enrich children’s learning experiences are lost.

A. This shift to ‘reward’ field trips could have a basis in generational differences between teachers’ reasons for organising days out of school.
B. However, there is little evidence to support this argument, as few studies into the effect of field trips have been done.
C. An online tour of the museum, during which they viewed and discussed five paintings, made little impact on students.
D. Faced with this dilemma, field trips are an obvious thing to cut since they are seen by many as a luxury.
E. While there are parents who will take their children to cultural places and events in their free time, there are plenty of other children who will never have this kind of opportunity unless schools offer it
F. They also displayed stronger historical empathy and were more likely to visit cultural institutions in the future.
G. A similar pattern is emerging in many other areas of the country, and is set to continue.

Part 7

You are going to read five paragraphs from the website of a wildlife conservation organisation. For questions 43 – 52, choose from the sections (A – E). The people may be chosen more than once.

Which paragraph…

43. points out that some aspects of the volunteers’ work is surprisingly challenging? __
44. includes a promise about the excellence of some services it offers? __
45. says that the organisation is keen to recruit people who have a certain hobby? __
46. lists a number of threats to animals that live in the sea? __
47. mentions the length of time that the organisation has existed? __
48. outlines the characteristics that are useful for volunteers to have? __
49. warns that the measures taken to protect one species are not enough? __
50. mentions features which can help distinguish one animal from another of the same species? __
51. mentions how the organisation informs the public about its research findings? __
52. describes the process involved in one kind of information-gathering session? __

The Sea Mammal Institute

A
The Sea Mammal Institute is a wildlife conservation organisation set up to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises. Our team of professional researchers work together with volunteers to identify and monitor the numbers and locations of these creatures in order to gain valuable knowledge of the state of our ocean environment, and the impact of climate change, noise disturbance, chemical pollution and overfishing in our seas. We are also proud of the educational role we perform, increasing public knowledge and understanding of sea mammals, and passing on what our data has taught us through community group talks and school visits.

B
Our organisation relies heavily on volunteers, who help collect data and then input, organise and analyse it. Volunteers interested in photography are always very welcome to help update our photo-identification catalogue – a collection of pictures of all the different species we monitor – and organise our ever-growing image library. If you would like to be a volunteer, the most straightforward way to get involved is to contact the organisation’s co-ordinator in your area, and join him or her for a sea watch. Anyone with enthusiasm and a pair of binoculars can take part – and, as you’ll learn if you join us, patience is pretty essential too!

C
Although we are pleased to receive any information on public sightings of whales, dolphins and porpoises, it is also important for us to have ‘effort-related’ data collected by trained volunteers. ‘Effort-related’ data is that recorded by observers who time their watch and note down specific environmental data every 15 minutes. It doesn’t matter how long each watch is, provided that its date and location are carefully noted down along with any details about sightings of sea creatures. We emphasise the need to do some basic training in observation before taking part in a watch because it’s not as simple as it sounds. For example, despite the bottlenose dolphin being probably the best-known type of dolphin, it is in fact rather tricky to identify with any confidence, since it has no clear pattern markings. The upper part of its body is plain dark brown and the underside is a paler brown or grey. So volunteers need plenty of guidance regarding how exactly to recognise it.

D
The Sea Mammal Institute has been running courses for over twenty years, making it the most experienced organisation for training observers and students interested in sea animals in the country. It provides staff training for leading conservation organisations, and guarantees a very high quality of training from expert course leaders. The two-day introductory course recommended for new volunteer observers teaches participants the basics of how to identify different species, estimate group size, distinguish between calves, juveniles and adults and to assess the state of the sea. Plenty of practice conducting both land and boat-based surveys is given. Also included are sessions on basic photographic techniques to enable observers to identify an individual animal through distinctive markings, body size or injury scars.

E
One of the strengths of our organisation is that we do long-term, continuous research. Over the 25 years since Sea Watch was set up, some significant insights have resulted from this research. For example, our monitoring of bottlenose dolphins shows that even in locations that are already controlled conservation areas, large numbers of motorised boats may be causing changes in their behaviour. Although strict codes of conduct stop boats approaching dolphins too closely or too fast, it is believed that the creatures’ social structures are being affected by the presence of so many boats in these areas.

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