Part 6

You are going to read a magazine article about a volcano in New Zealand, now a nature reserve, and the experience of the native people in the past when it erupted. 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. 

Rangitoto
By Alastair Jamieson

Off-track the ground is menacing. Lava, like angry waves frozen in mid-chop only moments ago, claws at the soles of my boots and threatens to shred my knees if I place a foot wrong. The surface is so uneven that progress is extraordinarily difficult. Occasional smooth stone channels course like petrified streams through the rougher ground, their solid surfaces a welcome pathway amid teetering plates of broken lava and treacherous bouldery rubble. Out of the shade of the dense thickets of bush, it’s as hot as a furnace. All that black rock absorbs and radiates enough heat to melt Antarctica. It’s as hostile a spot as you could find anywhere in New Zealand, yet when I turn around, there is downtown Auckland in plain view just a few kilometres away.

37 __. Its symmetrical cone is a relaxed cousin of those higher and steeper volcanoes Taranaki and Ngauruhoe but Rangitoto is a truly astonishing wilderness right on the doorstep of the city. Landing on the island, the graceful sweeping curves seen from a distance quickly give way to a magnificent mosaic of the tortuous lava I’ve been scrambling through and scrubby, impenetrable pohutukawa forest.

Of course, it was not always like this. 38 __. However, the emergence of the youngest and largest of the fifty-odd volcanoes in Auckland’s volcanic field was witnessed by Maori living on adjacent Motutapu Island.

The persistent yelping of dogs might first have awoken them. Soon afterwards there would have been a thundering roar. The vibration of the sandy ground beneath them would surely have jolted them from their homes. 39 __. A wind shift and the familiar smells of the camp – wood smoke, the sea, and even the penetrating stench of shark flesh drying on frames – were soon overpowered by the pungent, suffocating odour of sulphur dioxide.

Running across the beach and dragging boats into the sea, shoals of dead fish bumped against their legs as they waded into the cold shallows. 40 __. Looking behind them, the cataclysm was becoming clearer in the first light of day. Black clouds were blasting out from the base of a roiling column of steam, flying boulders were arcing white streamers through the sky and splashing into the sea.

41 __.The footprints of a small group of adults and children were found sandwiched between layers of Rangitoto ash. Markings show where the ground was prodded with sticks and that one of the dogs with the group paused to drink from a puddle. 42 __. Whether these people were foolhardy or brave, lured by curiosity, or a desire to retrieve their treasured possessions, we’ll never know

A. The familiar form of Rangitoto did not exist for generations of Maori who first inhabited the surrounding lands.
B. The low black cliffs of Rangitoto are just 1500m away, the centre of the eruption only 3 km further.
C. The impressions were so well preserved that the next blanket of ash must have spewed from Rangitoto soon after they were made.
D. Paddling hard towards safety, the first wet ash began to fall, sticky and abrasive.
E. Outside, the familiar stars above and the scatter of bright campfires along the shore to the west was hidden by a pall of steam, strobed by lightning and lit by a ferocious fiery glow from beneath.
F. No landform is more familiar to Aucklanders than Rangitoto Island and yet how many of them ever go there?
G. Proof exists that in the weeks or months following the onset of the eruption, people came back to their campsite on Motutapu Island.

Part 7

You are going to read five different people’s opinions about time travel. For questions 43-52, choose from the people (A-E). The people may be chosen more than once.

Which person…
43. thinks its best to appreciate the present? __
44. would make a different relationship decision? __
45. would try to help a family member? __
46. offers contemporary travel advice? __
47. is probably at least 50 years old? __
48. is interested in history? __
49. is put-off by old-fashioned clothes? __
50. thinks of impressing others? __
51. would make an investment? __
52. would not expect time travellers in general to receive a friendly welcome ? __

Time Travel

A Charlie
I’d travel back to the year I was born, and live my life again, but only if I could know then what I know now! I’d love to see my parents and grandparents again. I’d persuade my dad to stop smoking, so that he wouldn’t die so young. On the other hand, in the present, I have two wonderful grown-up children and two precious grandchildren. Perhaps the answer is to make the best of the present and stop hankering after the past. If I could visit other times just for a day, I’d love to meet my parents as children, and go into the future to meet the great-great grandchildren I’ll not live to see!

B Chloe
I would not exchange today for any previous era. I have studied a lot of history and whilst I would be interested in certain eras there would be difficulties. For example, Tudor times – interesting, but as a Catholic I might have had my head chopped off; eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – exciting, but too many petticoats to wear, never mind about corsets. Then there is the lack of education and opportunity for women to consider, and the lack of medical knowledge. No, today is the best time to live. Having said that, I would not mind the opportunity to take tea with Miss Austen – she would have been enormous fun.

C Emily
Go back in time? Who’d want that? I mean, as soon as some people spotted you, you’d be the odd one out. And if you went back in time with all that futuristic equipment on and, for example, the alarm clock on your watch went off, you would be denounced as a devil; tortured, quartered and drawn, and then burnt at the stake! Travel to the future and you’d be a museum artifact! You’d be seen as some sort of primitive beast! I’m fine where I am at the moment, thank you. Also, to those of you intending to prevent the election/birth of various politicians, it won’t work; if you succeeded, then you would have no incentive to do so, and thus wouldn’t have gone. That’s the paradox.

D Jack
I have always dreamed of being a sailor in the merchant navy between 1920 and 1940. At that time, travelling to foreign ports like Yokohama, Saigon, Rangoon, Surabaya and such would have been the same as space travel is today. Imagine coming home after a long voyage, and telling the people in the pub all about your travels! You’d have such stories to tell! I have seen the majority of the world’s cities now, and most look exactly the same as each other. If you want to travel somewhere that is still unique today, without the time machine, see Asia but steer clear of package tours. And hurry; do it now before it all becomes McDonaldised.

E Liam
I’d go back maybe about five years and try to do a better job this time. I would never have ended the relationship with the love of my life. I wish I could’ve known better, and understood then what I understand now. I would also stay at college. I’d register 250 of the best internet domains possible, so by now I’d be a billionaire without having done a thing. But I wouldn’t be selfish; I would change the world for the better with the money. Money can save lives and do unbelievable things in the right hands. Plus, I would have the girl! Oh well, back to reality.

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