Read and listen to the fact sheet again. Answer the questions.

1. What is true about the amount of water on Earth?

2. Why does water vapour condense?

3. What happens to a glass of water on a hot day?

4. Name two forms of precipitation. Do you know any more?

5. What are the three states that water can be in?

                                        THE WATER CYCLE

Now here is a challenge for you. Go and get a glass of water and take a look at it. Can you guess how old it is? Well, your water perhaps fell from a cloud just a couple of weeks ago, but it has been around for the same length of time as planet Earth! That means that your glass of water was around when the first creatures swam in the sea and when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. But how is this possible?

The fact is that the quantity of water on the Earth remains the same over time and it constantly goes through the water cycle. In the cycle, there is continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Firstly, the sun heats the water in the rivers, seas and oceans, and it evaporates into the air. Plants and trees lose water, too, and this also goes up into the air. The water vapour then cools and condenses into small drops which form clouds. You can see how condensation happens if you look again at your glass of water on a hot day. After a short time, water from the air condenses onto the cold glass. Back to the sky, though, and the next step is that the clouds gradually get heavier and heavier until they can’t hold the water any more, and it falls to Earth as rain, sleet or snow.

Water can change state from liquid to vapour to solid during the cycle, but any form of water that falls from the clouds is called precipitation. When on Earth, some of the water runs into rivers, lakes and streams and becomes surface water. Some enters the ground and forms underground rivers or lakes before eventually flowing back to the seas and oceans. The cycle is complete.

Read and listen to the article again and answer the questions.

1. What problem will we have in the next thirty years?

2. Why are insects the solution?

3. What does the word they in bold refer to?

4. In what parts of the world do people eat insects?

                                                  The food of the future

                                       INSECTS - The superfood of the future

There are a lot of hungry people in the world, so how do we deal with it? In the next thirty years, we'll need to provide enough protein for billions more mouths, and with all these extra people there will be even less space for farming. One solution is for us to eat insects. They are a great source of protein and they don't need as much space or water as farm animals.

So why don't we eat insects regularly? The fact is that many people in Asia, Africa and South America already do. The problem is that Europeans and North Americans don't want to. Some governments are now trying to convince them why it is a good idea. The Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen, for example, developed the 'Insect Deliciousness' project. Its chefs have been to five continents to discover an incredible world of insect flavour. In Australia, they tasted honey ants. They ate fried caterpillars in Tanzania, and in Mexico, they enjoyed desert-ant eggs. Will they and other similar organisations persuade Europeans and Americans to take a bite from a caterpillar or an ant? What's your view? How many people will eat insects in the future? How much food made with insects will you eat?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42.

Life in the Universe

Exobiology is the study of life that originates from outside of Earth. As yet, of course, no such life forms have been found. Exobiologists, however, have done important work in the theoretical study of where life is most likely to evolve, and what those extrateưestrial life forms might be like.

What sorts of planets are most likely to develop life? Most scientists agree that a habitable planet must be terrestrial, or rock-based, with liquid surface water and biogeochemical cycles that somewhat resemble Earth’s. Water is an important solvent involved in many biological processes. Biogeochemical cycles are the continuous movement and transformation of materials in the environment. These cycles include the circulation of elements and nutrients upon which life and the Earth’s climate depend. Since (as far as we know) all life is carbon-based, a stable carbon cycle is especially important.

The habitable zone is the region around a star in which planets can develop life. Assuming the need for liquid surface water, it follows that most stars around the size of our sun will be able to sustain habitable zones for billions of years. Stars that are larger than the sun are much hotter and bum out more quickly; life there may not have enough time to evolve. Stars that are smaller than the sun have different problem. First of all, planets in their habitable zones will be so close to the star that they will be “tidally locked” – that is one side of the planet will always face the star in perpetual daylight with the other side in the perpetual night. Another possible obstacle to life on smaller stars is that they tend to vary in their luminosity, or brightness, due to flares and “star spots”. The variation can be large enough to have harmful effects on the ecosystem.

Of course, not all stars of the right size will give rise to life; they also must have terrestrial planets with the right kind of orbits. Most solar systems have more than one planet, which influence each other’s orbits with their own gravity. Therefore, in order to have a stable system with no planets flying out into space, the orbits must be a good distance from one another. Interestingly, the amount of space needed is roughly the width of a star’s habitable zone. This means that for life to evolve, the largest possible number of life-supporting planets in any star’s habitable zone is two.

Finally, not all planets meeting the above conditions will necessarily develop life. One major threat is large, frequent asteroid and comet impacts, which will wipe out life each time it tries to evolve. The case of Earth teaches that having large gas giants, such as Saturn and Jupiter,.in the outer part of the solar system can help keep a planet safe for life. Due to their strong gravitation, they tend to catch or deflect large objects before they can reach Earth

What is the topic of the passage?

A. The search for intelligent life

B. Conditions necessary for life

C. Characteristics of extraterrestrial life

D. Life in our solar system

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42.

Life in the Universe

   Exobiology is the study of life that originates from outside of Earth. As yet, of course, no such life forms have been found. Exobiologists, however, have done important work in the theoretical study of where life is most likely to evolve, and what those extrateưestrial life forms might be like.

   What sorts of planets are most likely to develop life? Most scientists agree that a habitable planet must be terrestrial, or rock-based, with liquid surface water and biogeochemical cycles that somewhat resemble Earth’s. Water is an important solvent involved in many biological processes. Biogeochemical cycles are the continuous movement and transformation of materials in the environment. These cycles include the circulation of elements and nutrients upon which life and the Earth’s climate depend. Since (as far as we know) all life is carbon-based, a stable carbon cycle is especially important.

   The habitable zone is the region around a star in which planets can develop life. Assuming the need for liquid surface water, it follows that most stars around the size of our sun will be able to sustain habitable zones for billions of years. Stars that are larger than the sun are much hotter and bum out more quickly; life there may not have enough time to evolve. Stars that are smaller than the sun have different problem. First of all, planets in their habitable zones will be so close to the star that they will be “tidally locked” – that is one side of the planet will always face the star in perpetual daylight with the other side in the perpetual night. Another possible obstacle to life on smaller stars is that they tend to vary in their luminosity, or brightness, due to flares and “star spots”. The variation can be large enough to have harmful effects on the ecosystem.

   Of course, not all stars of the right size will give rise to life; they also must have terrestrial planets with the right kind of orbits. Most solar systems have more than one planet, which influence each other’s orbits with their own gravity. Therefore, in order to have a stable system with no planets flying out into space, the orbits must be a good distance from one another. Interestingly, the amount of space needed is roughly the width of a star’s habitable zone. This means that for life to evolve, the largest possible number of life-supporting planets in any star’s habitable zone is two.

   Finally, not all planets meeting the above conditions will necessarily develop life. One major threat is large, frequent asteroid and comet impacts, which will wipe out life each time it tries to evolve. The case of Earth teaches that having large gas giants, such as Saturn and Jupiter,.in the outer part of the solar system can help keep a planet safe for life. Due to their strong gravitation, they tend to catch or deflect large objects before they can reach Earth.

What is the topic of the passage?

A. The search for intelligent life 

B. Conditions necessary for life

C. Characteristics of extraterrestrial life

D. Life in our solar system

Read and listen to the article again and answer the questions.

1. What time of year do most teenagers do work experience in the UK?

2. Why does the writer think work experience is useful?

3. How long are placements?

4. What does Paul want to do when he finishes school?

The world of work experience

Forget relaxing with friends. The end of the school year is a time for working for most fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds in the UK. Around half a million teenagers in the UK do work experience every summer. This is a useful way to find out which jobs you might enjoy in the future. It is also important when you apply for university, or get a job in the future. For example, if you want to study to be an engineer, you could do work experience with a car manufacturer. Other popular work experience placements are in teaching, marketing, media, and finance. Placements usually last two weeks. Some teenagers have no idea what job they want to do. In this case, they need to think about their passions. For example, if you are interested in music, you could work in a music shop. Alternatively, if you love animals, you could work on a farm.

My work experience: Hi, I’m Paul, and I’ve just done two weeks’ work experience on a farm near where I live. It was brilliant. I enjoyed giving the animals their food in the morning. I also made sure the animals had exercise and I kept everything clean. At night, I helped to put the animals inside. It was hard work but I loved it. I hope the farm will give me a job when I finish school.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

  The air above our head is becoming cleaner. A breath of fresh air has been running right round the planet for the past five years. The planet is apparently purging itself of pollution. Paul Novell of the University of Colorado, the co-author of a report on this phenomenon says, “It seems as if the planet’s own cleaning service has suddenly got a new lease of life. Suddenly, there are a lot of changes going on up there”.

  Estimates of the death toll from urban smog have been steadily rising, so the new cleaner trend could have significant consequences for life expectancy in cities as well as for the planet itself. The sudden and unexpected reversal of several decades of worsening pollution extends from the air in city streets to the remotest mid-Pacific Ocean and Antarctica.

   Among the pollutants which have begun to disappear from the atmosphere are carbon monoxide, from car exhaust and burning rain forests, and methane from the guts of cattle, paddy fields, and gas fields. Even carbon dioxide, the main gas behind global warning, has fallen slightly.

   There are two theories about why pollution is disappearing. First that there is less pollution to start with due to laws to cut down urban smogs and acid rain starting to have a global impact. Second, that the planet may be becoming more efficient at cleaning up.

   The main planetary clean-up agent is a chemical called hydroxyl. It is present throughout the atmosphere in tiny quantities and removes most pollutants from the air by oxidizing them. The amount of hydroxyl in the air has fallen by a quarter in 1980s. Now it may be reviving for two reasons: ironically, because the ozone hole has expanded, letting in more ultraviolet radiation into the lower atmosphere, where it manufactures hydroxyl. Then the stricter controls on vehicle exhausts in America and Europe may have cut global carbon monoxide emissions, thereby allowing more hydroxyl to clean up other pollutants.

Question: Based on information in the passage, all of the following information referring to hydroxyl is true EXCEPT __________.

A. oxidization of pollutants is carried out by hydroxyl.

B. ultraviolet radiation increases production of hydroxyl.

C. there is difficulty in destroying carbon dioxide by hydroxyl.

D. the reduction in the ozone layer is beneficial to hydroxyl.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

  The air above our head is becoming cleaner. A breath of fresh air has been running right round the planet for the past five years. The planet is apparently purging itself of pollution. Paul Novell of the University of Colorado, the co-author of a report on this phenomenon says, “It seems as if the planet’s own cleaning service has suddenly got a new lease of life. Suddenly, there are a lot of changes going on up there”.

  Estimates of the death toll from urban smog have been steadily rising, so the new cleaner trend could have significant consequences for life expectancy in cities as well as for the planet itself. The sudden and unexpected reversal of several decades of worsening pollution extends from the air in city streets to the remotest mid-Pacific Ocean and Antarctica.

   Among the pollutants which have begun to disappear from the atmosphere are carbon monoxide, from car exhaust and burning rain forests, and methane from the guts of cattle, paddy fields, and gas fields. Even carbon dioxide, the main gas behind global warning, has fallen slightly.

   There are two theories about why pollution is disappearing. First that there is less pollution to start with due to laws to cut down urban smogs and acid rain starting to have a global impact. Second, that the planet may be becoming more efficient at cleaning up.

   The main planetary clean-up agent is a chemical called hydroxyl. It is present throughout the atmosphere in tiny quantities and removes most pollutants from the air by oxidizing them. The amount of hydroxyl in the air has fallen by a quarter in 1980s. Now it may be reviving for two reasons: ironically, because the ozone hole has expanded, letting in more ultraviolet radiation into the lower atmosphere, where it manufactures hydroxyl. Then the stricter controls on vehicle exhausts in America and Europe may have cut global carbon monoxide emissions, thereby allowing more hydroxyl to clean up other pollutants.

Question: The passage supports which of the following conclusion?

A. An expansion in hydroxyl has enlarged the ozone hole.

B. The decrease of methane has enabled ultraviolet radiation to enter the atmosphere.

C. The reduction in carbon dioxide has produced a cleaner atmosphere.

D. The beneficial effect of hydroxyl has aided the cleaning process.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42.

Life in the Universe

Exobiology is the study of life that originates from outside of Earth. As yet, of course, no such life forms have been found. Exobiologists, however, have done important work in the theoretical study of where life is most likely to evolve, and what those extrateưestrial life forms might be like.

What sorts of planets are most likely to develop life? Most scientists agree that a habitable planet must be terrestrial, or rock-based, with liquid surface water and biogeochemical cycles that somewhat resemble Earth’s. Water is an important solvent involved in many biological processes. Biogeochemical cycles are the continuous movement and transformation of materials in the environment. These cycles include the circulation of elements and nutrients upon which life and the Earth’s climate depend. Since (as far as we know) all life is carbon-based, a stable carbon cycle is especially important.

The habitable zone is the region around a star in which planets can develop life. Assuming the need for liquid surface water, it follows that most stars around the size of our sun will be able to sustain habitable zones for billions of years. Stars that are larger than the sun are much hotter and bum out more quickly; life there may not have enough time to evolve. Stars that are smaller than the sun have different problem. First of all, planets in their habitable zones will be so close to the star that they will be “tidally locked” – that is one side of the planet will always face the star in perpetual daylight with the other side in the perpetual night. Another possible obstacle to life on smaller stars is that they tend to vary in their luminosity, or brightness, due to flares and “star spots”. The variation can be large enough to have harmful effects on the ecosystem.

Of course, not all stars of the right size will give rise to life; they also must have terrestrial planets with the right kind of orbits. Most solar systems have more than one planet, which influence each other’s orbits with their own gravity. Therefore, in order to have a stable system with no planets flying out into space, the orbits must be a good distance from one another. Interestingly, the amount of space needed is roughly the width of a star’s habitable zone. This means that for life to evolve, the largest possible number of life-supporting planets in any star’s habitable zone is two.

Finally, not all planets meeting the above conditions will necessarily develop life. One major threat is large, frequent asteroid and comet impacts, which will wipe out life each time it tries to evolve. The case of Earth teaches that having large gas giants, such as Saturn and Jupiter,.in the outer part of the solar system can help keep a planet safe for life. Due to their strong gravitation, they tend to catch or deflect large objects before they can reach Earth.

The word “which” in paragraph 3 refers to

A. star

B. zone

C. region

D. planet

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42.

Life in the Universe

   Exobiology is the study of life that originates from outside of Earth. As yet, of course, no such life forms have been found. Exobiologists, however, have done important work in the theoretical study of where life is most likely to evolve, and what those extrateưestrial life forms might be like.

   What sorts of planets are most likely to develop life? Most scientists agree that a habitable planet must be terrestrial, or rock-based, with liquid surface water and biogeochemical cycles that somewhat resemble Earth’s. Water is an important solvent involved in many biological processes. Biogeochemical cycles are the continuous movement and transformation of materials in the environment. These cycles include the circulation of elements and nutrients upon which life and the Earth’s climate depend. Since (as far as we know) all life is carbon-based, a stable carbon cycle is especially important.

   The habitable zone is the region around a star in which planets can develop life. Assuming the need for liquid surface water, it follows that most stars around the size of our sun will be able to sustain habitable zones for billions of years. Stars that are larger than the sun are much hotter and bum out more quickly; life there may not have enough time to evolve. Stars that are smaller than the sun have different problem. First of all, planets in their habitable zones will be so close to the star that they will be “tidally locked” – that is one side of the planet will always face the star in perpetual daylight with the other side in the perpetual night. Another possible obstacle to life on smaller stars is that they tend to vary in their luminosity, or brightness, due to flares and “star spots”. The variation can be large enough to have harmful effects on the ecosystem.

   Of course, not all stars of the right size will give rise to life; they also must have terrestrial planets with the right kind of orbits. Most solar systems have more than one planet, which influence each other’s orbits with their own gravity. Therefore, in order to have a stable system with no planets flying out into space, the orbits must be a good distance from one another. Interestingly, the amount of space needed is roughly the width of a star’s habitable zone. This means that for life to evolve, the largest possible number of life-supporting planets in any star’s habitable zone is two.

   Finally, not all planets meeting the above conditions will necessarily develop life. One major threat is large, frequent asteroid and comet impacts, which will wipe out life each time it tries to evolve. The case of Earth teaches that having large gas giants, such as Saturn and Jupiter,.in the outer part of the solar system can help keep a planet safe for life. Due to their strong gravitation, they tend to catch or deflect large objects before they can reach Earth.

The word “which” in paragraph 3 refers to

A. star 

B. zone 

C. region 

D. planet