• Author / Uploaded
• Elvira Pallares Gallego

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WEATHER FORECASTING You are going to read a text about weather forecasting. Read questions 1-6 carefully and choose the option (a, b or c) that best completes each statement. Mark (X) the correct option in the space provided. Only one option is correct. Answers must be based exclusively on the information in the text. Cyclones in India, hurricanes in the Caribbean – severe weather events make news headlines almost weekly. Yet even in Britain, which has comparatively fewer climate extremes, the country is still governed by the weather. If it is pouring with rain, the British might stay indoors or go to the cinema; if it’s fine they’ll have a picnic. Most people nervously study the weather forecast the evening before if they’ve got an important appointment the following day. Even if they have nothing planned, the weather often affects their mood. For individuals, the worst that can usually happen if the weather catches them on the hop is that they get wet. For business, the effects are far more serious. Airlines and shipping companies need to avoid severe weather and stormforce conditions. Power companies need to make sure they can supply the demand for electricity in cold weather; farmers plan their harvest around the forecast and food manufactures increase their production of salads and other summer foods when fine weather is promised. So who or what do meteorologists -weather forecasters as they are more commonly known - rely on when it comes to producing a forecast? Ninety per cent of the information comes from weather satellites, the first of which was launched into space nearly forty years ago and was a minor revolution in the science of forecasting. Upon until then, forecasters had relied on human observers to provide details of developing weather systems. As a result, many parts of the world where there were few humans around, especially the oceans, were information-free weather areas. Today, however, satellites can watch weather patterns developing everywhere. In the UK meteorologists have also relied on releasing four weather ballons a day from eight fixed sites. These ballons measure wind, temperature and humidity as they rise upwards to a height of 26,000 metres. Some commercial aircraft can also be fitted with a range of forecasting instruments although this system has certain disadvantages. For example, it can provide a great deal of information about the weather on popular routes, such as London to New York, but little about the weather on more out-of-the-way routes. Instruments aboard ships can also supply basic weather information as well as important data on wave height. Generally, the range of these instruments is fairly limited but they can indicate which direction rain is coming from, how low the cloud is and give an idea of when the weather system will reach land. One forecaster who has made a name for himself is a man called Piers Corbyn, who bases his forecasts on watching the Sun. Most forecasters will offer forecasts for only ten days ahead, but Corbyn’s forecasts are for 11 months. Although most meteorologists believe that there is no scientific basis for his work, Corbyn’s forecasts are used by insurance companies who want to plan months in advance. 1.

The weather affects people’s lives in Britain despite being…

□ a)

fairly moderate.

□ b)

so changeable.

□ c)

very seasonal.

Examiner’s use only

2.

By ‘catches them on the hop’ we understand that people are…

□ a)

far from home.

□ b)

too busy to notice.

□ c)

unprepared.

3.

The writer lists so many different businesses to show...

□ a)

examples of ordinary people’s lives.

□ b)

the extent of the weather’s influence.

□ c)

how people manage in bad weather.

4.

The first weather satellite is a ‘minor revolution’ because it

□ a)

forecast the weather in space.

□ b)

provided extra forecasts.

□ c)

replaced human observers.

5.

Using airplanes to help forecast the weather is…

□ a)

not ideal.

□ b)

not very expensive.

□ c)

quite new.

6.

Corbyn’s forecasts using the Sun are considered…

□ a)

helpful but short-term.

□ b)

unhelpful in the long-term.

□ c)

useful by some people.

KEY: 1A

2A

3B

4A

5A

6C

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Examiner’s use only

Examiner’s use only

Examiner’s use only

Examiner’s use only

GLOBAL WARMING Read the article about global warming. Read statements 1-7, decide whether they are TRUE or FALSE and mark the correct option (X) in the space provided. Answers must be based exclusively on the information in the text.

Until recently evidence that the world’s weather is becoming more extreme and harder to predict was largely anecdotal, without the support of any factual proof, and often angrily argued over. The majority of scientists pointed out that drawing conclusions based on a couple of scorching hot summers or a particularly damp spring was misleading. There have always been occasional weather extremes, and, although it’s tempting to believe the contrary, single events do not indicate a general change to the climate. However, a study by the World Weather Organization suggests that there may well be factual evidence to support the idea that the world’s weather patterns are changing. By recording weather events over the past two decades, the organization has been able to ascertain that the number, although not necessarily the strength of, such extreme weather events as floods, droughts, and tornadoes has risen. Moreover, it predicts that weather events we now consider unusual will have become the norm by the end of the next decade. The world’s climate has been setting new records over the last year. Just over 500 tornadoes hit the United States in May, causing untold damage, and breaking the previous monthly record by more than 100. A heat wave in India killed hundreds, with temperatures rising to an astonishing 49 degrees Celsius, and also breaking all sorts of records. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka resulted in terrible floods and many casualties. And parts of Europe recorded average summer temperatures five degrees above what would normally be expected. Looked at separately, none of these events is particularly remarkable, but when put together they represent a clear and worrying change to the world’s climate. As a general rule, the World Weather Organization only compiles and reports its statistics. However, the figures for the last year were so alarming that the organization felt compelled to issue a warning of sorts. It pointed out that the increase in the world’s temperature was greater between 1900 and 2000 than it had been for any other 100year period during the past 1,000 years. Not only that, but temperatures from 1976 to 2000 rose at a faster rate than the previous 75 years when surface temperatures warmed up in an uneven way. So, what or who is to blame? The World Weather Organization avoids this question, defining its own role as a gatherer rather than an interpreter of information. The study recognizes that global warming is taking place, and points out that the figures are irrefutable in this respect, but it has no opinion about whether global warming is a natural phenomenon or one that humans are directly responsible for.

STATEMENTS

T

1.

Before the World Weather Organization’s study, most scientists agreed that the world’s weather was, in general terms, becoming more extreme.

2.

Scientists argue that one or two periods of unusual weather does not mean the climate is changing.

3.

The World Weather Organization carried out a study of weather events from the last twenty years.

4.

The World Weather Organization’s study proved that droughts are much more common than in the past.

5.

As with previous studies, the World Weather Organization used this study to argue that global warming was happening.

6.

The World Weather Organization warned that the figures showed that global temperatures increased at the same speed for the whole of the 20th century.

7.

According to the study, people are responsible for global warming.

KEY 1F

2T

3T

4T

5F

6F

7F

F