UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI URBINO CARLO BO Centro Linguistico d Ateneo

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1 UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI URBINO CARLO BO Centro Linguistico d Ateneo Facoltà di Scienze e Tecnologie Livello B1 Scienze Biologiche - Analisi Chimico/Biologiche - Scienze Geologiche -Informatica Applicata - Scienze e Tecnologie per la Natura Part I Reading Comprehension Test 3 Romanticism undone: Invasive species, global warming taking toll on plants at Thoreau s Walden Pond. Henry David Thoreau famously catalogued the plants around Walden Pond more than 150 years ago. And the information he gathered then is helping to illustrate the effects of invasive species and global warming in the area today. According to a paper published January 26 in the journal PLoS ONE, climate change has given invasive and nonnative species a leg up in the Walden Pond area, and native species are the losers. (A nonnative species is considered invasive if it has the potential to disperse widely and rapidly, especially within habitats that are minimally maintained by humans. ) Reseachers compared Thoreau s information with data on temperature and plant populations from this century as well as full information on plant phenology (flowering time, germination, migration, and other seasonal activities). They found that the average temperature in Concord Mass., has increased 2.4 degrees Celsius since Thoreau s time, and that some nonnative plants have adapted by flowering as much as three weeks earlier than they used to. Some native species, by contrast, were less flexible and have not been able to adjust their flowering times. As a result, their populations have dropped. These results demonstrate for the first time that climate change likely plays a direct role in promoting nonnative species success, senior author Charles C. Davis an assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, said in a prepared statement. Our research suggests quite decisively that nonnative and invasive species have been the climate change winners. Climate change will lead to an as yet unknown shuffling of species and it appears that invasive species will become more dominant. The team didn t just count the plants to come up with this observation. They also examined habitat, plant height at maturity, leaf mass per area, flower diameter, pollination syndrome and seed weight to come up with a full picture of the health of the species in the area. This isn t the first time that Davis and his colleagues have studies Walden s plants. Two years ago they found that 27 percent of the plant species Thoreau recorded from 1851 to 1858 are now locally extinct. Another 36 percent are so sparse that extinction may be imminent, they wrote in a previous paper. At that time, species like lilies, orchids, violets, roses and dogwoods were shown to have the biggest losses. 1

2 Read the article and tick (ü) A, B, or C. 1. Henry David Thoreau was born in Thoreau s observations on the plant life around Walden Pond are very useful to researchers today. 3. Scientists classify all nonnative species as invasive species. 4. The average temperature today in Concord. Massachusetts is higher than the average temperature when Henry David Thoreau lived there. 5. Some plants can change the time when their flowers open (flowering time). 6. Thoreau made very detailed drawings of the plants around Walden Pond. 7. The Harvard researchers observed many different aspects of the plants they studied. 8. Research results showed that nonnative species of plants were better at adapting to changing conditions. 9. The research team will continue to observe the plants in the area around Walden Pond. 10. Previous research showed that all of the plant species recorded by Thoreau 150 years ago are still present in the area. 2

3 Match the underlined words or expressions in the text to the word or expression with a similar meaning below. 1. = announcement 2. = when an animal or plant no longer exists 3. = existing in small amounts 4. = looked for and found 5. = a boost 6. = the type of place that a particular animal usually lives in or a particular plant usually grows in 7. = cause 8. = to have been reduced to a lower amount What do these words refer to? Choose (a), (b), or (c). 9. their (line 15 ) (a) average temperatures (b) nonnative species (c) native species 10. They (line 24) (a) plants (b) members of the research team (c) observations PART II Present Simple and Present Continuous Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. 1. Carla... five languages. (speak) 2. I... really long hours at the moment. (work) 3. His grandfather is eighty-seven now; he... to lose his memory. (start) 4. Ron... surfing. (like) 3

4 Past Simple / Present Perfect Simple Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. 5. Cigarette? No thanks. I... for years. (not/ smoke) 6. Penny... work at five o clock yesterday. (leave) 7. I... a funnier film. You must see it! (never /see) 8. I... a lot of interesting people at the party. (meet) Complete with going to and a verb from the box, There are two extra options which you do not need to use. be buy win play see travel do stay in Example: What film are you... tonight? What film are you going to see tonight? 9. I am... my first bungee-jump next Saturday. 10. We aren t... tennis this weekend. 11. I am... a new computer soon. 12. We are... tonight and take it easy. 13. Carlo and Roberta are... around Spain this summer. Write sentences with will/won t Use contractions where you can. It/ be difficult [+] It ll be difficult. + use positive form - use negative form? use question form 14. They/win [-] The meeting / be long [?] I m sure / he / pass the exam [+] You / like the film [-]... Relative Clauses Complete the sentences with a relative pronoun: who, which, where, whose, that. 18. That s the café... we met for the first time. 19. I don t like people... main concern is money. 20. A microscope is a thing... we use to look at very small things. 21. The woman... called this morning didn t leave a message. 22. On this map you can see the little town... I was born. 4

5 Comparatives and Superlatives Complete the following sentences using a suitable form of the adjectives in brackets. Add than, the or as if necessary. 23. Children learn languages... adults. (fast) 24. It s... city in the world. (polluted) 25. This is... time to drive through the city. (bad) 26. Gold is... silver. (valuable) Complete the sentences using can, can t, could, couldn t, or was/were able to. 27. My grandfather was a very clever man. He.speak five languages. 28. He play the guitar very well but he s an excellent singer. 29. A girl fell into the river but fortunately we rescue her. 30. I looked everywhere for the book but I.find it. 31. You should take the bus because you.. park downtown. Quantity expressions with countable and uncountable nouns: Complete the following sentences with: some, any, much, many, a lot of. 32. How... kilometers do you run each week? 33. Let me give you... advice. 34. There aren t... dinosaurs in the world today because they died out millions of years ago. 35. There are... people waiting to see you. 36. We haven t got...time. Re write the sentences in the passive voice. Example: Van Gogh painted this picture of sunflowers. This picture of sunflowers was painted by Van Gogh. 37. Alexander Flemming discovered Penicillin in Penicillin We keep the information on our computer. The information The police are questioning two men. Two men We will choose a new class representative on Monday. A new class representative... 5

6 Answer Key Reading Comprehension 1. C - Doesn t say 2. A True 3. B - False 4. A True 5. A True 6. C Doesn t say 7. A true 8. A true 9. C Doesn t say 10. B False Vocabulary 1. statement 2. extinction 3. sparse 4. gathered 5. a leg up 6. habitats 7. lead to 8. dropped 9. ( c ) native species 10. ( b) members of the research team Part II 1. speaks 2. am working 3. is starting 4. likes 5. haven t smoked 6. left 7. have never seen 8. met 9. going to do 10. going to play 11. going to buy 12. going to stay in 13. going to travel 14. they won t win. 15. Will the meeting be long? 16. I m sure he ll pass the exam. 17. You won t like the film. 18. where 19. whose 20. which/ that 21. who 22. where 23. faster than 24. the most polluted 25. the worst 26. more valuable than 27. could 28. can t 29. were able to 30. couldn t 31. can t 32. many 33. some 34. any 35. some / a lot of 36. any/ much / a lot of 37. Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Flemming. 38. The information is kept on our computer. 39. Two men are being questioned by the police. 40. A new class representative will be chosen on Monday.