UNIT 7

Nature & biology

SPEAKING  Adding detail to Exam skills
10
descriptions    page 68 
ANSWERS
Vocabulary eye pretty, colourful
3 ear noisy, thrilled
nose sweet, disgusting
ANSWERS
hand impressed, peaceful
1  c  2  a  3  b
11
4
ANSWERS
ANSWERS
Any one of the following answers:
1 humid, wet, dry, chilly
Sights: rocky bays / old, burnt cars / makes the sky look
2 mild, cool, changeable, overcast
colourful / It’s amazing to see
3 pleasant, sunny, stormy, windy
Sounds: noisy tour buses / children shouting
5 Smells: disgusting smell of sulphur
Sensations: a really peaceful place / warm clothing / fairly
ANSWERS chilly and cloudy near the top / worried faces / feel quite
pleasant, chilly, mild, cool scared
6 Grammar
ANSWERS 12
1 a mild describes winter weather that is warmer than
ANSWERS
usual; cool describes summer weather that is colder
absolutely
than usual
a little
b It is overcast when there is heavy cloud. When it is
fairly
stormy, there is also strong wind and rain.
a bit
2 a wet
quite
b stormy
really
c cool
3 a changeable, chilly, stormy, cool 13
b wet, stormy, humid
c mild, humid, cool, changeable ANSWERS
a little a bit fairly / quite pretty really
Grammar completely / absolutely / extremely
7
14
ANSWERS
ANSWERS
In Ecuador the temperature varies by region. By the coast,
1 absolutely
to the west of Ecuador, it is usually warm – about 25°C on
2 completely
average. However, the capital, Quito, is in the mountains and
3 a little, a bit
so its climate is fairly cool. During the day, it is just 18.9°C
and 10°C at night. There are seasonal changes, too. Between 15
January and April it is particularly hot and it rains a lot
ANSWERS
because it is the middle of the wet season.
1 absolutely 6 really
8 2 completely 7 pretty
3 really 8 quite
ANSWERS
4 pretty 9 a bit
1  It  2  There    3  There  4  It
5 A fairly
Exam practice
EXAM TIP  

ANSWER
The four Ss: sights, sounds, smells, and sensations.

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LISTENING  Labelling diagrams    page 70  9
ANSWERS
Topic focus 1 filter zone 4 waterfall
1 2 water plants 5 skimmer
POSSIBLE ANSWERS 3 pool bottom
A duck feet EXAM TIP  
B shell, galaxy
C bird’s beak ANSWER
Try to recognize smaller, individual words, using the context
Exam skills to help you to guess.

3 Exam practice
ANSWER 10
Option 4 – the lecture is about using nature to solve ANSWERS
problems. 1  wind pressure   2  nest  3  gardens  4  cellar  5  central
In the three pictures the problems represented are:
increasing speed (picture A), saving space (picture B), 11
improving strength and grip (picture C). In the diagram, ANSWERS
plants are being used to create a more attractive and 1  D  2  B  3  E  4  C
cleaner swimming environment.
Study skills
Key phrases
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4
The reading and listening papers can be prepared for most
ANSWERS easily because the answers are right or wrong and not as
in the top right corner UV filter and pump open to interpretation as the speaking and writing. For the
on the left silver or copper beads latter papers you usually rely on teacher feedback.
in the centre swimming area Speaking activities that might be useful:
on the right pump • Recording your voice and then playing it back can help
you to check things such as your pronunciation of words,
6 intonation, stress, and speed
ANSWERS • Look at some sample answers, which can act as models of
1 to the left 3 to the right both good and bad candidates
2 downwards 4 below • Record yourself doing a speaking exam – this allows you
to see yourself as the examiner will see you, encouraging
Vocabulary you to remain communicative
7 • Remember it’s important to always listen carefully to the
ANSWERS actual questions in the exam.
1 seabed 5 ice cap Writing activities that might be useful:
2 rainfall 6 waterfall • Analyse your own writing against model answers to
3 coastline 7 sea level assess possible strengths and weaknesses in your
4 rock pool 8 air pressure response, e.g. structure, register, grammatical accuracy.
Good model answers also provide examples of good
Exam skills writing practice
8 • Look at some samples of poor writing so you can consider
other weaknesses you need to avoid
ANSWERS • Read a lot – good reading samples usually provide good
1 hillside writing samples
2 cliff edge (the /f/ at the end of cliff connects to the • Write essay plans to get you used to generating and
beginning of edge) organizing ideas.
3 ice storm (the letter ‘c’ at the end of ice is pronounced /s/
and so joins with the /s/ at the beginning of storm)
4 windbreak (the /d/ at the end of wind almost sounds like WRITING  From topic sentence to
an /m/ because it combines with the /b/ sound at the
beginning of break)
paragraph    page 72 
5 pothole (the /t/ at the end of pot is normally difficult to Topic focus
hear or is dropped totally)
1
6 sea eagle (the vowel sound at the end of sea is the same
as the vowel at the beginning of eagle, so the two sounds ANSWERS
merge together) A  rat  B  cat  C  mosquito  D  gecko
It is sometimes difficult to hear them because when the
two words are spoken together in connected speech, the
sounds of the words may change slightly.

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2 Grammar
ANSWER 9
They are being parachuted into a jungle (to control the rat ANSWERS
population). 1  b  2  c  3  d  4  a
3 10
ANSWERS ANSWERS
1  mosquitoes  2  geckos  3  cats  4  rats 2 If there is an earthquake, buildings may collapse.
3 If there is disease, people usually need medication.
Vocabulary
4 If there is a hurricane, trees often fall over.
4
POSSIBLE ANSWERS Exam practice
food shortage people, animals 11
volcano people, buildings, wildlife ANSWER
asteroid potentially everything The writer disagrees with the statement in the question: the
drought people, animals, ecosystems topic sentences suggest that natural processes are difficult
earthquake buildings, infrastructure, people, and expensive to control.
animals
disease ecosystems, people, animals, plants 12
predator prey POSSIBLE ANSWERS
erosion ecosystems, landscapes Human interventions often cause more problems than they
climate change potentially everything solve.
5 Many solutions deal with short-term problems and do not
take into account long-term consequences. For example,
POSSIBLE ANSWERS biofuels help to reduce pollution, but they cause problems
When there is a food shortage, people can change their diet. with food shortage. Farmers grow crops for fuel instead of
When a volcano erupts, people can change the flow of food because they can make more money this way, and so,
the lava. as a consequence, food shortages may occur.
When an asteroid is close to Earth, people can monitor
Not all natural threats can be controlled.
space to see if it is a risk with a view to taking precautions.
Many of the most devastating natural threats, such
When there is drought, people can try to save water.
as earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes, cannot be
When there is an earthquake, people can avoid high
controlled. If these events happen, there are many places
buildings or move to a safer area.
that can do little to protect themselves against the effects.
When there is a disease, people can improve hygiene and
Major disasters, such as the destruction of a nuclear power
try to find a cure.
station, could occur as the consequence of a natural threat,
When there is a predator, people can hunt it down.
against which man-made precautions cannot prevail.
When there is erosion, people can build houses in safer
areas. New natural threats continue to emerge.
When climate change is a problem, people can reduce For example, new bacteria and viruses are constantly
emissions, travel less, recycle more, and do other things to evolving. It takes time to understand these viruses and to
limit man’s impact on nature. develop anti-viral drugs. Then, no sooner is an anti-viral drug
developed, than the virus adapts to survive the drug and the
Exam skills battle continues. If a deadly virus emerges, it can cause many
6 deaths around the world before anything can be done to
combat it.
ANSWERS
In A, the people are harvesting water plants that are taking Some natural disasters are difficult to predict.
over the lake, so as to protect the lake’s existing ecosystem. Although we now know where many natural disasters are
In B, a dam is being used to control water flow. likely to occur, we cannot predict when they will occur. If
we cannot predict when an event will happen, then it can
EXAM TIP   be dangerous for people in the area. Furthermore, there are
ANSWER many natural disasters that are unpredictable, particularly
Sentences are all connected logically, and everything is those involving the weather and those coming from outer
directly related to the topic sentence. space, such as asteroids.
It takes money and resources to control nature, which few
7 governments have.
ANSWERS Governments have limited financial resources and have to
1  d  2  b  3  c  4  a decide what to spend it on. If a flood affects an area, the
government must decide how many people are in danger
8 and how much it will cost. If the cost is too high for the
ANSWERS numbers at risk, the government will not spend the money.
c  a  b  d

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READING  True / False / Grammar
7
Not Given    page 74 
ANSWERS
Topic focus 2 antennae 6 Arctic tern
1 3 trout / fish 7 research
4 other animals 8 elephants
ANSWERS
5 (young) crabs
A  crab  B  butterfly  C  bird  D  elephant  E  fish
8
Exam skills
ANSWERS
2
1  they  2  These  3  them  4  their  5  it
ANSWERS
1 True
2 False (not north – in line 16, the text says south)
3 True
4 False (not in a straight line – in line 46, the text says in
an ‘S’ shape’)
EXAM TIP  

ANSWER
Not Given, because it means that a statement could be
True or False. Also, Not Given doesn’t always mean that the
information is not mentioned.

3
ANSWERS
1 Not Given 4 Not Given
2 Not Given 5 False
3 False

Exam practice
5
ANSWERS
1 True
2 False (Line 28: … migrate each year from the island’s high
central rainforest to the sea to lay their eggs. Students
may be confused by the term located in the Indian Ocean
(line 27), which refers to the island’s location, not the
crabs.)
3 Not Given (There is no reference to tourists. Students need
to be careful not to assume something is true based on
their knowledge of the world. This may be true in real life,
but the passage does not say this, so it must be marked
Not Given.)
4 Not Given (Warn students of the danger of making
assumptions or inferring meaning based on the text.
For example, it follows logically that if the terns try to
save energy, then they probably face many challenges.
However, the text does not explicitly say this.)
5 False

6
ANSWERS
A  5, 7   B  1  C  2, 3   D  4  E  6

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