There was a time people went crazy over the Bermuda pants, cocaine, break dancing and so much more. Soon these fads wore off and new came up. But, what makes these fads to go off and new ones to arrive. What makes the craze off? This time we are going to listen to a BBC audio that talks about the crazy fads, their arrival and why they just went off. Why do some things become craze for people while others just don’t make that impact on lives.
The audio has been taken from BBC 6 minutes English.
Answer the following questions in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
In which game do the players have to catch the virtual monsters?
Which two words are used to define a sudden and widespread enthusiasm for something that lasts for only a short time?
What term is used to define the situation when a digital information is layered on top of a smartphone?
What is the best selling toy of all time?
Which term is used to describe how people get influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors?
What acronym is used for the fear of missing out?
Which word describes the first model of a machine from which others develop things?
Which country did the inventory of the Rubik’s cube belong to? Hungary
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
[A]Temperatures in the Arctic in the last two months have hit more than 20C above normal for the time of year. Temperatures that unusual in the UK and Europe would produce 45C summers. As a result, sea ice has shrunk to levels that scientists describe as “off the scale”. Mapping the changes to the extent of sea ice over the last 40 years confirms that: on a graph, the lines are clustered together like threads in a hank of silk, warming and cooling in line with each other – until this year. This year’s line drops down like a thin thread dangling into the void.
[B]Extrapolating data from a single year must be done with caution. When El Niño boosted global temperatures to make 1998 the hottest year on record, a position it held until 2014, deniers claimed that this showed that global warming had “paused”. In fact, several years after 1998 came within 0.3C of the record. The rise of a huge 20C over normal in the Arctic, the region that acts as one of the most important regulators in the global climate system, means that all expectations must now be rewritten.
[C]Arctic snow and ice reflect heat back into space – the albedo effect. When there is less ice, less sunlight is reflected and the sea, newly exposed, absorbs more heat, which melts more ice, and so on in a cycle. This is of vital importance: it could represent a tipping point, beyond which the Arctic ice cap, by some projections, might soon disappear altogether in summer and this is not the only crucial climate role the Arctic plays. Sea and air currents swirling over and under the ice cool the globe and affect weather systems on the other side of the world, sometimes in ways that are still not fully understood.
[D]Arctic sea ice has recovered in extent from previous lows. But that does not tell the whole story. When temperatures are less volatile, sea ice forms in layers over multiple years to a thick and solid mass. Ice that forms under this year’s conditions is likely to be thinner and less stable than what it replaces, more vulnerable to another year’s warming and less effective as a temperature regulator. For these reasons, the current drastic melting of the Arctic cannot be regarded merely as an outlier. While the effects of an ice-free Arctic on global weather systems are still in the realm of known unknowns, it is a known known that they will be disruptive. Also, the current Arctic temperature and sea ice charts look like the beginning of a whole new trend, one that could change the global climate system for ever.
[E]The imperative for action is therefore overwhelming. Reducing carbon dioxide is vital, and it is encouraging that annual emissions have been flat for three years. But now it is necessary to move further, faster. Some experts advocate cutting the amount of black, unburnt carbon – soot – as a matter of urgency. Much of this soot is borne by air currents to the Arctic, depositing it on pristine snow that turns black, and so more heat-absorbent. Some measures to stop soot, like capping coal-fired power stations and banning agricultural burning, are relatively easy. Others – cleaner vehicles and spreading the use of solar cookers in developing countries – might take longer.
[F]Getting rid of potent hydrofluorocarbon gases, commonly used in refrigeration, has the broad backing of governments and industry, and will buy time. Methane, often a byproduct of fossil fuel exploration, should be used as an energy source, or at least flared, which is less harmful. Cutting these “short-lived climate pollutants” could prevent 0.5C of warming over the next 30 years, the research suggests. These are opportunities that must be taken; they are necessary, though not sufficient. And, so governments should also convene an Arctic council to explore other ways of protecting the region.
[G]Driving progress demands just the kind of leadership that looks very much to have disappeared from the global scene. Vladimir Putin’s Russia has been laying claim to vast Arctic areas, anticipating the realms of new possibility for commerce – new shipping lanes, cutting thousands of miles from current journeys – as well as oil and gas exploration that an ice-free Arctic would open up. For Donald Trump, such an unfrozen Arctic might allow the US to control key shipping routes, and find new oilfields and gas fields. Mr. Trump’s choice of Rex Tillerson, former head of Exxon Mobil and cheerleader for Mr. Putin, as secretary of state is deeply worrying. Two friendly world leaders facing one an other across a vanishing Arctic ice cap and the thawing of the cold war is no longer a metaphor.
Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
14. Methane is a good alternative for fuel exploration.
15. Changing Arctic temperatures can lead to complete change in the world temperature.
16. A rise of a score was observed in less than a decade after the world hit its highest temperature.
17. A drop in the level of sea ice has been observed by scientists.
18. The ice and the snow in Arctic reflect back the heat into space.
19. We have a long way before developing countries massively use cleaner vehicles.
20. There are lot of commercial opportunities in Arctic, according to Russia.
Describe an important decision that you made in your life :
You should say :
what the decision was
when did you took it
what was the result of the decision and whether it was a good choice
explain why it is an important decision or choice for you?
Sample Answer of Cue Card:
We all make certain decision in life and those are the ones that shape our lives. I took that life changing decision when I was in class 10th. The city that I did my high school did not had many schools and I decided that I would do my further studies from a big city because that is where I wanted to be. So, I landed myself in Dehradun. I remember at that time I just wanted to go out, explore myself and do things. What followed after that were a series of wrong decisions made.
I chose the wrong school and made friends that did not do much benefit to me. It was that time that I became numb, feeling almost nothing and landed myself into many troubles. My parents had the most tough years of bringing me up and I remember thinking of myself as a complete failure. Two years later, when I landed myself into a college did things started changing and the final change took place when I got a job at a MNC.
It is now that I realize that no matter how the decision rolled out to be, no matter how the tough time it led me to, I now can make better decisions now. I do understand the importance of opportunities and hard work and realize that it is important to have a balance in life to be able to succeed.
The reason I think the decision was important because it taught me a lot of things and what amazes me the most is that the things that it did taught are ones that many elder to me don’t know. It is in those moments that I feel I have become wiser, do make mistakes but it has helped me in becoming more confident in life, more able to take risks and live life in my own terms and conditions.
Related Questions for Speaking Section-3
How parents’ decisions affect their children’s life?
Parents decision do shape the child’s life to a certain extent and I believe that in some cases it is the parent’s decision that explain why the child chooses to live life like that. Even more it is not possible for a child to take his or her decision and it is the decisions of parents that the child follows. If the parent take decisions that make a child dull or boring, there is no fault of the child. However, there are parents who teach children to take decisions and I believe it is a great thing to do.
What important things do you consider while taking a big decision?
Funnily enough, the most important decisions of my life are the ones which I did not thought a bit about. These were the decisions I just felt like doing them, and did it. Initially, I was told that I am idiot taking decision in such a manner but now I have realized that taking decision in this manner means I do take them from heart and for some reasons it knows what exactly to do.
When taking a big decision, I try to figure out every right and wrong about it. It is lot of brainstorming, the people around me and myself. I like to talk to people who have been in the same position as me, the ones who have done that. Then, I go on and talk to my parents about it. But, finally it is more of what I feel is right because I think it is good to listen to head because it tells the most rational things to do but finally I am a believer of heart and do things that my heart thinks are right.
