Science and technologytapescript

Prof The United Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707 A hundred years lat• er, the Act of Union in 1801 joined Ireland to Great Britain and the name "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" was first used Since 1921, only Northern Ireland has been part of the United Kingdom and so the name changed I I Susan And the last question is why and how does England dominate the UK? ! Prof That's a good question Let's look at the map England is a country in the UK ! and occupies most of the southern two thirds of Great Britain The total area of England is 130,410 sq km England contains about 84% of the UK population , Susan Yes, England is the biggest country in the UK Prof Second, the capital, seat of the government, and the largest city in the United Kingdom is London London is also the capital of England All of Great Britain has II been ruled by the UK government in London since 1707 Susan Yes, the capital of the UK is in England Prof The next reason is that the English language comes from England As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated �s the language of England, where it remains the pnncrpa tongue to ay nghsh is the off1c1al language of the OK and the first j: I language thetheir vastown majority of the population Wales Scotland of have languages, which are only Both spoken by a and small number of people English • is spoken more in both countries I Susan Yes, it makes a good sense And we all know the British Royal family live I in England ! Prof I Yes, you are right You gave a good reason · -· · _) Science Listening Activity No.1 Qi 073.MP3 www.nhantriviet.com Global warming Winning at IELTS Listening - 195 rth's surface are forcing animals and plants to move to cooler areas and make other changes Their studies found that warmer weather is causing many kinds of wildlife to leave their native environments A m e r i c a n s c i e n t i s t s s a y r i s i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s o n E a They also found that such natural events as tree flowering and migration - long-dis• tance travel by birds are now happening earlier in the year Nature Magazine reported the findings The scientists say the results of these changes could be environmental damage and local losses of wildlife They also warn that some creatures could disappear completely www.nhantriviet.com Winning at IELTS Listening - 195 Plants and animals have always had to react to changing environments The cli• mate is now changing faster than ever before Many scientists blame greenhouse gases for the warmer weather They found that the territory where the plants and animals live had moved north by an average of six kilometres every ten years In Europe, some butterflies now live as much as one hundred kilometres to the north because of changes linked to higher temperatures American scientists examined 172 kinds of wildlife and examined the timing of events in spring, such as the appearance of flowers and the reproduction of animals They found that these events happened an average of two days earlier than normal every ten years The scientists at Stanford University examined wildlife and climate informa I tion from 143 st udies They found that about 80% of creatures studied had made changes I I because of warmer weather _J Listening Activity No.2 Snow Qi 074.MP3 Snow is loved by many people When the winter comes, the snow returns and people begin to skate and ski and other sports on the snow Snow is a form of frozen water It contains many groups of tiny snow crystals These crystals grow from water particles in cold clouds around a piece of dust All snow crystals have six sides, but they grow The shape depends mainly on the temperature and water levels in the ice particles called They usually grow in different shapes air Snow crystals grow in one of two designs - plate-like and columnar Plate-like crystals are flat They form when the air temperature is about fifteen degrees Celsius below zero Columnar snow crystals look like sticks of ice They form when the temperature is about five degrees below zero The shape of a snow crystal may change from one form to another as the crystal passes through levels of air with different temperatures When melting snow crystals or raindrops fall through very cold air, they freeze to form small particles of ice, called sleet Groups of frozen water droplets are called snow pellets Under some conditions, these particles may grow larger and form solid pieces of ice, or hail When snow crystals stick together, they produce snowflakes Snowflakes come in differ• ent sizes As many as one hundred crystals may join together to form a snowflake longer than two and a half centimetres Under some conditions, a snowflake can be five centi• metres long Usually, this requires near freezing temperatures, light winds and changing 'conditions in the Earth's atmosphere Snow contains much less water than rain About fifteen centimetres of wet snow has as much water as two and a half centimetres of rain About seventy-six centimetres of dry snow equals the water in two and a half centimetres of rain The colour of snow and ice appears white This is because the light we see from the sun is white Most natural materials take in some sunlight This gives them their colour I However, when light travels from air to snow, some light is sent back, or reflected Snow I i crystals have many surfaces to reflect sunlight Yet the snow does take in a little sunlight I I It is this light that gives snow its white appearance I L ��������������-��������- I Listening Activity No.3 UN world food report nhantrivatietIELTS com Listening 198 w-ww Winning Qi 075.MP3 Winning at IELTS www.nhListening antriviet.c-om197 J Listening Activity No.4 Centenarians Q 076.MP3 This is VOA Special English Science Report The Italian island of Sardinia recently lost its oldest citizen Family members say Antonio Todde died in his sleep early this month Mr Todde was one hundred twelve years old He was less than three weeks away from his one hundred thirteenth birthday Record-keeping experts say he was the world's oldest man Mr Todde was born in a village on Sardinia in 1889_ He cared for farm animals in the mountains almost all his life Mr Todde often said that drinking a glass of red wine every day helped him live to an old age His long life and that of other very old Sardinians are the subject of a scientific project called Akea Luca Deiana of Sassari University is directing the study He says the name Akea comes from a traditional greeting on Sardinia It means "health and life for one hun• dred years" Professor Deiana and his team started to collect information for the study in 1997 They identified more than 220 Sardinians who were centenarians - one-hundred years old or older His team required three documents to confirm a person's age They are a government birth record, a church record and a statement by a close family member The Akea study has produced two major findings The first is Sardinia's extremely high number of cen• tenarians The island has about 135 centenarians for every one million people In other Western countries, the average is about 75 centenarians for every one million people I The second major finding was an unusual rate of female to male centenarians Sardinia I I I h_�� ��� women _ centenarians for every mal� centenarian In central Sardinia, there are equal numbers of female and ma-le centenarians- - - - - - - �-11 I Studies in other parts of the world have shown a much higher percentage of female centenarians The Akea study collected information about the health and diet of about 140 of the centenarians About 90 per cent of those in the study also agreed to provide , ' blood for scientific testing The study team hopes to identify genetic material in the blood that can be linked to successful aging Study leaders say there is no single reason why people in Sardinia live so long They believe the answer is a combination of genetic and environmental conditions Listening Activity No.5 Looking for weight-loss answers Qi 077.MP3 Obesity, also known as severe overweight, is a complex condition A doctor may advise medical interventions in addition to changes in behaviour But experts say the most suc• cessful weight-loss plans include a well-balanced diet and exercise To lose weight, you can reduce the number of calories you take in, or increase the number of calories you use, or both Experts at the National Institutes of Health say to lose weight, a person should an hour of moderate to intensive physical activity most days of the week This could include fast walking, sports or strength training You should also follow a nutritious eating plan and take in fewer calories than your body uses each day A recent study looked at four of the most popular dieting plans in the United States Re• searchers at Stanford University in California studied more than three hundred overweight women, mostly in their thirties and forties Each woman went on one of the four plans: Atkins, the Zone, Ornish or LEARN The women attended diet classes and received written mformation about the food plans At the end of a year, the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most, more than four and one-half kilograms on average They also did better on tests including cholesterol levels and blood pressure Christopher Gardner led the study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical As• sociation He says the Atkins diet may be more successful because of its simple message to lower intake of sugars Also, he says the advice to increase protein in the diet leads to more satisfying meals He says there was not enough money to also study men, but that men would probably have similar results I, But last week, another report suggested that only a small minority of people have long• term success with dieting The report in the journal American Psychologist was based on thirty-one studies Researchers at the medical school of University of California, Los Angeles, found that most dieters regained their lost weight within five years And often they gained back even more But those who kept the weight off generally were the ones who exercised Listening Activity No.6 A UN population study Q 078.MP3 The United Nations Population Fund has released a new study on the condition of the world's population The main idea of the report is poverty and its relationship to population issues It says that several steps need to be taken immediately to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015 w.nhantrativie t.com Listening 200 -wwWinning IELTS Winning at www IELTS nhaListening ntriviet.co-m 199 The first is to improve health care systems In the world's poorest countries, people are ex• pected to live just 49 years One in ten children does not reach their first birthday The study says that poor health and poverty are linked The report also says that women are affected most by poor health care systems, especially pregnant women It says that better reproductive health can reduce poverty and build economic growth The report says family planning and helping women avoid unwanted pregnancies are also ways to reduce poverty The study says that when given a choice, poor people in developing countries have fewer chil• dren than their parents did Smaller families have fewer expenses and more chances to increase their earnings and savings Since 1970, developing countries with lower birth rates and slower population growth have had faster economic growth They have had higher productivity, more savings and more invest• ment The report also notes that poor people are more at risk from the infection that causes AIDS This is because they lack the knowledge and power to protect themselves against the disease The report says that investing in education, especially for women, can also reduce poverty Educated women have more choices in life and are more likely to send their children to school The study found that the right to an education has improved over the past ten years However, poor people in many developing countries are still less likely to attend school The report urges governments to change this and make sure all citizens learn to read and write The UN study also says that women and men should be treated equally This means that legal and human rights of women should be strengthened, as well as their ability to earn money and ; I speak out socially and politically The UN report says that half the world's population live on less than two dollars a day 1,00.0 million people live on less than one dollar a day L_ _ Mary Qi 079.MP3 AIDS Listening Activity No.7 - ' Hi, David, here is a report about AIDS The death figure is terrible David What is it? Mary 40.3 million people around the world are living with AIDS in 2005 Approximate• ly 11 of every 1,000 adults aged 15 to 49 are HIV infected 25 million children will be orphans by 2010 because of AIDS Over 27 million people have died since the first AIDS case was identified in 1980 · • David • e '• Some docfors: say AIDS is th�first leading ca;se �f death around the world Mary- Do you know what l=lIV-is? David _.;: • I'm not sure about it - - - - HIV is short for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which is the virus that causes AIDS This virus is passed from one person to another through bloocl-to-blood or· 1· sexual contact In addition, infected pregnant women can pass HIV to their baby during pregnancy or delivery, as well as through breast-feeding People with HIV have what is commonly called an HIV infection, but sometimes it is also called the AIDS virus Mary I see AIDS virus is the germs that can cause AIDS David Yes Different viruses infect different cells and cause different sorts of illnesses For example, HIV infects the cells of the "immune system" - the very thing the body uses to fight against germs Most people with HIV will eventually develop Mary AIDS as a result of their HIV infection i ! How is HIV transmitted from one person to another? David mentioned before, HIV is most commonly spread by coming into direct i I I Well, as I i contact with blood or sexual contact HIV is also frequently spread among injec• I tion drug users by the sharing of needles or syringes contaminated with very small quantities of blood from someone infected with the virus The HIV virus can i enter the body through a vein, the mouth, as well as other mucous membranes, I e.g eyes or inside of the nose, or cuts and sores Intact and healthy skin is an ·1 excellent barrier agamst HIV and other viruses and bactena I! David Yes, that is right You know, people cannot get virus from touching, talking to, or sharing a home with a person who is HIV infected or has AIDS Mary Can people get virus from using swimming pools, hot tubs, drinking fountains, toilet seats, doorknobs, gym equipment, or telephones used by people with HIV infection or AIDS? David No, they can't get it from them Mary I see What are the early symptoms and stages of HIV? David According to the medicine book, many people not have any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV Some people, however, have a flu-like ill• ness within a month or two after exposure to the virus This illness may include recurring fever or profuse night sweats, headache, profound and unexplained tiredness Mary I see Thank you very much Mary David With pleasure www.nhantriviet.com Listening - 201 Winning i.1t IELTS Q Storms Listening Activity No.8 080.MP3 Powerful storms are called hurricanes when they form over the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific They are called typhoons in the northwestern Pacific, and cyclones when they develop over the Indian Ocean Severe ocean storms in the northern half of the world generally develop in late summer or early autumn near the equator Storms can result when the air temperature in one area is different from that of another Warmer air rises and cooler air falls These movements create a difference in the pressure of the atmosphere If the pressure changes over a large area, winds start to blow in a huge circle Highpressure air is pulled into a low-pressure centre Severe ocean storms happen less often in the southern hemisphere There the season of greatest activity is between December and March South of the equator, the winds blow in the same direction as the hands on a clock North of the equator, they blow counterclockwise This is because as the Earth turns, air is pulled to the right in the northern hemisphere In the southern hemisphere, air is pulled to the left Weather scientists use computers to create models that show where a storm might go Models combine information such as temperatures, wind speed, atmospheric pressure and the amount of water in the atmosphere Scientists collect the information with satellites, weather balloons and devices floating in the world's oceans They also collect information from ships and passenger flights and from planes that fly into and around storms The crews drop instruments on parachutes to record temperature, pressure, wind speed and other conditions The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a way to rate storms based on wind speed It provides an idea of the amount of coastal flooding and property damage that might be expected The scale is divided into five categories A Category One storm has winds of about 120 to 150 kilometres an hour It can damage trees and lightweight structures It can also cause some flooding Wind speeds 'in a Category Two hurricane can reach close to 180 kilometres an hour These storms are often powerful enough to break windows or blow the roof off a house Winds between about 180 and 250 kilometres an hour represent Categories Three and Four Anything even more powerful is a Category Five hurricane I An Australian weather scientist began to call storms by women's names before the end of the nineteenth century During World War Two, weather scientists called storms by the names · of their wives or girlfriends The weather service in the United States officially started to use l women's names for storms in 1953 In 1979, it began to use men's names, too Scientists decide on lists of names years in advance They agree on them at meetings of the l World Meteorological Organisation 202 - Winning at IELTS Listening , j www.nhantriviet.com I, i Listening Activity No.9 II I Qi 081.MP3 Diabetes Sara What's on tonight? Tom Nothing special I'm waiting for "Discovery" now Tom Thank you These are my favourite TV food You know, a new study shows that eating nuts and peanut butter may help prevent one form of the disease diabetes Sara Oh, really? That's interesting Tom I heard diabetes affects about 135 million people around the world Sara What is diabetes? I don't know about this disease Tom Well, it is a little complicated During digestion, the starches and sugars in the food you eat are converted to glucose, a natural form of sugar that your body uses for energy Sara Yes, go on r- Tom The disease results when the bod cannot roduce or use a substance called insulin Sara Just a minute, what is insulin? Tom Insulin is a hormone produced by the organ called the pancreas that helps control j the amount of glucose in blood Without insulin, your body cannot use or store glucose Insulin helps turn sugar from foods into energy I Tom Sara I see I You know, over a long period of time, poorly controlled diabetes may damage blood vessels and nerves, increasing your risk for problems that can affect the eyes, heart, kidneys, legs and feet Sara Well, Tom, how you know all this? II Tom Because my father has diabetes Sara I see So you really a lot of research on it Tom Yes, I like to read the news on it Scientists from the Harvard University School of Public Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts, completed the research project and the Journal of the American Medical Association published the findings They studied more than 83,000 women for sixteen years The women were 34 to 59 years old None of the women had diabetes, cancer or heart disease when the study began During the study, more than 3,000 women developed diabetes Sara Wow, how did they get diabetes? Tom The women answered questions every four years between 1980 and 1996 The researchers asked what they ate, including information about nuts and nut products Sara Yes, what did they find out? www.nhantriviet.com Winning at IELTS Listening � 203 I ! I I · I Tom Some of the women ate nuts five days a week The size of each serving weighed about thirty grams Or, they ate a serving of peanut butter five days each week Other · women in the study did not eat nuts or peanut butter Those who ate nuts five times a week were more than twenty per cent less likely to develop Type Two diabetes than the women who did not eat nuts Sara So women who ate nuts could prevent diabetes? Tom Yes, I believe so Although the study involved only women, the researchers believe eating nuts would also be good for men The scientists say more research is needed to confirm the findings But the study suggests that the fats in nuts may improve the way the body makes and uses insulin Sara I suppose I should eat more nuts than before to prevent diabetes Tom Nuts contain magnesium This element helps balance insulin and levels of sugar in the blood The fats in nuts also may improve the body's ability to process sugar in the blood People who suffer from diabetes have too much sugar in their blood and urine, and the body's liquid waste I �Sounds interesting Here is our programm� Health and heat Listening Activity No.10 Q 082.MP3 Today, I'm going to talk about some health problems linked to extreme heat and what we can to prevent and treat these problems J Extremely hot weather is common in many parts of the world It can cause medical problems and death Health experts say that since the year 1900, extremely hot weather has killed more people in the United States than any other natural event One year - the · unusual!y hot summer of 1980, heat caused about 1,700 deaths in t�e United State_s In -.· 1995, more than 600 people died in a similar heat wave in one city - Chicago, Illinois water and salt For most people, the only result of heat stress is muscle pain The pain is a warning that the body is becoming too hot; Doctors say drinking water will help the pain disap• pear after the body again has the right amounts of water and salt - Severe heat can help cause a heart attack or stroke arid increases problems for very small children, older people and sick people It is also bad for people who weigh too much and have too much body fat, and for people who drink alcohol 204 - Winning at IELTS Listening www.nhantriviet.com www.nhantriviet.com Winning at IELTS Listening - 205 If heat stress is not treated, it can lead to a more serious problem called heat exhaus• tion Perspiration is one of the body's defences against heat It is a process during which the body releases water to cool the skin However, a person suffering from heat exhaus• tion loses too much water through perspiration The person becomes dehydrated A person suffering from heat exhaustion feels weak and extremely tired He or she may have trouble walking normally Heat exhaustion also may produce a fast heartbeat, breathing problems, headache, chest pain and a general feeling of sickness Doctors say that people suffering from these problems should move to a cool place and drink water Heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke if it is not treated With heat stroke, the body temperature rises to more than forty degrees Celsius The body stops perspiring And the skin becomes dry and very hot A person may even become unconscious Permanent brain damage and death may result, so treatment should begin immediately or the person could die before medical help arrives Immediate treatment should begin by moving the victim out of the sun Then, take off the person's clothes Pour water over the victim's body, and put pieces of ice in areas where blood vessels are close to the skin These areas include the neck and under the arms T e purpose is to cool the victim as quickly as possible to stop the body's tem• perature from increasing Water is very important for the health Health experts say adults should drink about two litres of water each day to replace all the body water lost in urine and perspiration and drink more than that in hot weather They say people should drink water even before they start to feel like a drink This is because people sometimes not feel thirsty until they already have lost a lot of body liquid In hot weather, drinking cold liquids is best They more than just replace lost body water Cold liquids also help cool people faster than warm liquids This is because they take up more heat inside the body and carry it away faster I ! I I I In addition to drinking lots of cool water, there are other things to to protect against the health dangers of heat Stay out of the sun, if possible Wear loose, light• weight and light-coloured clothes Wear a hat or other head cover while in the sun Eat fewer hot and heavy foods If possible, rest more often Physical activity produces body heat Health experts say these simple steps can prevent the dangerous health problems linked to heat They will prevent sickness, help you feel better and may even save your life _ ·· Listening Activity No.11 World weather Q 083.MP3 Severe weather is affecting people in many countries In areas of South and East Asia, about 700 people have been killed in floods and resulting landslides during the past month The hardest hit countries include North and South Korea, Vietnam, India, Nepal and Bangladesh .j I In India, the flooding is the worst the country has experienced in 25 years Areas in As• sam and Bihar states have suffered from heavy rains and flooding Twenty million people have been affected Indian officials say more than 300 people have died as a result of the weather conditions The number of deaths in Nepal is even higher More than 400 people have been killed in floods and landslides in mountain villages there Another 150 people have died in simi• lar weather in Bangladesh Flooding was also especially severe in China this year where about 900 people have died Yet, there also are intensely dry conditions in parts of Asia For example, although floods are affecting part of the Indian state of Bihar, the seasonal rains have not begun as expected in other areas of the same state The lack of water is killing crops A spokesman for the aid organisation Red Cross says that 95 per cent of crops in Bihar probably will not survive Huge floods are also continuing in several European countries The heavy rains began about two weeks ago More than 60 people were killed in sudden floods in southern Russia Similar weather hit the Czech Republic Czech safety officials ordered tens of thousands of people to leave the capital, Prague, this week The rain and overflowing rivers also have damaged hundreds of smaller towns and villages in the Czech Republic Roads and railroads are underwater in a number of places Bridges have been carried away by water Czech officials estimate hundreds of millions of dollars of damage The rains and floods are also damaging parts of Germany Thousands of people have been removed from the historic city of Dresden The River Elbe in Dresden reached its highest levels in more than 150 years The intense rains have also done great damage in Austria Other affected countries include Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Hungary and Ukraine Officials estimate thousands of millions of dollars of damage across Europe j Many environmental experts say human activities are involved in large climate changes For example, many scientists believe that the release of industrial wastes is warming the , Earth's atmosphere Yet no one has proven a direct link between human activities and Lofspecific natural incidents causes of weather And, some scientists argue that climate changes are the result _J www.nhantriviet.com 206 - Winning at IELTS Listening I I Winning at IELTS Listening - 207 www.nhantriviet.com Listening Activity No.12 Sharks Qi 084.MP3 I