Academic English for International Exams

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Read the following passage. Then try to make notes of the key facts.

The dodo was a considerably large and plump bird, standing three feet tall with a grey body, a hooked beak, and a plume of white feathers on its rump. It once inhabited an island in the Indian Ocean, and in the late 17th century, it suddenly went extinct. There is little doubt that the disappearance of the dodo is a direct result of over hunting by humans.

One reason the dodo fell victim to over hunting was that, unlike most birds, it was flightless. Despite its large body, the dodo had small, weak wings, which could not propel it into the air. Therefore, it constituted easy prey for the human settlers, who would swiftly kill the bird as it walked through their camps. It was not long before the dodo's population severely dwindled.

The dodo's unusual friendliness also contributed to its extinction. Isolated from human contact for the entirety of its evolutionary existence, the dodo greeted the new visitors with a complete lack of fear. Rather than run or hide, the birds approached hunters with child-like curiosity and innocence, a habit that meant sudden death for much of the dodo population.

In addition, researchers have found evidence in caves of humans killing dodos in mass quantities. In one particular cave in Europe, researchers found the bones of many dodos. There are many such caves in Europe where dodos were taken from their island and killed.

plump – large and round; slightly fat

plume – a group of feathers

extinct – no longer existing

propel – to push something in a particular direction

swiftly – quickly

dwindle – to slowly become smallere

existence – the state of being real

curiosity – the quality of wanting to learn more about things

Reading:

Now look at the note diagram and fill in the missing information from your notes.

Main idea: The is a result of over hunting.
Key point 1: It became extinct because .
Key point 2: Its also led to its extinction.
Key point 3: Researchers found in caves.

Improve your notes if necessary. Try to summarize the text using your notes.

Reading:

Below is important information from the reading passage above. After each sentence there are two possible paraphrases of it. Choose the best paraphrase for each sentence. Explain the reasons for your choice.

A.
Human hunters found the flightless dodo an easy target, which quickly led to a significant decrease in the dodo population.

B.
Having never encountered humans before, dodo birds did not know to protect themselves and would often curiously approach hunters.

Reading:

Predict how the listening passage may contrast with the reading.

coincidence – an event where two related things happen by chance

praise – to talk in a positive way about something

abandon – to stop doing something

pursue – to follow in order to capture something

vulnerable – easy to attack; weak

repopulate – to increase the numbers of a species in an area

scant – very little

predator – an animal that hunts another animal for food

Now listen to a lecture related to the topic in A. Make notes while listening.

Listening

Fill in the blanks of the note diagram below with keywords or key phrases used in the lecture.

Main idea: It was not over hunting but that led to the dodo's disappearance.
Key point 1: Humans did not even like because it tasted very bad.
Key point 2: Humans were not the main hunters; were.
Key point 3: There is little evidence of , but plenty of evidence of predators killing dodos.

Summarize the contents of the lecture expanding the diagram above and using your notes.

View the transcript

M: Many of you have undoubtedly heard tales of the dodo – a fat, funny-looking bird that lived on an island off the east coast of Africa. It isn't a coincidence that the dodo disappeared soon after humans arrived on their island. Yet it wasn't over hunting, but rather other factors, that led to its extinction. First of all, humans didn't even like eating dodo meat. It is true that the dodo's. Sightlessness made it an easy catch for hunters and trappers. But its meat was tough and tasted pretty horrible. In their private journals, sailors gave detailed descriptions of the terrible-tasting dodos while praising other local species, such as the Red Rail, for their good taste. And so it is highly likely that the sailors abandoned dodo hunting and moved on to more desirable species. It just doesn't make sense that hunters would keep pursuing a bad-tasting animal if better options were available. Second of all, humans weren't the dodo's main hunter; other animals were. The dodo's fearlessness is also often cited as evidence supporting the over hunting theory. But the truth of the matter is that the dodo's lack of fear didn't make it vulnerable to humans. Rather, its fearlessness made it vulnerable to the animals humans brought with them. Dogs and pigs, for example, went wild on the island, rampaging poorly hidden dodo nests and eating many of the dodos themselves. Without nests and offspring, the dodos had a great deal of trouble repopulating themselves, and their numbers quickly dropped. Finally, there is little evidence of humans hunting large numbers of dodos. Although a few dodos did make it back to Europe on Portuguese ships, archaeologists have turned up scant evidence of human dodo hunts. It's much more likely that the dodos died because humans introduced predators that had never before existed on the island and at the same time destroyed the forests where the birds made their homes.

So we can't really blame human hunting for the extinction of the dodo. There were many contributing factors. Their loss of habitat was certainly a factor, as was the introduction of new predators into the areas where dodos lived. So, really, we can't say that one thing caused the dodo to disappear, and it certainly wasn't over hunting.

Listening:

Choose the sentences that best combine the main idea and key points from the reading passage and the lecture. Explain the reasons for your choice.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Below are four incomplete paraphrases of key information from the reading passage and the lecture. Choose the most suitable words or phrases from the options suggested. These words and phrases are synonyms or are similar in meaning to the actual words used in the reading passage and lecture.

1.
The author thinks that the disappearance of the dodo is a (surprise / cause / consequence) of over hunting. However, the speaker says that it was not over hunting, but other (reasons / movements / changes), that led to its disappearance.
2.
The author says it became extinct (while / when / since) it was flightless. The speaker says that humans did not even ((look / enjoy / burn) dodo meat.
3.
Though the reading states that the dodo's (strange / bad / useless) friendliness also led to its extinction, the lecture argues that humans were not its (key / large / important) hunters; other animals were.
4.
The reading says that researchers found (fact / substance / proof) of humans killing dodos in caves, but the lecture says that there is (modest / some / scant) evidence of humans killing dodos.

Read the following sentences taken from the reading and the lecture. Create new sentences by combining the ideas in each pair of sentences.

1.
a.
 Isolated from human contact for the entirety of its evolutionary existence, the dodo greeted the new visitors with a complete lack of fear.
b.
 Rather, its fearlessness made it vulnerable to the animals humans brought with them.
2.
a.
 In one particular cave in Europe, researchers found the bones of many dodos.
b.
 Although a few dodos did make it back to Europe on Portuguese ships, archaeologists have turned up scant evidence of human dodo hunts.
Answer may vary
  1. 1. Not knowing any better, the dodo fearlessly approached all new creatures, including animals that it might be vulnerable to.
  2. 2. There is little archeological evidence that humans hunted dodos, though one cave in Europe was found to have dodo bones.