IELTS Research Reports

Tim Moore, Janne Morton and Steve PriceSection – summary matchChoose the correct heading for sections A-E from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i-xon your answer sheet.List of Headingsi) Contrary indicationsii) Europe’s Alpine glaciersiii) Growing consensus on sea leveliv) Causes of rising sea levelsv) Sea level monitoring difficultiesvi) Group response to alarmingpredictionsvii) The world 130,000 years agoetcRelevant section from reading passage:RISING SEA LEVELSSECTION ADuring the night of 1st February 1953, a deadly combination of winds and tide raisedthe level of the North Sea, broke through the dykes which protected the Netherlandsand inundated farmland and villages as far as 64 km from the coast killing thousands.For people around the world who inhabit low-lying areas, variations in sea levels are ofcrucial importance and the scientific study of oceans has attracted increasing attention.Towards the end of the 1970s, some scientists began suggesting that global warming couldcause the world’s oceans to rise by several metres. The warming, they claimed, was aninevitable consequence of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which acted like agreenhouse to trap heat in the air. The greenhouse warming was predicted to lead to risesin sea level in a variety of ways. Firstly heating the ocean water would cause it to expand.Such expansion might be sufficient to raise the sea level by 300mm in the next 100 years.Then there was the observation that in Europe’s alpine valleys, glaciers had been shrinkingfor the past century. Meltwater from the mountain glaciers might have raised the oceans50mm over the last 100 years and the rate is likely to increase in the future. A third threat isthat global warming might cause a store of frozen water in Antarctica to melt, which wouldlead to a calamitous rise in sea level of up to five metres.Correct response: iv) Causes of rising sea levelsSample 2.1: Section – summary match item204 www.ielts.org