Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – Topic: Animals

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1 b   2 a   3 c   4 a   5 b

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1 DNS   2 T   3 F; Planning before acting is not just a human skill.

4 T   5 F; Chimpanzees can plan ahead for several days.

The mental skills of chimpanzees

Narrator:   For 30 years, scientists at Georgia State University have been studying the mental skills of chimpanzees. They’re finding out if chimpanzees can plan ahead and how much they plan ahead.

Man:   OK, I’m going to set up the computer, right here.

Narrator:   They use a computer maze to find out about the chimpanzee’s ability. In the wild, chimpanzees have to find food and protect themselves, so they probably need to make plans.

But how good are they at planning?

One of the chimpanzees, named Panzee, is excellent. She can often complete difficult mazes that she’s never seen before better than humans.

Man:   Tell me what you want.

Narrator:   This is an amazing discovery! Panzee doesn’t make many mistakes and she can sometimes see the solution to the maze faster than a human can.

The ability to look ahead and find the way from the beginning to the end of the maze means she’s very smart.

And it means that planning before acting is not just a human skill.

Scientist:   Chimpanzees do plan ahead. I don’t believe that they can plan ahead nearly so far as we can. I think also that they reflect upon the past but not to the degree that we do. I would suggest that chimpanzees are able to plan ahead over the course of several days, whereas we can plan ahead for years or centuries if we wish.

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dogs: protection, transport

horses: building, transport, war

elephants: building, transport, war

camels: transport, war

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cons (Ms Johnson’s ideas): technology, rights, cruel

pros (Dr Kuryan’s ideas): skills, poor, survive

Host:   Hello and welcome. Today’s debate is on using animals for work. The first animal that was domesticated by humans is the dog. Even now, dogs are still used to protect our houses and keep us safe. Other domesticated animals – used for food – include sheep, cows and goats. The first donkeys were used by humans approximately 6,000 years ago in Egypt. Horses were domesticated 5,000 years ago in Europe and Asia. All these animals have been used to help human beings survive, either by providing food or by working for us. Horses, camels, elephants – they have all helped humans explore their land and transport goods from one place to another. But is this fair? What about animal rights? To argue for this issue today we have Amy Johnson, an animal rights activist and writer. To argue against the issue is Dr Jacob Kuryan. Dr Kuryan is a professor of zoology, which is the scientific study of animals, and a writer of several books on animal welfare. You both have two minutes to introduce your point of view. Ms Johnson, would you like to begin?

Ms Johnson:   Thank you for inviting me to this debate. It’s well known that animals have worked side by side with humans for thousands of years. In fact, they helped us develop our civilization and helped humans survive. Animals, like elephants and horses, were used to build amazing structures, like the pyramids in Egypt. Yet their hard work and suffering are hardly every recognized.

For example, horses, camels and elephants were used to transport armies and soldiers during wars and many of these animals died in these wars. And there are other examples. Even now, dogs are used to pull sleds in cold climates and elephants are used for logging. These animals work long hours and live in difficult conditions.

However, they get very little reward. Humans just use them to their advantage. My main argument is that in the modern world, there is no longer any need to use animals for work. We have technology that can replace them. It’s similar to using children to work in factories. Two hundred years ago, factory owners got rich by using children. Nowadays, people still get rich by using animals to do work for them. The problem is that the animals have no one to represent them and protect their rights. Even though animals work hard for us, they are often abandoned when they get sick or too old to work. They suffer. In short, I strongly believe that using animals for work is an old-fashioned and cruel practice.

Host:   Thank you, Ms Johnson. Dr Kuryan – your introduction, please.

Dr Kuryan:   Thank you. It’s true that animals have helped our civilization develop. Camels and horses helped us carry goods across huge distances. Dogs helped us hunt and protected us from wild animals. Humans don’t have the skills or strength to do these jobs. I want to argue that, in many developing countries, poor people still need animals to survive.

These are people who can’t afford cars, house alarms or expensive machines. Another point is that not all animal use is abuse. On the contrary, without humans, these domesticated animals would not have been able to survive. They need us to take care of them. There are many animal lovers around the world who work in animal shelters and help animals. There are laws that stop animal suffering. And people give a lot of money to animal charities and organizations that help save wildlife. At the same time, there are still millions of children in the world who don’t get this kind of treatment. They go without food or clothing. I strongly believe that, in a modern society, people often care more about animals than they do about poor people.

Host:   Thank you both for your arguments! Now, let’s hear from our listeners …

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2   contact between humans and polar bears

3   industrial development

4   reduce contact between humans and polar bears

5   governments have made laws which limit the amount of oil production

6   people are trying to stop climate change

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1 26,000   2 2050   3 negative   4 towns   5 safer   6 petrol

Hello, and thank you all for coming. I know that you’re all busy students and I appreciate that you’re here today.

So, what do you think of when you hear the words climate change? You probably think about warmer temperatures, floods, droughts, huge storms … and maybe polar bears. That’s what I’m going to talk about today – the polar bear and the human threats to this beautiful, powerful, majestic animal.

It’s widely known that polar bears are now an endangered species. There are only about 26,000 polar bears in the world today and it’s believed that most of them will be gone by 2050 if nothing changes. There are several threats to polar bears. The biggest threat is the loss of sea ice habitat. Climate change damages the sea ice, which polar bears depend on for survival.

The disappearing ice has several negative effects. For example, polar bears have problems searching for seals, their main course of food. Polar bears need to stand on ice to hunt for seals. So when there isn’t enough ice, the bears become hungry.

A second threat is contact between humans and polar bears. When the sea ice melts, polar bears have to spend more time on land. When polar bears go near towns, people sometimes kill the bears to protect themselves.

A third human threat to polar bears is industrial development, such as oil production and shipping. As the ice disappears, the ocean is growing. This means more oil production in the Arctic and an increased threat of oil spills. Contact with oil with kill polar bears. And the oil ships are also dangerous to polar bears.

However, there is good news: it may not be too late to save the polar bear. Here’s what people are already doing.

First, Arctic communities are trying to reduce contact between humans and polar bears. More lights in public places, electric fences and warning plans when bears enter towns all help to protect both polar bears and humans.

Second, governments have made laws which limit the amount of oil production in the Arctic. And environmental groups are creating plans to make Arctic shipping safer.

Third, people are trying to stop climate change. And you can, too. To help save polar bears, you should use less electricity and petrol. And you could tell government leaders your opinion about climate change. It might also be a good idea to get involved with organizations which are working to save polar bears.

So, to summarize, the main threat to polar bears is loss of habitat due to climate change. Related threats are human contact and industrial development. If people don’t make changes quickly, polar bears may disappear.