Dust Storms - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From IELTS Practice Test Plus 1 Academic Listening Test 1 · Part 4 · Questions 33–42
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Questions
Questions 33–34 Note Completion
Complete the notes using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Main focus of lecture: the impact of 33 on the occurrence of dust storms.
Two main types of impact:
A) break up ground surface, e.g. off-road vehicle use
B) remove protective plants, e.g. 34
Questions 35–38 Table Completion
Complete the table using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
| Name of area | Details |
|---|---|
| USA ‘dust bowl’ | Caused by mismanagement of farmland
Decade renamed the 35 |
| West Africa | Steady rise in dust storms over 20-year period |
| Arizona | Worst dust clouds arise from 36
Dust deposits are hazardous to 37 |
| Sahara | Increased wind erosion has occurred along with long-term 38 |
Questions 39–42 Flow Chart Completion
Complete the flow chart using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Drying-up of Aral Sea
Intensive 39 in Central Asian Republics
↓
Drop in water in major tributaries
↓
Total volume of water in lake reduced by 40
↓
Increase in wind-blown material
↓
Lake has become more 41
↓
Serious effects on 42 nearby
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q33 | human activity / activities | As you know, dust storms have always been a feature of desert climates, but what we want to focus on today is the extent to which human activity is causing them | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that the main topic for today is looking at how much people's actions are creating these dust storms. Answer Explanation: The answer human activity/activities means the things that people do—such as farming or building—that can change or damage the environment. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is human activity/activities because the lecturer explicitly states that this is the main topic they will talk about today. The speaker mentions that while dust storms are a natural part of desert life, the lesson will look at how people's actions are making them happen more often. Keywords like 'focus' and 'human activity' help identify this as the main topic. |
| Q34 | farming and drainage | and there are those that remove protective vegetation cover from soils, for example, mainly farming and drainage | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that some human activities take away the natural plant cover from the ground. It gives farming and drainage as the two biggest examples of this. Answer Explanation: The answer mentions two specific actions humans do—farming and drainage—which lead to more dust storms. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer identifies the human activities that take away plants that guard the soil. Vegetation usually covers the ground and keeps it safe from the wind. When people use land for farming or move water away through drainage, this protection is gone, making it easier for dust storms to happen. These activities are listed as the second main way human activity causes more frequent dust storms. |
| Q35 | Dirty Thirties / Dirty 30s | In fact, choking dust storms became so commonplace that the decade became known as the 'Dirty Thirties' | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that because these huge dust storms happened all the time, the ten-year period was given the name 'Dirty Thirties'. Answer Explanation: The answer is the special name people gave to the 1930s because there were so many bad dust storms during that time. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is found by looking at the section about the USA 'dust bowl' in the 1930s. The transcript mentions that the 'decade' (a period of 10 years) was called the 'Dirty Thirties' because dust storms happened very often. |
| Q36 | dry thunderstorms | In places like Arizona, the most dangerous dust clouds are those generated by dry thunderstorms | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that in Arizona, the worst or most dangerous types of dust clouds are created by storms that have no rain, known as dry thunderstorms. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to weather events called 'dry thunderstorms,' which create the most serious dust clouds in Arizona. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'dry thunderstorms' because the transcript specifically links the worst dust clouds in Arizona to this type of storm. The speaker says the 'most dangerous' (a synonym for the table's 'worst') dust clouds are created by these dry thunderstorms. |
| Q37 | machine operators | When this dust is deposited it causes all sorts of problems for machine operators | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript specifically says that when dust stays on surfaces, it makes things very hard for people who work with machines. Answer Explanation: The answer points to the group of people who find it difficult to work when dust settles on their equipment in Arizona. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is based on the section of the talk focusing on Arizona. The lecturer explains that when dust from storms settles, it enters small spaces in machinery. Because the dust is made of hard quartz, it creates many difficulties for the people who use or manage those machines, referred to as 'machine operators'. |
| Q38 | drought | This increase in wind erosion has coincided with a prolonged drought, which has gripped the Sahara's southern fringe | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript states that the increase in wind and dust in the Sahara happened together with a long period of dry weather where there was not enough rain. Answer Explanation: The answer is 'drought', which means a long period of time with very little or no rain. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is found in the section about the Sahara. The lecturer explains that the increase in wind erosion happened at the same time as a 'prolonged drought.' In the task, 'long-term' matches the meaning of 'prolonged,' and 'occurred along with' matches 'coincided with.' |
| Q39 | irrigation | intensive irrigation began in the then Central Asian republics of the USSR | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that in the 1950s, people in the Central Asian region started using a lot of water for farming (irrigation), which led to the environmental problems mentioned. Answer Explanation: The answer is 'irrigation,' which means using a system of pipes or channels to bring water to dry land to help crops grow. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'irrigation' because the transcript states that the 'demise' or destruction of the Aral Sea started when 'intensive irrigation began.' This large-scale watering of crops in the Central Asian republics caused less water to reach the sea, leading to it drying up. The word 'intensive' matches the structure of the flowchart. |
| Q40 | two-thirds | In 1960, the Aral Sea was the fourth-largest lake in the world, but since that time it has lost two-thirds of its volume, its surface area has halved and its water level has dropped by more than 216 metres | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript states that since 1960, the Aral Sea has lost a huge amount of its water—specifically two-thirds of its total volume. It also explains that the sea's surface area became half as big and the water level went down by many meters. Answer Explanation: The answer "two-thirds" describes the fraction of the Aral Sea's total water that has disappeared. It means that if you divided all the water into three equal parts, two of those parts are now gone. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is identified by focusing on the part of the talk where the lecturer discusses the shrinking of the Aral Sea. The lecturer provides specific data about the loss of water, stating that the sea has "lost two-thirds of its volume." In English, the word "volume" refers to the total amount of space something takes up, like the total amount of water in a lake. Synonyms for "reduced by" in this context include words like "lost." |
| Q41 | salty / saline / toxic | The salinity of the lake has increased so that it is now virtually the same as sea water. This means that the material that is blown from the dry bed of the Aral Sea is highly saline | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that the amount of salt, or salinity, in the lake went up until it was similar to the ocean. Because of this, the dust and material from the lake bed are now full of salt. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the lake's water now contains a very high level of salt or substances that are harmful to living things. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is based on the section of the lecture discussing the Aral Sea. The lecturer states that 'the salinity of the lake has increased,' which means it has become more salty or saline. Additionally, the text mentions that the salts found in the water are 'toxic' (poisonous) to plants. Therefore, any of these words correctly describes the change in the lake's condition as it dried up. |
| Q42 | crops / plants / agriculture | Scientists believe it is adversely affecting crops around the sea because salts are toxic to plants | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript states that the salt from the dry lake is harmful to the plants and farm food growing in that area. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to the food and other greenery that farmers grow, which are being harmed by the salt in the air. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is crops/plants/agriculture because the lecturer explains that as the Aral Sea dried up, it became very salty. The wind then blows this salt onto the land nearby. Since salt is 'toxic' or poisonous to things that grow, it causes serious problems for the local farming and vegetation. |
Transcript
Lecturer: In the last lecture, we looked at the adverse effects of desert dust on global climate. Today we're going to examine more closely what causes dust storms and what other effects they can have. As you know, dust storms have always been a feature of desert climates, but what we want to focus on today is the extent to which human activity is causing them. And it is this trend that I want to look at, because it has wide-ranging implications.
So - what are these human activities? Well, there are two main types that affect the wind erosion process, and thus the frequency of dust storms. There are activities that break up naturally wind-resistant surfaces such as off-road vehicle use and construction and there are those that remove protective vegetation cover from soils, for example, mainly farming and drainage. In many cases the two effects occur simultaneously which adds to the problem.
Let's look at some real examples and see what I'm talking about. Perhaps the best-known example of agricultural impact on desert dust is the creation of the USA's 'dust bowl' in the 1930s. The dramatic rise in the number of dust storms during the latter part of that decade was the result of farmers mismanaging their land. In fact, choking dust storms became so commonplace that the decade became known as the 'Dirty Thirties'.
Researchers observed a similar, but more prolonged, increase in dustiness in West Africa between the 1960s and the 1980s when the frequency of the storms rose to 80 a year and the dust was so thick that visibility was reduced to 1,000 metres. This was a hazard to pilots and road users.
In places like Arizona, the most dangerous dust clouds are those generated by dry thunderstorms. Here, this type of storm is so common that the problem inspired officials to develop an alert system to warn people of oncoming thunderstorms. When this dust is deposited it causes all sorts of problems for machine operators. It can penetrate the smallest nooks and crannies and play havoc with the way things operate because most of the dust is made up of quartz which is very hard.
Another example - the concentration of dust originating from the Sahara has risen steadily since the mid-1960s. This increase in wind erosion has coincided with a prolonged drought, which has gripped the Sahara's southern fringe. Drought is commonly associated with an increase in dust-raising activity but it's actually caused by low rainfall which results in vegetation dying off.
One of the foremost examples of modern human-induced environmental degradation is the drying up of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Its ecological demise dates from the 1950s when intensive irrigation began in the then Central Asian republics of the USSR. This produced a dramatic decline in the volume of water entering the sea from its two major tributaries. In 1960, the Aral Sea was the fourth-largest lake in the world, but since that time it has lost two-thirds of its volume, its surface area has halved and its water level has dropped by more than 216 metres. A knock-on effect of this ecological disaster has been the release of significant new sources of wind-blown material, as the water level has dropped.
And the problems don't stop there. The salinity of the lake has increased so that it is now virtually the same as sea water. This means that the material that is blown from the dry bed of the Aral Sea is highly saline. Scientists believe it is adversely affecting crops around the sea because salts are toxic to plants.
This shows that dust storms have numerous consequences beyond their effects on climate, both for the workings of environmental systems and for people living in drylands ...