The History Of Weather Forecasting - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic Listening Test 2 · Part 4 · Questions 31–40
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Questions
Questions 31–40 Note Completion
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
The history of weather forecasting
Ancient cultures
- many cultures believed that floods and other disasters were involved in the creation of the world
- many cultures invented 31 and other ceremonies to make the weather gods friendly
- people needed to observe and interpret the sky to ensure their 32
- around 650 BC, Babylonians started forecasting, using weather phenomena such as 33
- by 300 BC, the Chinese had a calendar made up of a number of 34 connected with the weather
Ancient Greeks
- a more scientific approach
- Aristotle tried to explain the formation of various weather phenomena
- Aristotle also described haloes and 35
Middle Ages
- Aristotle’s work considered accurate
- many proverbs, e.g. about the significance of the colour of the 36, passed on accurate information.
15th-19th centuries
- 15th century: scientists recognised value of 37 for the first time
- Galileo invented the 38
- Pascal showed relationship between atmospheric pressure and altitude
- from the 17th century, scientists could measure atmospheric pressure and temperature
- 18th century: Franklin identified the movement of 39
- 19th century: data from different locations could be sent to the same place by 40
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q31 | dances | Many ancient civilisations developed rites such as dances in order to make the weather gods look kindly on them. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about how ancient civilizations, like the Babylonians, performed dances and other rituals to please the weather gods. Answer Explanation: The answer 'dances' refers to special movements or performances done by ancient cultures to make the weather gods happy. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is supported by the fact that the excerpt mentions how ancient civilizations used dances as part of their rituals to gain favor from the weather gods, showing a connection between ceremonial dances and weather forecasting practices. |
| Q32 | survival | in fact their survival depended on it. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript suggests that people in ancient cultures needed to observe and interpret the sky for a specific reason. Answer Explanation: The answer indicates that survival was dependent on something important. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer aligns with the idea that people needed to observe and interpret weather patterns for their survival because their well-being and existence relied on understanding and predicting natural phenomena to protect themselves from disasters and ensure their safety. |
| Q33 | clouds | based on their observations of clouds and other phenomena. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that ancient cultures, long ago, used their observations of clouds to figure out what the weather would be like. Answer Explanation: The answer, 'clouds,' means the white fluffy things we see in the sky. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'clouds' because the excerpt mentions that ancient cultures used their observations of clouds to understand the weather. This means they paid attention to clouds to predict what kind of weather was coming. |
| Q34 | festivals | astronomers had developed a calendar which divided the year into 24 festivals | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that astronomers had developed a calendar that had a total of 24 festivals spread throughout the year. Answer Explanation: The answer 'festivals' refers to special events or celebrations that took place at different times during the year. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'festivals' because the word fits perfectly in the context of the transcript where it mentions a calendar divided into 24 festivals, indicating the occurrence of celebrations or special events at various points in the year. |
| Q35 | comets | that is, bright circles of light around the sun, the moon and bright stars – and comets. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript is saying that Aristotle described haloes, which are bright circles of light around the sun, the moon, and bright stars. Answer Explanation: The answer 'comets' is a type of celestial object. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'comets' is suitable because Aristotle described comets in addition to describing haloes, as mentioned in the transcript. |
| Q36 | sky | Alongside this, though, in the Middle Ages weather observations were passed on in the form of proverbs, such as ‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning’. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that during the Middle Ages, weather-related knowledge was shared through simple sayings or proverbs like 'Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning.' Answer Explanation: The answer 'sky' refers to the space above us where clouds, the sun, and other weather phenomena can be observed. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'sky' because the proverbs in the excerpt rely on observations of the sky to predict the weather. The color of the sky at different times of day was thought to provide clues about upcoming weather conditions, helping shepherds predict whether the next day would be delightful or challenging. |
| Q37 | instruments | For centuries, any attempt to forecast the weather could only be based on personal observation, but in the fifteenth century scientists began to see the need for instruments. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about how in the past, people could only predict the weather by looking at it themselves. But in the fifteenth century, scientists realized they needed instruments to help them forecast the weather. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to tools or devices that are used to measure or observe things. In this case, instruments would be tools designed by scientists to help them predict the weather accurately. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is supported by the fact that scientists realized in the fifteenth century that they needed instruments to improve their weather forecasting abilities. These instruments would provide more accurate and reliable data compared to relying solely on personal observation. |
| Q38 | thermometer | the Italian scientist and inventor Galileo developed the world’s first thermometer. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that Galileo, a scientist, created the first thermometer for measuring temperature. Answer Explanation: The answer 'thermometer' refers to a tool used to measure temperature. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer matches because Galileo indeed developed the first thermometer, which is a device that measures temperature. This aligns with the mention of Galileo inventing something related to temperature in the transcript. |
| Q39 | storms | It was Franklin who discovered that storms generally travel from west to east. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that Franklin figured out that big storms usually move from west to east. Answer Explanation: The answer 'storms' means a big windy event with rain. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'storms' is right because the excerpt is talking about Franklin discovering the direction that storms move. The excerpt says he discovered 'the movement of...' and the answer fills in the blank with the type of thing that moves, which is storms. |
| Q40 | telegraph | People in different locations began to keep records, and in the mid-nineteenth century, the invention of the telegraph made it possible for these records to be collated. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about how people in different places started keeping weather records. The telegraph, an old communication technology, helped gather this information together. Answer Explanation: The answer is a simple word that describes an old communication device that connected different places to share information. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'telegraph' because the excerpt mentions the mid-nineteenth century invention that enabled people in various locations to share their weather records. The telegraph was a crucial technology at that time for transmitting information over long distances quickly. |
Transcript
In this series of lectures about the history of weather forecasting, I’ll start by examining its early history – that’ll be the subject of today’s talk.
Ok, so we’ll start by going back thousands of years. Most ancient cultures had weather gods, and weather catastrophes, such as floods, played an important role in many creation myths. Generally, weather was attributed to the whims of the gods, as the wide range of weather gods in various cultures shows. For instance, there’s the Egyptian sun god Ra, and Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lightning. Many ancient civilisations developed rites such as dances in order to make the weather gods look kindly on them.
But the weather was of daily importance: observing the skies and drawing the correct conclusions from these observations was really important, in fact their survival depended on it. It isn’t known when people first started to observe the skies, but at around 650 BC, the Babylonians produced the first short-range weather forecasts, based on their observations of clouds and other phenomena. The Chinese also recognised weather patterns, and by 300 BC, astronomers had developed a calendar which divided the year into 24 festivals, each associated with a different weather phenomenon.
The ancient Greeks were the first to develop a more scientific approach to explaining the weather. The work of the philosopher and scientist Aristotle, in the fourth century BC, is especially noteworthy, as his ideas held sway for nearly 2,000 years. In 340 BC, he wrote a book in which he attempted to account for the formation of rain, clouds, wind and storms. He also described celestial phenomena such as haloes – that is, bright circles of light around the sun, the moon and bright stars – and comets. Many of his observations were surprisingly accurate. For example, he believed that heat could cause water to evaporate. But he also jumped to quite a few wrong conclusions, such as that winds are breathed out by the Earth. Errors like this were rectified from the Renaissance onwards.
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For nearly 2,000 years, Aristotle’s work was accepted as the chief authority on weather theory. Alongside this, though, in the Middle Ages weather observations were passed on in the form of proverbs, such as ‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning’. Many of these are based on very good observations and are accurate, as contemporary meteorologists have discovered.
For centuries, any attempt to forecast the weather could only be based on personal observation, but in the fifteenth century scientists began to see the need for instruments. Until then, the only ones available were weather vanes – to determine the wind direction – and early versions of rain gauges. One of the first, invented in the fifteenth century, was a hygrometer, which measured humidity. This was one of many inventions that contributed to the development of weather forecasting.
In 1592, the Italian scientist and inventor Galileo developed the world’s first thermometer. His student Torricelli later invented the barometer, which allowed people to measure atmospheric pressure. In 1648, the French philosopher Pascal proved that pressure decreases with altitude. This discovery was verified by English astronomer Halley in 1686, and Halley was also the first person to map trade winds.
This increasing ability to measure factors related to weather helped scientists to understand the atmosphere and its processes better, and they started collecting weather observation data systematically. In the eighteenth century, the scientist and politician Benjamin Franklin carried out work on electricity and lightning in particular, but he was also very interested in weather and studied it throughout most of his life. It was Franklin who discovered that storms generally travel from west to east.
In addition to new meteorological instruments, other developments contributed to our understanding of the atmosphere. People in different locations began to keep records, and in the mid-nineteenth century, the invention of the telegraph made it possible for these records to be collated. This led, by the end of the nineteenth century, to the first weather services.
It was not until the early twentieth century that mathematics and physics became part of meteorology, and we’ll continue from that point next week.1