Integrated Listening and Reading — 8
Read the text about Benjamin Franklin's experiment, then listen to the audio on the same topic. You will notice that some ideas coincide and some differ in them. Answer the questions by choosing A if the idea is expressed in both materials, B if it can be found only in the reading text, C if it can be found only in the audio-recording, and D if neither of the materials expresses the idea.
Now you have 7 minutes to read the text.
In 1752, on a dark June afternoon in Philadelphia, the 46 year-old Ben Franklin decided to fly a kite. With the help of his son, William, they attached his kite to a silk string, tying an iron key at the other end. Next, they tied a thin metal wire from the key and inserted the wire into a Leyden jar, a container for storing an electrical charge. Finally, as the sky darkened and a thunderstorm approached, they attached a silk ribbon to the key.
Holding onto the kite by the silk ribbon, Ben flew the kite and once it was aloft, he retreated into a barn so that he would not get wet. The thunder storm cloud passed over Franklin's kite, whereupon the negative charges in the cloud passed onto his kite, down the wet silk string, to the key, and into the jar. Ben however, was unaffected by the negative charges because he was holding the dry silk ribbon, insulating him from the charges on the key.
When he moved his free hand near the iron key, he received a shock. Why? Because the negative charges in the key were so strongly attracted to the positive charges in his body, a spark jumped from the key to his hand. Franklin's experiment successfully showed that lightning was static electricity.
Realizing that this form of electricity could be charged over a conductor and into the ground, he invented the lightning rod and conductor, providing the lightning an alternative path to the earth. Later in his life, lightning struck his own house, but his lightning rod saved it from burning.
Now listen to the audio on the same topic and then do the task comparing the text above and the audio-recording. You may hear the audio twice.
1. Benjamin was assisted by his close relative during the experiment.
A
B
C
D
2. Benjamin Franklin was 46 when he conducted his experiment with the kite.
A
B
C
D
3. The kite experiment was conducted in Philadelphia.
A
B
C
D
4. Franklin had originally planned to conduct the experiment atop a Philadelphia church spire.
A
B
C
D
5. There was someone who died trying to re-create Franklin's experiment.
A
B
C
D
6. Franklin invented the lightning rod.
A
B
C
D
7. Benjamin Franklin's experiment is widely known in America.
A
B
C
D
8. During the second half of the experiment Benjamin Franklin was hiding inside a building.
A
B
C
D
9. There were no buildings in Philadelphia tall enough to be used for the experiment.
A
B
C
D
10. Franklin was the first to suggest an experiment to prove the connection between the lightning bolt and electricity.
A
B
C
D
11. Franklin insulated himself from the electric charges using a dry silk ribbon.
A
B
C
D
12. An experiment based on Benjamin Franklin's ideas had been conducted in a different country shortly before he carried it out himself.
A
B
C
D
13. Benjamin Franklin used a metal key to conduct the experiment.
A
B
C
D
14. Leyden jar is used for storing electricity.
A
B
C
D
15. Benjamin Franklin successfully used one of his inventions to protect his own property.
A
B
C
D