Integrated Listening and Reading — 9

Источник задания: Всероссийская олимпиада школьников 2014/15, региональный этап

Read the text 'Crop Circles', then listen to part of the lecture 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.

Crop circles (round shapes in the fields seen from above) are not a modern phenomenon. As early as the late 17th century, circular designs were found in the fields and recorded in academic texts. However, the large number of eyewitness reports from England to Australia since 1970 has encouraged a more thorough examination of this phenomenon. To date, reports of more than 10,000 crop circles from almost thirty countries have been collected. Within the past thirty years, the designs have increased in complexity, including rings, lines and geometrical figures.

One of the problems associated with a serious scientific study of crop circles is the large number of hoaxers who have been discovered or who have admitted to having been a part of elaborate deceptions. Besides the famous team of Doug and Dave, who were attributed with creating a large number of circles in Britain, groups in New Zealand and in North America have been identified. Apparently, they flattened the crops by tromping through the field with heavy boots or by fastening planks of wood onto their boots to create intricate patterns without making footprints. In several experiments, most notably the 1998 demonstration supported by the Discovery Channel, a group of trained circle makers was paid to create patterns. The Discovery Channel test in New Zealand was mounted to prove that it was possible for teams to create patterns in a relatively short period of time. In less than four hours, they were able to make 100 circles intersecting in a pattern thirty feet in diameter. Critics pointed out that the location lent itself to secrecy, unlike other more populated sites where circles had been discovered. They also criticised the demonstration because, although the team worked at night, the area was very well-lighted.

Now listen to a part of the lecture on the same topic and then do the task comparing the text above and the lecture. You will hear the lecture twice.

1. Scientists have taken serious interest in the phenomenon called ‘crop circles'.


A

B

C

D

2. Crop circles are, in fact, geometrical figures of various designs and complexity.


A

B

C

D

3. Many people have been identified who participated in deception groups deliberately creating crop circles.


A

B

C

D

4. Several experiments have been conducted aimed at reproducing the procedure of making crop circles by specially trained people.


A

B

C

D

5. The more time the experiment takes, the greater the circle diameter is.


A

B

C

D

6. Professor Gerald Hawkins was actively involved in creating the equilateral pattern in a barley field in Britain.


A

B

C

D

7. There is a theory that links sound vibration frequencies with geometrical forms.


A

B

C

D

8. Observations of crop circles show that plant stems are not broken but bent.


A

B

C

D

9. Laboratory experiments show that the plants subjected to infrasound mature and ripen faster than in normal conditions.


A

B

C

D

10. Eyewitnesses have reported that they saw steam coming out of the newly created circle.


A

B

C

D

© Екатерина Яковлева, 2016–2022