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LG/APR 2014/ELC501

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

COURSE

ENGLISH FOR CRITICAL ACADEMIC READING

COURSE CODE

ELC501

TEST 1

APRIL 2014

TIME

1 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
1.

This question paper consists of ten (10) questions

2.

Answer ALL questions in the Question Paper.

3.

Fill in the details below :

UiTM STUDENT CARD NO

__________________________________

PROGRAMME / CODE

__________________________________

PART

__________________________________

ENGLISH LANGUAGE GROUP

__________________________________

NAME OF LECTURER

__________________________________

4.

You are allowed to bring in your English-English Dictionary.

5.

Please check to make sure that this examination pack consists of :

i) the Question Paper

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

This examination paper consists of 10 printed pages
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TOTAL MARKS: 30 MARKS

Read the following article and answer ALL the questions that follow.

Playing God with the Climate

In recent times scientists have watched with mounting alarm as carbon dioxide
concentrations, particularly boosted by the explosive growth in China,
increased relentlessly. Just last year the World Bank warned that "we're on
track for a 4C warmer world marked by extreme heat waves, depleting global
food stocks, declining ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea

level rise". Against this backdrop, scientists began to talk about responses to
this potential climate emergency and the idea of geo-engineering was born.

II

More than 40 schemes have now been put forward to the World Bank, all of
which would deliberately intervene in our climate system. The idea is gaining
traction, with Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, committing several million

10

dollars to finance research into geo-engineering and Richard Branson, the

founder of Virgin Group, promoting it as a response to climate change. Even
top oil companies are quietly backing geo-engineering studies, in anticipation
of a shift in the worlds political landscape.

III

So how can we engineer the climate? There are plenty of theories out there

15

from manipulating the Earth's cloud cover to changing the ocean's chemical
composition and also blanketing the planet with a layer of sunlight-reflecting
particles. Some of these schemes are grand in conception, some are prosaic;
some are purely speculative while some are all too feasible. It would take
decades before we could discover whether attempting to engineer the climate

20

is a glorious enterprise or ruinous folly. In the meantime here is a look at some

of the surprising possibilities being suggested.

IV

As the ice in the Arctic sea melts, the Earth loses some of its reflectivity as

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white ice is replaced by dark seawater which absorbs more heat. To counter
this effect, a large area of the Earth's surface could be whitened, allowing

25

more of the sun's warmth to be reflected back into space. In fact, a number of
schemes have been proposed, including painting roofs white; however, such
schemes are unlikely to make any significant difference globally.

What might be helpful, though, would be to cut down all of the forests in
Siberia and Canada. While it is generally believed that having more forests is a

30

good thing as trees absorb carbon, boreal (northern) forests have a downside.
Compared to the snow-covered forest floor beneath, the trees in the boreal
forest are dark and absorb more solar radiation. If they were felled, the
exposed ground would reflect a significantly greater proportion of incoming
solar radiation and the Earth would, therefore, be cooler. However, if such a

35

suggestion appears outrageous, it is rightly so because matters are never so

simple in the Earth system. Warming would cause snow on the denuded
lands to melt, and the situation would end up worse than before the forests
were cleared.

VI

Another scheme is to reduce solar radiation before it gets to Earth. One

40

proposal is to spray sulphur dioxide or sulphuric acid into the upper

atmosphere to form tiny particles that would reflect an extra one to two per
cent of incoming solar radiation back into space, thereby cooling the planet.
The most likely delivery method is a fleet of customised high-flying aircraft
fitted with tanks and spraying equipment, although the idea of a hose

45

suspended in the sky is also being studied. In fact, this involves installing a
radiative shield between the Earth and the sun, one that could be adjusted by
those who control it to regulate the temperature of the planet.

VII

How effective would such a solar filter be in suppressing the warming of the
Earth? All the proposed models indicate that if we reduced the amount of

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sunlight reaching the planet, the Earth would indeed cool fairly quickly and
evenly, although less effectively at the poles. The models also show that
rainfall pattern would revert to how it was before the warming of the Earth
occurred. Meanwhile, some studies indicate that the Indian monsoon could be
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seriously disrupted, thus affecting food supplies for up to two billion people if

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this solar filter is used.

VIII In view of the possible disruption to the Indian monsoon, atmospheric
scientists are a little apprehensive of using solar filter. They argue that the
climate system is so complex that it is impossible to draw any firm conclusions
about the effects of such a radical intervention in the Earth system. They

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further maintain that one problem with sulphate aerosol spraying, described as
the "killer objection", is that we can only get a good idea of how it would work
through full-scale implementation. Even then, we would need at least ten years
of global climate data before we had enough information to isolate the effects
of sulphate aerosol spraying from natural climate variability and, indeed, from

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the effects of other human-induced climate change. To add to the risks, if after
ten years, the accumulated data indicate that our intervention was not a good
idea, it may be impossible to terminate the solar shield.

IX

The next proposal is to extend the distance between the Earth and the sun. In
1993, Climatic Change published a novel scheme by P.C. Jain, an Indian

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physicist, to counter global warming. Professor Jain found that the amount of
solar radiation reaching the earth varies in inverse square to the distance of
the Earth from the sun. He, therefore, proposed that the effects of global
warming could be countered by increasing the radius of the Earth's orbit
around the sun. An orbital expansion of 1 to 2 per cent would do it, although

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one of the side effects would be to add 5.5 days to each year. He then
calculated how much energy would be needed to bring about such a shift in
the Earth's celestial orbit. The answer is more than the amount of energy
humans would consume over 100 billion years (the age of the universe is
around 14 billion years).

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When we dig up and burn fossil carbon, we make use of its trapped energy;
but the carbon atoms do not disappear. So where do they go? First they go
into the atmosphere. Some are then soaked up by vegetation. Some sooner
or later end up in the various layers of the oceans. The deep ocean has the
capacity to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and

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it would help if we could get more carbon down there.

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LG/APR 2014/ELC501

But how do we get carbon to the deep ocean? The answer lies in what is
known as the biological pump, a process whereby the carbon in the
atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean and driven down to the seabed. Tiny
marine plants known as phytoplankton grow by combining carbon dioxide,

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various minerals and sunlight to multiply into blooms. Upon death, the plankton
will sink and drag the carbon down with it to the ocean floor. The effectiveness
of the biological pump depends on the suitability of conditions for marine life,
including the availability of micronutrients, especially iron. If a shortage of iron
is limiting plankton growth in an area of the ocean, then perhaps the artificial

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addition of the missing ingredient, that is iron, can stimulate algal blooms.

XII

Fertilising some areas of the ocean with iron slurry does indeed induce algal
blooms which make the ocean look greener. However, it turns out that much of
the carbon absorbed by the phytoplankton does not find its way to the ocean
floor. This is because while circulating in the surface waters, phytoplankton

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would have been eaten by other marine creatures, subsequently causing the
emission of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. So, while iron
fertilisation stimulates biological productivity in one area, nutrient stealing can
see this productivity fall in others. As Robert Anderson, senior scholar at
Lamont-Doherty Observatory stated: "You might make some parts of the

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ocean greener by iron enrichment, but you're also going to make a lot of the
other parts of the ocean bluer."

Adapted from: Playing god with the climate, Readers Digest, August 2013

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QUESTION 1
What do the following words mean as they are used in the passage?
a) traction

(line 10) ______________________________________

b) prosaic

(line 18) ______________________________________

c) denuded

(line 37) ______________________________________

d) suppressing

(line 49) ______________________________________

e) countered

(line 74) ______________________________________

f) soaked up

(line 83) ______________________________________

(6 marks)

QUESTION 2
a) What is the stated main idea of paragraph VIII?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)

b) Select TWO major details to support the above main idea.

i)_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
ii)_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

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QUESTION 3
Indicate by circling the appropriate option. Paragraphs III, IV, and V discuss mostly on the
a) feasible ways to engineer our climate.
b) threats that are inevitably endangering our climate system and changing the
chemical composition.
c) efforts taken to shift the political landscape.
d) proposed schemes that would deliberately intervene in our climate system to reduce
heat absorption.
(1 mark)
QUESTION 4
Use the following words (Personal Observation, Example, Factual Data, Explanation, Expert
Opinion, Research) to label the types of supporting details used in the passage. Do not use
the given words more than once.
Types of
Supporting
Details

No

Statements

a)

However, if such a suggestion appears outrageous, it is rightly so

because issues are never so simple in the Earth system. Warming would
cause snow on the denuded lands to melt, and the situation would end
up worse than before the forests were cleared (Paragraph V).

b)

__________

In 1993, Climatic Change published a novel scheme by P.C. Jain, an

Indian physicist, to counter global warming (Paragraph IX).

c)

_________

Tiny marine plants known as phytoplankton grow by combining carbon

dioxide, various minerals and sunlight to multiply into blooms.
(Paragraph XI).

d)

__________

As Robert Anderson, senior scholar at Lamont-Doherty Observatory

stated: "You might make some parts of the ocean greener by iron
enrichment, but you're also going to make a lot of the other parts of the
ocean bluer."

__________

(Paragraph XII).

(4 marks)

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QUESTION 5
Of all the schemes put forward by the author, which one would you find the most
logical/acceptable? Explain why.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(3 marks)
QUESTION 6
What is the implied main idea of paragraph VII?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)

QUESTION 7
List two types of support given by the writer in paragraph IX to strengthen the proposal that
the effects of global warming could be countered by increasing the radius of the Earths orbit
around the sun.
Provide one example for each type of support.
a) Type of support: _____________________________________________________
Example:

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

b) Type of support:
Example:

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
(4 marks)

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QUESTION 8
What may cause the phytoplankton rich ocean to become bluer?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
QUESTION 9
Evaluate the appropriateness of the title given to the article Playing God with the Climate.
Provide at least two reasons to support your answer.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
QUESTION 10
Study the statements below. Write I for inductive reasoning and D for deductive reasoning in
the boxes provided.
Types of
Reasoning

No

Statements

a)

There are plenty of theories out there that highlight the need for
manipulating the Earth's climate. Some of these schemes are grand in
conception, while some are prosaic. Some are purely speculative, while
some are all too feasible. It would take decades before we could
discover whether attempting to engineer the climate is a glorious
enterprise or ruinous folly. Therefore, geo-engineering is risky but
necessary to overcome todays worsening climatic conditions.

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b)

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LG/APR 2014/ELC501

The trees in the northern forests are darker and absorb more solar
radiation compared to the snow-covered forest floor. If they were felled,
the exposed ground would reflect a significantly greater proportion of
incoming solar radiation. The Earth would be cooler if all boreal forest
__________

trees are cut down to reflect incoming solar radiation.

c)

When the ice in the Arctic sea melts, the Earth loses some of its
reflectivity. This layer of white ice is then replaced by dark seawater
which absorbs more heat. If a large area of the Earth's surface could be
whitened, this whitened surface may allow more of the sun's warmth to
__________

be reflected back into space.

d)

While iron fertilisation stimulates biological productivity in one area,

nutrient stealing can see it fall in others. While circulating in the surface
waters, phytoplankton is eaten by other marine creatures. As a result, an
even growth of phytoplankton in all parts of the ocean may not be
__________

possible.

(4 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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