Task 2
Questions 13-18
Read the article about a man who studies whales.
For questions 13-18, choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).
Mark your answer on the answer sheet.
Working with Whales
It all began when I was a kid and we went on holiday to the west coast of America. One of the things we did was go on a whale-watching trip. The sea was calm and blue, reflecting the cloudless sky above, and sure enough, we came across a school of whales. The skipper turned off the engine and after a while a gray whale, out of curiosity, approached our boat. This enormous creature swam so close to us that we could actually reach down and stroke it. What amazed me, however, was how, despite its size, it looked so elegant as it swam by. That moment will always stay with me, as I knew, there and then, what I wanted to do with my life.
I graduated in oceanography, obtained my doctorate and now I work at the Marine Foundation. Basically, the aim of the Foundation is to preserve whale populations. I’m in charge of the monitoring programme. This is how we collect information on the whales off our coasts. We co-ordinate the activities of a number of scientific institutes and government departments, but what we really rely on is input from the general public. Observation is key to our work. Previously, most of our research on whales came from scientists working on dead ones. In fact, these days, without volunteers we wouldn’t be able to function.
I absolutely adore my job. Besides the love that I feel for these amazing creatures, it’s important to me that what I’m doing is making a difference in terms of helping to protect whales and improving their environment. Although much of my work involves being stuck in front of a computer analysing input, I also get the chance to go out on observations of my own. Doing this from the shore is great fun, but nothing can beat being in a boat right next to a whale. I should also add that I’ve made some great friendships with other whale lovers during my time at the Foundation.
People often ask me what it is about whales that makes me want to devote my professional life to them. To start with, whales are just so diverse. There are so many different species and I find this variety in itself fascinating. Then there are all the extraordinary things about them like their social habits. But at the end of the day, I’m a scientist, and what attracts me is that there is still so much about them that we don’t know, and it’s this that draws me to them. And, of course, there’s the size of them. The blue whale, for instance, is the largest creature to have ever existed.
Despite the progress that has been made, such as the banning of commercial whale hunting, there is still a depressing number of threats to whales worldwide. Our seas contain an awful amount of pollution. This can get inside whales, build up and damage and kill them. In fact, recent tests on some dead whales have shown that they were suffering from diseases that were previously absent in marine animals. Fishing nets are a further problem, and every year many whales drown in this equipment. I would like to say that I’m confident about the future, but the reality is that while some whale populations are recovering, despite nearly half a century of protection, others are not. Unless the world realises that more needs to be done, there is little hope for these magnificent creatures.
What did the author find so surprising about his first meeting with a whale?
According to the author, why was the trip in paragraph one so important?
The Marine Foundation monitoring programme mostly uses data obtained from
What the author enjoys most about his work is the chance to
Why is the author so fascinated by whales?
How does the author feel about the future of whales?