European Heat Wave Reading Answers

Dec 3, 2022

European Heat Wave Reading Answers comprises of 14 sets of questions which the candidates are required to attempt within the given time span of 20 minutes. Three sorts of questions, like yes/no/not given, fill in the blanks, sentence completion and identifying information has been covered in the provided topic. The passage and the provided statement must be understood by the candidates, who must then provide a two-word response. The paragraph must be carefully read by candidates in order to grasp the authors' claims. A neat and proper study of the IELTS passage is mandatory for the candidates in order to select the correct responses in matching headings and identifying information.

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Reading Passage Questions

It was the summer, scientists now realize, when felt. We knew that summer 2003 was remarkable: global warming, at last, made itself unmistakably Britain experienced its record high temperature and continental Europe saw forest fires raging out of control, great rivers drying of a trickle and thousands of heat-related deaths. But just how remarkable is only now becoming clear

The three months of June, July and August were the warmest ever recorded in western and central Europe, with record national highs in Portugal, Germany, and Switzerland as well as Britain. And they were the warmest by a very long way Over a great rectangular block of the earth stretching from west of Paris to northern Italy, taking in Switzerland and southern Germany, the average temperature for the summer months was 3.78°C above the long-term norm, said the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, which is one of the world’s leading institutions for the monitoring and analysis of temperature records.

That excess might not seem a lot until you are aware of the context – but then you realize it is enormous. There is nothing like this in previous data, anywhere. It is considered so exceptional that Professor Phil Jones, the CRU’s director, is prepared to say openly – in a way few scientists have done before – that the 2003 extreme may be directly attributed, not to natural climate variability, but to global warming caused by human actions.

Meteorologists have hitherto contented themselves with the formula that recent high temperatures are consistent with predictions” of climate change. For the great block of the map 一 that stretching between 3 5-5 ON and 0-20E – the CRU has reliable temperature records dating back to 1781. Using as a baseline the average summer temperature recorded between 1961 and1990, departures from the temperature norm, or “anomalies’: over the area as a whole can easily be plotted. As the graph shows, such as the variability of our climate that over the past 200 years, there have been at least half a dozen anomalies, in terms of excess temperature – the peaks on the graph denoting very hot years – approaching, or even exceeding, 20 °C. But there has been nothing remotely like 2003 when the anomaly is nearly four degrees.

“This is quite remarkable,” Professor Jones told The Independent. “It’s very unusual in a statistical sense. If this series had a normal statistical distribution, you wouldn’t get this number. There turn period “how often it could be expected to recur” would be something like one in a thousand years. If we look at an excess above the average of nearly four degrees, then perhaps nearly three degrees of that is natural variability, because we’ve seen that in past summers. But the final degree of it is likely to be due to global warming, caused by human actions.

The summer of 2003 has, in a sense, been one that climate scientists have long been expecting. Until now, the warming has been manifesting itself mainly in winters that have been less cold than in summers that have been much hotter. Last week, the United Nations predicted that winters were warming so quickly that winter sports would die out in Europe’s lower-level ski resorts. But sooner or later the unprecedented hot summer was bound to come, and this year it did.

One of the most dramatic features of the summer was the hot nights, especially in the first half of August. In Paris, the temperature never dropped below 230°C (73.40°F) at all between 7 and 14 August, and the city recorded its warmest-ever night on 11-12 August, when the mercury did not drop below 25.50°C (77.90°F). Germany recorded its warmest-ever night at Weinbiet in the Rhine valley with the lowest figure of 27.60°C (80.60°F) on 13 August, and similar record-breaking night-time temperatures were recorded in Switzerland and Italy.

The 15,000 excess deaths in France during August, compared with previous years, have been related to the high night-time temperatures. The number gradually increased during the first 12days of the month, peaking at about 2,000 per day on the night of 12-13 August, then fell off dramatically after 14 August when the minimum temperatures fell by about 50C. The elderly were most affected, with a 70 percent increase in the mortality rate in those aged 75-94.

For Britain, the year as a whole is likely to be the warmest ever recorded, but despite the high-temperature record on 10 August, the summer itself – defined as the June, July, and August period – still comes behind 1976 and 1995，when there were long periods of intense heat. At the moment, the year is on course to be the third-hottest ever in the global temperature record, which goes back to 1856, behind 1998 and 2002 but when all the records for October, November, and December are collated, it might move into second place, Professor Jones said. The 10 hottest years in the record have all now occurred since 1990. Professor Jones is in no doubt about the astonishing nature of the European summer of 2003.”The temperatures recorded were out of all proportion to the previous record,” he said. “It was the warmest summer in the past 500 years and probably way beyond that It was enormously exceptional.”

His colleagues at the University of East Anglia’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research are now planning a special study of it. “It was a summer that has not: been experienced before, either in terms of the temperature extremes that were reached, or the range and diversity of the impacts of the extreme heat,” said the center’s executive director, Professor Mike Hulme. “It will certainly have left its mark on a number of countries, as to how they think and plan for climate change in the future, much as the 2000 floods have revolutionized the way the Government is thinking about flooding in the UK. “The 2003 heatwave will have similar repercussions across Europe.”

Solution and Explanation

Questions 14-19
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

(Guide: Candidates need to select the correct answer - True or False or Not Given for the given statements)

The average summer temperature in 2003 is approximately four degrees higher than that of the past

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: As the graph shows, such as the variability of our climate that over the past 200 years, there have been at least half a dozen anomalies, in terms of excess temperature – the peaks on the graph denoting very hot years – approaching, or even exceeding, 20 oC. But there has been nothing remotely like 2003 when the anomaly is nearly four degrees.
Keywords: Four degrees, 2003, excess temperature
Keyword location: Paragraph D.
Explanation: The pargaraph D suggests that while the rising temperatures have occurred in the past, the largest increase was in 2003, when the temperature was close to 4 degrees above average. So, the statement is regarded as a TRUE one.

Question 15. Jones believes the temperature statistic is within the normal range.

Answer: False
Supporting sentence: If this series had a normal statistical distribution, you wouldn’t get this number.
Keywords: statistical distribution.
Keyword location: Paragraph E.
Explanation: The starting part of paragraph E in the passage explains that as per professor Jones, if we looked at the data, we wouldn't expect to see the temperature fluctuations or rise very often. He goes on to say that such a phenomena would only occur once per thousand years. Hence, the above statement is a FALSE one.

Question 16. The human factor is one of the reasons that caused the hot summer

Answer: True.
Supporting Sentence: But the final degree of it is likely to be due to global warming, caused by human actions.
Keywords: global warming, human actions, natural variability
Keyword location: Paragraph E
Explanation: Professor Jones in paragraph E states that if we consider an excess of nearly four degrees over the average, possibly nearly three degrees of that is due to natural variability because we have experienced that in previous summers. Although, the eventual extent of it is probably a result of global warming, which is brought on by human activity. Thus, the above statement is TRUE.

Question 17. In a large city, people usually measure temperature twice a day.

Answer: Not given.
Explanation: No available information for this statement is given in the passage.

Question 18. Global warming has an obvious effect of warmer winter instead of hotter summer before 2003.

Answer: True
Supporting sentence: Until now, the warming has been manifesting itself mainly in winters that have been less cold than in summers that have been much hotter.
Keywords: Summer of 2003, climate scientists, winters
Keyword location: Paragraph F
Explanation: The paragraph F of the passage claims that in some ways, climate scientists have long anticipated the summer of 2003. Itself until this point, the global warming has mostly shown up as winters that have been milder than summers that have been significantly hotter. Thus, the above statement is valid and regarded as a TRUE one.

Question 19. New ski resorts are to be built on a high-altitude spot.

Answer: Not given.

Explanation: No appropriate information to support this statement is provided in the passage, thus making it an irrelevant one.

Questions 20-21

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-21 on your answer sheet.

(Guide: Candidates need to fill in the blanks with not more than three words from the passage )

Question 20. What are the two hottest years in Britain besides 2003?

Answer: 1976 and 1955. (In the answer column it is mentioned as 1995 but asper the referenced passage, it is 1955)
Supporting sentence: For Britain, the year as a whole is likely to be the warmest ever recorded, but despite the high-temperature record on 10 August, the summer itself – defined as the June, July and August period – still comes behind 1976 and 1955, when there were long periods of intense heat.
Keywords: High temperature, August,1976,1955
Keyword location: Paragraph I, first lines.
Explanation: The beginning sentence of paragraph I explains elaborately that even though the high temperature on August 10 broke a record, the summer in Britain, which is defined as the months of June, July, and August, is still expected to rank behind the years of 1976 and 1955, which had extended periods of extreme heat.

Question 21. What will affect UK government policies besides climate change according to Hulme?

Answer: 2000 floods.
Supporting sentence: “It will certainly have left its mark on a number of countries, as to how they think and plan for climate change in the future, much as the 2000 floods have revolutionised the way the Government is thinking about flooding in the UK. “The 2003 heatwave will have similar repercussions across Europe.”
Keywords: climate change, 2000 floods,2003 heatwave, flooding in the UK
Keyword location: Paragraph J
Explanation: Paragraph J in the passage explains that according to Professor Mike Hulme, whose statement is cited in the supporting clause, the 2003 heatwave will undoubtedly prompt Europe to consider future strategies for combating climate change, just as the UK floods of 2000 led to a significant shift in the country's policies and response to flooding.

Questions 22-26
Complete the summary below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.
Write your answers in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet

In the summer of 2003, thousands of extra death occurred in the country of 22…………………….. Moreover, world-widely, the third record of hottest summer date from 23…………………………., after the year of 24………………………….. According to Jones, all the 10 hottest years happened from 25……………………….. However, the summer of 2003 was at the peak of the previous 26………………………… years, perhaps even more.

(Guide: Candidates need to fill the blank with not more two words from the passage )

Question 22

Answer: France.
Supporting sentence: The 15,000 excess deaths in France during August, compared with previous years, have been related to the high night-time temperatures
Keywords: 15,000 deaths, high night-time temperatures, France.
Keyword location: Paragraph H
Explanation: The paragraph H in the passage explains that the high temperatures during the time of night in France throughout August were responsible for the 15,000 additional deaths compared to prior years. Thus, the correct answer will be France.

Question 23

Answer: 1856.
Supporting sentence: At the moment, the year is on course to be the third-hottest ever in the global temperature record, which goes back to 1856, behind 1998 and 2002…
Keywords: global temperature, 1856, 1998, 2002
Keyword location: Paragraph I
Explanation: As per paragraph I of the passage it can be said that the year of 1856 is the third most hottest years which the entire world have experienced or went through. Thus 1856 is the correct answer here.

Question 24

Answer: 1998 and 2002
Supporting sentence: At the moment, the year is on course to be the third-hottest ever in the global temperature record, which goes back to 1856, behind 1998 and 2002…
Keywords: global temperature, 1998,2002
Keyword location: Paragraph I
Explanation: The paragraph I in the passage explains that the world's two warmest years, in that order, were 1988 and 2002, making 1856 the third-hottest year on record. So, 1998 and 2002 will be the right answer.

Question 25

Answer: 1990
Supporting sentence: …Professor Jones said. The 10 hottest years in the record have all now occurred since 1990.
Keywords: Hottest years, 1990
Keyword location: Paragraph I
Explanation: Paragraph I enhances that the top ten hottest years, according to Professor Jones, began in 1990. Thus, 1990 is the correct option here.

Question 26

Answer: 500
Supporting sentence: Professor Jones is in no doubt about the astonishing nature of the European summer of 2003. “The temperatures recorded were out of all proportion to the previous record,” he said. “It was the warmest summer in the past 500 years and probably way beyond what it was enormously exceptional.”
Keywords: summer of 2003, warmest summer, 500 years
Keyword location: Paragraph I
Explanation: Paragraph I in the passage suggests that no summer season has been as warm as the summer of 2003, according to professor Jones, in the preceding 500 years or so. Thus, 500 is the correct answer.

Question 27

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D
Write your answer in box 27 on your answer sheet.
(Guide: Candidates need to choose the correct answer choice from the list of options A to D)

Which one can be best served as the title of this passage in the following options?

Global Warming effect
Global Warming in Europe
The Effects of hot temperature
Hottest summer in Europe

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: The whole passage talks about European Summer.
Keyword: European Summer
Keyword Location: Whole passage
Explanation: The entire extract from the passage discusses how the summer season of the year 2003 in Europe was among the hottest ever, listing numerous European nations where the heatwave was felt. Therefore, Option D would be considered as a suitable title for the above passage, as it covers the ideas of the passage in short.

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