The Effects of Environmental Change on Birds IELTS Listening Answers

The Effects of Environmental Change on Birds IELTS Listening Answers is a lecture on the man-made changes in the environment that can affect wildlife. The candidates need to answer the following type of questions:

  • One word only

For one word only, candidates need to answer the question keeping in mind the word limit. To answer these questions, candidates should listen carefully to the numbers that the speaker tells in the audio.

IELTS Listening section assesses the abilities of the candidates in listening skills. Candidates are required to answer correctly by listening to the given audio.

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Topic: The Effects of Environmental Change on Birds 

Audio: 

Questions 1-10:
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Mercury (Hg)

  • Highly toxic
  • Released into the atmosphere from coal
  • In water it may be consumed by fish
  • It has also recently been found to affect birds which feed on 1________

Question 1:

Answer: insects
Explanation
:
Birds which eat fish may be affected. As fish may intake mercury from the atmosphere. It was recently known that those that eat insects can also be affected as well.

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Research on effects of mercury or binds

  • Claire Varian-Ramos is investigating

- the effects on birds’ 2 ________ or mental processes, e.g. memory
- the effects on bird song (usually learned from a bird’s 3________ )

  • Findings:

- songs learned by birds exposed to mercury are less 4 ________
- this may have a negative effect on birds’ 5 ________

  • Lab-based studies:

- allow more 6 ________ for the experimenter

Question 2:

Answer: behaviour/behavior
Explanation
:
Birds are actually killed by mercury poisoning. These may do with the behaviour of the birds, or with the effect of mercury on the way their brain works.

Question 3:

Answer: father
Explanation
:
The process of song learning happens at a particular stage in the birds’ development. A young bird seems to acquire this skill by listening to the songs produced by its father, rather than by any other bird. Hence father is the correct answer.

Question 4:

Answer: complex/complicated
Explanation
:
The lecture states that Varian-Ramos in her research stated that young male birds can be affected by mercury. If they eat food contaminated with mercury then the songs they produce aren’t as complex as those produced by other birds.

Question 5:

Answer: reproduce/breeding
Explanation
:
quite low-level exposure to mercury can have an impact on male birds in a natural situation. It can mean that they’re less attractive to female birds. This might affect their chances of reproduction.

Question 6:

Answer: control
Explanation
:
The lab-based studies have the advantage that maybe variables in a natural setting. So the researcher has a much higher level of control.

Implications for humans

  • Migrating birds such as 7 ________ containing mercury may be eaten by humans
  • Mercury also causes problems in learning 8 ________
  • Mercury in a mother’s body from 9 ________ may affect the unborn child
  • New regulations for mercury emissions will affect everyone’s energy 10 ________

Question 7:

Answer: duck(s)
Explanation
:
humans are affected by transporting mercury far from contaminated sites. For instance, ducks feeding at a contaminated site were later shot by hunters over a thousand km away and eaten.

Question 8:

Answer: language
Explanation
:
Song learning by birds may be affected by mercury contamination. In humans, mercury causes developmental delays in the acquisition of language.

Question 9:

Answer: food
Explanation
:
It is now known that an unborn child can be affected if the food eaten by the mother contains high levels of mercury. Hence food is the correct answer.

Question 10:

Answer: cost(s)/price(s)/bill(s)
Explanation
:
There are new regulations for mercury emissions from power plants. But these will need billions of dollars to implement and increase costs for everyone.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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