Tracking Hurricanes - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation

IELTS Reading section tests the candidate’s ability to understand a passage and answer different types of questions related to it. There are a total of three IELTS reading passages and a total of 40 questions. This topic - Tracking Hurricanes is an IELTS Academic topic.

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Candidates need to answer the following IELTS reading question types:

• Short answer questions
• Sentence completion
• Multiple choice questions

Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Tracking Hurricanes - IELTS Reading Sample

North American meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Hurricane Research Division have recently improved the success rate in their forecasting of where hurricanes are likely to hit land by an estimated 15 to 30%. This increase in accuracy is due to the use of instruments called GPS-dropwindsondes, which can probe the atmosphere surrounding a hurricane while it is still out at sea. The atmospheric characteristics of hurricanes over land are well understood because an investigation is possible with weather balloons containing sophisticated meteorological instruments. When hurricanes are out of reach of balloons, gathering information is decidedly more difficult. Little is known of the weather conditions that guide hurricanes towards land.

An accurate estimation of where a hurricane will strike is essential in order to reduce the loss of life and property. Hurricane Andrew, the most costly hurricane in U.S. history, killed 15 people and caused damage of $35 billion, in today's dollars, in 1992. However, the unnamed : Category 4 2 hurricane, which struck south-east Florida in 1926 and killed 243 people would have caused an estimated $77 billion if it had struck today. The reason for this is the explosion in population growth and development along the south-east coast of the U.S. during the last half century.

Hurricanes occur in cycles every few decades, the last intense period in the U.S. being from 1940 to 1969. 'Camille', a Category 5 hurricane of such catastrophic force that it caused over a billion and a half dollars worth of damage at the time and killed 256 people, struck the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in 1969 with winds over 320 km/h. Yet, for the last quarter century, hurricane activity has been relatively mild. Scientists do not know the precise reason for the cycles of hurricane activity, but they could be caused by a phenomenon called the 'Atlantic Conveyor'. This is the name given to the gigantic current of water that flows cold from the top of the globe slowly along the Atlantic ocean floor to Antarctica and resurfaces decades later before flowing back north, absorbing heat as it crosses the equator. Since hurricanes derive their energy from the heat of warm water, it is thought that an increase in the speed of the 'Conveyor', as it pulls warm water to the north, is an indicator of intensifying hurricane activity.

The use of GPS-dropwindsondes began in 1997. Small sensing devices dropped from planes at very high altitudes and over a wide area, they are far more revealing than previously used sensors. Because they weigh only 0.4 kilograms, they are able to stay aloft for longer periods and broadcast more data to the ground. Each sonde carries its own global positioning satellite receiver. The GPS signals received are used to calculate the direction and speed of the wind, and data on temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure at half second intervals all the way down to the ocean surface.

Dropwindsonde information is fed into a special meteorological computer in Maryland which generates a global computer model of wind patterns. Data analysts have discovered a greater variability in the winds at sea level than previously believed, but many forecasting problems are beyond a solution, at least for the time being. For instance, it is not yet known why hurricanes can suddenly change in intensity; current computer models often fail to predict whether a hurricane will reach land or else cannot pinpoint where a strike will take place.

One surprising result of a recent computer simulation was the destruction of a large part of downtown New York. Hurricane researchers believe that the city is more likely than Miami to suffer a direct hit in the near future. Also, certain geographical features of the coastline near New York make it conceivable that a wall of water called a storm surge pushed ashore by hurricane winds would cause a devastating flooding of Manhattan. A storm surge was responsible for the more than 8000 deaths caused by the hurricane that destroyed the city of Galveston in 1900.

1. the custom of naming hurricanes began in the early 1950s.
2. hurricanes are categorised according to their wind speed from Category 1 (least intense) to Category 5 (most intense).

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Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Question 1-4 Short Answer Type

(Guide: Candidates need to answer the following short answer type questions)

Q1. Which instruments have recently increased the success rate of U.S. hurricane forecasts?

Answer: GPS- Dropwindsondes

Supporting Sentence: North American meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Hurricane Research Division have recently improved the success rate in their forecasting of where hurricanes are likely to hit land by an estimated 15 to 30%. This increase in accuracy is due to the use of instruments called GPS-dropwindsonde.

Keyword: GPS- Dropwindsondes, North American, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane, meteorologists.

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, Line 1-4

Explanation: In the first four lines of paragraph one the writer clearly points out how the GPS- Dropwindsonde device has eased out tracking and monitoring hurricanes.

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Q2. What reason is given for the lack of knowledge of hurricanes at sea?

Answer: Weather Balloons

Supporting Sentence: When hurricanes are out of reach of balloons, gathering information is decidedly more difficult.

Keyword: Weather Balloons, Land, Investigation, information.

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, line 6-7

Explanation: The last four lines of the first paragraph clearly depicts how monitoring with weather balloons is restricted only over the land and that it is difficult to monitor the hurricane when out of reach.

Q3. Why was the hurricane which struck in 1926 not given a name?

Answer: The hurricane that struck in 1926 was not given any name because the custom to name the hurricanes began in the early 1950.

Supporting Sentence: The custom of naming hurricanes began in the early 1950s

Keyword: Hurricane, naming

Keyword Location: Line 7, paragraph 6

Explanation: In the 7th line of paragraph six it is clearly denoted that the custom of naming the hurricanes began in the early 1950s.

Q4. What is the name of the strongest hurricane mentioned in the article?

Answer: Camille

Supporting Sentence: Camille', a Category 5 hurricane of such catastrophic force that it caused over a billion and a half dollars’ worth of damage at the time and killed 256 people, struck the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in 1969 with winds over 320 km/h.

Keyword: Camille, Category 5, Catastrophic, Damage, Gulf of Mexico

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 2

Explanation: Line number two of paragraph 3 says, ‘Camille', a Category 5 hurricane of such catastrophic force that it caused over a billion and a half dollars’ and in the passage it is clearly mentioned that category 5 hurricanes are the most intense among the rest.

Question 5-11: Who or What?

Answer in no more than three words.

(Guide: Candidates need to complete the sentences by using not more than three words)

Q5 ........................................... become stronger every few decades.

Answer: Hurricanes

Supporting Sentence: Hurricanes occur in cycles every few decades, the last intense period in the U.S. being from 1940 to 1969

Keywords: Hurricane, Intense, Decades.

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 1

Explanation: In the first line of paragraph three it has been clearly denoted that hurricanes occur in cycle in every few decade and that they can go on becoming intense with the passage of time, as US suffered its last intense hurricane in 1969 i.e. during the end of the intense hurricane cycle from- 1940 – 1969.

Q6 ........................................... energizes all hurricanes.

Answer: Warm Water’s heat

Supporting Sentence: ‘Since hurricanes derive their energy from the heat of warm water’

Keywords: Warm, water, heat

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 9

Explanation: The last second line of paragraph third says ‘Since hurricanes derive their energy from the heat of warm water, it is thought that an increase in the speed of the 'Conveyor', which clarifies that heat from the warm water, can energize and speed up the hurricane.

Q7 ........................................... is a huge current of water flowing from north to south.

Answer: Atlantic Conveyor

Supporting Sentence: ‘Scientists do not know the precise reason for the cycles of hurricane activity, but they could be caused by a phenomenon called the 'Atlantic Conveyor'. This is the name given to the gigantic current of water that flows cold from the top of the globe slowly along the Atlantic ocean floor to Antarctica and resurfaces decades later before flowing back north,’

Keywords: Atlantic Conveyor, North, Current, Phenomenon, Atlantic, Antarctica

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, line 6- 8

Explanation: Line number 6th, 7th, 8th of third paragraph denotes how gigantic current flowing from the top of the globe i.e. from the north flow towards Antarctica i.e. to the south is the precise reason behind the hurricane activity.

Q8........................................... could not stay in the air for a long time.

Answer: Previously used sensors

Supporting Sentence: ‘Small sensing devices dropped from planes at very high altitudes and over a wide area, they are far more revealing than previously used sensors. Because they weigh only 0.4 kilograms, they are able to stay aloft for longer periods’

Keywords: Sensors, Devices, high altitude, longer period

Keyword Location: Paragraph 4, line 2nd and 3rd

Explanation: In the passage, line number two of paragraph clearly says that GPS- Dropwindsondes are more revealing than previously used sensors because they can stay in air for a longer period of time unlike the previously used sensors.

Q9............................................ know more about surface winds than they knew before.

Answer: Data Analysts

Supporting Sentence: ‘Data analysts have discovered a greater variability in the winds at sea level than previously believed’.

Keywords: Data Analysts, Variability, Winds, Sea Level.

Keyword Location: Line 2-3, Paragraph 5

Explanation: In paragraph five, line number 2 -3 clearly denote that with the help of GPS-Dropwindsonde it has become easy for the Data Analysts to know more and have clear variability of surface winds than they had before.

Q10 .......................................... recently predicted a catastrophe for the city of New York.

Answer: Hurricane Researchers

Supporting Sentence: ‘One surprising result of a recent computer simulation was the destruction of a large part of downtown New York. Hurricane researchers believe that the city is more likely than Miami to suffer a direct hit in the near future.’

Keywords: Simulation, New- York, Direct hit, Suffer, Destruction.

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, Line 2-3

Explanation: Line number 2 and 3 of paragraph six clearly denote the prediction of Hurricane researcher for the city of New York that it is more prone to Hurricane than Miami.

Q11......................................... is a huge wave of water blown on land by a hurricane.

Answer: Storm Surge

Supporting Sentence: A wall of water called a storm surge pushed ashore by hurricane winds would cause a devastating flooding of Manhattan.

Keywords: Wall, Water, Hurricane, Winds, Devastating Flood

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, Line 4

Explanation: Line 4th and 5th of last paragraph i.e. of paragraph 7th says, ‘Also, certain geographical features of the coastline near New York make it conceivable that a wall of water called a storm surge pushed ashore by hurricane winds would cause a devastating flooding of Manhattan’;

According to these lines Storm Surge is a wall of water pushed ashore by the hurricane winds that can cause flooding and destruction.

Questions 12- 15

Decide which of the Answer best completes the following sentences.
(Guide: Candidates need to choose the correct answer from the choices)

Q12. The intensity of U.S. hurricanes:

1. has increased by 15 to 30% recently
2. depends on the GPS-dropwindsondes
3. was greater from 1940 to 1969 than at any previous time
4. can be more accurately measured by satellite assistance

Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: ‘Hurricanes occur in cycles every few decades, the last intense period in the U.S. being from 1940 to 1969’.

Keywords: Hurricanes, U.S., Decades, Intense.

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, line 1-2

Explanation: In the first line of the third paragraph it is clearly mentioned how the Hurricanes were intense in the U.S. during the period of 1940- 1969.

Q13. The Category 4 hurricane which hit Florida in 1926:

1. was the most catastrophic to hit the U. S. this century
2. caused $77 billion worth of damage
3. caused an explosion in population growth
4. none of the above

Answer: D

Supporting Sentence: ‘Category 4 2 hurricane, which struck south-east Florida in 1926 and killed 243 people would have caused an estimated $77 billion if it had struck today’.

Keywords: Would have, today, if it had

Keyword Location:- Paragraph 2, line 3rd and 4th .

Explanation: It has been mentioned that a hurricane could have caused $77 billion damage if it had struck today, it is not mentioned that it was the most catastrophic among all hurricanes for the decade.

Q14. Hurricane 'Camille':

1. caused $1.5 billion dollars damage in today's money
2. was the worst U.S. storm this century in terms of life lost
3. was named in the 1950s
4. was not as intense as the hurricane of 1926

Answer: B

Supporting Sentence: ‘Camille', a Category 5 hurricane of such catastrophic force that it caused over a billion and a half dollars’ worth of damage at the time and killed 256 people, struck the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in 1969 with winds over 320 km/h’

Keywords: Camille, category 5, hurricane, catastrophic, Gulf of Mexico, 1969.

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, line 2nd and 3rd

Explanation: Line number 2 and 3 of the third paragraph clearly mention that Camille was one of the most intense hurricanes in the history of the U.S. it took the lives of almost 256 people.

Q15. The writer of the passage probably believes that:

1. accurate tracking of hurricanes might be possible in the future
2. storm surges only occur within computer simulations
3. computer predictions are unreliable
4. the worst hurricanes occur in the U.S.

Answer: A

Supporting Sentence:’ Data analysts have discovered a greater variability in the winds at sea level than previously believed’

Keywords: Data Analyst, Hurricane, Future

Keyword Location: paragraph 5th, line 2

Explanation: In the whole passage the writer talks about how devices like GPS- Dropwindsonde has helped hurricane researchers to accurately track the hurricanes and in line number 2 of fifth paragraph he/she has denoted that data analysts have discovered greater variability in studying the winds than before, all these points indicates that tracking the hurricane accurately and taking preventive measures might be more easy and possible in future.