TASK 1 Underline words that qualify or limit each statement, especially adverbs and

adjectives.
1. The semi-arid land of the Sahel is found only in Mali.
2. Just over 70 per cent of the dry land in agricultural use in Africa has deteriorated over the
last 30 years.
3. Desertification is taking place faster in southern Africa than in the Sahel.
4. The advance of the desert is not the result of poor agricultural land use.
5. If there is a loss of tree cover, the deterioration in the soil is halted.
6. Tree conservation is more effective than sustainable agricultural land use in reducing the
consequences of lack of rain.
COMPARISONS 1
Statement: Fruit and vegetables grown on an aeroponic urban farm are cheaper than
traditionally grown organic produce.
COMPARISONS 1
Statement: Fruit and vegetables grown on an aeroponic urban farm are cheaper than
traditionally grown organic produce.

Aeroponic urban farming is more popular nowadays since produce grown this way, typically
sells at prices that, while generally higher than those of classic intensive agriculture, are
lower than soil-based organic growers.
COMPARISONS 2
Statement: Beans take longer to grow on an urban farm than other vegetables.
COMPARISONS 2
Statement: Beans take longer to grow on an urban farm than other vegetables.

“Radishes are OK, but carrots, potatoes, that kind of thing – the roots are simply too long.
Fruit trees are obviously not an option. And beans tend to take up a lot of space for not much
return.”
COMPARISONS 3
Statement: Mike and Bob Bryan use rackets that are light in comparison to the majority of
rackets.
COMPARISONS 3
Statement: Mike and Bob Bryan use rackets that are light in comparison to the majority of
rackets.

Take the US professional tennis players Mike and Bob Bryan, for example: “We’re very
particular with our racket specifications,” they say. They explain how they have adjusted not
only racket length, but even experimented with different kinds of paint. The rackets they use
now weigh more than the average model and also have a denser string pattern.
COMPARISONS 4
Statement: Samuel Morse’s communication system was more reliable than that
developed by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
COMPARISONS 4
Statement: Samuel Morse’s communication system was more reliable than that
developed by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.

In 1837, British inventors William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented the first
commercial telegraphy system. In the 1830s and 1840, Samuel Morse and other inventors
worked on their own versions in the United States. Cooke and Wheatstone’s system was
soon used for railway signaling in the UK. As the speed of the new locomotives increased, it
was essential to have a fast and effective means of avoiding collisions.
TIME ORDER 1
Statement: Archaeological research had taken place on the island of Obi before the
arrival of Ceri Shipton and his colleagues.
TIME ORDER 1
Statement: Archaeological research had taken place on the island of Obi before the
arrival of Ceri Shipton and his colleagues.

In early April 2019, Dr Ceri Shipton and his colleagues from Australian National University
became the first archaeologists to explore Obi, one of many tropical islands in Indonesia’s
Maluku Utara province.
TIME ORDER 2
Statement: At the Kelo sites, the researchers found the first clam shell axes ever to be
discovered in the region.
TIME ORDER 2
Statement: At the Kelo sites, the researchers found the first clam shell axes ever to be
discovered in the region.

The earliest axes at Kelo were made using clam shells. Axes made from clam shells from
roughly the same time had also previously been found elsewhere in this region, including on
the nearby island of Gebe to the northeast.
TIME ORDER 3
Statement: Caral was built at the same time as the construction of the Egyptian
pyramids.
TIME ORDER 3
Statement: Caral was built at the same time as the construction of the Egyptian
pyramids.

Research undertaken by Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady suggests that the city of Caral
with 150-acre plex of pyramids, plazas and residential buildings was a thriving metropolis
when Egypt’s great pyramids were still being built.
TIME ORDER 4
Statement: Other countries had built underground railways before the Metropolitan line
opened.
TIME ORDER 4
Statement: Other countries had built underground railways before the Metropolitan line
opened.

The Metropolitan line, which opened on 10 January 1863, was the world’s first underground
Railway.
QUANTITY 1
Statement: Research has shown that the majority of students benefit when information is
taught in a sequential manner.
QUANTITY 1
Statement: Research has shown that the majority of students benefit when information is
taught in a sequential manner.

We now know that 75% of teachers are sequential, analytical presenters but 70% of students
do not actually learn this way.
QUANTITY 2
Statement: Significant numbers of thylacines were killed by humans from the 1830s
onwards.
QUANTITY 2
Statement: Significant numbers of thylacines were killed by humans from the 1830s
onwards.

The dramatic decline of the thylacine in Tasmania, which began in the 1830s and continued
for a century, is generally attributed to the relentless efforts of sheep farmers and bounty
hunters** with shotguns.
QUANTITY 3
Statement: Several thylacines were born in zoos during the late 1800s.
QUANTITY 3
Statement: Several thylacines were born in zoos during the late 1800s.

There was only one successful attempt to breed a thylacine in captivity, at Melbourne Zoo in
1899.
QUANTITY 4
Statement: Just over 70 per cent of the dry land in agricultural use in Africa has
deteriorated over the last 30 years.

Unfortunately, over the last century the Sahara desert has steadily crept southwards, eating
into once productive Sahel lands. United Nations surveys show that over 70 per cent of the
dry land in agricultural use in Africa has deteriorated over the last 30 years.
ABSOLUTE WORDS 1
Statement: The counter-excavation method completely replaced the qanat method in the
6th century BCE.
ABSOLUTE WORDS 1
Statement: The counter-excavation method completely replaced the qanat method in the
6th century BCE.

By the 6th century BCE, a second method of tunnel construction appeared called the counter-
excavation method, in which the tunnel was constructed from both ends. It was used to cut
through high mountains when the qanat method was not a practical alternative.
ABSOLUTE WORDS 2
Statement: Only experienced builders were employed to construct a tunnel using the
counter-excavation method.
ABSOLUTE WORDS 2
Statement: Only experienced builders were employed to construct a tunnel using the
counter-excavation method.

The counter-excavation method required greater planning and advanced knowledge of

Significant seams of graphite exist in parts of China, which now produces most of the world's
pencils. Interestingly, the Borrowdale mine in the Lake District remains the only significant
source of graphite in its near-pure form in the world. Nowadays the highest grade of graphite
at Borrowdale is totally exhausted, although other grades can still be found, and England's
pencil industry continues to thrive in the nearby town of Keswick.
CAUSE-EFFECT 1
Statement: Costs in the iron industry rose when the technique of smelting iron ore with
coke was introduced.
CAUSE-EFFECT 1
Statement: Costs in the iron industry rose when the technique of smelting iron ore with
coke was introduced.

The British iron industry also underwent major changes as it adopted new innovations. Chief
among the new techniques was the smelting of iron ore with coke (a material made by
heating coal) instead of the traditional charcoal. This method was cheaper and produced
metals that were of a higher quality, enabling Britain’s iron and steel production to expand in
response to demand created by the Napoleonic Wars and the expansion of the railway from
1930s.
CAUSE-EFFECT 2
Statement: A famous toy company has boosted their sales by using one type of
unusual business card.
CAUSE-EFFECT 2
Statement: A famous toy company has boosted their sales by using one type of
unusual business card.

Lots of companies try to promote themselves by altering the form of the card. Employees at
one famous toy company give out little plastic figures with their contact details stamped on
them. One fast food company business cards which are shaped like a portion of French fries.
A Canadian divorce lawyer once gave out cards that could be torn into two – one half for
each of the spouses. For many business commentators, such gimmicky business cards
prove that prove that the use of physical cards is nearly at an end.
CAUSE-EFFECT 3
Statement: The end of the trade in rags was brought about by the difficulty of
transporting them.
CAUSE-EFFECT 3
Statement: The end of the trade in rags was brought about by the difficulty of
transporting them.

Printing technology rapidly developed and created an ever-increasing demand for paper. The
early European papers were made from recycled cotton and linen – and a huge trade quickly
developed around the trading of old rags. It is said that the disease known as 'the Black
Death' entered England from Europe on these old rags. Yet soon this source became
insufficient, and some curious attempts were made to find new materials.
CAUSE-EFFECT 4
Statement: It was the high price of oil that stopped free maps being given out to the
public.
CAUSE-EFFECT 4
Statement: It was the high price of oil that stopped free maps being given out to the
public.

Free road maps became part of the fabric of American life, and it has been estimated that
more than ten billion were distributed before the 1970s. It was then that the rising costs of oil
and subsequent falling consumption led to the oil companies investigating where savings
could be made. The maps were one of the first things to go.