Cover of the textbook Cutting Edge Upper-Intermediate - Student's Book

The key answer of exercise 2

The key to exercise solutions in chapter 11 - Reading for the textbook Cutting Edge Upper-Intermediate - Student's Book with authors Sarah Cunningham, Peter Moor and Jonathan Bygrave from Pearson Education

Question

  1. The text is about two of these problems: climate change and asteroid strikes. Read the introduction and look at the pictures. Match the pictures with the ideas below.
  2. Can you guess which problem each picture relates to and what the solution might be? Scan the text briefly to check.

Answer

  • Pictured top left: 'stirring up the oceans' - relates to climate change. Long plastic tubes would stir up the sea, bring up cold water to the surface, absorb heat and CO, and cool the planet.
  • Pictured top right: building a giant umbrella in space' - relates to asteroid strikes. The umbrella would collect solar energy and refocus it on the asteroid, deflecting it away from the earth.
  • Pictured bottom left: pumping toxic chemicals into the atmosphere' relates to climate change. A 12-mile pipe would pump toxic chemicals into the atmosphere to form a protective layer, reflecting sunlight and cooling the earth.
  • Pictured bottom right: building a huge nuclear bomb' relates to asteroid strikes. A nuclear bomb would be launched to destroy an approaching asteroid.