LOOKING FOR OIL

READING

Read the text and underline words from the diagram. Find out the meaning of the underlined words.

ON LAND

Seismic operators search for oil. On land we

use a thumper truck. The thumper truck
carries heavy plates. Heavy plates are the
energy source. The heavy plates hit the
ground and make shock waves. Sometimes
we use explosives. The explosion is the energy
source. The explosion sends shock waves
through the rock. The layers of rock reflect
the waves to the receiver. We call these
reflected waves. We use computers in the
recording truck to record the data and to
analyse the data.

Match the words 1-6 with the word a-f to make partnerships.
1 thumper a operator
2 energy b source
3 shock c plate
4 recording d truck
5 seismic e wave
6 heavy f truck

SPEAKING

Practise in pairs. Use the diagram. Ask and answer questions.

A What’s this?
B It’s a heavy plate.
A What does it do?
B It hits the ground and makes shock waves.

B What are these?

A They’re shock waves.
B What do they do?
A They go through the rock.

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 AT SEA

Complete the text with words from the diagram.

At sea we use a seismic ship.

The energy source is a (1) compressed air gun or explosives.
The (2) ............................. waves are reflected to receivers.
The receivers are (3) ...............................................
The layers of (4) ............................... give different data.

Write the words in the correct order.

1. At sea seismic we a use ship.
2. The energy source is explosives compressed gun air a or.
3. The waves are to reflected receivers.
4. The receivers hydrophones are.
5. The layers of different rock give data.

Complete the text.

........................................ operators work on land and at sea. On land the energy source is a
............................. plate or an explosion. At sea the energy source is a ..................................... air gun.
The waves from the energy source hit the ............................ of rock and are reflected to receivers.
Computers .................................. and analyse the data.

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 How to find oil traps

Drilling is expensive. So oil companies plan

carefully before they start drilling. First they make
3D maps of the rocks below the surface. Then they
study these maps carefully. They look for possible
oil traps.
How do they make these maps? How do they
find out what is below the surface? The answer is
‘seismic waves’.
Seismic waves are sound waves, and they can
travel through rock layers.
Most oil companies use vibrator truck to make
seismic waves. These heavy trucks make vibrations
on the surface, and the vibrations send waves
down to the rock below.
Each rock layer reflects some of the waves. The
reflected waves travel up to geophones on the
surface. Geophones are like microphones: they
convert the waves into electrical signals. A
machine in the recording truck records the signals.
Computers can convert these signals into 3D maps.
Seismic reflection works at sea too. But the
crews use hydrophones, not geophones, and they
use an underwater gun to make seismic waves.

Read the text. Write T (true) or F (false)

1. Oil companies make maps of the surface.
2. Seismic waves can’t go through rocks.
3. Vibrator trucks make seismic waves.
4. One rock layer reflects all the waves.
5. Geophones send electrical signals to the recording truck.
6. The geophones produce 3D maps.

The word they is in the text nine times. It can mean different things in different sentences. Find every
they and say what it means.

PLURALS

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Write the plurals
1 flask ...................................... 5 inch .......................................
2 bush ....................................... 6 shooter .......................................
3 explosive ....................................... 7 country .......................................
4 operator ....................................... 8 truck .......................................

LISTENING (track 16)

Seismic Operators
A: Hi, Matthew.
B: Hi.
A: What do you do?
B: I’m a seismic operator.
A: What do seismic operators do?
B: Well, we search for oil.
A: OK.
B: And we work in crews, or teams. In my crew we have three surveyors and five seismic operators.
A: Right.
B: And two shooters.
A: Shooters?
B: That’s right. Shooters.
A: What do they do?
B: They handle the explosives.
A: Oh, OK. I understand.
B: First, we survey the land. We look for the best places to go.
A: I see.
B: Then we clear the land. We remove trees and bushes, for example.
A: OK.
B: Then we do our tests. We operate thumper trucks. The heavy plates send shock waves into the rock.
We use receivers to record the data and we use computers to analyse the data.
A: What about the shooters?
B: The shooters? Well, sometimes we don’t use thumper trucks. Sometimes we use explosives. The
shooters drill holes into the ground and prepare the site. Then they detonate the explosives. The
explosives send shock waves through the rock. We use receivers to record the data from the shock
waves. Then we use computers to analyse the data.
A: Do you like your job?
B: Yeah, I do.

Find verbs that go with these nouns.

1 handle explosives 5 ............................ shock waves
2 ............................ land 6 ............................. data
3 ........................ test 7 ........................... holes
4 ........................ thumper trucks

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