Nobel Education Foundation

Kathmandu

Integrated Essay "Emperor Penguins"

You have 20 minutes to plan, write, and revise your response to a reading passage and a
lecture on the same topic. First, read the passage and take notes. Then, listen to the
lecture and take notes. Finally, write your response to the writing question. Typically, a
good response will require that you write 150-225 words.
Reading Passage
Time: 3 minutes

Emperor penguins are not only the largest species of penguin in the world but also one
of the most unique. They are very social, living in colonies that can include hundreds of
thousands of individuals. Nevertheless, emperor penguins are monogamous. Having
selected a mate, emperor penguins remain faithful to each other for life, using vocal
calls to find one another when they return to their breeding site on the compacted ice of
the Antarctic continent. It is believed that different frequencies alert mates to the sound
of their partner's call.

Another interesting aspect of emperor penguins is that they return to the same site,
called a rookery, to nest each year. Although their path to the rookery is different every
year due to the shifting sea ice, in general, the penguins continue to use the rookery
where they were hatched. Their loyalty to a particular breeding ground results in
increasingly larger penguin colonies, some with more than a million birds. Males tend
to arrive first to reestablish and defend their preferred nesting sites and females return
a day or so later.

Emperor penguins are not considered endangered and are not currently protected
under international law. In fact, in areas where reliable population counts have been
conducted, the evidence suggests that populations are stable. However, due to harsh
environmental conditions, some colonies have not been monitored on a consistent
basis. Estimates of population sizes are at about 240,000 breeding pairs. Taking into
consideration the non-breeding birds as well, the total translates into about 600,000
adult birds. Emperor chicks that reach adulthood can survive for 20 years .

Now listen to a lecture on the same topic as the passage that you have just read.
Question
Summarize the main points in the lecture, and then explain how they cast doubt on
the ideas in the reading passage.

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Points
1. monogamous
- remain faithful for life
- returning pen. recognize partner's calls
2. return to the same rookery each year
- loyalty to a breeding ground - big colony
- male comes first & female afterward
3. not endangered
- stable population
- not monitored consistently
- chicks survive for 20 yrs.
Notes
Counterpoints
- was correct but not supported by new data
1. Yes / No - monogamous only for the mating season
- if previous mate not located - new
- serially monogamous - 1 part. per season
- only 15% prev. part.
2. No nest loyalty
- Minnesota Uni. study - 6 instances
- also relocation of the entire colony
- disproves prev. assumption
3. Given endang. status
- Model - 1/3 pop. could decline
- disapp. of sea ice and marine habitat

Key topic - mating and nesting behaviors of Emp. penguin

Summary Essay

The reading passage and the lecture deal with the mating and nesting behaviors of Emperor penguins
and present opposite views regarding this topic. They both also discuss whether the birds are
endangered or not. In her lecture, the professor raises questions about the accuracy of the three
major assumptions made in the passage by presenting new facts and finding backed by recent studies.

The professor begins her lecture by mentioning that the assumption of the reading that Emperor
penguins are monogamous by nature is only partially true. According to her, instead of sticking with their
mating partners for their entire life, as stated in the reading, new findings have clearly indicated that,
in the majority of the cases, the birds are serially monogamous, which means they stick together for
the mating season and in the next season, only 15% of them go back to their previous partners in case
they fail to find new partners.

Secondly, the professor challenges the claim made by the author in the passage that Emperor
penguins have a strong sense of nest loyalty and they return to the same rookery year after year.
Citing to the study of Minnesota University, she argues that there were some instances in which the
birds were spotted in new rookeries which suggested the relocation of the entire colony.

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At the end, the professor informs the listeners that despite the fact that the penguins were not
regarded endangered, as claimed by the author, the birds' population has no longer remained stable due
to disappearance of sea ice and marine habitats and therefore they are recently given endangered
status. Hence, the claim made by the author is not true anymore. (278 words)

Example response for integrated essay - From Practice Book

Example Essay
Although all of the information in
the reading was true at the time
that it was written, new data have
emerged that changes our
understanding of emperor
penguins. The lecturer mentions
three behaviors that need to be
reconsidered.
First, emperor penguins do not
mate for life, as previously
believed. New studies have
revealed that they mate for the
season and remain committed to
their mate and their chick, but, if
they do not find the same mate the
next year, they will mate with
another penguin. Although they
use vocal calls to try locating their
previous mate, statistically, only
about 15 percent find the same
mate the following season.
Second, emperor penguins do not return to the same rookery every year to mate.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota found six instances in which the penguins
mated at a different rookery and one instance in which a new rookery was founded in
order to relocate a colony.
Third, although emperor penguins were not on the endangered list and their population
was considered stable when the passage was published, a current model shows a 33 1/3
percent decline by the end of the century. Taking into consideration the disappearing
sea ice and changes in their habitat, emperor penguins have now been included on the
endangered species list.

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