8 Extra Exam Practice

BLOWING HOT AND COLD

We are all aware that changes in the weather can affect our lives. They can influence our physical health or
alter outdoor events, such as causing the postponement of a picnic or the cancellation of a football match.
But changes in the weather have also had a dramatic effect on our cultural, social and political history.
One common way in which the weather has affected our history is as follows: A change in the weather
leads to crop failure, which in turn causes hunger. This results in unrest among the population, which
triggers a historically important event. For example, historians believe that the cooling of the world’s
temperature by only half a degree around 476 AD caused crops to fail in northern areas of present-day
Europe. The barbarians who lived there were forced to move south in search of food, eventually reaching
the Roman Empire, and causing its collapse. This pattern may also help to account for the timing of the
French Revolution. Food, already in short supply due to a lack of rain, became even scarcer when crops
were destroyed by a sudden hailstorm in the summer of 1788. This set off riots among the frustrated
population, resulting in the French Revolution the following year.
However, crop failure isn’t the only way that weather has affected human history. It’s believed that a thick
fog in August 1776 allowed George Washington and his troops to retreat without being seen by the better-
equipped British army. His forces were therefore able to regroup and gain a decisive military victory in
1781. And Russia has been saved not once but three times by its harsh winters. Charles XII of Sweden in
1706, Napoleon in 1812 and Hitler in 1941 all tried to conquer it but were eventually driven back by the
snow and bitter cold.
Weather extremes have also influenced social history. For example, Europe experienced a “mini Ice Age”
between 1520 and 1770. This damaged crops, and the population went hungry. Not understanding the real
cause, people hunted, and killed, the “witches” they felt were responsible for their troubles. Unsurprisingly,
these years saw more witch-burnings than in previous times. By contrast, unusually hot weather has
also been blamed for increased violence by altering the levels of serotonin in the brain. High outdoor
temperatures have been cited as a contributing factor to the summer riots in certain US cities in the 1960s.
But in some cases these riots were affected by another weather phenomenon, rain; one sheriff in Miami,
Florida actually asked his officers to pray for more rain after observing its calming effect!
Finally, it seems that the weather even has an indirect effect on our cultural life. Research shows that the
cold weather in Europe that led to the witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries also caused trees to grow
more slowly. This meant that the wood from the trees became denser than normal. The violins later crafted
from this wood by Stradivarius and others produce a particularly fine sound.
In 1965, Bob Dylan famously sang “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”.
Perhaps not, but maybe you do need a weatherman, or weathergirl, to understand history.

unrest: malestar / malestar

trigger: provocar, desencadenar / provocar, desencadenar
scarce: escàs / escaso
riot: aldarull, disturbi / alboroto, disturbio
craft: elaborar artesanalment / elaborar artesanalmente

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 8 Extra Exam Practice Name Mark

PART ONE: READING COMPREHENSION

Choose the best answer according to the text. Only ONE answer is possible.

1. Changes in the weather … . 6. High outdoor temperatures … .

a. haven’t affected world political events
b. may be influenced by our physical health
c. can shape a group’s cultural development
d. are rarely noticed in our everyday life
2. Crop failure … .
a. can result from hunger among the population
b. causes the people to become tired of events
c. probably occurred in Rome in 476 AD
d. may be triggered by small temperature changes
3. The French Revolution … .
a. was originally timed for the summer of 1788
b. followed rioting by the hungry population
c. occurred the year before a sudden hailstorm
d. caused food to become more scarce than before
4. Bad weather … .
a. allowed George Washington to beat the British
in 1776
b. enabled the British to gain a military victory
in 1781
c. helped to drive back three different invaders
of Russia
d. stopped Napoleon and Hitler from invading
Sweden
5. “Witches” … .
a. caused extremely low temperatures in Europe
in the past
b. were responsible for crop failure between 1520
and 1770
c. hunted and killed people when they were
hungry
d. were mistakenly blamed for hunger in Europe
a. can affect people’s behaviour by altering
serotonin levels
b. may cause people to become violent if they
are blamed
c. were increased by summer riots in the US
in the 1960s
d. offered a calming effect after Miami experienced
heavy rains
7. In the 16th and 17th centuries ... .
a. witch-hunts affected the quality of wood in trees
b. trees grew more rapidly because of low
temperatures
c. cold weather led to more wood becoming
less dense
d. trees produced wood that made especially
fine violins
8. Bob Dylan … .
a. sang that you could tell wind direction without
a weatherman
b. was a famous weatherman who lived in the
late 1960s
c. believed that the changes in the weather affect
historical events
d. thought that you needed a weatherman to
understand history

PART TWO: WRITING

Choose ONE topic. Write about number 1 or 2. Length: 125-150 words.

1. In your opinion, what is the best type of climate to live in? Explain your reasons.
2. Explain how the weather affected an event in your personal life or an event that you’ve heard about.