Name Class Date

SKILLS TEST 2 Basic

READING
1 Read an article about early human migration and match the dates with the information.
Early human migration
It is difficult to discover much about
how Homo sapiens first managed to
spread around the world. The only
clues we have are fossils, skeletons,
and objects, such as tools that they
left behind. However, experts have
pieced together this evidence in an
effort to find out more about early
migration patterns.
Some remains of our ancestors,
Homo erectus and Homo antecessor,
are over a million years old, but
Homo sapiens arrived much later.
For many years, the oldest human
remains that we knew about were
around 200,000 years old and were
found in what is now Ethiopia, in
Africa. However, in 2017, bones and
stone tools were found in Morocco
that were estimated to be 100,000
years older than anything unearthed
before.
As far as we know, the early
inhabitants of East Africa lived in
the same place for about 130,000
years. Then, suddenly, about 70,000
years ago, they started to move.
Why? The most likely reason is that
climate change made it impossible
for them to survive. This was the
ice age, and the human population
dropped rapidly at this time. There
were only about 10,000 of us left in
the whole world!
The first migrants probably headed
east. They crossed the Red Sea from
Africa to Yemen. The Red Sea is
only about 18 km wide here and, at
that time, the sea level was about
70 m lower than it is now, so there
were probably islands where they
could stop and rest. From Yemen,
humans traveled east to India and
then south to Australia. The oldest
human remains in Australia are only
about 45,000 years old, but a rock
shelter in Northern Australia, which
humans made, is older, so scientists
think people arrived here about
55,000 years ago.
At the same time, other early humans
were traveling across Asia and into
North America, two continents that
were joined together at that time.
Experts think that the land bridge
from Asia to America existed until
about 13,000 years ago. Tribes came
from Asia and slowly made their
way down the Pacific Coast, through
Mexico, and right to the southern tip
of South America.
There are some findings that
archaeologists can’t explain. They
have discovered tools and weapons
in America which are about 16,000
years old. Strangely, there are similar
tools and weapons in France. These
belonged to a tribe that disappeared
from Europe about 18,000 years
ago. Did the French tribe cross the
Atlantic Ocean 17,500 years before
Columbus?
This migration continued until
humans discovered agriculture,
which happened about 12,000 years
ago. Everything changed. Instead
of moving to look for food, people
grew their own food and lived in
permanent settlements, which grew
into towns and cities – the start of
the modern world.

1 200,000 years ago a The oldest person we have 2 Read the article again. Choose the correct words.
discovered in Australia 1 We know that some species similar to humans lived
lived and died. 200,000 / a million years ago.
2 70,000 years ago b A French tribe 2 People moved away from Africa because the world’s
disappeared. climate got very hot / cold.
3 55,000 years ago c Experts believe that the first 3 It was easy to get to Asia because the two
Homo sapiens appeared in continents are only 18 km / 70 m apart.
Ethiopia. 4 Scientists have found human remains in Australia
4 45,000 years ago d Asia and America divided that are more / less than 50,000 years old.
from each other. 5 At that time, it was possible to walk from Asia to
5 18,000 years ago e Homo sapiens started to Australia / America.
leave Africa. 6 When early humans reached America, they traveled
6 13,000 years ago f People started growing inland / along the coast.
their own food. 7 There were similar tools and weapons in two places.
7 12,000 years ago g Homo sapiens arrived in The oldest were found in America / France.
Australia. 8 People stopped migrating because of agriculture /
cities.
7
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 Name Class Date

SKILLS TEST 2 Basic

LISTENING
3 Listen to a radio program about animal migration. Put the animals in the order
the people talk about them.

a Adélie penguins

b storks

c polar bears

d humpback whales

e tiger mosquitoes

f wildebeest

g brown bears

7

4 Listen again and complete the summary with one word the speakers use.
You have the first letter of each word.
1 Some animals are migrating differently because of changes to the c .
2 Polar bears are moving elsewhere, because the i they hunt on is disappearing.
3 It’s becoming more common for brown bears to compete with polar bears for f .
4 Krill is disappearing because seas where they live are getting w .
5 Wildebeest routes are being interrupted by new r .
6 Humpback whales need to fight their way past ships and large f nets.
7 Humans are creating more g , which provides food for storks.
8 There is a risk of d such as the Zika virus being spread more widely by mosquitoes.

 8

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 Name Class Date

SKILLS TEST 2 Basic

WRITING
5 Imagine your family has moved to a different country, and you are at a new school. Write an email
(about 100 words) to an English-speaking friend.
Tell them:
• how you felt when you first arrived
• about the school and people there
• how you feel about the experience so far

 20
SPEAKING
6 Work in pairs. Look at the photos below. They show situations in which people are moving. Take turns
describing your photo and saying why you think the people are moving. Then, tell each other about a trip
you take regularly (e.g., from home to school).

A B

7 Take turns asking and answering these questions. Where possible, express surprise at your partner’s answers.
A: Ask B these questions.
1 What do you like or dislike about living where you live now? (Why?)
2 What does the idea of “home” mean to you?
B: Ask A these questions.
1 How would you feel if you had to move to a new place? (Why?)
2 How important is it to understand different cultures and their customs?

 20

TOTAL SCORE 70

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