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Listen to an Academic Talk Test #079
Listen to an Academic Talk
1. What is the main topic of the talk?
A) The effects of burning fossil fuels
B) The climate of the Carboniferous Period
C) The process of how coal is created
D) The different types of plants found in swamps
2. According to the professor, what prevented dead plants from decomposing completely?
A) The water in the swamps was too hot.
B) The plants were buried too quickly.
C) The swamp water contained little oxygen.
D) The pressure from rock layers was too high.
3. What does the professor imply about the world's coal supply?
A) It is being consumed faster than it can be replaced.
B) It can be renewed if we plant more ferns and mosses.
C) There is more of it than scientists originally thought.
D) It will run out within the next few years.
4. Why does the professor mention the Carboniferous Period?
A) To identify the geologic era when coal formation began
B) To explain why the Earth's climate changed
C) To describe the discovery of the first fossil fuels
D) To contrast ancient swamps with modern ones
Professor: So, how are fossil fuels actually formed? Let's focus on coal. The process began around 300 million years ago, in the Carboniferous Period, a time when Earth was covered in vast, dense swamps.
The plant life in these swamps—giant ferns, reeds, and mosses—grew and died in huge quantities. When they died, they sank to the bottom of the swamp water. Because the water had very low levels of oxygen, the plants didn't decompose completely. Instead, they formed a thick layer of a spongy material called peat.
Over millions of years, this peat was buried deeper and deeper under layers of sand, clay, and rock. The immense pressure from these top layers, combined with heat from the Earth's core, compressed the peat and drove out water, eventually transforming it into coal.
Understanding this incredibly slow process is key to realizing why coal is a non-renewable resource.
The plant life in these swamps—giant ferns, reeds, and mosses—grew and died in huge quantities. When they died, they sank to the bottom of the swamp water. Because the water had very low levels of oxygen, the plants didn't decompose completely. Instead, they formed a thick layer of a spongy material called peat.
Over millions of years, this peat was buried deeper and deeper under layers of sand, clay, and rock. The immense pressure from these top layers, combined with heat from the Earth's core, compressed the peat and drove out water, eventually transforming it into coal.
Understanding this incredibly slow process is key to realizing why coal is a non-renewable resource.
Highlights
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