Information transfer from a text

Coral reefs: cities under the sea

Coral reefs are built by coral polyps, tiny animals that make a hard rock called limestone and live on top of it. Over millions of years the limestone has grown into huge reefs, found in warm oceans near the Equator. Brightly coloured fish live there, and people catch reef fish for food.

The biggest reef is the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia. It is about 2,000 kilometres long and is home to more than 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and about 4,000 types of mollusc. Tourists may visit only 5% of the reef, so that the rest is protected for the future.

Reefs are in danger. Some fishermen use bombs to kill many fish at once, which damages the structure of the reef. In the Philippines, others put a chemical called cyanide into the water to stun the fish and sell them to aquariums and restaurants. The chemical also kills the polyps. Water pollution and warmer water, which makes the reef turn white, add to the problem. Even so, conservation may help the reefs recover.

Notes: Coral reefs

Eyes everywhere

George Orwell's novel 1984, published in 1949, imagines a future in which the government watches everyone. Today, something similar has arrived. In Paris, about 2,000 cameras ride on city buses to prevent crime, and more cameras help to control traffic. Britain has nearly five million cameras, one for every 14 people, more than anywhere else in Europe.

The police use them. In 2009, 95 per cent of the murder cases handled by Scotland Yard used video as evidence. A camera does not even have to be real: some owners put up signs saying 'Video Surveillance Is In Operation' where there are no cameras at all.

Cameras can also save lives. In France, 18-year-old Jean-François LeRoy lost consciousness while swimming and sank to the bottom of a public pool. No lifeguard saw him, but a system called Poseidon, which had been installed nine months earlier, noticed that he was not moving normally and set off an alarm. Sixteen seconds later, the lifeguards pulled him out. Without help he would have died in four minutes.

Even so, Norman Siegel, an American lawyer, is worried that cameras have increased without public discussion. He believes people should vote on it.

Dogs at work and at home

People and dogs have probably lived together for about 14,000 years. Today, dogs do many jobs. At airports in the United States, a team of beagles called the Beagle Brigade sniffs out illegal fruit and vegetables in bags and parcels, because such food can carry insects and diseases. Beagles are chosen because they are friendly and cute, so travellers are not frightened, and they find hidden food 84% of the time.

Not all dogs work. Tiffy, a Maltese, eats fresh chicken, fish and vegetables, and gets yoghurt and biscuits after dinner. Service dogs, by contrast, help people with a physical disability by opening doors, switching on lights and pulling wheelchairs.

Search-and-rescue dogs, such as Hercules, an Alsatian, find lost hikers and people under rubble after an earthquake. They must be strong and smart but, above all, they must love to play, because playtime is their reward.

Each learner copied one detail from a text. Read the text and the label, then write the correct answer in no more than three words and/or a number.

Text: "The brain has about 100 billion neurons. When a bee lands on your foot, messages travel from your skin to your brain at more than 240 kilometres an hour. If you are stuck on a homework problem, exercise first: afterwards your body makes a chemical that makes learning easier."

You are making a table of notes. For each answer below, write a suitable label (a heading that asks for that detail).

Siti explains her method for Part 3: "First I (a) ______. Then I skim the text and write a few words beside each paragraph. When I look for an answer, I search for words that (b) ______ as the label."

Text: "The gym opens at 6 a.m. on weekdays, but on Saturdays it opens two hours later. A month's membership costs RM60. Students pay half price if they show a school card."

Complete the notes. Write no more than three words and/or a number in each answer.

Text: "The trip was planned for Friday, but because of the haze the school moved it to the following Monday. All the students will leave by bus at 7.30 a.m."
Label: Day of the trip