Cooling the Earth by blocking sunlight? – C1 English Listening Test

1 What concern does the professor introduce through the opening hypothetical situation?

A. SRM might be deployed before scientists fully understand its possible consequences.

B. One country's actions could have global consequences.

C. Releasing reflective particles into the atmosphere might prove technically impossible.

2 Why does the professor refer to major volcanic eruptions?

A. To suggest that a natural event could provide a safer alternative to SRM.

B. To demonstrate that atmospheric cooling can be maintained naturally for decades.

C. To explain why reflective particles are expected to reduce global temperatures.

3 What does the professor suggest about SRM's apparent cost-effectiveness?

A. Low operating costs may be misleading if its wider consequences are excluded from the calculation.

B. It would become cost-effective once carbon removal prevented additional greenhouse gases from accumulating.

C. Its greater speed could compensate for possible damage to agriculture, ecosystems and human health.

4 What does the comparison with a household thermostat illustrate?

A. An earlier global average could recreate the previous climate, but only temporarily.

B. Going back to previous global temperatures would not make conditions what they once were.

C. Only the countries not dependent on monsoons would benefit from cooling.

5 Complete the sentence with ONE word from the recording.

Using SRM for several decades could create an ongoing to maintain it.

6 What argument does the professor make in response to the student's proposal?

A. Refusing to investigate the technology could make a future emergency intervention more dangerous.

B. Work on SRM should be limited to designing rules that governments must follow before deployment.

C. The danger of normalising SRM is less serious than the risk created by severe climate conditions.

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