Task 2 Module 12

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Task 2 - Module 12
You should attempt to answer these questions without looking at the answers first.
These questions are designed to test your understanding of the module. If you get them
all correct, you have understood everything in the module. If you get any of them wrong,
you have not understood the module and should watch it again.
Answers are on the last page.
1. If you get a double question, you should
A. answer both questions.
B. choose one question and focus on it.
2. How many questions should you address in one main body paragraph?
A. Two
B. One
C. None
3. You should give your opinion in the introduction
A. for only one of the questions.
B. for neither of the questions.
C. for both questions, if required.
4. Answer the question below on a piece of paper and compare your essay with the
sample answer:
Climate change is the biggest threat to life on our planet.
How accurate is this statement?
Are there any other big threats to mankind?

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Task 2 - Module 12
Answers:
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. Sample answer:
It is claimed that global warming is the chief threat to human civilisation. I do not agree
with this statement because people can find technological solutions to this problem,
whereas the threat from nuclear weapons cannot be so easily solved and, therefore,
poses a graver threat.
Some would argue that the increase in the planet’s average temperature will lead to
catastrophe on a global scale, but the technology already exists to stem this threat.
Solar power, combined with the use of electric vehicles, will remove the need for
fossil-fuelled power stations and transportation. The result will be a massive reduction in
the release of greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere, which is the principal
cause of global warming. For example, Tesla Motors manufactures excellent cars that
produce zero CO2, and its sister company, Solar City, allows people to produce their
own electricity using innovative photovoltaic roof tiles and Power Wall battery packs.
A much larger threat is the risk of thermo-nuclear war. It would only take one blunder or
the breakout of a major war between nuclear states to wipe out every living thing on
earth. This would be caused by the explosions themselves and the ensuing nuclear
winter, which would wipe out all plant life and poison the air and oceans. For instance,
the United States of America alone has enough nuclear warheads to wipe out every
man, woman and child on earth, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s
demonstrated how close it is possible to come to global nuclear war.
In conclusion, climate change is not the gravest peril the earth faces because we have
the technological capability to solve it, and the threat from nuclear arms is much greater.