Reading Explorer 5 Unit 4 Lesson B

DIRECTIONS: Choose the best answer for each question.

Rising Seas

As the planet warms, the sea rises, and coastlines flood, how will we face the danger of rising seas?

Storm of the Century

[A] By the time Hurricane Sandy veered toward the northeast coast of the United States on October 29, 2012,
it had mauled1 several countries in the Caribbean and left dozens dead. Faced with the largest storm the
Atlantic had ever produced, New York and other cities ordered mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas, but
not everyone complied. Those who chose to ride out Sandy got a preview of the future, in which a warmer
world will lead to rising seas.

[B] Brandon d'Leo, a sculptor and surfer, rented a second-floor apartment across the street from the beach on
New York City's Rockaway Peninsula. At about 3:30 in the afternoon, he went outside. Waves were crashing
against the nine-kilometer-long boardwalk. A short time later, d'Leo and a neighbor were watching the sea
through the glass door of his living room when his neighbor saw something alarming. "I think the boardwalk
just moved," she said. Within minutes, another surge of water lifted the boardwalk again, and it began to
break apart.

[C] Three large sections of the boardwalk smashed against two pine trees in front of d'Leo's apartment. The
street had become a river 1.2 meters deep; cars began to float. After the storm, d'Leo said, "I have six
surfboards in my apartment, and I was thinking, if anything comes through that wall, I'll try to get everyone
on those boards and try to get up the block."

[D] After a difficult night's sleep, d'Leo went outside and saw that the water had retreated, thigh-deep pools
still filled parts of some streets. "Everything was covered with sand," he said. "It looked like another planet."

Coastlines at Risk

[E] By the end of the century, a hundred-year storm surge like Sandy's might occur every decade, with coastal
cities like New York now face a double threat: rising oceans and more severe storm surges. By 2070, experts
estimate, 150 million people in the world's large port cities will be at risk from coastal flooding. How will the
cities cope?

[F] Malcolm Bowman, a researcher at the State University of New York, believes that storm-surge barriers
must be built across New York City's harbor. Compared with some other leading ports, New York is
essentially defenseless in the face of hurricanes and floods. London, Rotterdam, St. Petersburg, New Orleans,
and Shanghai have all built levees2 and storm barriers in the past few decades. When Hurricane Sandy struck,
New York paid a high price for not having such protection. The storm left 43 dead and cost the city about $19
billion, and according to Bowman, storm-surge barriers could have prevented it. He says, "It might take five
years of study and another ten years to get the political will to do it. By then, there might have been another
disaster. We need to start planning immediately."
[G] Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a $19.5 billion plan to defend New York City against rising seas. His
proposal called for the construction of levees, local storm-surge barriers, sand dunes, and more than two
hundred other measures. It went far beyond anything planned by any other U.S. city, but the mayor dismissed
the idea of a harbor barrier. "A giant barrier across our harbor is neither practical nor affordable," Bloomberg
said.

Retreat from the Coast

[H] With the threat of sea-level rise everywhere, cities around the world have turned to the Netherlands for
guidance - a country that has faced and overcome the problem of rising seas. One Dutch firm, Arcadis, has
prepared a design for a storm-surge barrier to protect New York City. The same company helped design a
barrier 3.2 kilometers long that protected New Orleans from Hurricane Isaac's four-meter storm surge in
2012. "Isaac was a tremendous victory for New Orleans," said Piet Dircke, an Arcadis executive. "All the
barriers were closed; all the levees held; all the pumps worked. You didn't hear about it because nothing
happened."

[I] New Orleans may be safe for a few decades, but the long-term prospects for it and other low-lying cities
look dire. Even if we begin reducing our emissions of heat-trapping gases tomorrow, oceans will likely rise as
Earth slowly adjusts to the amount already in the atmosphere. Among the most vulnerable cities is Miami. "I
cannot envision southeastern Florida having many people at the end of this century," says Hal Wanless, chair
of the University of Miami's Department of Geological Science. "We think Miami has always been here and
will always be here. How do you get people to realize that Miami - or London - will not always be there?"

[J] Unless we change course dramatically, our carbon emissions will drastically change the geography of
many shorelines by the next century, if not sooner, and large numbers of people will have to abandon coastal
areas in Florida and other parts of the world. "From the Bahamas to Bangladesh and a major amount of
Florida, we'll have to move, and we may have to move at the same time," says Wanless. Columbia University
geophysicist Klaus Jacob sees most of Manhattan's population fleeing to higher ground and the island
becoming a kind of Venice, subject to periodic flooding, perhaps with canals and yellow water cabs. At
different times in different countries, engineering solutions will no longer be enough. Then the retreat from
the coast will begin.

Dutch Lessons

[K] Can a single storm change not just a city's but a nation's policy? It has happened before. The Netherlands
experienced its own coastal catastrophe nearly 70 years ago, and it transformed the country.

[L] The storm roared in from the North Sea on the night of January 31, 1953. Ria Geluk was six years old at
the time and living on an island in the Dutch province of Zeeland. She remembers a neighbor knocking on her
family's door in the middle of the night to tell them that the dike 3 had failed. Later that day, the whole family
climbed to the roof. Geluk's grandparents lived just across the road, but water poured into the village with
such force that they were trapped in their home, and they died when it collapsed. The disaster killed 1,836 in
all, including a baby born on the night of the storm.

[M] Afterwards the Dutch began an ambitious program of dike and barrier construction called the Delta
Works, which lasted more than four decades and cost more than $6 billion. One crucial project was the eight-
kilometer barrier built to defend Zeeland from the sea. The final component of the Delta Works - a movable
barrier protecting Rotterdam Harbor and some 1.5 million people - was finished in 1997. Like other sea
barriers in the Netherlands, it's built to withstand a 1-in-10,000-year storm - the strictest standard in the world.
 [N] The transparent domes of Rotterdam's Floating Pavilion represent an even more innovative approach to
taming4 the sea. The three domes - each about three stories tall - are made of a plastic that is a hundred times
as light as glass. Though the domes are used for meetings and exhibitions, their main purpose is to
demonstrate the potential of floating urban architecture. The city anticipates that as many as 1,200 homes will
float in the harbor by 2040. "We think these structures will be important not just for Rotterdam but for many
cities around the world," says Bart Roeffen, the architect who designed the pavilion.

[O] An inscription5 on the side of a storm-surge barrier in Zeeland says "Hier gaan over het tij, de maan, de
wind, en wij" - Here the tide is ruled by the moon, the wind, and us. It reflects the confidence of a generation
that took for granted - as we no longer can - a reasonably stable world. "We have to understand that we are
not ruling the world," says Jan Mulder of Deltares, a Dutch coastal management firm. "We need to adapt."
1
If someone is mauled (e.g., by a wild animal), they are attacked fiercely and aggressively.
2
A levee is a raised structure of earth or other material built to hold back water.
2
A dike is a long wall that prevents water from flooding a place.
4
If you tame something dangerous, you bring it under control.
5
An inscription is writing carved into something made of stone or metal.

____ 1. What would be the best way to describe a storm surge?

a. a very high tide that occurs during certain days of the month
b. high water trapped in city harbors after a storm
c. an unusual extreme rise in the sea level during a storm
d. the strong wind associated with ocean storms
____ 2. What is the purpose of paragraphs B through D?
a. to explain why it's dangerous to live so close to the sea
b. to describe one man's experience of a flood
c. to argue for sturdier and more secure boardwalks near beaches
d. to explain how to use surfboards to save people during a flood
____ 3. Which feature is NOT mentioned as being part of Mayor Bloomberg's plan?
a. a barrier across New York harbor
b. construction of high levees
c. building up of sand dunes along the coast
d. local storm-surge barriers
____ 4. What does it refer to in the last sentence of paragraph H?
a. the sea-level rise
b. the Dutch company Arcadis
c. the 3.2-kilometer barrier outside New Orleans
d. the response to Hurricane Isaac
____ 5. What does the author think is the cause of rising sea levels in paragraphs I and J?
a. carbon emissions
b. excessive building on coastlines
c. sinking cities
d. the increase in pollution
____ 6. The following sentence would be best placed at the end of which paragraph?

At some point, residents will realize that Miami is no longer a habitable place and move away.

a. Paragraph E
b. Paragraph F
c. Paragraph I
d. Paragraph J
____ 7. Which of the following sentences from paragraph I gives the author's main argument?
a. New Orleans may be safe for a few decades, but the long-term prospects for it and other
low-lying cities look dire.
b. Even if we begin reducing our emissions of heat-trapping gases tomorrow, oceans will
likely rise as Earth slowly adjusts to the amount already in the atmosphere.
c. Miami is among the most vulnerable cities.
d. We think Miami has always been here and will always be here.
____ 8. Which of the following sentences from paragraph J gives the author's main argument?
a. Unless we change course dramatically, our carbon emissions will drastically change the
geography of many shorelines by the next century, if not sooner, and large numbers of
people will have to abandon many coastal areas of the world.
b. From the Bahamas to Bangladesh and a major amount of Florida, we'll have to move, and
we may have to move at the same time.
c. Columbia University geophysicist Klaus Jacob sees most of Manhattan's population
fleeing to higher ground and the island becoming a kind of Venice, subject to periodic
flooding, perhaps with canals and yellow water cabs.
d. At different times in different countries, engineering solutions will no longer be enough.
____ 9. In paragraph L, which of the following events happened first?
a. Ria Geluk's neighbor knocked on her family's door.
b. Ria Geluk's whole family climbed to the roof.
c. The dike on the island Ria Geluk was living on failed.
d. Ria Geluk's grandparents were trapped in their home.
____ 10. In paragraph O, what does It refer to?
a. the tide
b. the moon
c. the wind
d. the inscription

DIRECTIONS: Choose the best answer for each question.

Relocate or Elevate

[A] The navigational prowess of Marshall Islanders is legendary. For thousands of years, Marshallese have
embraced their watery environment, building a culture on more than 1,200 islands scattered across 750,000
square miles of ocean. But powerful tropical cyclones, damaged reefs and fisheries, worsening droughts, and
sea-level rise threaten the coral reef atolls of this large ocean state, forcing the Marshallese to navigate a new
reality. In a moment of reckoning, Marshall Islanders face a dire choice: relocate or elevate. One idea being
considered is the construction of a new island or raising an existing one. With 600 billion tons of melting ice
flowing into oceans that are absorbing heat twice as fast as 18 years ago, the Marshallese will need to move
fast.
[B] A report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October highlighted
different projected outcomes from a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees C versus 2 degrees C. In the report, small-
island developing states are identified as being disproportionately vulnerable to adverse consequences of
global warming. Among them, four atoll nations: Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Maldives, and the Marshall Islands, are
at greatest risk. According to IPCC statistics, global temperatures could exceed a 3 degrees C increase by
2100 with global-mean sea level rise projected between one and four feet or higher. Absent extraordinary
measures, climate change could render the Marshall Islands uninhabitable.

[C] In July, speaking at a climate change conference on Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, University of
Hawaii climate scientist Chip Fletcher discussed possible adaptation measures. When Fletcher presented a
map depicting Majuro flooded under three feet of water, there was an audible gasp in the room. For climate
activists in the Pacific, "1.5 to stay alive," has been the mantra of survival. "We're going to miss 1.5 degrees
C," Fletcher told his audience, but added, "there's something we can do about it." Citing examples of land
reclamation in the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere, Fletcher says dredging a shallow area
of Majuro lagoon may be one option for building an island high enough to be secure.

The Urgency Has Always Been There

[D] Mark Stege, a climate consultant and Maloelap atoll councilman who has been working on climate
adaptation projects since 2010, notes people have been engineering the Marshall Islands for decades, going
back to dredging by the U.S. military to fill in the mejje, or reef flats between islands. He stresses the
importance of community-based resource management and environmental monitoring.

[E] "I firmly believe that island building is going to have to happen," Stege says. Before that can happen, he
says extensive survey work must be conducted to determine suitable sites for possible elevation work. No
matter what is decided, Stege argues it's imperative for Marshallese to be at the center of the work - not on the
sidelines of a foreign-led effort.

[F] The sense of urgency is nothing new. "I think that the urgency has always been there with other important
issues - health issues related to the nuclear weapons testing legacy, building educational capacity,
unemployment, and climate change ... If we're going to raise islands, we should also raise the wellbeing of the
people living on those islands."

Mitigation and Adaptation

[G] Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine told National Geographic that her country's focus has been on
climate change mitigation but says there is a need for a greater emphasis on adaptation, including the
consideration of building higher ground. First, public consultation must take place. Local governments, iroij
or chiefs, clan heads, and other traditional leaders all need to be part of the conversation, she says.

[H] "For considerations, people would need to think whether we should just let our islands go and everybody
move out or having a certain place designated and built upon," Heine says.

[I] Currently Heine's administration is conducting preliminary discussions and preparing to formulate a
National Adaptation Plan. Building an island high enough to provide safe refuge would be very expensive,
and the president says working with partner nations like the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan will be critical. But she
adds, "Only if the Marshallese people are completely on board with such an idea, then we can ... seek
assistance from outside."
 [J] "I think it's very clear that if you're a Marshallese, you would want to make sure that the culture and the
place and the identity doesn't disappear," Heine says. Complete outbound migration and the abandonment of
the islands, she says, would have profoundly detrimental impacts on the preservation of Marshallese culture
and territorial and political sovereignty.

[K] For centuries, Marshall Islanders have been tied to their ancestral lands through families and clans.
Forced relocation from one island to another resulting from nuclear testing led to urbanization and a
disruption of the traditional land tenure system. If climate change demands the Marshallese elevate land and
consolidate the resident population of 55,000 people, ancestral land ties will be further disrupted.

[L] "We don't just select to live on certain islands," Heine says. "Everybody lives in their island because that's
where they belong to. Moving from one island to another is not a straight move. It's not just so simple."

[M] Ben Graham, chief secretary and advisor to the president, notes that in a country where the government
owns less than one percent of the land, people's identities are tied to specific land parcels.

A Ticking Clock

[N] Graham points to adaptation efforts already underway - strengthening water and food security, climate-
proofing infrastructure, fortifying shorelines, and other coastal protections. He calls building a new island the
"ultimate last defense." Any resources that would be diverted to build an island, Graham says, will be done
"to keep our heads above water."

[O] Coastal flooding has increased in the Marshall Islands and is expected to worsen. With limited time,
consultations, studies, and adaptation measures need to accelerate before occasional nuisance flooding
becomes disruptive to island life. In the basketball-loving Marshall Islands, Graham uses an apt analogy: "It
sort of puts a shot clock on our existence," he says. "It's not a 30-second shot clock, but a 30-year shot clock."

____ 11. What is the author's tone in this article?

a. happy and light-hearted
b. afraid and overly emotional
c. urgent and serious
d. factual and objective
____ 12. In paragraph A, what does the word embrace mean?
a. to hold on to
b. to include
c. to accept
d. to support
____ 13. In paragraph A, what does the phrase forcing the Marshallese to navigate a new reality mean?
a. The Marshallese must sail to another place.
b. The Marshallese have to find their way in a new and difficult circumstance.
c. The Marshallese need to give directions to others on how to get to new places.
d. The Marshallese must find new techniques for guiding their boats across the waters.
____ 14. In paragraph C, what is the meaning of the word mantra?
a. a goal that is set regularly
b. a statement or a principle that people repeat
c. a word or saying repeated in prayer
d. meaningless words repeated over and over again
____ 15. When Fletcher says, We're going to miss 1.5 degrees C what is he implying?
a. Temperatures are going to rise to more than 1.5 degrees C in the future.
b. Temperatures will not rise more than 1.5 degrees C in the future.
c. Temperatures will rise by exactly 1.5 degrees C in the future.
d. Temperatures will go down by 1.5 degrees C in the future.
____ 16. Where can the following sentence be best placed?

This sense of responsibility led to the establishment of the Marshall Islands Conservation Society in 2004.

a. before the first sentence of paragraph D

b. before the last sentence of paragraph D
c. before the first sentence of paragraph E
d. after the last sentence of paragraph E
____ 17. In paragraph I, what does on board mean?
a. to be a passenger on a ship, boat, or airplane
b. to be a part of a team
c. to be available
d. to be in agreement with
____ 18. What can we infer is Heine's attitude toward the idea of abandoning the islands?
a. She thinks it is neither good nor bad.
b. She welcomes the idea.
c. She was not previously aware of the idea.
d. She dislikes the idea.
____ 19. In paragraph N, which of the following is NOT mentioned as an adaptation effort?
a. strengthening water and food security
b. making the infrastructure more resilient to climate change
c. building up shorelines
d. having people move to another island
____ 20. What does the phrase a 30-year shot clock mean?
a. They have had thirty years to deal with global warming and rising sea water.
b. They must do something within the next thirty years to continue to exist.
c. No matter what they do, within thirty years they will no longer exist.
d. They must move within the next thirty years, because there is no way to save the islands.
 DIRECTIONS: Complete the sentences. Choose the correct word.

a. comply
b. dire
c. envision
d. evacuation
e. retreat
f. surged
g. taken for granted
h. vulnerable
i. will
j. withstand
____ 21. The online company decided to ____ with the government's new ruling on data protection.
____ 22. The situation at the airport was wild - the crowd ____ forward each time an announcement was made.
____ 23. Under heavy fire from enemy forces, the soldiers were forced to ____.
____ 24. Environmentalists warn that chopping down the rainforest will have ____ consequences for the local wildlife
and people.
____ 25. In advance of the Category 5 typhoon, the mayor ordered an emergency ____ of the city.
____ 26. Can you ____ a future roadway full of cars that drive themselves?
____ 27. It was obvious from the election results that this was the ____ of the people.
____ 28. Very young children have weak immune systems and thus are more ____ to disease.
____ 29. The new steel piers are able to ____ the strongest waves and remain undamaged.
____ 30. The government had ____ the stability of the country's economy, and were unprepared for the financial crisis.