Reading 1/1:
The Story of the Aral Sea
[Paragraph 1] In 2009 in Kazakhstan, a group of fishermen met on a Sunday afternoon. They were on the beach of the
North Aral Sea. They ate food. They did some sports though not all were good at them. Afterwards, they told stories
and sang songs about the Aral Sea and fishing. It was a good party.
[Paragraph 2] The fishermen were happy because there were fish in the water. For many years, there weren't many
fish. At one time, the Aral Sea in Central Asia was the fourth largest lake in the world. It had an area of 67,300 square
kilometres. Two of the biggest rivers in Central Asia, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, went into the Aral Sea. But the
water almost disappeared.
[Paragraph 3] The Aral Sea was a busy place. Almost 20 percent of the Soviet Union's fish came from here. 40,000
people lived and worked near the lake. Then people used the water in the two rivers for agriculture, so the water didn't
arrive at the Aral Sea. Also, it didn't rain for many years.
[Paragraph 4] Then in 2005, the Kazakh government and the World Bank built a dam. The dam separated the north
and south parts of the sea. Then the north part of the Aral Sea started to fill with water again.
[Paragraph 5] Philip Micklin is a scientist. He studies the Aral Sea. In 2010 he said 'Nature can come back. But in 2014.
he saw satellite pictures of the east part of the Aral Sea. It was completely dry.
[Paragraph 6] In June 2015 a scientist from Uzbekistan, Yusup Kamalov, and a National Geographic reporter visited the
Aral Sea. They found a huge desert. They stood on the sand. Once it was the edge of the water. Now the water is 80
kilometres away. They drove to the water. On the way, they passed oil and natural gas rigs. Kamalov said that every
year there are more oil rigs. They arrived at the edge of the Aral Sea. The water was very salty. There were no fish.
Kamalov said, 'This is what the end of the world looks like.
1) According to paragraph 2, which sentence is true?
A. No lakes can be bigger than the Aral Sea.
B. The biggest lake in the world is bigger than 67,300 square kilometres.
C. The Aral Sea is always full of fish.
D. The Amu Darya and Syr Darya are the biggest rivers in the world.
2) In paragraph 6. what does 'a huge desert refer to?
A. Central Asia
B. Sahara desert
C. Uzbekistan
D. Aral Sea
3) What can be understood to increase from the passage?
A. The number of people living on Aral Sea.
B. The number of oil rigs
C. The amount of water in Aral Sea
D. The number of fish in Aral Sea
4) FUOntioned as one
entioned as one of the causes to make the water in Aral disappeared?
