Listening Practice: Lecture about an experiment

The pitch drop experiment is …

• a. the oldest experiment in history.

• b. the oldest experiment that is still running today.

• c. the longest experiment in 1927.

The creator of the experiment wanted to …

• a. have an experiment that lasted a long time.

• b. show the dangers of everyday materials.

• c. show that common substances have extraordinary properties.

Pitch is a substance …

• a. that looks solid but is actually liquid.

• b. that looks liquid but is actually solid.

• c. that doesn’t appear to be liquid or solid.

The first time a drop of pitch fell was …

• a. eight years after the experiment began.

• b. three years after the experiment began.

• c. forty years after the experiment began.

Which of the following sentences is NOT true about Professor John Mainstone?

• a. He never saw the pitch drop.

• b. He was responsible for the experiment for over fifty years.

• c. He took over the experiment in 1927.

In the year 2000, …

• a. an electricity failure meant the pitch drop was not filmed.

• b. scientists set up a live stream of the experiment.

• c. the ninth drop of pitch fell.

When pitch is at room temperature, you can break it ……………………………… .

Professor Parnell put pitch into a glass funnel, let it cool, then turned it ………….............. and cut off the top.

In total, only ……………………………… have fallen from the funnel.

The next pitch drop is expected to fall in ……………………………… .