WorksheetsDeep Sea Treasures RI.2.6 Achieve 3000
Total questions: 8
Worksheet time: 5mins
Select the best summary of the article.
A group of international scientists urged the ISA to temporarily halt authorization of new mining contracts until networks of "marine protected areas" could be established around areas targeted for mining.
Rising demand for copper, cobalt, gold, and the rare earth elements vital in the manufacturing of smartphones and other high-tech products is causing a prospecting rush to the dark seafloor, where these can be found.
Rising demand for minerals found in the deep sea is causing a prospecting rush to the seafloor, but conservationists warn that this could do great damage.
What is the author's purpose for writing the article? Choose TWO
To inform the reader about the rush to mine the minerals in the ocean floor
To show how the technology used to mine the ocean floor works
To entertain the reader with a story about ocean treasures
To persuade the reader that the ocean environment should be protected
Select the sentences that develop the idea that there is a rush to mine the minerals in the ocean floor. Choose THREE
Rising demand for copper, cobalt, gold, and the rare earth elements vital in the manufacturing of smartphones and other high-tech products is causing a prospecting rush to the dark seafloor, where these can be found.
So far, most of ISA's contracts have been issued for the deep abyssal plains of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone.
"The pace of activity has increased dramatically over the last five years," said Michael Lodge.
So far, it has issued 27 exploration contracts to companies that want to mine the seabed. The large majority of these 15-year contracts were issued since 2011. They allow for mineral prospecting in large areas—more than 1 million square kilometers (386,000 square miles)—of seabed in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
What effect do the underlined words have on the text?
These contracts have alarmed conservationists. They warn that the deep ocean's fragile biodiversity must be protected. They argue that not nearly enough is known about the risks of extracting minerals from the seabed.
They have a positive connotation and convey how mining the seabed will not harm the environment.
They are neutral and have no effect on the text.
They have a negative connotation and convey how mining the seabed is dangerous to the environment
What is the author's point of view?
The ocean environment should be protected.
The rising demand for minerals is a sufficient reason for mining the ocean floor
People should use less technology
Why does the author include these details?
Current proposals for the oceans over the next several decades "look uncomfortably similar to what we did to land in the 1700s and 1800s," McCauley said. That's when rural farmland and forests were rapidly industrialized. McCauley pointed out that the onset of the land-based industrialization was associated with a spike in animal extinction rates.
To use statistics or data to show what happens when an area is industrialized
To provide a definition of industrialized
To show a cause and effect relationship when an area is rapidly industrialized
Why does the author include this information?
But there are basic steps that humanity can take to approach seabed mining intelligently, he added. First, learn what biodiversity is down there before mining. Second, go slowly on exploration contracts and study the impacts of mining as it is happening. Third, set up systems of protected areas before, not after, mining starts.
To share a story or anecdote about mining
To discuss a solution to the problem described in the article
To provide a definition of mining intelligently
Select the sentences that develop the author's point of view. Choose THREE
They warn that the deep ocean's fragile biodiversity must be protected.
A group of international scientists urged the ISA to temporarily halt authorization of new mining contracts until networks of "marine protected areas" could be established around areas targeted for mining.
You can't really blame people in the 1700s for the damage they did to the environment," McCauley said. "But we certainly are to blame if we don't do seabed mining properly."
Other desirable exploration areas are found in the Western Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The ISA estimates that one site could provide up to 25 percent of the annual global market for cobalt.
