End-of-Year Test in Reading

Get the message?

Your mobile phone vibrates in your pocket. ‘Need to see you,’ reads the screen. Nothing new, considering that texting is currently the most common form of long-distance communication. But how were messages conveyed in the past?

One of the first methods was the smoke signal. This practice was used by Chinese soldiers guarding the Great Wall to warn of the enemy’s approach. The Greeks devised a whole alphabet of smoke signals for sending messages. But it was Native Americans who made the system mobile by carrying small bunches of dried grasses around with them. These could be lit quickly from any place at any time.

Moving on to messages transmitted by sound, an early technique was the drum. Drums are still used today in the rainforests of Africa, Papua New Guinea and Central and South America for broadcasting news. The instrument is made from a hollow log and this is hit with a stick. On receiving the message, each village passes it on to the next, which means that news can travel at up to 150 km an hour.

Another instrument traditionally used for long-distance communication is the alphorn. These four-metre long wooden horns were common in most mountainous regions of Europe and their deep rich sound could be heard over 6 km away. Farmers would use them to send messages across the valley as well as to call in their cows. Today, the alphorn is a form of entertainment, and Switzerland alone has around 4,000 players.

In some parts of the world, humans are able to convey messages over long distances without using instruments. On La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, people use Silbo, or the ‘whistling language’ to communicate across the valleys. The language involves the use of the tongue, lips and hands to make sounds, which can travel up to 5 km. To ensure its continuation, Silbo is currently a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools on the island.

A look at long-distance communication would not be complete without mentioning the art of yodelling. This is a form of singing, in which the voice changes pitch very quickly, making it easily heard over long distances. It is believed that the technique was developed in the Swiss Alps, but it is also found in other places such as Central Africa. At one time, yodelling was popular in theatres and music halls, but this is no longer so.

    1.   What was most remarkable about the Greeks’ system of smoke signals?

    2.   What is the advantage of communicating by drum?

3.   Which of the statements about the alphorn is FALSE?

4.   How do the people of La Gomera make the sounds of Silbo?

5. What would be an accurate definition of ‘yodelling’?

Read an article about the giant concrete arrows that have been found in the USA. Match sentences A–G with gaps 1–5. There are two extra sentences.

Follow the arrow

If you have even been inside the cockpit of a plane, you will have noticed the large number of instruments on the walls and ceiling around the pilot’s seat. ¹___ Unlike car drivers, pilots do not have the luxury of signs and arrows telling them where to go. Instead, they rely on sophisticated GPS systems. So how were pilots able to find their way in the days before radio and satellite communication?

In the USA, the problem of navigation first arose when the airmail postal service was introduced in 1911. In the beginning, huge bonfires were lit to show pilots where to land in the dark. Later, a more practical solution was found: the construction of giant concrete arrows on the ground. ²___ To enable pilots to see them at night, a steel tower with lights was built in the middle. The top light turned around to attract the pilot’s attention, and two others lit up the arrow and flashed a code to identify its location.

The first of these arrows was laid in 1924, and by 1929, there were around 1,500 of them. ³___ The arrows were spaced about 16 km apart and were an important part of the Transcontinental Airway System. But by the 1940s, new navigation techniques were being discovered and soon, the arrows and their towers were no longer needed. They were gradually abandoned and some of them were removed completely.

However, not all of the arrows have disappeared. ⁴___ Some are still visible in the empty areas of other states such as Utah, Wyoming and Indiana. Yet, either because of their size or due to their bad condition, the arrows are not easy to find. In many cases, if you want to see one, it is a question of knowing where to look.

Which is where retired couple Brian and Charlotte Smith can help. The two are devoted fans of the arrows and spend much of their time hunting them down. ⁵___ Once they find an arrow, they map its location, photograph it and upload the details onto their website. Their aim is to preserve the memory of these historical structures and prevent them from being lost forever.