Progress_Test_04-06.doc

Progress Test 04-06 Audio Script

Track 2

Islands have their own kind of magic, and Greenland is one of the most magical of them all. During the summer months, it’s daylight a lot of the time – and it’s hard to sleep! But that gives you more time to see this strange, wild and enormous place. Greenland is the biggest island in the world. It lies between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, off the coast of North America. It’s almost two-thirds the size of Australia; 2,655 kilometres from north to south, and 1,290 kilometres from east to west. So there’s a lot of land, but it’s not very green. In fact, Greenland is the least green of all the islands in today’s programme. And that’s because an icecap – a thick layer of ice – covers 85 per cent of Greenland. Snow falls on Greenland in every month of the year. The snow gets deeper and deeper and turns to ice. As a result, Greenland has the second largest icecap in the world, after Antarctica. On average, the ice is one and a half kilometres thick, but in some places it’s thicker than that – more than three kilometres thick, in fact. And it’s always moving. In large parts of the island, there are no people at all. About 55,000 people live around the coast, where the climate is less cold than in the centre. Their main work is fishing.

Madagascar is a world apart. It’s the fourth largest island in the world, and lies in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Africa. It split away from the rest of Africa about 100 million years ago. It’s a land of contrasts and surprises. There’s rainforest on the east coast of Madagascar. In the south it’s hot and dry, but the climate is cooler in the mountains that run down the middle of the island. So some parts are less tropical than others. Most of the people are farmers, and rice is the main food. The population is about 18 million. But what makes Madagascar special is that there are unusual types of animals and plants that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. The island’s most famous animals are the lemurs – they look a little like monkeys and they’ve got long tails. But they’re in danger now because people have destroyed the forests where they live. In all, about 50 kinds of wildlife are at risk on Madagascar.

Yes, it probably looks familiar … and of course it is. I’m in Trafalgar Square, in the heart of London. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Great Britain is an island too. In fact, Great Britain is the eighth largest island in the world, and the largest in Europe. It’s interesting too, because it’s actually three countries: England, Scotland and Wales. It’s rich in history, and people come from all over the world to visit famous churches, museums and castles. Great Britain is more crowded than many of its European neighbours, and has a population of 60 million. But in parts it’s also very beautiful. Mountains cover a lot of Scotland, where there are many long, deep lakes, called lochs. Wales and the north of England are hilly, while the south and east of England are flatter. The area around London is probably the least impressive part of Great Britain. In 1994, the Channel Tunnel opened. This rail tunnel is almost 50 kilometres long, and links England with France. It’s the second longest tunnel in the world, after the Seikan tunnel in Japan. Because of the Channel Tunnel, some people think that Great Britain is no longer an island!